# Free Alternative to BetterZip Published January 1, 2026 · Updated August 10, 2026 The best free alternative to BetterZip ($25) is Keka, which is open source. Install it with: `brew install --cask keka`. ## Why I Finally Stopped Paying for BetterZip Mac users have a weird relationship with file compression. Apple gives us the built-in Archive Utility. It unzips standard files perfectly fine. Then someone emails you a password-protected RAR archive. You double-click it. Nothing happens. That exact moment is how MacItBetter sells BetterZip licenses. BetterZip 6 costs $35 one-time (BetterZip 5 was about $25 / $24.95). It lets you peek inside archives without extracting them. It handles weird formats like TAR and TGZ. It integrates nicely with Finder. I paid for earlier versions years ago. I kept paying for upgrades. But $35 still feels steep for a utility that mostly handles file formats from 2004. People start looking around when the upgrade prompts hit. The Mac software ecosystem has shifted heavily toward subscriptions. BetterZip has stuck to a paid-upfront model, which I respect. Yet the app itself still feels familiar from older macOS eras even as BetterZip 6 adds icon and column views, slideshow browsing, and stronger automation. There is also the reality of modern computing. We share links now. We use Dropbox or iCloud. The need to split a 4GB video file into fifty 100MB ZIP chunks is mostly dead. You just send a link. Paying a premium for advanced archive splitting feels unnecessary for most people. I spent the last three weeks testing free archive managers on an M3 MacBook Pro. I threw everything at them. Corrupted ZIPs. Massive 50GB TAR files. Encrypted 7z archives. I wanted to see if any free tool could actually replace the convenience of BetterZip. The built-in Quick Look plugin is the hardest thing to give up. Being able to hit the spacebar and see what is inside a ZIP file saves hours over a year. Most free tools force you to extract the whole thing just to find one PDF. I dug through GitHub repositories and Homebrew casks to find better options. Some are open-source projects maintained by one person. Others are free versions of paid apps. A few are command-line tools that run circles around graphical apps. One honesty check for 2026: the PeaZip Homebrew cask is gone, so if you want CLI 7-Zip power on Mac, prefer brew install p7zip (or the official sevenzip formula) rather than hunting a missing cask. You do not have to pay $35 to open a RAR file in 2026. Here is what I found during my testing. ## Free alternatives 1. [Keka](https://bundl.run/apps/keka) — File archiver for macOS `brew install --cask keka` 2. [The Unarchiver](https://bundl.run/apps/the-unarchiver) — Unpacks archive files like ZIP, RAR, and more `brew install --cask the-unarchiver` ## Verdict I learned that paying for archive software is mostly obsolete. BetterZip had a great run, and BetterZip 6 is still polished at $35 one-time. The free tools have caught up for everyday work. You might have to sacrifice a tiny bit of interface polish. The actual extraction engines in these free apps are identical to the paid ones. Keka 1.6.7 handles everything I need for daily work. MacZip is there when I need to preview things quickly. For terminal users, brew install p7zip replaces the missing PeaZip cask. You can keep your $35. ## FAQ ### Why can't my Mac open a RAR file out of the box? Apple never licensed the RAR algorithm from Alexander Roshal. They built ZIP support directly into macOS years ago. RAR is proprietary technology. You need third-party software to decode it. The built-in Archive Utility simply does not know how to read the file headers of a RAR document. ### How do I password protect a ZIP file on Mac without buying software? You can use Keka. Open Keka's preferences. Type a password into the main window. Drop your files onto the Keka icon. It will create an encrypted ZIP file. You can also use the Mac Terminal by typing 'zip -er archive.zip folder/'. The terminal will prompt you to enter a password twice. ### Is Keka actually free if the App Store charges for it? Yes. The developer offers the exact same version on the Keka website for free. The App Store version costs a few dollars. This acts as a donation to support the project. You get identical features regardless of where you download it. ### What is the difference between ZIP and 7Z formats? ZIP is an older standard. It is universally supported on almost every operating system. 7Z is a newer format created by Igor Pavlov. It uses the LZMA algorithm. 7Z files are usually much smaller than ZIP files. The downside is that older computers might need special software to open 7Z files. ### Can I view inside a ZIP without extracting it on a Mac? Apple's default tools do not allow this. You must extract the file first. BetterZip offered this via Quick Look. If you want this feature for free, you should install MacZip. It includes a Quick Look plugin that lets you hit the spacebar to preview archive contents. ### Is The Unarchiver safe to use? Yes. MacPaw owns it now. They are a reputable Mac development company. The app does not transmit your files to external servers. It processes everything locally on your machine. It has been a standard Mac utility for over a decade. ### Why do some ZIP files extract as CPGZ files? This happens when Apple's Archive Utility encounters a corrupted ZIP file. It gets confused. It tries to compress the broken ZIP file into a CPGZ file. When you extract the CPGZ, it gives you the ZIP back. This is an endless loop. Use Keka or p7zip / 7-Zip to force the extraction. ### How do I split a large file into smaller ZIPs? Open Keka. Go to the main window. Look for the 'Split' dropdown menu. Select the size you want for each chunk. Drop your large file onto the Keka icon. It will generate multiple files ending in .z01, .z02, and so on. ### Does Apple's Archive Utility support AES-256 encryption? No. The built-in Mac utility uses very old, weak encryption if you force it via Terminal. It cannot create modern AES-256 encrypted archives through the graphical interface. You need a tool like Keka or MacZip to secure your files properly. ### Why does my Windows friend see a __MACOSX folder in my ZIPs? Macs create hidden files to store icon data and folder preferences. These are called resource forks. macOS hides them. Windows shows them. To avoid confusing PC users, use Keka. Go to its preferences and check the box labeled 'Exclude Mac resource forks'. ## Sources - [BetterZip 6 — MacItBetter](https://macitbetter.com/) - [Buy BetterZip 6 – $35](https://macitbetter.com/buy/) - [Keka Official Website](https://www.keka.io/) - [The Unarchiver Official Site](https://theunarchiver.com/) - [PeaZip Official Site](https://peazip.github.io/) - [p7zip Homebrew Formula](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/p7zip) - [7-Zip Official Site](https://www.7-zip.org/) - [MacZip Official Site](https://maczip.ezip.aero/) - [Homebrew Cask — Keka](https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/keka) - [Homebrew Cask — The Unarchiver](https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/the-unarchiver) ## Related - [Keka vs The Unarchiver](https://bundl.run/compare/keka-vs-the-unarchiver) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://bundl.run/#organization", "name": "Bundl.run", "url": "https://bundl.run", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://bundl.run/og-image.png", "width": 1200, "height": 630 }, "description": "The Ninite for Mac. 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