# Alternatives to The Unarchiver

Extracts everything on macOS.

The Unarchiver ranks #8 of 8 in Compression tools, with an Alt Score of 30. It is free from Free and available on macOS. 2 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/the-unarchiver/
Category: Compression tools

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Mac users who regularly download or receive archives in formats macOS's built-in Archive Utility can't open, such as RAR, 7z, or older/regional archive types.
- **What you get**: Extraction support for a much wider range of formats than the native tool, including Zip, Zipx, RAR, 7z, Tar, Gzip, Bzip2, LZMA, XZ, ISO/BIN disc images, CAB, DEB, RPM, and many legacy formats via libxad. It handles multi-part/multi-volume archives, password-protected files, and non-Latin filename encodings that often trip up other extractors. It's free, with no paid tiers or in-app purchases.
- **How it works**: Double-click an archive to extract it, or set The Unarchiver as the default handler via Finder's Get Info > Open With > Change All so it takes over from Archive Utility for supported formats going forward.

## Profile

- **License**: ?
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Platforms**: macOS

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [PeaZip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/peazip.md) | 100 | LGPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 2 | [7-Zip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/7-zip.md) | 90 | LGPL-2.1 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 3 | [Bandizip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/bandizip.md) | 90 | Proprietary | Windows |
| 4 | [NanaZip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nanazip.md) | 70 | MIT | Windows |
| 5 | [WinRAR](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/winrar.md) | 70 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android |
| 6 | [WinZip](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/winzip.md) | 70 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 7 | [Keka](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/keka.md) | 50 | ? | macOS |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Compression tools checklist | The Unarchiver | PeaZip | 7-Zip | Bandizip | NanaZip | WinRAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Free | Free | Freemium | Donationware | One-time |
| Starts at | Free | Free | Free | $30 | Free | €29.95 |
| License | ? | LGPL-3.0 | LGPL-2.1 | Proprietary | MIT | Proprietary |
| Platforms | macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows | Windows | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android |
| Format support (7z, rar, zip) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Compression ratio | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Encryption (AES-256) | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Split archives | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Context-menu integration | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Open source | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Free for commercial use | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Repair damaged archives | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Speed | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for The Unarchiver. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://macpaw.com/the-unarchiver> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “The Unarchiver | Top Free Unarchiving Software for macOS”
- **Starts at**: Free — <https://macpaw.com/the-unarchiver> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “The Unarchiver | Top Free Unarchiving Software for macOS”
- **Platforms**: macOS — <https://theunarchiver.com/command-line> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “The Unarchiver is a macOS app, but the underlying unarchiving code can run on other OSes, too.”
- **Format support (7z, rar, zip)**: Yes — <https://macpaw.com/the-unarchiver> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: macpaw.com/the-unarchiver also states full 7z support ('7z Full 7z All common compression methods are supported') and zip support.
  - Quote: “The Unarchiver is the world's favorite RAR opener for Mac.”
- **Split archives**: Yes — <https://macpaw.com/the-unarchiver> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Split files Basic Split files Can join files named”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/