You might be aware of what WinRAR actually is and if you have ever installed any software or used an archive then yes you know what it actually is. It’s one of the most popular archiving software and is used by companies worldwide. WinRAR is widely used for compressing games or other software for some sharing. You probably know that Winrar offers a lifetime trial version, so how does WinRAR make money? Also how much money has WinRAR made to date?
How Does Winrar Make Money Though?
Now, coming to the main question “How the heck does WinRAR is making money?” RARlabs is the real company behind WinRAR, software companies and multinationals always buy the software. This means that they will also buy WinRAR for their use. Either your company uses windows or macOS, Winrar is available for macOS and windows systems.
1. Corporation Cannot Use A Freeware
Multinational companies often say a big no to the open-source software as the software is supported by the community and some updates and changes to the codes are really not consistent. These big companies can never go a day without an update or any other changes.
Businesses need to have a proper accounting of all the software and tools they use. There are also tax benefits to it. But the main reasons why corporate pay to use WinRAR can be the following.
- Tax benefits
- Proper support in case of any issues with the application
- Opposed to an open source application like 7z, this provides better security and privacy
With the original software, companies are pretty sure of one thing that all the updates will be on time plus they will be offered new and unique algorithms. The money that WinRAR makes selling the software to big companies is more than enough.
2. Licensing The Technology
If someone happens to create software that unpacks RAR files or has to deal with unpacking RAR files, you will have to purchase a license from RAR labs. This does not allow you to create the RAR files as this is patented to them, but you can use the unpacking functionality in your software/application after purchasing a license from them.
Using the license you can open/extract RAR files On Different Devices
This wikipedia page gives more insight on WinRAR and RARLAB
3. Winrar 40 Day Trial – Explained
WinRAR, unlike other software, allows you to use the software for free even after the trial period has expired, giving you enough time to think about whether to buy the license or not. This is definitely not the case with other software, as you can’t keep on using the app after the trial period, you have to pay some money afterward.
After your trial period is over, you will see this warning “WinRAR is not free software, after the end of the 40-day trial period, you must purchase the license or remove the software from the machine.”, what we actually do is, close this window and start using WinRAR normally.
WinRAR lets us use the software normally, even after the trial period, and we usually think that it is free software and whenever you feel like using it you just go to the website and download it.
WinRAR is already aware of this and lets us use the software normally. This helps WinRAR fight against piracy and making it one of the most popular software in the world.
Finally
To end it all, WinRAR makes money by selling its software to big organizations and multinationals. These big companies go for the original software so that their daily needs are fulfilled and all the updates and changes are consistent. While WinRAR is pretty sure that no other personal computer is going to pay for the license and that’s their strategy to make money.
