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Our free online archive converter supports popular formats including ZIP, 7Z, RAR, TAR, TAR.GZ, and GZ. All conversions are performed directly in your browser using WebAssembly technology, ensuring your files remain private and secure.
Whether you need to convert archives for cross-platform compatibility, reduce file size with better compression, or extract files from proprietary formats, our tool makes it easy and fast.
Archive formats bundle multiple files into a single container, usually with compression to reduce the total size. Different formats use different compression algorithms, offer varying levels of encryption support, and work better on different operating systems. Understanding these differences helps you choose the right format for file sharing, backups, and distribution.
ZIP is the most universally supported archive format. Created in 1989, it is natively supported by Windows, macOS, and most Linux file managers without any additional software. ZIP compresses each file individually within the archive, which means you can extract a single file without decompressing the entire archive. The tradeoff is that individual-file compression achieves a lower compression ratio than solid compression methods used by 7z. ZIP supports AES-256 encryption for password protection, though the older ZipCrypto encryption (still the default in many tools) is considered weak by modern standards.
7z is an open-source format created by Igor Pavlov in 1999. It uses the LZMA and LZMA2 compression algorithms, which typically achieve 30-70% better compression ratios than ZIP on text-heavy and binary files. 7z supports solid compression, where multiple files are compressed together as a single data stream, yielding even higher compression when archiving many similar files. It also supports AES-256 encryption that covers both file contents and file names (ZIP only encrypts contents). The main limitation is that 7z requires third-party software on Windows and macOS, though the free 7-Zip application is widely available.
RAR is a proprietary format created by Eugene Roshal. It offers compression ratios between ZIP and 7z, with strong support for error recovery records that can repair corrupted archives. RAR also supports solid compression, split archives (spanning a large archive across multiple smaller files), and AES-256 encryption. The major drawback is that creating RAR archives requires licensed software (WinRAR), though many free tools can extract them. RAR remains popular for large file distribution because of its recovery records and reliable multi-part archive support.
TAR.GZ is the standard archive format in the Unix and Linux world. It combines two tools: TAR (Tape Archive) bundles files into a single uncompressed container while preserving Unix file permissions, ownership, and symbolic links, and GZIP then compresses the entire TAR file. This two-step approach means the entire archive must be decompressed to access any single file, but it achieves good compression ratios and is the default format for distributing source code, Linux packages, and server backups. Every Linux and macOS system can handle TAR.GZ natively, and Windows supports it through tools like 7-Zip or WSL.
The core difference between archive formats is the compression algorithm. ZIP uses DEFLATE, a fast algorithm that balances speed and compression ratio. 7z uses LZMA/LZMA2, which compresses more aggressively but requires more memory and processing time. GZIP also uses DEFLATE but applies it to a single data stream (the TAR archive) rather than individual files, which can improve compression when files contain redundant data. Brotli and Zstandard (ZSTD) are newer algorithms appearing in some tools, offering better compression-to-speed ratios than DEFLATE but with less universal format support.
| Format | Compression Ratio | Speed | Encryption | Platform Support | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZIP | Good | Fast | AES-256, ZipCrypto | Universal (native on all OS) | General sharing, email attachments |
| 7z | Excellent | Slower (higher compression) | AES-256 (includes filenames) | Requires 7-Zip or compatible tool | Maximum compression, large backups |
| RAR | Very Good | Moderate | AES-256 | Extract widely supported; creation needs WinRAR | Large file distribution, error recovery |
| TAR.GZ | Good | Fast | None (use GPG separately) | Native on Linux/macOS; 7-Zip on Windows | Source code, Linux packages, server backups |
| TAR | None (no compression) | Very Fast | None | Native on Linux/macOS | Bundling files without compression |
| GZ (Gzip) | Good | Fast | None | Native on Linux/macOS | Compressing single files, web assets |
Use ZIP. It is the only archive format that every recipient can open without installing additional software. Windows, macOS, and most Linux file managers extract ZIP files natively. Keep the archive under 25 MB for email attachments (most providers' limit) and consider splitting larger archives into multiple ZIPs.
Use 7z with LZMA2 compression. It consistently produces the smallest archives, especially for text files, source code, and documents. Enable solid compression for even better results when archiving many similar files. The compression takes longer, but the space savings are significant for large datasets and backups.
Use TAR.GZ for Linux and open-source projects. It is the standard format for source code distribution and preserves Unix file permissions, which are important for build scripts and executables. Use ZIP if your audience is primarily on Windows.
Use 7z with AES-256 encryption. Unlike ZIP, 7z encrypts file names in addition to file contents, so an attacker cannot even see what files are inside the archive without the password. Avoid ZIP's legacy ZipCrypto encryption, which is trivially broken by modern tools. If you must use ZIP, ensure your archiver uses AES-256 mode.
Use RAR with recovery records enabled. RAR is the only major format with built-in error recovery, allowing damaged archives to be repaired. This is valuable when transferring large archives over unreliable networks or storing them on aging media. Set the recovery record to 3-10% of the archive size for a good balance between protection and overhead.
7z with LZMA2 compression generally achieves the highest compression ratios. In benchmarks on mixed file types, 7z archives are typically 10-30% smaller than equivalent ZIP files and 5-15% smaller than RAR. The advantage is even greater with solid compression enabled on archives containing many similar files, such as source code repositories or document collections. The tradeoff is that 7z compression is slower and uses more memory than ZIP.
ZIP uses the DEFLATE algorithm and compresses each file individually, making it fast and allowing selective file extraction. 7z uses LZMA2 and supports solid compression, where files are compressed together for better ratios. ZIP is universally supported without extra software, while 7z requires a third-party tool like 7-Zip. 7z also encrypts file names (not just contents) and generally achieves smaller archive sizes. Choose ZIP for compatibility and 7z for maximum compression or stronger encryption.
Yes. While creating RAR archives requires the paid WinRAR software, extracting RAR files is free with many tools. 7-Zip (Windows, Linux), The Unarchiver (macOS), PeaZip (cross-platform), and many other open-source utilities can open and extract RAR files at no cost. Most Linux distributions include RAR extraction support in their default file managers. Our browser-based tool can also convert RAR archives to other formats without any software installation.
It depends on your use case. TAR.GZ preserves Unix file permissions and symbolic links, making it essential for Linux software distribution and server backups. It also tends to compress slightly better than ZIP on large archives because GZIP compresses the entire TAR stream rather than individual files. However, ZIP is more convenient for everyday use: it is universally supported without extra software, allows extracting individual files without decompressing the whole archive, and supports encryption natively. For cross-platform sharing, ZIP wins. For Linux and server workflows, TAR.GZ wins.
Browser-based archive tools use JavaScript and WebAssembly to read, decompress, and recompress files entirely within your web browser. When you upload an archive, the browser reads it into memory, decompresses it using the appropriate algorithm (DEFLATE for ZIP, LZMA for 7z, etc.), and then recompresses the contents into the target format. Your files never leave your device or travel to a server. The performance depends on your device's CPU and available memory, so very large archives (over 1-2 GB) may be slower than desktop tools. For most common file sizes, browser-based compression performs comparably to native software.