Application shielding · November 2026 Edition
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard vs Approov
Two of fourteen models named Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard first on the direct prompt; zero named Approov. Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Approov by seven and Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard carries 54 labels and Approov 11, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share15%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate17%18%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#3A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels5411A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Appdome was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Appdome vs Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard · Appdome vs Approov · Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard vs Promon SHIELD
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the application shielding page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuardFirst choices, of fourteen modelsApproov
Direct20
Paraphrase221 against Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard
Comparative801 against Approov
Budget-constrained305 against Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard · 1 against Approov
Scale-constrained00
Negative103 against Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard and Approov were named in the same answer nineteen times, of the 155 answers naming Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard and the 28 naming Approov. In those answers Approov took the first choice three times and Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard five.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard and Approov stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | |||
| Mistral Small | | | | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | ||
| Llama 4 Maverick | | |||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | |||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | |||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | |||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | | |
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard Approov first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard on the left and Approov on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard and Approov stood in it.
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard first, Approov not the choice
2 of 14 modelsApproov was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Gemini 3.5 FlashGuardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard alternatives: AppSealing, PreEmptive Dotfuscator, Promon SHIELD
Qwen 3.7 FlashAppdome, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard alternatives: Zimperium MAPS
Neither was the first choice, one was named
10 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5DoveRunner AppSealing alternatives: Appdome, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard
Perplexity SonarAppdome alternatives: DoveRunner AppSealing, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD, Zimperium MAPS
Grok 4.20Appdome alternatives: Approov, Arxan, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
Mistral SmallAppdome alternatives: Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
DeepSeek V4 FlashAppdome alternatives: DoveRunner AppSealing, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
Kimi K2Appdome alternatives: Arxan, DoveRunner AppSealing, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
GLM 4.7 FlashXAppdome alternatives: Appknox, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, PreEmptive Dotfuscator, Zimperium Mobile Application Protection Suite
MiniMax M2.5Appdome alternatives: Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
GPT-6 LunaAppdome alternatives: Digital.ai Application Protection, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard
Muse Glimmer 30BAppdome alternatives: Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD, Zimperium MAPS
Neither was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.GPT-5.4 miniAppdome alternatives: DexProtector, Promon SHIELD
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard leads by four points.
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard9%#3 of 9Approov4%#– of 9Mid-marketThe figures above
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard leads by eleven points.
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard15%#2 of 12Approov4%#3 of 12Enterprise
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard leads by twenty-two points.
Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard24%#2 of 9Approov2%#– of 9What the models said about Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Do not go with Jscrambler or enterprise-tier tools (Appdome, Guardsquare, Zimperium)” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“Avoid as a first choice on a tight budget: Appdome or Guardsquare” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · hard negative
“When evaluating commercial app shielding vendors (such as Guardsquare, Promon, Digital.ai, Appdome, PreEmptive, Zimperium, etc.), watch for these specific drawbacks” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Guardsquare is the code-level benchmark, unifying continuous mobile app security testing (MAST) with polymorphic code hardening, and RASP.” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
“Guardsquare is widely considered the gold standard for mobile app protection, combining advanced code obfuscation with automated RASP.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“DexGuard if you need the broadest mobile app protection, especially if you care about code hardening and anti-tamper protections.” GPT-5.4 mini · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about Approov
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“has limited full in-app shielding and requires additional tools for broader coverage” Claude Haiku 4.5 · comparative prompt · soft negative
“What to avoid on a tight budget” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · soft negative
“Approov would be the leading recommendation if protecting backend APIs, preventing app impersonation, and minimizing integration effort are the priorities” Perplexity Sonar · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Approov if your app is API-centric and you need fast integration with backend enforcement.” GPT-5.4 mini · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Approov is a strong budget-conscious candidate because it offers runtime mobile app shielding / RASP” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · alternative
Also compared
Appdome vs Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuardAppdome vs ApproovGuardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard vs Promon SHIELDGuardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard vs DoveRunner AppSealingGuardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard vs AppSealingApproov vs Promon SHIELDApproov vs DoveRunner AppSealingApproov vs AppSealingAll fifteen head-to-head pages and the full app shielding standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.