WinRAR is a proprietary Windows file archiver from RARLAB, best known for creating and extracting RAR and ZIP archives, distributed as trialware that keeps working indefinitely but nags for a $29 license after a 40-day evaluation period. Full details →

WinRAR keeps working indefinitely after its evaluation period, but it never stops asking you to buy a $29 license, and it’s closed source Windows-only software. 7-Zip and PeaZip are both fully free, open source archivers with no reminder screens, no trial periods, and no hidden costs — and both compress at least as well as WinRAR using the open 7z format. 7-Zip is the more minimal, Windows-first option with command-line ports for Linux and macOS, while PeaZip ships a full native GUI on Windows, Linux, macOS, and BSD, along with extra file-management and secure-deletion tools.

Open Source Alternatives

7-Zip is a free, open source file archiver for Windows built around its own high-ratio 7z format, with no license fees, no nag screens, and command-line ports available for Linux and macOS.

LGPL-2.1-or-later (with a separate unRAR license restriction on RAR-decoding code)

PeaZip is a free, open source file archiver and encryption utility with a native graphical interface on Windows, Linux, macOS, and BSD, supporting over 200 archive formats under the LGPL-3.0 license.

LGPL-3.0