Alternatives to WinRAR
The archiver that created the RAR format, sold as shareware whose trial has never really expired. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
WinRAR
The archiver that created the RAR format, sold as shareware whose trial has never really expired.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as WinRAR.
7-Zip
The small, free archiver that opens practically every archive format and compresses better than ZIP.
7-Zip is free and open source, opens RAR and dozens of other formats and has higher 7z compression, but it cannot create RAR archives.
PeaZip
A cross-platform archive manager that reads over two hundred formats and has a real file manager built in.
PeaZip is free, open source and graphical on Windows, macOS and Linux, reading over 200 formats, but RAR support is read-only.
Bandizip
Fast archiver for Windows and macOS with strong Unicode handling.
Bandizip runs on Windows and macOS with multi-core compression and strong Unicode handling, has a free ad-supported edition, and remains closed source.
NanaZip
A 7-Zip fork that adds the Windows 11 right-click menu and ships through the Microsoft Store.
NanaZip is a free MIT-licensed 7-Zip fork for Windows 10 and 11 with Windows 11 context menu integration, but it cannot create RAR archives.
Keka
macOS file archiver for 7z, ZIP, TAR and more, with password protection.
Keka is a free open-source macOS archiver with encrypted and split archives and a graphical interface on Mac, but it cannot create RAR archives.
Also worth comparing
These listings name WinRAR as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
The Unarchiver
macOS extractor that opens archive formats Finder cannot.
WinRAR can create and repair RAR archives, but it is paid, closed source and offers only a command-line build on macOS.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
7-Zip-zstd
Build of 7-Zip that adds Zstandard, Brotli, LZ4, LZ5 and Fast-LZMA2 compression.
p7zip
Command-line port of 7-Zip's compression tools for POSIX systems.
ouch
Command-line tool that compresses and extracts archives without format-specific flags.
