Software:Comparison of file archivers

Short description: General and technical information for a number of file archivers

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of file archivers. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. They are neither all-inclusive nor are some entries necessarily up to date. Unless otherwise specified in the footnotes section, comparisons are based on the stable versions—without add-ons, extensions or external programs.

General information

Basic general information about the archivers.

Legend:
  Free/no cost   Paid   Cost depends
  Open source (licenses)   Proprietary

File archivers	Developer	Initial release	Platform	Latest release version	Latest release date	Status	License	Cost (United States dollar )
7-Zip	Igor Pavlov	1999-01-02	Cross-platform			Active	LGPL-2.1-or-later (RAR plugin is proprietary)	No cost
ALZip	ESTsoft	1999	Cross-platform			Active	Proprietary	No cost
Archive Manager (File Roller)	Paolo Bacchilega	2001-05-12	Cross-platform			Active	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
Archive Utility	Apple Inc.	2003-10-24	macOS			Active	Proprietary	Bundled
Ark	KDE team	1997	Cross-platform			Active	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
B1 Free Archiver	Adam Buyer	2011-08	Cross-platform	(Android), (Linux), (macOS), (Windows)	(Android), (Linux), (macOS), (Windows)	Active	Proprietary	No cost
Bandizip	Bandisoft	2011-08	Windows	7.32 (Windows), 7.25 (macOS),	2023-09-14 (Windows), 2023-08-17 (macOS),	Active	Proprietary	Standard at no cost. $30 Pro Pack. $21.99 (macOS)
BetterZip	MacItBetter	2006-05	macOS			Active	Proprietary	$29.95 USD
Commander One	Eltima Software	2015-08-04	macOS			Active	Proprietary	Standard at no cost. $29.95 Pro Pack.
Compressed Folders	Microsoft Inc.	1998-06-25	Windows	Windows 8.1	2013-08-27	Active	Proprietary	Bundled
Disk ARchiver	Denis Corbin	2002	Cross-platform			Active	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
Expander	Haiku, Inc.	2002	Haiku			Active	MIT	No cost
Filzip	Philipp Engel	Unknown	Windows			Inactive	Proprietary	No cost
FreeArc	Bulat Ziganshin	2007-11-01	Cross-platform			Active	GPL-2.0-only	No cost
iArchiver	Dare to be Creative Ltd.	2007-10-21	macOS	1.4.1	2008-10-30	Inactive	Proprietary	$26
Info-ZIP (Wzip)	Samuel Smith	1989-03	Cross-platform	6.0	2009-04-29	Active	Info-Zip	No cost
KGB Archiver	Tomasz Pawlak	2006-04-01	Cross-platform			Inactive	GPL-2.0-only	No cost
PeaZip	Giorgio Tani	2006-04-19	Cross-platform			Active	LGPL-3.0-or-later	No cost
PKZIP	Phil Katz	1989	Cross-platform	12.4	2009-09	Active	Proprietary	$29.00
PowerArchiver	ConexWare	1999-03	macOS	(macOS), (Windows)	(macOS), (Windows)	Active	Proprietary	$22.95
StuffIt	Smith Micro Software	1987	Cross-platform	15.0.7	2011-12-01	Inactive	Proprietary	$49.99 Deluxe. $79.99 French Deluxe. Windows: $14.99 Standard. $29.99 Deluxe. $49.99 French (or German) Deluxe. No cost for expander.
TAR	AT&T	1979, 1987 (pdtar), 1997 (star)	Cross-platform	3.5.2 (BSD tar), (GNU tar), 1.6.0 (star)	2021-08-23 (BSD tar), (GNU tar), 2019-04-15 (star)	Active	BSD-2-Clause (BSD tar), GPL-3.0-or-later (GNU tar), public domain (pdtar), CDDL-1.0 (star)	No cost
The Unarchiver	Circlesoft	2006-07-01	Cross-platform			Active	Proprietary	No cost
Terse	IBM	1984-07-01				Active	Proprietary	No cost
TUGZip	Christian Kindahl	2002-08-18	Windows			Inactive	Proprietary	No cost
WinAce	e-merge GmbH	Unknown	Windows			Inactive	Proprietary	$29.00 Standard. $39.00 Plus. No cost for expander.
WinRAR	Eugene Roshal Alexander Roshal	1993	Cross-platform			Active	Proprietary	$29. No cost for expander.
WinZip	WinZip Computing, Inc	1991	Cross-platform	(Android), (iOS), (macOS), (Windows)	(Android), (iOS), (macOS), (Windows)	Active	Proprietary	$29.95 Standard. $49.95 Pro.
XAD (XADMaster.library)	Dirk Stoecker	1998	Cross-platform	13.1		Active	Proprietary	Shareware No cost for non-commercial use.
Xarchiver	Giuseppe Torelli	Unknown	Cross-platform			Inactive	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
ZipGenius	Matteo Riso of M.Dev Software	2003-05	Windows			Active	Proprietary	No cost
ZipZip.pro	Anatoly Zolotov	2023-03	Web	1.0	2023-03-01	Active	Proprietary	No cost
ZPAQ	Matt Mahoney	2009-03	Cross-platform			Active	Public domain MIT	No cost
File archivers	Developer	Initial release	Platform	Latest release version	Latest release date	Status	License	Cost (United States dollar )

Notes:

Operating system support

The operating systems the archivers can run on without emulation or compatibility layer. Ubuntu's own GUI Archive manager, for example, can open and create many archive formats (including Rar archives) even to the extent of splitting into parts and encryption and ability to be read by the native program. This is presumably a "compatibility layer."

File archivers	Windows	DOS	macOS	Linux	BSD	Other Unix	AmigaOS	Android	Windows Mobile	Windows Phone
7-Zip	Yes	Command-line interface	Yes	Command-line interface	Command-line interface	Command-line interface	Command-line interface	No	Yes	No
ALZip	Yes	Command-line interface	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ALZip for Mac	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Archive Manager	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Archive Utility	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Ark	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
B1 Free Archiver	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
BetterZip	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
bsdtar/libarchive	Yes, bundled	No	Yes, bundled	Yes	Yes, bundled	Yes	Partial	Unknown	Unknown	No
Commander One	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Disk ARchiver	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Filzip	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
FreeArc	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
GNU tar	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
iArchiver	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	?
Info-ZIP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
KGB Archiver	Yes	Partial	Command-line interface	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Unknown	?
PeaZip	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	?
PKZIP	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	?
PowerArchiver	Yes	Unknown	Yes	No	No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	?
Star	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	?
StuffIt	Yes	Unknown	Yes	X86 only, older version (5.2.0?)	No	older version (5.2.0?)	No	Unknown	Unknown	?
The Unarchiver	Command-line interface	No	Yes	Command-line interface	No	No	No	Unknown	No	?
TUGZip	Yes	Unknown	No	No	No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	?
WinAce	Yes	Command-line interface	Command-line interface expander only	X86, Command-line interface expander only	No	No	Command-line interface expander only	Unknown	Unknown	?
WinRAR and RAR	Yes	Yes	Command-line interface	X86 and x86-64, Command-line interface	Command-line interface	Command-line interface	Command-line interface expander only	Yes	Yes	?
WinZip	Yes	Command-line interface	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	?
XAD	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	?
Xarchiver	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	?
ZipGenius	Yes	Unknown	No	No	No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	?
ZipZip.pro	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	?
ZPAQ	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	?
	Windows	DOS	macOS	Linux	BSD	Unix	AmigaOS	Android	Windows Mobile	Windows Phone

Notes:

Archiver features

Information about what common archiver features are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons).

File archivers	Data compression	Shell integration	Password protection	Multiple volumes	Self extraction	File repairing	Batch conversion	Unicode file / directory names	Encryption	Filename Encryption
7-Zip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ALZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Unknown	Unknown
Archive Manager	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Archive Utility	Yes	Yes	No	Unknown	No	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown
ARJ	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Ark	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
B1 Free Archiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BetterZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
bsdtar/libarchive	non-tar formats	Yes	zip	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	7z, zip, rar	7z, zip, rar
Commander One	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes for 7z
Disk ARchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Filzip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
FreeArc	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
GNU tar	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Separate	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown
iArchiver	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Unknown	Unknown
Info-ZIP	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	ZipCrypto (weak) and AES	No
KGB Archiver	Yes	Not enabled by default	Yes	Unknown	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown
PeaZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PKZIP	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Separate	Separate	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown
PowerArchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
StuffIt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown
The Unarchiver	No	some formats	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown
TUGZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Unknown
WinAce	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Unknown
WinRAR and RAR	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
WinZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XAD	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Xarchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
ZipGenius	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	Yes	No	Unknown	Unknown
ZipZip.pro	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
ZPAQ	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Unknown
	Data compression	Shell integration	Password protection	Multiple volumes	Self extraction	File repairing	Batch conversion	Unicode file / directory names	Encryption	Filename Encryption

Notes:

Archive format support

Reading

Information about what archive formats the archivers can read. External links lead to information about support in future versions of the archiver or extensions that provide such functionality. Note that gzip, bzip2 and xz are compression formats rather than archive formats.

File archivers	ZIP	TAR	GZ	BZ/BZ2	7z	XZ	RAR	LHA/LZH	ACE	SIT	SITX	ARJ	KGB	DAR	ARC	CAB	ALZ	ISO/CD Image	ZPAQ
7-Zip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
ALZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
TAR	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Archive Utility	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Ark	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
B1 Free Archiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
BetterZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
bsdtar/libarchive	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
cpio	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Commander One	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Disk ARchiver	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Filzip	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
FreeArc	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
GNU tar	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
iArchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Info-ZIP	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
KGB Archiver	Yes	No	No	No	No	Unknown	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
PeaZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
PKZIP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
PowerArchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Star	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
StuffIt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
The Unarchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
TUGZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
WinAce	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
WinRAR	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
WinZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
XAD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Xarchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
ZipGenius	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
ZipZip.pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
	ZIP	TAR	GZ	BZ/BZ2	7z	XZ	RAR	LHA/LZH	ACE	SIT	SITX	ARJ	KGB	DAR	ARC	CAB	ALZ	ISO/CD Image	ZPAQ

Notes:

Writing

Information about what archive formats the archivers can write and create. External links lead to information about support in future versions of the archiver or extensions that provide such functionality. Note that gzip, bzip2 and xz are compression formats rather than archive formats.

File archivers	ZIP	TAR	GZ	BZ2	7z	XZ	RAR	LHA/LZH	ACE	SIT	SITX	ARJ	KGB	DAR	ARC	CAB	ALZ	ISO/CD Image	ZPAQ	Special
7-Zip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ALZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Unknown	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	No
Archive Manager	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	No	No
Archive Utility	Yes	No	No	No	No	Unknown	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Ark	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
B1 Free Archiver	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BetterZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
bsdtar/libarchive	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Commander One	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Disk ARchiver	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Filzip	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Unknown	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	No
FreeArc	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
GNU tar	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
iArchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Info-ZIP	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
KGB Archiver	Yes	No	No	No	No	Unknown	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	No
PeaZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
PKZIP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Unknown	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	No
PowerArchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	.bh (BlakHole) by ZipTV
Star	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
StuffIt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Unknown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	No
TUGZip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Unknown	No
WinAce	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Unknown	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	Yes	No
WinRAR	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
WinZip	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	ZIPx
Xarchiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	No
ZipGenius	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Unknown	Yes	No	No	No
ZipZip.pro	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
	ZIP	TAR	GZ	BZ2	7z	XZ	RAR	LHA/LZH	ACE	SIT	SITX	ARJ	KGB	DAR	ARC	CAB	ALZ	ISO/CD Image	ZPAQ	Special

Notes:

1. ^ Tar implementations call the external programs gzip and bzip2, 7z, xz, ... to perform compression; these external programs usually come with systems that contain tar.
2. ^ Requires rar.exe from WinRAR.
3. ^ Requires external program(if you are using WinZip 11.1 or earlier).
4. ^ Requires Ace32.exe from WinAce.
5. ^ The Extractor and XAD are not included in this list because they only expand archives.
6. ^ ALZip can also write to the following formats: BH, JAR, and LZH
7. ^ Updating archives is not supported.
8. ^ Requires external program.
9. ^ Stuffit supported file formats
10. ^ Ark is a front-end only and requires appropriate command-line programs be installed. Programs like bzip2, gzip, tar, zip usually come with systems that contain Ark; writing in .rar format requires a commercial program.
11. ^ Xarchiver is a front-end only and requires appropriate command-line programs be installed. Programs like bzip2, gzip, tar, zip usually come with systems that contain Xarchiver; writing in .rar format requires a commercial program.
12. ^ Archive Manager (previously known as "File Roller") is a front-end only and requires appropriate command-line programs be installed. Programs like bzip2, gzip, tar, zip usually come with systems that contain Archive Manager. writing in .rar format requires a commercial program.
13. ^ If there are more than one, files must be grouped in a .tar before being compressed.
14. ^ supports the formats as stream compression of other archive format and can create compressed format like tar.bz2 or iso.xz but cannot create an archive in these formats
15. ^ it is possible to open war and jar files to extract e add/replace file; files war and jar are still valid after that
16. ^ it require console rar.exe, and the path to it -- specified in Options . it can be taken from WinRAR software . PowerArchiever also doesn't support separate definition of the Dictionary Size and Compression Method .

Uncommon archive format support

PeaZip has full support for Brotli, Zstandard, various LPAQ and PAQ formats, QUAD / BALZ / BCM (highly efficient ROLZ based compressors), FreeArc format, and for its native PEA format.

7-Zip includes read support for .msi, cpio and xar, plus Apple's dmg/HFS disk images and the deb/.rpm package distribution formats; beta versions (9.07 onwards) have full support for the LZMA2-compressed .xz format.

See also

• Comparison of archive formats
• Lossless compression benchmarks
• Comparison of file systems
• List of archive formats
• List of file systems

Further reading

• Maximum Compression site benchmarking compressors for several filetypes (text, executable, jpeg etc.).
• Kingsley G. Morse Jr., "Compression Tools Compared", Linux Journal, issue 137, September 2005
• Patrick Schmid, Achim Roos, (March 10, 2010) "Four Compression And Archiving Solutions Compared", Tom's Hardware