What is the Difference Between ZIP and RAR?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚ZIP and RAR are both archive file formats used for storing multiple files into a single container, but they have some key differences:
- Standard vs. Proprietary: ZIP is a standard file format that can be easily used with various types of implementations, while RAR is a proprietary file format that requires third-party software to function on any given system.
- Compression: RAR generally provides better compression than ZIP, especially in the solid mode. However, ZIP is still widely used due to its speed and efficiency.
- Password Protection: ZIP offers password-based protection, while RAR does not.
- File Size Limitations: Both RAR and ZIP formats can handle files of practically unlimited size, but ZIP archives have a 8,589,934,591-byte limit.
- Accessibility: ZIP files can be opened with any program that creates ZIP files, while RAR files require specific software like WinRAR to open and extract the contents of the archive.
- Compression Methods: ZIP files can be compressed or zipped using several methods such as LZMA, WavPack, PPMd, BZIP2, and DEFLATE, while RAR uses its own proprietary compression algorithm.
- Popularity: ZIP is more popular than RAR due to its widespread support and open-source nature.
In summary, ZIP is a standard, widely supported file format with built-in password protection and various compression methods, while RAR is a proprietary format with better compression but limited accessibility and no password protection.
Comparative Table: ZIP vs RAR
Here is a table comparing the differences between ZIP and RAR file formats:
| Characteristic | ZIP | RAR |
|---|---|---|
| Created by | Phil Katz | Eugene Roshal |
| Type | Archive file format, standard | Proprietary archive file format |
| Supported by | Multiple programs (e.g., Winzip, 7-zip) | Requires one specific program (WinRAR) |
| Encryption | Password-based protection | No password-based protection |
| Compression Methods | Deflate, BZIP2, PPMd, WavPack, LZMA | Deflate, LZH, PPMd, Xop, LZMA2 |
| Compression Ratio | Lower than RAR | Higher than ZIP |
| Self-Extracting | Supports self-extracting archives | Not supported |
| File Extensions | .zip, .z01, .z02, etc. | .rar, .rev, .r00, .r01, etc. |
ZIP is a standard archive file format created by Phil Katz in 1989, and it is widely supported by various software utilities, including those built into operating systems. ZIP files can be created using multiple programs like Freebyte Zip, WinZIP, WinRAR, etc., and they provide password-based protection for their content. ZIP files can also be self-extracting, meaning they can contain additional content unrelated to the archive.
On the other hand, RAR is a proprietary archive file format developed by Eugene Roshal, and it requires a third-party tool called WinRAR to create and extract files from the archive. RAR files do not provide password-based protection for their content. RAR files generally have a higher compression ratio than ZIP files and use different compression algorithms.