How to zip and unzip files on your Mac
Zip a folder or unzip a file on a Mac with Finder's Compress and a double-click, make a tar.gz in Terminal, or do all of it with Koi's Shift wheel.
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What The Unarchiver does, and what it doesn't
The Unarchiver by MacPaw is a free Mac app that opens archives the Mac can't open on its own. Per its site, it handles RAR, including locked and split archives, 7z, zip with AES encryption, tar, gzip, bzip2, xz, CAB, ISO and numbered split files like .001. It's free with no in-app purchases on the Mac App Store, and runs on macOS 10.13 or later. The current version there, 4.3.9, is from March 2025.
What it doesn't do is in the name. Neither its site nor its App Store page mentions making archives, so you can open a RAR but not create a 7z. They don't mention looking inside an archive before you extract it, either.
We make Koi, so read this with that in mind. Koi opens the same everyday formats from a drag and packs folders into zips, but it doesn't open password-locked archives, so it's third below, not first. Every fact about another app comes from its own site or its Mac App Store page, checked October 21, 2026. We didn't run tests or benchmarks.
Why switch
Why people look for The Unarchiver alternative
- You need to make archives too: a 7z, an encrypted zip, or a big file split in parts.
- You want to see what's inside before extracting, or take out one file.
- Look-alike apps with similar names on the App Store make it easy to grab the wrong one.
- You'd rather not open another app at all for a zip or a RAR.
If all you do is open RARs and 7z files, including locked ones, The Unarchiver is free and fine. Stay on it. The picks below are for when you need more.
The picks
The best The Unarchiver alternatives for Mac in 2026
1. Keka
Best for: Making and opening archives, 7z and encryption included
Keka makes 7z, zip, tar, gzip, bzip2, xz, lzip, DMG, ISO, Brotli, Zstandard and more, and opens 33 formats, RAR among them. It encrypts 7z with AES-256 and splits archives into pieces, per its site.
It's free to download from its site, or $6.49 on the Mac App Store, which supports development; the two are the same app. It runs on macOS 10.10 or later. Weakness: a zip it makes uses the older Zip 2.0 encryption; AES-256 is for 7z only. More in Keka alternatives.
2. BetterZip 6
Best for: Looking inside archives before you extract, paid once
BetterZip 6 shows what's inside an archive without extracting it, with a full-screen viewer for image archives and comics. It makes zip, 7z, DMG, tar, XAR, ISO and more, encrypts with AES-256, and makes RAR if you install the separate RAR command-line tool. Its Quick Look extension is free for everyone, per its site.
It's $35 once, with a 30-day trial, and on Setapp. Version 6 needs macOS 13.5 or later; 5.4.2 stays for older Macs. Weakness: $35 is a lot if you only open a RAR once a month.
3. Koi
Best for: Unzipping, opening 7z and RAR, and zipping folders from a drag
Start dragging a .zip, .tar, .tar.gz, .gz, .tar.bz2, .tar.xz, .7z or .rar and hold Shift, and a wheel opens round your pointer. Drop it on Extract and it unpacks into a folder named after it, beside it. Drop it on ZIP, TAR or GZIP instead to repack the same files, so a RAR becomes a zip anyone can open. Drag a folder, or several files, and the wheel packs them into one archive. Drag several archives at once and each one is done.
It runs on your Mac with macOS's own bsdtar, and nothing inside is opened or run. Before writing anything, Koi refuses an archive with a file leading out of its folder, more than 100,000 files, or more than 20 GB unpacked, and what it unpacks keeps the downloaded mark, so macOS still checks an app from it before it runs.
Koi needs a plan: Pro is $20 a month or $192 a year after a 3-day trial that needs a card, or Lifetime, paid once, from $59. The Shift wheel is one part of Koi, which also types what you say in any app. Weakness: a password-locked archive is left alone, with a note pointing you to Archive Utility, and Koi can't make 7z or RAR.
4. Archiver 5
Best for: A polished archiver on the newest macOS
Archiver 5 by Mapache Softworks opens RAR, zip, 7z and more, makes archives with AES-256 encryption, previews with Quick Look, and splits archives into parts. It's $26 on its site and on Setapp. Weakness: it needs macOS 26 Tahoe.
5. PeaZip
Best for: A free, open source archiver with a lot of formats
PeaZip is open source under the LGPLv3, with a macOS build for Apple silicon and Intel. It opens over 200 formats and makes about 10, including 7z, zip, tar and Zstandard, per its site. Weakness: making RAR needs WinRAR, and it looks and feels like a cross-platform app, not a Mac one.
6. Archive Utility and Finder (built in)
Best for: Plain zips, with nothing to install
Double-click a .zip and the Mac unzips it. Control-click a file or folder and choose Compress to make a .zip, or “Archive.zip” for several, per Apple's guide. It's free. Weakness: Finder makes zips only, and Apple's guide doesn't mention RAR.
The Unarchiver
Open a RAR with The Unarchiver
- Get The Unarchiver from the Mac App Store. It's free, by MacPaw.
- Control-click the .rar or .7z, choose Open With, then The Unarchiver.
- If it asks, type the archive's password. The files land in a folder beside it.
With Koi
Open a RAR or 7z with Koi
- Start dragging the archive in Finder or on your desktop.
- While you hold it, press Shift. The archive wheel opens round your pointer.
- Drop it on Extract. It unpacks into a folder named after it, beside it, and shows in Finder.
To turn it into a zip, drop it on ZIP instead. Full steps in our guide to opening 7z and RAR files on a Mac, and more on the Shift wheel.
Comparison
The Unarchiver vs the alternatives
From each app's own site, Mac App Store page or Apple's guide.
| Opens RAR and 7z | Makes archives | Passwords | Look inside first | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Unarchiver | Yes | Not listed | Opens locked ones | Not listed | Free |
| Koi | Yes | ZIP, TAR, GZIP | No | No | $20 a month, or Lifetime, $59 for the first 25 buyers, rising to $199 |
| Keka | Yes | 7z, zip and 12 more | AES-256 for 7z | Not listed | Free, or $6.49 on the App Store |
| BetterZip 6 | Yes | Zip, 7z, DMG and more | AES-256 | Yes | $35 once |
| Archiver 5 | Yes | Yes | AES-256 | Quick Look | $26 |
| PeaZip | Yes | 7z, zip and about 8 more | Not listed | Not listed | Free |
| Finder | Zip | Zip only | Not listed | No | Free |
Head to head
The Unarchiver vs Koi
For opening, they cover the same common formats, and The Unarchiver goes further: it opens locked RARs, split RARs and many rarer formats, and it's free. If that's your job, keep it.
Koi adds the other direction. It turns a RAR or 7z into a zip, packs a folder into a zip or tar.gz, and does it from the same drag you'd use anyway, with checks against archives that try to write outside their folder. The same wheel also compresses PDFs, converts Word files and edits photos and videos, and Koi does a lot more than files: dictation in any app, call recording and a calendar.
Stay on The Unarchiver if
- You open password-locked archives. Koi leaves them alone.
- You open split RARs or rarer formats like CAB or ISO.
- Opening archives is all you need, and you want it free.
- You're on a Mac older than macOS 14, which Koi needs.
Formats
Zip, 7z or RAR: which should you send?
If you're sending files to someone else, send a zip. Every Mac opens one with a double-click and Finder makes one with Compress, per Apple's guide, so nobody needs an extra app. A 7z or a RAR is what you get from other people, often from Windows, and that's when you need The Unarchiver, Keka or Koi.
With Koi you can do both in one move: drop a RAR or 7z on ZIP and the same files come back as a zip beside it, ready to forward. A tar.gz is common for code and Linux downloads; Koi opens it with Extract and makes one with GZIP. If the files need a password, use Keka, BetterZip or Archiver, because Koi doesn't make or open locked archives.
Choosing
Which The Unarchiver alternative should you pick?
- Make 7z and encrypted archives for free? Keka.
- Look inside before extracting, paid once? BetterZip 6.
- Open RAR and 7z, and zip folders, from a drag on your Mac? Koi.
- On macOS 26 and want a polished app? Archiver 5.
- Free and open source? PeaZip.
See Koi's plans.
Keep exploring
How to open 7z and RAR files on your Mac
Open a 7z or RAR file on a Mac: Terminal's tar, Shortcuts, Archive Utility, The Unarchiver or Keka, or drag it onto Koi's Extract. Turn a RAR into a zip, too.
The best Keka alternatives for Mac
Keka alternatives for Mac compared: BetterZip 6, Archiver 5, The Unarchiver, PeaZip, Koi, Finder and 7-Zip. Making 7z, opening RAR, encryption and prices.
Drag a file. Hold Shift.
Drag any file on your Mac and hold Shift: crop a photo, edit a video, merge or compress a PDF, convert files or unzip. Tap Shift on the desktop for dark mode.
Support
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The Unarchiver by MacPaw is free on the Mac App Store, with no in-app purchases. Check it's MacPaw's, because several apps have similar names.
Its site and App Store page describe opening archives only. To make 7z, zip or encrypted archives, use Keka, BetterZip or Archiver; Koi makes zip, tar and tar.gz.
No. Koi leaves a password-locked archive alone and points you to Archive Utility. The Unarchiver opens locked RARs and zips.
With Koi, drag the RAR with Shift held and drop it on ZIP; the same files are repacked as a zip beside it. Or extract it with The Unarchiver, then use Finder's Compress on the folder.