I can recommend specific, safe tools or configuration steps for your deployment. Share public link
If you only need basic protection against casual code copying, free or low-cost PHP obfuscators can scramble variable names, remove whitespace, and obfuscate string literals without the risks of cracked binaries.
The primary reason to use ionCube is to protect your code. Nulled versions often use modified encoding algorithms or compromised encryption keys.
Backdoors that silently exfiltrate sensitive client data or API keys.