freeware

Software distributed and used at no cost, with other rights still reserved

Also known as gratis software

Instance of: copyright license
Subclass of: proprietary software

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines freeware unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the freeware it offers. For instance, modification, redistribution by third parties, and reverse engineering are permitted by some publishers but prohibited by others. Unlike with free and open-source software, which are also often distributed free of charge, the source code for freeware is typically not made available. Freeware may be intended to benefit its producer by, for example, encouraging sales of a more capable version, as in the freemium and shareware business models; or by collecting and selling users' personal data.

Overview

All data

22 statements · 23% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: freely redistributable software
free software
Opposite of: commercial software criterion used: price

On other databases

16 identifiers linking freeware across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

23%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 3, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). freeware (Q178285). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/freeware-Q178285