Tigress is a diversifying obfuscator for C that transforms source code to make static and dynamic reverse engineering harder. It applies sequences of command-line transformations and options, and one input can produce different output programs. Its transformation families cover control flow, data, functions, integrity, and anti-analysis. Listed targets include Linux, Darwin, Android, and Windows, as well as Intel, ARM, and WebAssembly; the tool supports 32- and 64-bit output and cross-compilation through compiler and environment settings. Tigress accepts one C file as input, so multi-file programs must be merged first. The maker lists support for C99 and GCC, Clang, Emscripten, and cl. Nonprofit organizations can use it for 0.00 USD per free. For-profit commercial use requires a license from the University of Arizona, but users may try it for any length of time before deployment. No license price is listed. The source is not generally open source, though the maker may share it with researchers at universities or research labs on request. Generated code can be slow, especially for huge programs.
Who it is for
Tigress may suit nonprofit organizations, students learning about obfuscation, and researchers studying reverse engineering or software protection. For-profit organizations need a University of Arizona license for commercial deployment.
What is good
- One C input can yield varied outputs
- Includes control-flow and anti-analysis transformations
- Lists Linux, Darwin, Android, Windows, and WebAssembly targets
- Free for nonprofit organizations
What to know first
- Multi-file programs must be merged before use
- Generated code can be slow on huge programs
- Commercial deployment requires a license with unlisted pricing
- Source is not generally open source
Verdict
Tigress offers configurable C obfuscation across a broad set of listed targets, with nonprofit use free. Account for its single-file input requirement, potential performance impact, and licensing needs before deployment.
Tigress plans and pricing
All plansCompared on code obfuscation software
- Free plan
- No
- Supported targets
- C99 source; Linux, Darwin, Android, Windows; Intel and ARM; WebAssembly; GCC, Clang, Emscripten, and cl
- Anti-tamper controls
- Yes
- Control-flow obfuscation
- Yes
- String encryption
- Yes
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Build integration
- cli
