Everyone wants to compress their data to send it over or to save space on disk. And the tool most used for this purpose is WinZip.
WinZip is a zip tool used to compress large files and decompress all major and minor files and folders without investing much time and effort. The formats supported by it are almost all like ZIP, CAB, RAR, GZIP, TAR. Apart from converting them, you can also share and save them on Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, email, and more for future use.
But it just lacks one quality and that is not repairing a corrupted file with a message “Unexpected end of Archive”. This drawback is not appreciated by users because their data gets lost and they again hassle to get it from backup or the main source and here the need for a free WinZip alternative arises.
To curb this issue, there are various other options available in the market which provide the same feature, and some allow users to get even more for free. One such alternative is Ashampoo Zip Free which is a great tool to compress files. It supports various formats with AES encryption to protect data.
Below we will discuss the top 10 best free WinZip alternatives which will ease your work and will replace WinZip. These all-free WinZip alternatives have unique features which will add value to your time.
List of 10 free alternatives for WinZip are listed below: –
1. Ashampoo Zip Free
It is a user-friendly tool used for ZIP compression. You can seamlessly view files in its integrated preview facility. The graphical interface is easy to use and users get accustomed to it easily.
Features:
- Formats supported for creating and extracting are RAR all versions, CAB, LHA 7-ZIP, TAR
- Extracting format supported RAR, ZIPX, ARJ, ARC, ACE, MSI, NSIS, CHM, DMG, RPM, CPIO, VHD, XAR, LZMA, LZH, SquashFS, CramFS, Z, ZOO, WIM plus ISO (ISO9660 and UDF
- Repairs corrupt or broken zip files
- Create powerful SFX – Self Extracting Archives
- Unlimited size of archive
- Can be integrated with Windows explorer
- Available for Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, 10
- Integration is available with Windows server edition and Windows Explorer Shell, both 32bit and 64bit.
- AES encryption with 256-bit strength
Cons:-
- System with ARM processor not supported
- Program license needs to be verified at regular intervals
- Needs internet connection to activate the program
Cost: – This is free to use software
2. WinRAR
This is a multilingual tool available in 50 languages. It is the only tool that works with Unicode and works with both 32 and 64 bits.
Features: –
- Supported formats for compression(RAR, ZIP, CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZip, UUE, ISO, BZIP2, Z, and 7-Zip).
- Automatically selects the best compression method with a special compression algorithm
- You can split archives into separate volumes to save them on several disks
- Security of 256-bit password encryption
- Best for several industries like Legal, Government, Finance, Education, eDiscovery and Forensics, Healthcare, Developers
Cost: – Trial available for 40 days thereafter $29 for one computer
3. Bandizip
It is an ultrafast tool that is supported on Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10 (32bit/64bit/ARM64). It has various features which are available free of cost and with paid edition some amazing features like a Password Manager, Password recovery, Antimalware scan on the archive, etc are available.
Features: –
- Supports Extraction of more than 30+ formats, including RAR/RAR5/7Z/ZIP
- Multi-core provides fast compression
- Secure archive with a password and multi-volume
- Compression/decompression/browsing/editing Archiver all available in one tool
- File integrity check looks for damaged archive
- Explorer shell menu integration
- Supports Code-page change features
Cost: – Available for free with various features but additional features are available with a professional license with no advertisements for $30.
4. 7-zip
This open-source file compression tool is available in 87 languages and supports Windows 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP / 2019 / 2016 / 2012 / 2008 / 2003 / 2000.
Features: –
- Windows shell integration
- File manager
- Command-line version
- It can self-extract 7z format
- AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
- Excellent comparison ratio
Cost: – Available free of cost
5. PowerArchiver
With this amazing software, you can encrypt and decrypt any type of file or folder. This tool automatically encrypts and compresses files in MS Office XP-2016. The attention seeker feature of the tool is it can compress.PA format (Advanced Codec Pack)
Features: –
- It is secured by FIPS 140-2 validated 256-bit AES encryption
- Power archiver toolbox supports over 60 compression formats.
- As many as 6 cloud software services can be used without installing them
- Virtual ISO Drive
- Backup option available
Cost: – Standard for $22.95
Toolbox for $49.95
Professional for $34.95
6. Nxpowerlite
This tool is a file compressor for Windows which is best used to compress the size of your PDF, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF files. It is compatible with Windows 7 and above with 32 and 64 bits both.
Features: –
- MSI file for easy installation on multiple desktops without the requirement for user interaction.
- No need for NXPowerLite to open compressed files
- Outlook or Lotus Notes emails are automatically compressed
- Can compress as many as 1000 files at the same time
- Explorer integration
Cost: – 4 days free trial after that $48
7. PeaZip
It is a file archiver utility that opens and extracts 200+ archive formats. It is an ad-free software that has got Open Source LGPLv3 license. Because of an ad-free feature, you can concentrate on your work without any distraction.
Features: –
- In Windows, it does not need installation- you can simply extract and use the application
- Search duplicate files
- Archive can be split into multiple files
- Data is secured by AES, Twofish, Serpent encryption
Cost: – It is free of cost software that is available for all platforms like Windows, Linux, Mac, Android.
8. B1 Free Archiver
It is a user-friendly file archiver that is available for all the platforms like Windows, Mac, Android, Linux. Because it is available on all the platforms it is among the first choices of users. It supports several formats therefore makes it an easy tool to convert almost anything.
Features: –
- Privacy protected by 256-bit AES standards
- Supports as many as 40 formats like: – b1, zip, rar, rar5, 7z, jar, xpi, arj, bz2, bzip2, tbz2, tbz, txz, cab, chm, chi, chq, chw, hxs, hxi, hxr, hxq, hxw, lit, cpio, deb, gz, gzip, tgz, tpz, hfs, iso, lzh, lha, lzma, rpm, tar, xar, z, taz, xz, dmg, cb7, cbr, cbt, cbz.
- Integrity check with Adler-32 algorithm
Cost: – It is free of cost software
9. Hamster Zip Archiver 4
This great Zip Archiver offers 2 times faster comparison ratio. It has great features that are too free of cost that will make you fall for it. Specially designed for beginners it has a simple interface.
Features: –
- Password protection to files
- Support ZIP, RAR, TAR, 7Z files
- Archives can be uploaded on the cloud
- Archives can be shared with friends via a link
Cost: – It is available free of cost
10. jZip
This is the best software for beginners and home users. It is a powerful compression utility tool secured by 7-Zip archiving technology by Igor Pavlov. Because of its features, it is used by both enterprises and home users.
Features: –
- Support extracting data from ISO and RAR files
- Supports formats like TAR, GZip, 7-Zip
- Offers improved compression ratio
Cost: – Available free of cost
Conclusion: –
Users are habitual of using WinZip which is the most downloaded tool. To compress our files conveniently, there are many free tools available in the market other than WinZip. We have accumulated the best tool above for you so that you can pick the best which suits your needs. But we recommend Ashampoo Zip free based on user reviews and product specification.
Download and use the product which suits your needs and share your experience in the comment section below. If this post helped you, share it with your friends and family and help them as well.
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