# BetterZip review (2026): is it worth $35? > Mac archive tool for creating, browsing and extracting files Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. BetterZip is an archive utility for macOS from the independent developer MacItBetter. It creates archives in formats such as ZIP, 7-Zip, TAR and ISO, opens more than 30 formats, and lets you change files inside an archive without extracting it first. Version 6 adds icon and column views and a built-in image viewer. - **Category:** Desktop Utilities - **Made by:** MacItBetter - **Website:** https://macitbetter.com - **Runs on:** macOS - **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you use Windows or Linux, as it is Mac only. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, BetterZip is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $35 one-time. - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 30-day full-featured trial. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | BetterZip 6 | $35 one-time purchase | Personal use covers up to five household Macs; commercial use needs one license per Mac. | Read from https://macitbetter.com/buy/ on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with BetterZip before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Also sold through Setapp** (Other savings): The buy page says BetterZip is also available on Setapp, a subscription with a selection of Mac apps. Source: https://macitbetter.com/buy/ ## Key features - **Edit inside archives:** Add, delete, rename and edit files in place; changes made in an external app are saved back to the archive. - **Wide format support:** Creates ZIP, DMG, TAR, 7-Zip, XAR and ISO archives, and RAR through an external command-line tool. Opens over 30 formats. - **AES-256 encryption:** Encrypts archives and keeps archive passwords in a built-in encrypted password manager. - **Presets and filters:** Presets store format, destination and rules; filters skip files such as .DS_Store by name, path, size or age. - **Finder integration:** Adds a Finder menu, toolbar button and Share extension, and a Spotlight importer indexes file names inside archives. - **Automation:** Presets can run from Shortcuts, workflows or the command line, with optional shell or AppleScript steps. ## Good for - Mac users who handle many archive formats - People who want a one-time purchase instead of a subscription ## Worth knowing - Requires macOS 13.5 or later and has no Windows or Linux version. - Creating RAR archives depends on a separate command-line utility. - Upgrades from older major versions cost $15 to $25; commercial use needs one license per Mac. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.6 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. BetterZip is a Mac archiver that lets you look inside and edit archives. It costs $35 once, runs on macOS 13.5 or later, and making RAR archives needs a separate command-line tool. - **Value for money: A.** $35 once, under a year of the utilities middle subscription at $3.33 a month, with a 30-day trial. - **Free plan and trial: C.** 30-day full-featured trial of a download, and no card or account on record, but no free plan. - **Features: C.** Archive editing, wide format support and AES-256 encryption, but creating RAR archives depends on a separate utility. - **Ease of use: B.** No store rating on record, but it is a program you install and start using with nothing to set up. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Mac only, needing macOS 13.5 or later, with no Windows or Linux version. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from BetterZip's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among desktop utilities - BetterZip's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 35 of the 96 other desktop utilities we grade, and level with 25. - It stands best on value for money (A, above 24 of 96) and worst on features (C, above 1). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/utilities ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** It depends on the utility: a converter or a calculator is an afternoon. You could make the core of BetterZip for yourself: file compression. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. At $35, paid once, it costs less than the weekend it would take to replace, which is the argument for keeping it. - You could make: File compression: an app builder makes this well. - You could not: A file manager working directly on your disk. - You could not: A real app for macOS. Something home-made would be a web page. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Finder, Spotlight, Shortcuts, Automator **Tags:** File compression, One-time purchase, File management ## Alternatives - [Keka](https://toolgpa.com/tools/keka): File archiver for macOS and iOS with drag-and-drop compression. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/betterzip-vs-keka) - [The Unarchiver](https://toolgpa.com/tools/the-unarchiver): Free Mac app that opens RAR, 7z, Zip and many older archives. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/betterzip-vs-the-unarchiver) - [7-Zip](https://toolgpa.com/tools/7-zip): Free, open-source file archiver with the 7z format. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/7-zip-vs-betterzip) - [PeaZip](https://toolgpa.com/tools/peazip): Free file archiver for Linux, macOS and Windows. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/betterzip-vs-peazip) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://macitbetter.com - https://macitbetter.com/buy/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/betterzip Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).