7-Zip vs WinRAR vs WinZip: Which is Better?

Conclusion

7-Zip is open-source, lightweight, and have the best compression ratio in the .7z format using LZMA/LZMA2. It offers you scripting and encryption features for free. However, some people would find the GUI outdated. Also, it can’t create RAR and ZIPX archives. So, 7-Zip is best for power users, developers, system admins, or anyone looking for open-source tools with high comrpession effeciency.

WinRAR offers a good balance between speed and compression ratio. The RAR and RAR5 formats with solid compression, recovery records, and encryption makes it a good program for professionals. The GUI is much cleaner and intuitive as compared to the 7-Zip. However, the commercial license expires after 40-days and you get a lot of notification to upgrade to the paid plan. WinRAR is best for people who work regularly with RAR files and want reliable error recovery and encryption features.

WinRAR has the best GUI and no overwhelming features to tweak. It simply takes your file or folder and compress it using the most suitable settings automatically. It cloud storage integration makes it best for professional and business applications. The ZIP and ZIPX are known for their performance and security. However, it is a paid software and the trial expires in just 21 days. The compression ratio is lower than both 7-Zip and WinZip. This way, WinRAR becomes the best choice for casual users, business users, and those who need seamless cloud backup, file sharing features.

I hope this helps.