base64_substring vs AutoYara: 2026 Comparison
base64_substring is a free threat hunting tool. AutoYara is a free threat hunting tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best threat hunting fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Threat hunters who need to catch obfuscated malware samples will appreciate base64_substring's narrow focus: it generates YARA rules that account for base64's encoding variations, eliminating the manual work of writing rules that actually match what malware authors deploy. The tool is free and already battle-tested across 40 GitHub stars worth of security teams. This is not for buyers looking for a general YARA rule generator or those who need automation across multiple obfuscation techniques; base64_substring solves one problem exceptionally well and stays out of your way otherwise.
Threat hunters working with malware samples at mid-sized SOCs will move faster with AutoYara because it eliminates the manual labor of writing YARA rules from scratch; the biclustering algorithm actually finds signal in sample sets that would take analysts hours to pattern-match by hand. At 78 GitHub stars and free pricing, it's mature enough for production use without vendor lock-in. Skip this if your team needs a GUI-driven rule builder or integration with your SIEM; AutoYara is a command-line tool for analysts who already know how to validate rules and understand the tradeoffs between detection breadth and false positives.
