The Best File Compression Software in 2026
We researched file compression software from official websites, including pricing pages, plan tables, and product documentation. Products are ranked on their core archive-and-extraction capabilities, value for money, and verified features such as format support, encryption, splitting, portability, and command-line access.
Our top picks
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Top ranked
7-Zip#1 of 369.4/10A free, open-source archiver with broad formats, encryption, recovery tools, and cross-platform support.
Free plan
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Runner-up
PeaZip#2 of 369.2/10A capable free archive manager for desktop users who need broad format coverage and file utilities.
Free plan
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Top-ranked free plan
PowerArchiver#3 of 369.0/10A format-rich archive tool for business workflows, automation, and secure file handling.
Free plan · 30-day trial
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
The full ranking 36 tools, best first
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Best forFree cross-platform archiving with broad format support
A free, open-source archiver with broad formats, encryption, recovery tools, and cross-platform support.
- Portable version
- Archive repair
- Split archives
9.4/10★★★★★Visit 7-Zip -
Best forBroad, free desktop archiving
A capable free archive manager for desktop users who need broad format coverage and file utilities.
- Portable version
- Archive repair
- Split archives
9.2/10★★★★★Visit PeaZip -
Best forBusiness archive workflows and integrations
A format-rich archive tool for business workflows, automation, and secure file handling.
- Portable version
- Archive repair
- Split archives
Free plan · 30-day trial Our PowerArchiver verdict → Visit PowerArchiverFor vendors Sponsor this spot · #3 · $79/mo →9.0/10★★★★☆Visit PowerArchiver -
Best forPolished Windows and Mac archiving
A capable cross-platform archiver with encryption, splitting, and a free edition.
- Portable version
- Archive repair
- Split archives
8.8/10★★★★☆Visit Bandizip -
Best forMac and iOS archive handling
A broad-format archive tool for Apple devices with free macOS access.
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
- Command-line tools
8.7/10★★★★☆Visit Keka -
Best forOpen-source Linux archive management
A capable free archive manager with broad format support and useful batch operations.
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
- Command-line tools
8.5/10★★★★☆Visit KDE -
Best forLinux users wanting a capable graphical archiver
A capable open-source graphical archiver with broad format and archive-management support.
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
- Command-line tools
8.4/10★★★★☆Visit File Roller -
Best forFree extraction across many platforms
A free, format-rich extractor with command-line tools but limited verified creation features.
- Archive encryption
- Command-line tools
8.3/10★★★★☆Visit The Unarchiver -
Best forModern free Windows archiving
A free, 7-Zip-derived Windows archiver with broad format support and modern Explorer integration.
- Portable version
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
8.2/10★★★★☆Visit NanaZip -
Best forUnix backups and multi-format tar workflows
A free, capable Unix archiver for backups, pipelines, and multi-format tar work.
- Split archives
- Command-line tools
8.1/10★★★★☆Visit GNU tar -
Best forLightweight Linux archive management
A free, open-source archive manager with broad format support and command-line options.
- Archive encryption
- Command-line tools
8.0/10★★★★☆Visit Xarchiver -
Best forAndroid users needing recovery and RAR support
A free Android archive tool with strong recovery, repair, encryption, and RAR support.
- Archive repair
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
7.9/10★★★★☆Try RAR for Android -
Best forIntegrity-focused lzip compression
Free, integrity-focused .lz compression for command-line archiving.
- Archive repair
- Split archives
- Command-line tools
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit lzip -
Best forBzip2 compression and recovery
A mature, free command-line compressor for bzip formats and software integration.
- Archive repair
- Command-line tools
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit bzip2 -
Best forLinux gzip command-line workflows
A free, focused compressor for Linux command-line and GNU tar workflows.
- Command-line tools
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit GNU Gzip -
Best forLegacy cpio and tar automation
A free, scriptable choice for legacy cpio and tar archive automation.
- Command-line tools
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit GNU cpio -
Best forUsers managing disc-image files
A paid disc-image utility with broad image handling and bootable-media tools.
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit PowerISO -
Best forLossless batch file-size reduction
A focused, free optimizer for reducing supported files without changing formats.
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit FileOptimizer -
Best forMac professionals needing automation and integrations
A capable Mac archive utility for professionals who need automation and advanced archive controls.
- Archive repair
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit BetterZip -
Best forWindows users needing repair and cloud tools
A Windows-focused archive suite with repair, encryption, cloud access, and backup tools.
- Portable version
- Archive repair
- Split archives
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit Ashampoo -
Best forFree multi-platform archive access
A free, multi-platform archiver with broad extraction support and practical archive controls.
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit B1 Archiver -
Best forFree Windows archiving with checksums
A free Windows archiver with broad format support, encryption, splitting, and checksums.
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit Zipware -
Best forWindows users needing split archives
A capable free-for-personal-use Windows archiver with strong split-archive support.
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
- Command-line tools
7.6/10★★★★☆Visit ALZip -
Best forFree Windows archive utility
A capable free Windows archive utility with compression, encryption, repair, and command-line tools.
- Portable version
- Archive repair
- Split archives
7.5/10★★★★☆Visit IZArc -
Best forAndroid archive management
A capable Android archive tool for broad format handling and APK or OBB backups.
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
7.4/10★★★★☆Visit ZArchiver -
Best forCross-platform command-line archiving
A free, open-source CLI archiver with broad format support and encryption.
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
- Command-line tools
7.4/10★★★★☆Visit p7zip -
Best forWindows users extracting unusual packages
A free, open-source Windows extractor for archives and less common package types.
- Portable version
- Command-line tools
7.2/10★★★★☆Visit site -
Best forFast programmable compression
A fast, programmable compressor for developers and infrastructure teams.
- Command-line tools
7.0/10★★★★☆Visit Zstandard -
Best forXZ and LZMA compression pipelines
A focused, free toolkit for .xz, .lzma, raw streams, and LZMA-based development.
- Command-line tools
6.9/10★★★☆☆Visit XZ Utils -
Best forRedundancy-heavy Linux compression
A free, open-source LRZ compressor for large, redundancy-heavy archives.
- Archive encryption
- Command-line tools
6.8/10★★★☆☆Visit lrzip -
Best forBrotli compression and development
A focused, free Brotli toolset for compact data and development workflows.
- Command-line tools
6.7/10★★★☆☆Visit Brotli -
Best forLinux users needing broad format coverage
A Linux archive manager with broad format coverage, encryption, splitting, and CLI support.
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
- Command-line tools
6.6/10★★★☆☆Visit Engrampa -
Best forSimple Windows archive creation
A capable free Windows archiver for common formats, with advertising in the Lite edition.
- Archive encryption
6.5/10★★★☆☆Visit 8 Zip -
Best forExpanding legacy archives on desktop and mobile
A free extractor for legacy archives across Mac, Windows, and iOS.
6.4/10★★★☆☆Try StuffIt Expander -
Best forPDF compression rather than archives
A Windows PDF editor with compression, conversion, signing, and document controls.
6.1/10★★★☆☆Visit WinZip PDF Pro -
Best forWindows users prioritizing RAR repair
A Windows-focused archiver with strong RAR repair, encryption, and archive management.
- Archive repair
- Split archives
- Archive encryption
6.0/10★★★☆☆Visit WinRAR
No tools match those filters.
Compare at a glance
| # | Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Archive formats | Archive encryption | Split archives | Command-line tools | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7-Zip | Yes | Free | Create/extract: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP, WIM; extract: APFS, AR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DMG, EXT, FAT, GPT, HFS, IHEX, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, QCOW2, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, UEFI, VDI, VHD, VHDX, VMDK, XAR, Z | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9.4 |
| 2 | PeaZip | Yes | Free | Creates 7Z, ARC, BZ2, GZ, PAQ/LPAQ/ZPAQ, PEA, QUAD/BALZ/BCM, RAR conditionally, TAR, UPX, WIM, and ZIP/ZIPX; extracts 200+ types | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9.2 |
| 3 | PowerArchiver | Yes | $22.95 one-time | 60+; creates ZIP, ZIPX, 7Z, TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, CAB, BH, JAR; extracts RAR, ACE, ARJ, ISO, MSI, DMG, RPM, CPIO, LHA, ZOO, and more | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9.0 |
| 4 | Bandizip | Yes | $20 one-time | Creates ZIP, 7Z, ZIPX, EXE (SFX), TAR, TGZ, LZH, ISO, GZ, XZ; extracts 7Z, ACE, AES, ALZ, ARJ, BH, BIN, BR, BZ, BZ2, CAB, MSI, DAA, DEB, EGG, GZ, IMG, ISO, ISZ, LHA, LZ, LZH, LZMA, PMA, RAR, RAR5, SFX, TAR, TBZ/TB2, TGZ, TLZ, TXZ, UDF, WIM, XPI, XZ, Z, ZIP, ZIPX, ZPAQ, PEA, UU, UUE, XXE, ASAR, ZSTD, NSIS, LZ4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8.8 |
| 5 | Keka | Yes | Create: 7Z, ZIP, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, LZIP, DMG, ISO, BROTLI, ZSTD, LRZIP, AAR, WIM; extract: 7Z, ZIP, ZIPX, RAR, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, LZIP, DMG, ISO, BROTLI, ZSTD, LRZIP, LZMA, EXE, CAB, WIM, MSI, PAX, JAR, WAR, IPA, XIP, APK, APPX, XPI, WPRESS, IS3, CPGZ, CPIO, CPT, SPK | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8.7 | |
| 6 | Ark | Yes | Free | tar, gzip, bzip2, zip, rar, 7z, xz, rpm, cab, deb, xar, AppImage | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8.5 |
| 7 | File Roller | Yes | Free | 7z, ace, alz, ar, arj, cab, cpio, deb, dmg, iso, jar, ear, war, lha, rar, cbr, rpm, tar, tar.gz, tar.br, tar.bz, tar.bz2, tar.bz3, tar.Z, tar.lrz, tar.lz, tar.lzo, tar.7z, tar.xz, tar.zst, snap, squashfs, sit, zip, cbz, zoo, gz, br, bz, bz2, bz3, Z, lrz, lz, lzo, rz, xz, zst | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8.4 |
| 8 | The Unarchiver | Yes | Free | ZIP, ZIPX, RAR, 7z, TAR, Gzip, Bzip2, LZMA, XZ, CAB, MSI, NSIS, EXE, ISO, BIN, MDF, NRG, CDI, StuffIt, StuffIt X, DiskDoubler, Compact Pro, PackIt, Cpio, Compress, ARJ, ARC, PAK, ACE, Zoo, LZH, ADF, DMS, LZX, PowerPacker, LBR, Squeeze, Crunch, XAR, RPM, DEB, AR, ALZip, WARC, NSA, SAR, NDS, SWF, PDF | Yes | Yes | 8.3 | |
| 9 | NanaZip | Yes | Free | 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP, WIM, APFS, AR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DMG, EXT, FAT, GPT, HFS, IHEX, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, QCOW2, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, UEFI, VDI, VHD, VHDX, VMDK, XAR, Z, Brotli, Lizard, LZ4, LZ5, Zstandard, UFS/UFS2, .NET Single File, Electron ASAR, ROMFS, ZealFS, WASM, CB7, CBZ, CBR | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8.2 |
| 10 | GNU tar | Yes | Free | GNU, old GNU, V7, USTAR, POSIX, star (read-only), gzip, bzip2, xz, lzip, lzma, lzop, zstd, compress | No | Yes | Yes | 8.1 |
| 11 | Xarchiver | Yes | Free | 7z, ARJ, bzip2, gzip, LHA, LZMA, RAR, TAR, TAR.BZ2, TAR.GZ, TAR.LZMA, ZIP, DEB, RPM | Yes | Yes | 8.0 | |
| 12 | RAR for Android | Yes | Create: RAR, ZIP. Extract: RAR, ZIP, ZIPX, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, 7z, ISO, ARJ | Yes | Yes | No | 7.9 | |
| 13 | lzip | Yes | Free | lzip (.lz) | Yes | Yes | 7.9 | |
| 14 | bzip2 | Yes | Free | BZ2 (.bz2), BZ (.bz), TBZ2 (.tbz2), TBZ (.tbz) | No | No | Yes | 7.9 |
| 15 | GNU Gzip | Yes | Free | gzip (.gz); ZIP (single-member DEFLATE extraction); compress (.Z); pack | No | No | Yes | 7.9 |
| 16 | GNU cpio | Yes | Free | binary, old ASCII, new ASCII, crc, HPUX binary, HPUX old ASCII, old tar, POSIX.1 tar | No | Yes | 7.9 | |
| 17 | PowerISO | No | $39.95 one-time | 7.9 | ||||
| 18 | FileOptimizer | Yes | Free | 7.9 | ||||
| 19 | BetterZip | No | $35 one-time | ZIP, TAR, TGZ, TBZ, TXZ, 7-ZIP, DMG, Zstandard, Brotli, RAR; extracts TNEF, ARJ, LZH, ISO, CHM, CAB, CPIO/CPGZ, DEB, RPM, SIT/SITX, BinHex, and MacBinary | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7.9 |
| 20 | Ashampoo ZIP Pro | No | $40 one-time | ZIP, ZIPX, RAR, 7-Zip, TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, TAR.XZ, CAB, LHA, ARJ, ARC, ACE, MSI, NSIS, CHM, DMG, RPM, CPIO, VHD, XAR, LZMA, LZH, SquashFS, CramFS, Z, ZOO, WIM, ISO | Yes | Yes | 7.8 | |
| 21 | B1 Archiver | Yes | Free | Creates B1 and ZIP; extracts more than 40 archive formats | Yes | Yes | 7.7 | |
| 22 | Zipware | Yes | Free | ZIP, ZIPX, 7Z, RAR, RAR5, ISO, VHD, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, CPIO, XZ, DEB, DMG, RPM, XPI, EXE | Yes | Yes | 7.7 | |
| 23 | ALZip | Yes | ALZ, EGG, ZIP, LZH, TAR, JAR; extracts split ALZ, EGG, ZIP, RAR, and ACE archives | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7.6 | |
| 24 | IZArc | Yes | Free | ZIP, 7-Zip, CAB, TAR, BZip2, GZip, LHA, YZ1, RAR | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7.5 |
| 25 | ZArchiver | Yes | Create: 7z, ZIP, BZip2, GZip, XZ, LZ4, TAR, Zstandard; extract: 7z, ZIP, RAR, RAR5, BZip2, GZip, XZ, ISO, TAR, ARJ, CAB, LZH, LHA, LZMA, XAR, TGZ, TBZ, Z, DEB, RPM, ZIPX, MTZ, CHM, DMG, CPIO, CRAMFS, IMG, WIM, ECM, LZIP, Zstandard, EGG, ALZ | Yes | Yes | 7.4 | ||
| 26 | p7zip | Yes | Free | 7z, APFS, APM, AR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DMG, EXT, FAT, GPT, HFS, ISO, LZH, RAR, SquashFS, TAR, WIM, XZ, ZIP, Zstandard | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7.4 |
| 27 | Universal Extractor 2 | Yes | Free | 7z, ACE, ALZ, ARC, ARJ, bzip2, CPIO, gzip, LZH, LZMA, RAR, StuffIt, TAR, XZ, ZIP, ZOO, ZPAQ, and other formats | Yes | 7.2 | ||
| 28 | Zstandard | Yes | Free | .zst, .gz, .xz, .lz4 | No | Yes | 7.0 | |
| 29 | XZ Utils | Yes | Free | .xz, .lzma, raw streams; .lz extraction | No | No | Yes | 6.9 |
| 30 | lrzip | Yes | Free | LRZ; TAR-compressed LRZ via lrztar | Yes | Yes | 6.8 | |
| 31 | Brotli | Yes | Free | Brotli compressed data format (.br) | Yes | 6.7 | ||
| 32 | Engrampa | Free | 7z, ACE, ALZ, AR, ARC, ARJ, CAB, CPIO, DEB, EPUB, ISO, JAR, EAR, WAR, LHA, RAR, CBR, RPM, TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BR, TAR.BZ, TAR.BZ2, TAR.Z, TAR.LRZ, TAR.LZ, TAR.LZO, TAR.7Z, TAR.XZ, BIN, SIT, ZIP, CBZ, ZOO, GZ, BR, BZ, BZ2, Z, LRZ, LZ, LZO, RZ, XZ, ZST | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6.6 | |
| 33 | 8 Zip | Yes | ZIP, 7z, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, RAR, ZipX, ISO, ARJ, CAB, CHM, MSI, NSIS | Yes | 6.5 | |||
| 34 | StuffIt Expander | Yes | Free | Mac: StuffIt, ZIP, RAR, TAR, GZIP, BZIP, and more; Windows: SITX, ZIP, ZIPX, SIT5, RAR; iOS: StuffIt and ZIP | 6.4 | |||
| 35 | WinZip PDF Pro | Yes | 6.1 | |||||
| 36 | WinRAR | No | RAR, ZIP, CAB, ARJ, GZ, TAR, ACR, JAR, ISO, 7Z, XZ | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6.0 |
Head-to-head All 28 comparisons →
- 7-Zip vs PeaZip
- 7-Zip vs PowerArchiver
- 7-Zip vs Bandizip
- 7-Zip vs Keka
- 7-Zip vs Ark
- 7-Zip vs File Roller
- 7-Zip vs The Unarchiver
- PeaZip vs PowerArchiver
- PeaZip vs Bandizip
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How we rank file compression software
Every tool on this page was researched by iTechGuides Editors from its official website — pricing pages, plan tables and product documentation. We rank on how well each one does this category's core job, what the free or entry plan includes, and where it falls short. Where we have enough verified facts, the score out of 10 is a rubric — job fit, value and how much we could verify — shown with its breakdown on every tool's page; a tool we have not verified enough to score yet shows its rank without a number. Scores are re-checked when a product changes its plans. Read the full editorial policy, or submit a tool we missed.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update