Alternatives to Bandizip
Fast archiver for Windows and macOS with strong Unicode handling. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Bandizip
Fast archiver for Windows and macOS with strong Unicode handling.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Bandizip.
7-Zip
The small, free archiver that opens practically every archive format and compresses better than ZIP.
7-Zip is free and open source under LGPL-2.1 with no ads, but its graphical app is Windows only and its interface is dated.
PeaZip
A cross-platform archive manager that reads over two hundred formats and has a real file manager built in.
PeaZip is free, open source and native on Windows, macOS and Linux, reading over 200 formats with a built-in file manager, though its interface is busier.
WinRAR
The archiver that created the RAR format, sold as shareware whose trial has never really expired.
WinRAR is paid and closed source but can create RAR archives with recovery records; its graphical version runs on Windows only.
NanaZip
A 7-Zip fork that adds the Windows 11 right-click menu and ships through the Microsoft Store.
NanaZip is a free, MIT-licensed 7-Zip fork for Windows 10 and 11 with Windows 11 context menu support, but it has no macOS version.
Keka
macOS file archiver for 7z, ZIP, TAR and more, with password protection.
Keka is a free, GPL-3.0 macOS archiver with encrypted and split archives and Dock drag-and-drop, but it cannot create RAR archives and lacks Windows support.
WinZip
A commercial archiver for Windows and Mac that zips, unzips, encrypts and shares files.
WinZip is a paid commercial archiver for Windows and Mac with built-in encryption and backup, which must be bought after a 21-day trial.
PowerArchiver
A commercial archive manager for Windows and macOS that opens over 60 formats and encrypts archives.
PowerArchiver is a paid archiver for Windows and macOS that opens over 60 formats, adds AES-256 encryption and a command-line edition for automation.
BetterZip
A macOS archive utility for opening, editing and creating ZIP, RAR, 7z, TAR and DMG files.
BetterZip is a paid macOS utility that edits archives in place and integrates with Quick Look and Spotlight, but it has no Windows version.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Bandizip as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
7-Zip-zstd
Build of 7-Zip that adds Zstandard, Brotli, LZ4, LZ5 and Fast-LZMA2 compression.
Bandizip offers multi-core compression on Windows and macOS with strong Unicode handling, but it is closed source and its free edition shows advertisements.
Archiver
A macOS app for extracting, creating, previewing and encrypting RAR, Zip, 7z and other archives.
Bandizip is a freemium archiver for macOS and Windows with multi-core compression and strong Unicode handling, but its free edition shows ads and withholds features.
Explzh
A Windows archiver for LZH, ZIP, CAB, RAR, 7z and tar with Explorer integration and ZIP repair.
Bandizip also handles non-Latin filenames correctly and runs on Windows and macOS, but its free edition shows ads and withholds some features.
The Unarchiver
macOS extractor that opens archive formats Finder cannot.
Bandizip also handles non-Latin filenames well and can create archives on macOS and Windows, but its free edition shows ads and withholds features.
Zipware
A freeware Windows archiver that extracts ZIP, RAR, 7z and many other formats and creates ZIP and 7z archives.
Bandizip adds strong Unicode filename handling, multi-core compression and a macOS version, but its free edition shows ads and withholds some features.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
ouch
Command-line tool that compresses and extracts archives without format-specific flags.
