Rtools

Toolchains for building R and R packages from source on Windows.

Open source (BSD-3-Clause)

Free Open sourceWindows

Official websitecloud.r-project.org

1 more way to get Rtools

Chocolateychoco install rtools

Alternatives

MinGW-w64A GCC runtime environment and toolchain for building native 32-bit and 64-bit Windows programs.
RA free software environment and language for statistical computing and graphics.
rvA fast, declarative package manager for R, written in Rust, for reproducible projects.
MSYS2A software distribution and build environment for compiling, installing and running native Windows software.
rigA command-line tool for installing, removing and switching between multiple versions of R.
RStudioA free, open-source IDE for R with a data viewer, environment pane and support for Python and SQL.

About Rtools

Rtools provides the compilers and build tools needed to build R itself and to install R packages from source on Windows. Without it, packages that contain C, C++ or Fortran code cannot be compiled on a Windows machine.

Each Rtools version matches a range of R releases, from Rtools 4.0 for R 4.0 and 4.1 up to Rtools 4.5 for R 4.5 and R-devel, with older versions still available. It suits R users and package developers on Windows.

Strengths

Needed to compile R packages from source on Windows
Versions matched to each R release
Older versions kept available

Limitations

Windows only
You must pick the version that matches your R release

Details

Pricing: FreeFree to download from CRAN.
License: BSD-3-Clause
Platforms: Windows
How it runs: Downloadable app
Account: Not required
Works offline: Yes
Best suited for: R users on Windows who install or develop packages with compiled code
Categories: Developer tools
Last verified: October 2, 2026
Added: October 2, 2026
Sources: cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools

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