# Alternatives to WinRAR The eternal trial that everyone uses. WinRAR ranks #4 of 8 in Compression tools, with an Alt Score of 70. It is proprietary, sold as a one-time purchase from €29.95 and available on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android. 8 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/winrar/ Category: Compression tools ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Windows users and IT professionals who need to compress, encrypt, or share large files, or who regularly receive RAR, ZIP, and other compressed archives. - **What you get**: WinRAR creates and extracts RAR and ZIP archives and can open most other common archive formats. It offers strong compression to shrink files for storage or transfer, AES-256 encryption and password protection, the ability to split archives into multiple volumes, and tools to test and repair damaged archives. - **How it works**: You select files or folders and add them to a new archive (choosing format, compression level, and optional password), or right-click an existing archive to extract its contents to a chosen destination, typically via Windows Explorer context-menu integration or the WinRAR application window. ## Profile - **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-10) - **Pricing model**: One-time (verified 2026-07-10) - **Starts at**: €29.95 (verified 2026-07-10) - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-10) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [PeaZip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/peazip.md) | 100 | LGPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 2 | [7-Zip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/7-zip.md) | 90 | LGPL-2.1 | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 3 | [Bandizip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/bandizip.md) | 90 | Proprietary | Windows | | 4 | [NanaZip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nanazip.md) | 70 | MIT | Windows | | 5 | [WinZip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/winzip.md) | 70 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS | | 6 | [Keka](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/keka.md) | 50 | ? | macOS | | 7 | [The Unarchiver](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/the-unarchiver.md) | 30 | ? | macOS | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Compression tools checklist | WinRAR | PeaZip | 7-Zip | Bandizip | NanaZip | WinZip | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | One-time | Free | Free | Freemium | Donationware | Subscription | | Starts at | €29.95 | Free | Free | $30 | Free | ? | | License | Proprietary | LGPL-3.0 | LGPL-2.1 | Proprietary | MIT | Proprietary | | Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows | Windows | Windows, macOS | | Format support (7z, rar, zip) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Compression ratio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | | Encryption (AES-256) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Split archives | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Context-menu integration | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Open source | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | | Free for commercial use | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Repair damaged archives | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | | Speed | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ## Sources Sources for WinRAR. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **Starts at**: €29.95 — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “€29.95” - **License**: Proprietary — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “The author and holder of the copyright of the software is Alexander L. Roshal.” - **Pricing model**: One-time — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Perpetual license model, valid for a lifetime. No subscription.” - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: WinRAR is Windows; RAR command-line editions cover macOS, Linux and Android per the download page's platform list. - Quote: “Platform All Windows macOS Android Linux FreeBSD” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Heap overflow vulnerability is fixed in RAR5 recovery volume data reconstruction code” - **Format support (7z, rar, zip)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “WinRAR supports all popular compression formats (RAR, ZIP, CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZip, UUE, ISO, BZIP2, Z and 7-Zip).” - **Compression ratio**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “By consistently creating smaller archives, WinRAR is often faster than the competition.” - **Encryption (AES-256)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Military-grade AES 256-bit encryption technology that password protects archives including all metadata.” - **Split archives**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “WinRAR allows you to split archives into separate volumes easily, making it possible to save them on several disks.” - **Open source**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “RAR binary code, WinRAR binary code, UnRAR source or UnRAR binary code may be used or reverse engineered to re-create the RAR compression algorithm...without written permission.” - **Free for commercial use**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “the user must purchase a license to continue using the software” - **Repair damaged archives**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “WinRAR products are designed to recover damaged files.” - **Speed**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “By consistently creating smaller archives, WinRAR is often faster than the competition.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/