Ark vs File Roller

Ark8.5Visit FRFile Roller8.4Visit

Higher score Ark #6 in File Compression Software 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 5 features Visit KDE

vs

FR File Roller #7 in File Compression Software 8.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 5 features Visit File Roller

• Ark fits best

  Open-source Linux archive management

• File Roller fits best

  Linux users wanting a capable graphical archiver

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Side by side

Feature	Ark 8.5/10 Visit ↗	FRFile Roller 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.5	8.4
Ranking	#6 in File Compression Software	#7 in File Compression Software
Best for	Open-source Linux archive management	Linux users wanting a capable graphical archiver
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platforms	Linux, Windows	Linux
Integrations	1 integrations	3 integrations
Features Ark 3/5 · File Roller 3/5
Archive encryption	✓	✓
Split archives	✓	✓
Command-line tools	✓	✓
Portable version	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Archive repair	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Archive formats	tar, gzip, bzip2, zip, rar, 7z, xz, rpm, cab, deb, xar, AppImage	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
Supported platforms	Linux, Windows	Linux
Our review
Pros	Creates, extracts, and modifies archives across many formats Supports encryption, split archives, and integrity testing Offers batch mode and Dolphin file manager integration	Supports a broad range of archive and compressed-file formats Creates, modifies, extracts, and inspects archive contents Offers encryption, multivolume archives, and command-line opening
Cons	Some format support depends on installed command-line utilities Batch mode requires working outside the graphical interface Integrity testing does not provide archive repair	Available for Linux desktop environments Feature availability depends on installed utilities and libraries Relies on external archiving programs such as tar and zip
Our verdict	Ark is KDE’s graphical archive manager for creating, viewing, extracting, and modifying compressed archives. It is free and open source, with support for Linux and Windows. Its format coverage includes tar, gzip, bzip2, ZIP, RAR, 7z, XZ,… Read the review →	File Roller is a graphical archive manager for the GNOME desktop environment, designed for Linux users who want to create, inspect, modify, and extract archives through a desktop interface. It can display archive contents, open files… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Ark — where it wins

  • Creates, extracts, and modifies archives across many formats
  • Supports encryption, split archives, and integrity testing
  • Offers batch mode and Dolphin file manager integration

  Where it doesn't

  • Some format support depends on installed command-line utilities
  • Batch mode requires working outside the graphical interface
  • Integrity testing does not provide archive repair

• File Roller — where it wins

  • Supports a broad range of archive and compressed-file formats
  • Creates, modifies, extracts, and inspects archive contents
  • Offers encryption, multivolume archives, and command-line opening

  Where it doesn't

  • Available for Linux desktop environments
  • Feature availability depends on installed utilities and libraries
  • Relies on external archiving programs such as tar and zip

• Ark8.5/10 · Free plan

  A capable free archive manager with broad format support and useful batch operations.

  Visit KDEFull verdict →
• FRFile Roller8.4/10 · Free plan

  A capable open-source graphical archiver with broad format and archive-management support.

  Visit File RollerFull verdict →