# ProGuard/R8: how AI models rank it, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Named in 4 judge labels across 1 categories by 3 of 14 models. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/proguard-r8/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application shielding | 2% | 15 | 25% | 4 |

## What the models said for it

- "ProGuard is the industry standard for shrinking, optimizing, and obfuscating Java and Android code." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, App shielding)
- "like GuardSquare's DexGuard/iXGuard, or native ProGuard/R8" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, App shielding)
- "Start with ProGuard/R8 for immediate free protection" (Grok 4.1 Fast, App shielding)

## And against it

- "Free tools alone are not sufficient for production apps dealing with sensitive data, because they lack RASP" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, App shielding)

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.