{"slug": "winrar", "name": "WinRAR", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.165, "rising": 3.0, "first": "2026-01-28", "latest": "2026-09-25", "why": "A couple of years ago I finally bought my WinRAR license", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "A couple of years ago I finally bought my WinRAR license", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.win-rar.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["WinRAR"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 797602290, "item_id": 49850143, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49850143", "by": "HenryBemis", "date": "2026-09-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "From Winzip to WinRar many many years ago", "excerpt": "From Deezer to Spotify many years ago From Opera to Firefox many many years ago From Winzip to WinRar many many years ago From Gemini to ChatGPT a couple of years ago I wish there was an alternative to Carbonite (unlimited storage, my encryption) that doesn't hide the VAT until the checkout so they don't trick on the pricing (for us Europeans)", "context": "European", "use_case": "archiving", "switched_from": "WinZip", "story": "Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?"}, {"id": 796773666, "item_id": 49798354, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49798354", "by": "xxs", "date": "2026-09-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "winrar has supported zstd for 5 years", "excerpt": "> Windows users should use 7-Zip Please no - no native zstd support. NanaZip is the better option (it's a different build of 7-zip) and it's available at windows store. > Better compression format, unpacks more kinds of archives winrar has supported zstd for 5 years[0] In short - Everyone should be using zstd, and 7-zip does not support it. [0]: https://www.win-rar.com/singlenewsview.html?&L=0&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can gzip be a language model?"}, {"id": 791362784, "item_id": 49460174, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49460174", "by": "M95D", "date": "2026-08-27", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "A couple of years ago I finally bought my WinRAR license", "excerpt": "A couple of years ago I finally bought my WinRAR license and I also asked for a serial to use in DOS RAR, the tool I used as shareware for decades.", "context": "long-time shareware user", "use_case": "archiving", "switched_from": "", "story": "Trial is 40 days. Not until you're 40"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "HenryBemis", "context": "European", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49850143", "date": "2026-09-25"}, {"by": "M95D", "context": "long-time shareware user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49460174", "date": "2026-08-27"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["archiving", "zip archive handling"], "compared": [{"slug": "7-zip", "name": "7-Zip", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49847959", "title": "Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49797323", "title": "Can gzip be a language model?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49437966", "title": "Trial is 40 days. Not until you're 40", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46795864", "title": "Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 797602290, "item_id": 49850143, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49850143", "by": "HenryBemis", "date": "2026-09-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "From Winzip to WinRar many many years ago", "excerpt": "From Deezer to Spotify many years ago From Opera to Firefox many many years ago From Winzip to WinRar many many years ago From Gemini to ChatGPT a couple of years ago I wish there was an alternative to Carbonite (unlimited storage, my encryption) that doesn't hide the VAT until the checkout so they don't trick on the pricing (for us Europeans)", "context": "European", "use_case": "archiving", "switched_from": "WinZip", "story": "Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?"}, {"id": 796773666, "item_id": 49798354, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49798354", "by": "xxs", "date": "2026-09-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "winrar has supported zstd for 5 years", "excerpt": "> Windows users should use 7-Zip Please no - no native zstd support. NanaZip is the better option (it's a different build of 7-zip) and it's available at windows store. > Better compression format, unpacks more kinds of archives winrar has supported zstd for 5 years[0] In short - Everyone should be using zstd, and 7-zip does not support it. [0]: https://www.win-rar.com/singlenewsview.html?&L=0&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can gzip be a language model?"}, {"id": 791362784, "item_id": 49460174, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49460174", "by": "M95D", "date": "2026-08-27", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "A couple of years ago I finally bought my WinRAR license", "excerpt": "A couple of years ago I finally bought my WinRAR license and I also asked for a serial to use in DOS RAR, the tool I used as shareware for decades.", "context": "long-time shareware user", "use_case": "archiving", "switched_from": "", "story": "Trial is 40 days. Not until you're 40"}, {"id": 748816483, "item_id": 46801030, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46801030", "by": "smusamashah", "date": "2026-01-28", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "you must use 7-zip, winrar etc", "excerpt": "Please try https://filepilot.tech/ Its like explorer but so much faster in every single way. I have it pinned on the taskbar, it launches quickly than a new explorer window. Main one is no-multiline support atm. Which means that the icon view does not show full file name, list view etc are perfectly fine though. Current problems I have with it are no native zip support, which means you must use 7-zip, winrar etc and ", "context": "", "use_case": "Zip archive handling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux"}]}