Is BetterTouchTool or PeaZip better?

Neither clearly leads. BetterTouchTool starts at $12/one-time and PeaZip at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, BetterTouchTool or PeaZip?

PeaZip has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $12/one-time for BetterTouchTool and Free for PeaZip.

Does BetterTouchTool or PeaZip run on more platforms?

BetterTouchTool runs on Mac. PeaZip runs on Windows, Linux, BSD.

Can I use PeaZip for free?

Yes. PeaZip has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BetterTouchTool starts at $12/one-time.

What is BetterTouchTool best used for?

BetterTouchTool is most often used for a power user who wants every trackpad gesture and shortcut on the machine remapped to a specific action, someone with accessibility needs who benefits from remapping input devices away from default behaviour, a user who wants window snapping bundled with much broader system customisation rather than a single-purpose app, someone already on a setapp subscription who wants bettertouchtool included rather than purchased separately. Of those, a power user who wants every trackpad gesture and shortcut on the machine remapped to a specific action and someone with accessibility needs who benefits from remapping input devices away from default behaviour are not what PeaZip is typically brought in for.

What can BetterTouchTool do that PeaZip cannot?

BetterTouchTool covers Gesture customisation, Keyboard shortcut remapping, Window snapping, Touch Bar customisation. PeaZip covers Wide format support, Strong encryption, Secure delete, Checksums and hashes.

Utilities · head to head

BetterTouchTool vs PeaZip

BetterTouchTool

Utilities

Mac gesture, shortcut and automation customisation tool sold as a one-time licence with a lifetime tier

From: $12/one-time
Rated: -

Full review Website

PeaZip

Utilities

Open-source archive manager for Windows and Linux supporting more than two hundred formats

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only PeaZip has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: BetterTouchTool the preferences interface has hundreds of settings across many tabs, so getting one custom gesture working can take longer than with a dedicated single-purpose app.; PeaZip there is no supported macOS build, so any organisation with Mac users has to standardise on something else or maintain two tools.
They diverge on capability: BetterTouchTool covers Gesture customisation, PeaZip covers Wide format support.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BetterTouchTool and PeaZip actually diverge.

Attributes where BetterTouchTool and PeaZip differ
Attribute	BetterTouchTool	PeaZip
Starting price	$12/one-time	Free
Pricing model	One-time purchase	Open source, no licence fee
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Mac	Windows, Linux, BSD

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Utilities).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in BetterTouchTool

Gesture customisation
Keyboard shortcut remapping
Window snapping
Touch Bar customisation
Scripted actions
Floating menus and widgets

Only in PeaZip

Wide format support
Strong encryption
Secure delete
Checksums and hashes
Split and join
Portable builds

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

BetterTouchTool

A power user who wants every trackpad gesture and shortcut on the machine remapped to a specific actionnot PeaZip
Someone with accessibility needs who benefits from remapping input devices away from default behaviournot PeaZip
A user who wants window snapping bundled with much broader system customisation rather than a single-purpose appnot PeaZip
Someone already on a Setapp subscription who wants BetterTouchTool included rather than purchased separatelynot PeaZip

PeaZip

Opening old or unusual archive formats that current tools refusenot BetterTouchTool
Sending encrypted archives outside the organisation with a keyfile as well as a passwordnot BetterTouchTool
Deploying one archiver across Windows and Linux desktops with the same interface and behaviournot BetterTouchTool
Running from a USB stick on machines where software cannot be installednot BetterTouchTool

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BetterTouchTool

The preferences interface has hundreds of settings across many tabs, so getting one custom gesture working can take longer than with a dedicated single-purpose app.
The Standard Licence stops receiving updates after two years unless renewed or upgraded to Lifetime, which is easy to miss and can leave a user on an outdated build.
It is Mac only, offering nothing for a Windows machine in a mixed household.
Because it can intercept almost any input, misconfiguration can make gestures or shortcuts behave unpredictably across different apps, which takes time to debug.
It overlaps in function with several single-purpose tools such as Rectangle for windows or Karabiner-Elements for key remapping, so a new user has to decide whether they want one broad tool or several focused ones.

PeaZip

There is no supported macOS build, so any organisation with Mac users has to standardise on something else or maintain two tools.
It is effectively a single-maintainer project, and for software deployed to every desktop in a company that concentration of risk deserves an explicit decision.
The interface exposes a great many options at once and looks dated next to the system archiver, which generates support questions from non-technical users.
Bundled backend binaries sometimes trigger antivirus heuristics on managed Windows fleets, so deployment usually needs an allowlist entry prepared in advance.
Its own PEA and ARC formats are not readable by other tools, so using them for anything you send externally creates a dependency for the recipient.

Pricing, plan by plan

BetterTouchTool

$12/one-time

Standard Licence$12/one-time
- Free updates for two years
- App keeps working on the last version after that
- Single user licence
Lifetime Licence$24/one-time
- Free updates for as long as the app exists
- Single user licence
- Also available bundled through Setapp

PeaZip

Free

PeaZipFree
- LGPLv3 licensed
- Commercial use permitted
- All formats and encryption features included

Which should you pick?

Choose BetterTouchTool if

You need gesture customisation.
You work on Mac.
You also want keyboard shortcut remapping.

BetterTouchTool review

Choose PeaZip if

You need wide format support.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Windows, Linux, BSD.
You also want strong encryption.

PeaZip review

Questions people ask

Is BetterTouchTool or PeaZip better?: Neither clearly leads. BetterTouchTool starts at $12/one-time and PeaZip at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BetterTouchTool or PeaZip?: PeaZip has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $12/one-time for BetterTouchTool and Free for PeaZip.
Does BetterTouchTool or PeaZip run on more platforms?: BetterTouchTool runs on Mac. PeaZip runs on Windows, Linux, BSD.
Can I use PeaZip for free?: Yes. PeaZip has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BetterTouchTool starts at $12/one-time.
What is BetterTouchTool best used for?: BetterTouchTool is most often used for a power user who wants every trackpad gesture and shortcut on the machine remapped to a specific action, someone with accessibility needs who benefits from remapping input devices away from default behaviour, a user who wants window snapping bundled with much broader system customisation rather than a single-purpose app, someone already on a setapp subscription who wants bettertouchtool included rather than purchased separately. Of those, a power user who wants every trackpad gesture and shortcut on the machine remapped to a specific action and someone with accessibility needs who benefits from remapping input devices away from default behaviour are not what PeaZip is typically brought in for.
What can BetterTouchTool do that PeaZip cannot?: BetterTouchTool covers Gesture customisation, Keyboard shortcut remapping, Window snapping, Touch Bar customisation. PeaZip covers Wide format support, Strong encryption, Secure delete, Checksums and hashes.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BetterTouchTool: Is BetterTouchTool a subscription?

No. It is a one-time purchase, either a Standard Licence with two years of updates or a Lifetime Licence with updates indefinitely.

PeaZip: Is PeaZip free for business use?

Yes. It is LGPLv3 licensed with no personal-use restriction and no paid edition.

BetterTouchTool: Can I get it without buying it directly?

Yes, it is included in the Setapp subscription bundle alongside other Mac utilities.

PeaZip: Does it work on macOS?

No supported build is offered. Mac users need a different archiver.

BetterTouchTool: Does it replace Rectangle or Karabiner-Elements?

It can cover much of what both do, since it includes window snapping and key remapping, but each of those apps is more focused on its single job.

PeaZip: How does it differ from 7-Zip?

It uses similar backends but adds far wider format support, a password manager, keyfile two-factor encryption, secure deletion and a graphical front end that also runs on Linux.

PeaZip: Should I use the PEA format?

Only for your own storage. Nothing else reads it, so anything sent to another party should be 7z or ZIP with AES-256.

BetterTouchTool vs PeaZip

BetterTouchTool

PeaZip

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in BetterTouchTool

Only in PeaZip

What people use each for

BetterTouchTool

PeaZip

Where each one falls short

BetterTouchTool

PeaZip

Pricing, plan by plan

BetterTouchTool

PeaZip

Which should you pick?

Choose BetterTouchTool if

Choose PeaZip if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on BetterTouchTool

More on PeaZip

Keep looking

Other head to heads