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Inno Setup is a powerful, free installer for Windows programs. First released in 1997, it has since evolved to rival and even surpass many commercial installers in both features and stability, providing a robust solution for developers and creators.
Key features include a user-friendly wizard interface and the ability to create a single EXE file for easy online distribution. The software supports disk spanning, full uninstall functionality, and customizable setup types. It includes integrated file compression, support for installing shared files and OCX controls, and automatic creation of Start Menu shortcuts, INI file entries, and registry keys.
Create powerful installations without limits. Our program lets you include an unlimited number of files, shortcuts, and registry entries, giving you complete control over your project. However, note that Inno Setup requires memory for each script entry. For example, approximately 120 bytes of memory is needed for each entry in the [Files] section.
Inno Setup Key features:
- Offers extensive support for installing 64-bit applications on 64-bit editions of Windows, including compatibility with x64, ARM64, and Itanium architectures.
- Extensive support for both administrative and non-administrative installation.
- The software can create a single EXE installer for online distribution and supports disk spanning for multi-part installations.
- Standard Windows wizard interface.
- Customizable setup types, e.g., Full, Minimal, and Custom.
- Complete uninstall capabilities.
- File Installation: Includes built-in support for Deflate, Bzip2, and 7-Zip LZMA/LZMA2 compression methods. The installer can compare file information, replace in-use files, use shared file counting, register DLLs/OCX controls and type libraries, and install fonts.
- Allows creation of shortcuts in any location, including the Start Menu and desktop.
- Creation of registry and INI entries.
- Support for multilingual installs, together with right-to-left language support.
- Enables execution of selected programs at different stages of installation.
- Support for passworded and encrypted installs.
- Supports digitally signed installers and uninstallers, including dual-signing with SHA-1 and SHA-256 certificates.
- Silent installs and uninstalls.
- Unicode installs.
- We have integrated the preprocessor option for advanced compile-time customization.
- Includes an integrated Pascal scripting engine option for advanced run-time installation and uninstallation customization.
- The complete source code is available from GitHub.
- Tiny footprint: only about 1.3 MB overhead with all features included.
- All features are documented.
- Used by Microsoft Visual Studio Code and Embarcadero Delphi.
The Inno Setup QuickStart Pack combines Inno Setup with optional third-party add-ons, including the ISTool script editor and Inno Setup Preprocessor. Although these add-ons are not official or required for general use, they can make using Inno Setup easier.
Software Name – Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✓ Creates professional Windows installers with support for custom installation workflows, shortcuts, registry entries, and uninstallers. | ✗ Requires learning the software’s scripting language, which may be challenging for users new to installation packaging. |
| ✓ Uses a powerful scripting engine that gives developers precise control over installation behavior and advanced setup tasks. | ✗ Does not provide a modern drag-and-drop visual installer designer like some commercial setup creation tools. |
| ✓ Builds compact installer packages with efficient compression, helping reduce download size without sacrificing functionality. | ✗ Advanced installer customization often requires manually editing script files rather than using graphical configuration options. |
| ✓ Supports 32-bit and 64-bit Windows applications, multilingual installers, silent installations, and digital code signing for broad deployment flexibility. | ✗ Designed exclusively for Windows installers, making it unsuitable for creating installation packages for macOS or Linux. |
| ✓ Free to use with a mature, well-documented platform backed by years of active development and a large developer community. | ✗ Complex enterprise deployments may require extra scripting and testing compared to premium installer solutions that include built-in automation. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Inno Setup free to use?
Yes. Inno Setup is a free installer for Windows applications that lets you create installation packages without requiring a paid license. It includes features such as compression, uninstall support, scripting, multilingual installations, and digital signing.
What is the difference between Inno Setup and NSIS?
Both are free Windows installer creation tools that let developers build customized installation packages. Inno Setup provides a scripting engine, integrated compression, multilingual and Unicode installation support, while NSIS offers its own scripting system and customizable installer features. Inno Setup also includes silent installs and built-in support for registry entries, shortcuts, and uninstallers.
Can Inno Setup create 64-bit installers?
Yes. Inno Setup supports installing 64-bit applications on 64-bit editions of Windows, including x64, ARM64, and Itanium architectures. It also supports both administrative and non-administrative installations.
Can Inno Setup create silent installations?
Yes. Inno Setup supports silent installations and uninstalls, allowing installers to run with minimal or no user interaction. This makes it suitable for automated software deployment and other unattended installation scenarios.
What’s New in Inno Setup 7.1.0
Release Date 2026-08-12
What’s New in Inno Setup 7.0.2:
Release Date 2026-07-13
- Added a new Security Measures help topic that includes a Supply-chain security section and links to our Verifying Inno Setup Downloads page.
- The security measures, supply-chain security information, and download verification already existed but are now documented and linked from a single location.
- Compilation will now fail with an error if an .iss/.isl file contains a byte value or sequence that is not valid in the file’s code page (character set). Previously, invalid bytes were interpreted as U+FFFD characters (the Unicode “replacement character”).
- Pascal Scripting: Enhanced documentation of the RegisterServer, RegisterTypeLibrary, IncrementSharedCount, and ApplyPathRedirRules support functions, with updated explanations and examples.
- Fixes:
- ISCC: Reading the script from standard input by specifying – as the script name is now documented again in the help file. Such a script is now assumed to be UTF-8 encoded.
- When a custom style is active, the Do this for the next conflicts checkbox in the File exists, confirm overwrite and Keep newer file? Task dialogs could start checked instead of unchecked (broken since custom styles were introduced in 6.6.0).
- In earlier 7.0 releases, a 64-bit installer incorrectly used a SysWOW64 path instead of the System32 path when performing a 32-bit DLL registration or shared file reference-count operation on a file under {sys}.
- Setup no longer clears the read-only attribute of files and directories matching an [InstallDelete] entry’s wildcard during its initial checks, before installation has started (broken since 5.5.0).
- In Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, Setup no longer shows the accelerator key as literal text, such as “(&R)”, in a few places.
- Fixed an issue where extracting a .cab archive always failed with an error, a problem that had existed since its introduction in version 6.5.0.
- Pascal Scripting: Selected TNewCheckListBox items with a custom ItemFontStyle or SubItemFontStyle no longer become unreadable after the list loses focus (broken since its introduction in 6.2.0). Thanks to Sergii Leonov for contributing this fix.
- Updated the 7-Zip and LZMA SDK source code used by Inno Setup to the latest versions.
- Your original is already correct if it is being used as a changelog entry. No change is necessary.
- Improvements and corrections to all other official translations.
Official Homepage – https://www.jrsoftware.org
Supported Operating Systems:
- Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 10 on ARM, 11, 11 on ARM
- Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012, 2016, 2019
