PeaZipvs
7-Zip
7-Zip: The default choice for Windows when format breadth and encryption extras are not needed
PeaZip
Open-source archive manager for Windows and Linux supporting more than two hundred formats
As of 31 August 2026, PeaZip is free to use. A free archive manager that reads almost every compression format still in circulation and adds encryption features most archivers do not have. Softwr lists it under Utilities. PeaZip is made by Giorgio Tani, available on Windows, Linux, BSD.
Overview
What PeaZip does
PeaZip is a free and open-source file archiver for Windows and Linux, written in Free Pascal and released under the LGPL. It extracts more than two hundred formats, including obsolete and unusual ones that other tools no longer handle, and creates archives in 7z, ZIP, TAR, GZ, ZSTD, BROTLI, WIM and its own PEA and ARC formats. It uses the same underlying backends as 7-Zip and adds a graphical layer over them, so extraction fidelity for common formats is equivalent while the format coverage is wider. What separates it from the default choice in this category is the security tooling. PeaZip supports AES-256 encrypted archives with an optional keyfile as a second factor, encrypted filename lists so the archive contents are not readable without the password, a password manager for stored credentials, secure file deletion and archive checksum verification with several algorithms in one pass. For anyone sending archives outside the organisation, that combination is the reason to install it rather than accept whatever the operating system provides. The realistic assessment is that this is largely a single-developer project with a dense interface that shows its Pascal heritage. It is genuinely free for commercial use, unlike several other utilities in this category, and it is actively maintained with frequent releases. But there is no supported macOS build, so an organisation with Mac users needs a second tool, and the bundled backend binaries occasionally trip antivirus heuristics on managed Windows fleets, which is an avoidable support call if you deploy it widely.
What people use it for
- Opening old or unusual archive formats that current tools refuse
- Sending encrypted archives outside the organisation with a keyfile as well as a password
- Deploying one archiver across Windows and Linux desktops with the same interface and behaviour
- Running from a USB stick on machines where software cannot be installed
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of PeaZip
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- PeaZipvsFreeFileSync
FreeFileSync: If the real requirement is moving and synchronising files rather than packing them
- PeaZipvsSyncthing
Syncthing: When archives are being used to move data between machines that could sync continuously instead
Pricing
What PeaZip costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
PeaZip
Free
- LGPLv3 licensed
- Commercial use permitted
- All formats and encryption features included
- No paid edition
- Community support via GitHub issues
Capabilities
Features
Wide format support
Extracts more than two hundred archive types, including formats other tools have dropped
Strong encryption
AES-256 with optional keyfile as a second factor and encrypted filename lists
Secure delete
Overwrites files and free space rather than unlinking them, for disposing of source material
Checksums and hashes
Verifies archives with several algorithms in a single pass, including for large file sets
Split and join
Splits archives into volumes for transfer limits and rejoins them without external tools
Portable builds
Runs without installation, which suits locked-down machines and USB toolkits
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is PeaZip free for business use?
Yes. It is LGPLv3 licensed with no personal-use restriction and no paid edition.
Does it work on macOS?
No supported build is offered. Mac users need a different archiver.
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.
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.
Keep looking
Where to go from PeaZip
- PeaZip alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
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- PeaZip badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
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- Best Utilities softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
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Compare PeaZip with
- 7-Zip
- FreeFileSync
- Syncthing
- Everything
- TreeSize
- Kap
- Rectangle
- CrystalDiskInfo
- WinDirStat
- BetterTouchTool
- GParted
- Karabiner-Elements
- Calsense
- Dominos
- McDonalds
- Paste
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for PeaZip, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
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