# Application shielding: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "app shielding tool" and as "runtime application self-protection for mobile apps", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Added to the November 2026 Edition. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/developer/application-shielding

**Standing:** Appdome leads with 36% of first choices; verdict contested. 47 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Appdome](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/appdome/index.md) | 36% | 14% | 50 |
| 2 | [Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/guardsquare-dexguard-ixguard/index.md) | 15% | 17% | 54 |
| 4 | [Approov](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/approov/index.md) | 4% | 18% | 11 |
| 7 | [Promon SHIELD](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/promon-shield/index.md) | 2% | 11% | 35 |
| 8 | [DoveRunner AppSealing](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/doverunner-appsealing/index.md) | 2% | 7% | 14 |
| 9 | [AppSealing](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/appsealing/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 21 | [Jscrambler](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/jscrambler/index.md) | 0% | 13% | 15 |
| 22 | [PreEmptive Dotfuscator](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/preemptive-dotfuscator/index.md) | 0% | 15% | 13 |
| 23 | [Zimperium MAPS](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/zimperium-maps/index.md) | 0% | 27% | 22 |
| 24 | [OneSpan Mobile Application Shielding](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/onespan-mobile-application-shielding/index.md) | 0% | 8% | 12 |
| 25 | [Digital.ai Application Protection](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/digital-ai-application-protection/index.md) | 0% | 8% | 12 |
| 27 | [DexProtector](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/dexprotector/index.md) | 0% | 20% | 10 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 81 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: DoveRunner AppSealing; alternatives Appdome, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard
- GPT-5.4 mini: Appdome; alternatives DexProtector, Promon SHIELD
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard; alternatives AppSealing, PreEmptive Dotfuscator, Promon SHIELD
- Perplexity Sonar: Appdome; alternatives DoveRunner AppSealing, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD, Zimperium MAPS
- Grok 4.20: Appdome; alternatives Approov, Arxan, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
- Mistral Small: Appdome; alternatives Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Appdome; alternatives DoveRunner AppSealing, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Appdome, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard; alternatives Zimperium MAPS
- Kimi K2: Appdome; alternatives Arxan, DoveRunner AppSealing, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Appdome; alternatives Appknox, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, PreEmptive Dotfuscator, Zimperium Mobile Application Protection Suite
- MiniMax M2.5: Appdome; alternatives Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD
- GPT-6 Luna: Appdome; alternatives Digital.ai Application Protection, Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Appdome; alternatives Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard, Promon SHIELD, Zimperium MAPS

## Sources the answers cite

73 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- g2.com: 48 answers, 93 citations
- guideflow.com: 25 answers, 25 citations
- guardsquare.com: 18 answers, 45 citations
- luciq.ai: 18 answers, 18 citations
- gane.ai/index: 17 answers, 21 citations
- softwaresuggest.com: 17 answers, 17 citations
- promon.io: 15 answers, 24 citations
- preemptive.com: 15 answers, 21 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://g2.com/categories/application-shielding (25 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/application-shielding-software (24 answers)
- https://luciq.ai/blog/top-mobile-app-protection-and-shielding-tools (18 answers)
- https://softwaresuggest.com/application-shielding-software (17 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/it/developer/application-shielding (13 answers)
- https://gbhackers.com/best-mobile-appsec-compared (11 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/runtime-application-self-protection-rasp-tools (10 answers)
- https://geeksframework.com/software/application-shielding-software (10 answers)
- https://techtimes.com/articles/299770/20231218/top-5-best-application-shielding-software-2024.htm (10 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/in-app-protection (8 answers)

## Warned against

- Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard: 9 of 54 labels negative. "Do not go with Jscrambler or enterprise-tier tools (Appdome, Guardsquare, Zimperium)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Zimperium MAPS: 6 of 22 labels negative. "Do not go with Jscrambler or enterprise-tier tools (Appdome, Guardsquare, Zimperium)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Appdome: 7 of 50 labels negative. "Do not go with Jscrambler or enterprise-tier tools (Appdome, Guardsquare, Zimperium)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Promon SHIELD: 4 of 35 labels negative. "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)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Appdome at 36%.

- Guardsquare DexGuard / iXGuard: 6% to 15%, +9. Inside the floor by 2 points · rank 3 → 2 of 81.
- Approov: 8% to 4%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 2 → 4 of 81.
- LIAPP: 6% to 2%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 4 → 10 of 81.
- Zimperium MAPS: 4% to 0%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 5 → 23 of 81.
- Appdome: 33% to 36%, +3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 1 of 81, unchanged.
- DoveRunner AppSealing: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 8 of 81, unchanged.
- AppSealing: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 9 of 81.
- OneSpan Mobile Application Shielding: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 20 → 24 of 81.
- Digital.ai Application Protection: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 11 → 25 of 81.
- Promon SHIELD: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 10 → 7 of 81.
- Jscrambler: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 24 → 21 of 81.
- PreEmptive Dotfuscator: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 25 → 22 of 81.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.