Today, a computer is an essential gadget that every business and individual must have. This powerful tool offers so many benefits and features such as DVD burning and file compression.
Arguably, file compression is one of the most important computers features that everyone loves to use. Sometimes, sending a file over the internet is not as secure as you think.
As a business owner, you have to be concerned about cybersecurity and how to secure your files. This is why security experts recommended compression and encryption before sending the files.
When you compress a file, you are actually trying to reduce its size. Also, you will be able to make your file secure as you email the file over the internet. However, if you mistakenly deleted a file, you will need a file recovery software to be able to get the file back.
Used by millions of users, the two most popular tools to compress or decompress files are WinZip and WinRAR. However, there are so many archiving or file compression tools out there to use. Luckily, each of these tools has its own functions and capabilities.
WinZip and WinRAR alternative tools to get
There are several WinZip and WinRAR alternative tools out there that you can download. You can download WinRAR archiver and most of the other great tools for free online. However, there are also paid tools that offer premium features.
So, it all depends on what you want and the size of your pocket. Most of these tools can provide the same features as WinZip or WinRAR, but there are some tools that can arguably provide even better features. Below are some of the best WinZip and WinRAR alternative tools that you can get right now:
#1]. PeaZip
PeaZip is one of the best WinZip and WinRAR alternative tools out there that you can download. It’s a powerful open-source tool and it’s completely free to download and use.
You can easily encrypt data and create multi-volume archives with PeaZip. Also, the tool lets you work with multiple archives simultaneously, export a job as a command line, and install filters on the archive contents.
It can add powerful encryption to files, adding complete protection from prying eyes. PeaZip supports Pea’s own archive format (with support for compression, multi-volume archives, and flexible encryption and integrity control) and other formats, using external programs and libraries for many of them. It supports all popular formats, such as 7z, XZ, BZ2, ZIP, RAR, TAR and GZ.
Main features of PeaZip
- Supports 7Z, 7Z-sfx, ARC / WRC, BZ2 / TBZ2, custom, GZ / TGZ, PAQ / LPAQ, PEA, QUAD / BALZ, split, TAR, UPX, ZIP
- Opens: ACE, ARJ, CAB, CHM, COMPOUND, CPIO, ISO, Java (JAR, EAR, WAR), Linux (DEB, PET / PUP, RPM, SLP), LHA / LZH, LZMA, Mac (DMG / HFS), NSIS, Open Office files, PAK / PK3 / PK4, RAR, SMZIP, U3P, UDF, WIM, XAR, XPI, Z / TZ
- Support for searching the contents of the archive
- Bookmarks for archives and folders
- Encryption using the AES 256 algorithm
- Reliable deletion of files
- The generator of passwords and keys
#2]. ExtractNow
ExtractNow is another great WinZip and WinRAR alternative tool you can download for your everyday use. It’s a simple utility that lets you extract multiple archives quickly and easily. This simple application is designed to extract files from archives. However, it is not a complete archival solution.
The tool allows the simultaneous unpacking of several archives with one click and it works with almost all existing archive formats. Also, it lets you view the information inside the files without actually extracting it to the PC hard drive.
Main features of ExtractNow
- Synchronous unpacking of a large number of files
- Unpacking archives with one click of the mouse from Explorer
- Unpacking archives by dragging them into the main application window
- Support for ZIP, RAR, IMG, IMA, IMZ, ISO, BIN, 7Z, ACE, JAR, LHA, SIT, GZ, LZH
- Search in folders and archives
- Ability to delete archives after unpacking
- Extract files to a user-assigned or current folder
- Work in “overall windows” mode
- Use masks to automatically distribute the extracted files to folders
- Unpack passworded archives using text files with a list of keys
- Integration of program commands in almost all OS context menus
- Display of data without direct decompression
- Excluding files from the list intended for unpacking
- Support for the lightweight scripting language Lua
- Support for multiple interface languages
#3]. TUGZip
TUGZip is another powerful free file archiving program that runs on the Windows operating system. TUGZip supports a wide range of compressed and coded files and it can also work with disk images. All operations are performed through a simple, TUGZip-integrated Windows interface.
Main features of TUGZip
- Supports ZIP, 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, BH, BZ2, CAB, CPIO, DEB, GCA, GZ, IMP, JAR, LHA (LZH), LIB, RAR, RPM, SQX, TAR, TGZ, TBZ, TAZ, YZ1 and ZOO
- Supports for plug-ins and disk images BIN, C2D, IMG, ISO and NRG
- Integration into Windows Explorer, for example, drag&drop, context menu
- Creation of archives 7-ZIP, BH, BZ2, CAB, JAR, LHA (LZH), SQX, TAR, TGZ, YZ1, and ZIP
- Support for scripts, which allows automatic creation of backup copies
- Main functions: add, unzip, delete, rename, start, view
- Repair corrupted ZIP and SQX files
- Can unzip several archives as one using Multi Extract
- Encrypts archives using six possible algorithms: Blowfish (128-bit), DES (56-bit), Triple DES (168-bit), and Rijndael (128-bit, 192-bit, and 256-bit)
- Creates self-extracting archives
- Automatic updates
- Support for different interface languages
#4]. Hamster Free Zip Archiver
Hamster Free Zip Archiver is another free WinZip and WinRAR alternative tool you can download for your everyday use. The tool has a unique compression method that offers amazing compression ratio and 2 times faster compression.
It’s a simple but powerful tool. You can select the compression level as you please and also add password protection.
It supports all the popular compression formats, like 7z, RAR, ZIP, TAR, XZ, and others. This tool can also integrate with cloud services to save and share files over the internet.
#5]. Bandizip
Still looking for a free WinZip and WinRAR alternative tool you can download? You can also try Bandizip by Bandisoft. This is a powerful free archiving tool that has been around since 2009. It’s a clean and completely free tool that comes without any kind of adware or malware.
Bandizip supports multi-core compression and it lets you scan files for viruses before opening. It’s one of the favourite tools for high-end computer users as it provides faster and better compression.
This tool supports all the popular compression formats out there today. Also, you can easily add powerful encryptions such as AES 256 and ZipCrypto for premium protection.
Great list! I prefer using Winrar, but PeaZip is a close second for me. Happy to see it make your list. It’s an amazing tool that I fully recommend to everyone.
This is a great list of tools. By creating awareness of opensource software and freeways to the readers would really guide them in a good way.
RAR file is used to store other files inside,it is a compressed folder if you want to open RAR files then you have to UNRAR it you need to download it from the internet using a free tool.