Shareware was the term given to software that was released for free in a limited version to gain customer interest; if the customer enjoyed the software and found it useful, they could pay the author of the software for the full unlimited version. Shareware games were distributed through typical Shareware channels, such as Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes) or in-store kiosks.

With the advent of commercial game "demos" that can be freely downloaded over the web, Shareware has been virtually eliminated as a software business model (although it gave some small companies their start, such as id, Epic Megagames, and Apogee).

Shareware is part of the Business Model category.