Who actually uses it, and how
Five kinds of user, each with a typical setup. Pick your tab.
By user type
Build artifacts, logs, source snapshots. 7z at Normal level halves a typical repo snapshot compared with Zip; tar.zst is fastest for large logs. Bundled 7zz means scripts and CI on Macs can produce archives without another dependency.
Typical setup: default 7z, strip Mac metadata on, split only for release uploads with size caps.
Delivering assets to clients. Zip for compatibility, with .DS_Store and resource forks stripped so Windows-side agencies do not see the __MACOSX folder. Encrypt when the work is under NDA. Split large exports for transfer services with per-file limits.
Typical setup: Zip, Store level for already-compressed media (JPEG, MP4), password on.
Opening what people send you. RAR from a classmate, 7z from a forum, a .exe self-extractor from a vendor. Keka opens them all with a double-click after the one-time default-app step. Email size limits are solved by splitting.
One archiver on every Mac, no license tracking. Notarized DMG, MDM-friendly, open source you can audit, and no cloud component to review for compliance. AES-256 7z is the practical way to hand sensitive files between departments.
Family photos to a USB stick, a folder to a relative, a password-protected copy of tax documents. Drop on the Dock icon, done. The learning curve is one screen.
Fit checklist
- Do you receive RAR or 7z files? Keka opens them; macOS alone does not.
- Do you send files that must be password-protected? AES-256 7z or Zip.
- Do you hit size limits on email or transfer services? Split volumes.
- Do your recipients use Windows? Zip with Mac metadata stripped.
- Do you need to look inside an archive before extracting? Then also consider BetterZip.