base64_substring vs mkYARA: 2026 Comparison
base64_substring is a free threat hunting tool. mkYARA 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.
Malware analysts and threat hunters who need to convert suspicious code samples into detection rules fast should start with mkYARA; it strips weeks of manual YARA rule writing down to minutes by automating the pattern extraction from executable binaries. The free pricing and 221 GitHub stars signal real adoption among security teams without budget for commercial rule generation platforms. Skip this if your team relies on pre-built rule sets from vendors; mkYARA assumes you're reverse-engineering unknown malware and need custom signatures, not managing an existing detection library.
