CAB vs LZMA
A detailed comparison of Windows Cabinet and LZMA Compressed — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.
Windows Cabinet
Archives & CompressedCAB (Cabinet) is a Windows archive format used for software installers.
About CAB filesLZMA Compressed
Archives & CompressedLZMA (Lempel-Ziv-Markov chain Algorithm) is a high-ratio compression algorithm developed by Igor Pavlov for the 7-Zip archiver. It achieves significantly better compression than gzip or bzip2, especially on text and binary data, at the cost of higher memory usage.
About LZMA filesStrengths Comparison
CAB Strengths
- Multi-volume — designed for disk-spanning archives.
- Multiple compression algorithms in one format.
- Native Windows support for 30+ years.
- Authenticode signing integrates with Windows security stack.
- Microsoft-maintained tooling (MAKECAB, EXTRAC32, expand.exe).
LZMA Strengths
- Highest-ratio mainstream compression (beats gzip by 30%).
- Public domain SDK — royalty-free.
- Mature since 1998 with no breaking changes.
- Core of 7z, xz, .tar.xz workflows.
- Multi-threaded LZMA2 scales across CPU cores.
Limitations
CAB Limitations
- Windows-only ecosystem — limited Mac/Linux tooling.
- Proprietary container with partial public documentation.
- Overtaken by MSI (which uses CAB internally) for new installers.
- Compression ratios lag modern formats (zstd, xz).
LZMA Limitations
- Slow compression at highest settings.
- Memory-hungry — 1 GB+ for extreme compression levels.
- Zstandard matches its ratios at less memory cost.
- Raw .lzma files are rare — usually wrapped in .7z, .xz, or .tar.xz.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | CAB | LZMA |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | application/vnd.ms-cab-compressed | application/x-lzma |
| Extension | .cab | — |
| Compression | MSZIP (DEFLATE), Quantum, LZX | — |
| Max volume size | 2 GB per file | — |
| Multi-volume | Yes (split archive spanning) | — |
| Extensions | — | .lzma, .lz |
| Algorithm | — | Lempel-Ziv-Markov chain + range coding |
| Public domain SDK | — | Yes (since 2001) |
| Variants | — | LZMA (original), LZMA2 (multi-threaded, used in xz) |
Typical File Sizes
CAB
- Single driver package 100 KB - 20 MB
- Windows Update patch 1-500 MB
- Service pack archive 200 MB - 2 GB
LZMA
- Text/source archive 15-25% of original
- Linux kernel source (.tar.xz = LZMA2) ~125 MB
- Windows system backup (.lzma) 25-40% of original
Ready to convert?
Convert between CAB and LZMA online, free, and without installing anything. Encrypted upload, automatic deletion after 60 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
CAB (Windows Cabinet) is an archive format used to bundle multiple files and folders into a single compressed file. The archive preserves the directory structure and typically reduces total size via compression. CAB sits in the archives & compressed family and has specific strengths around compression ratio, speed, or platform support.
CAB (Windows Cabinet) is an archive formato used to bundle multiple arquivos e folders em a single comprimido file. The archive preserves the directory structure e tipicamente reduces total size via compressão. CAB sits no archives & comprimido family e has specific strengths around compressão ratio, speed, ou plataforma support.
7-Zip, WinRAR, The Unarchiver (macOS), and the built-in archive utilities on Windows and macOS open most CAB files. For command-line extraction, 7z, unar, or the format-specific tool handles CAB cleanly. If your extractor does not recognise CAB, convert to ZIP first — ZIP opens on every operating system without extra software.
7-Zip, WinRAR, The Unarchiver (macOS), e the built-in archive utilities no Windows e macOS abrir most CAB files. para command-line extraction, 7z, unar, ou the formato-specific tool handles CAB cleanly. If your extractor does not recognise CAB, converter to ZIP first — ZIP opens on every operating system sem extra software.
Upload the CAB to KaijuConverter and pick ZIP, 7Z, TAR.GZ, or RAR as the target. Our pipeline extracts the original archive and re-compresses the contents into the target format. File permissions, timestamps, and directory structure are preserved where both formats support them.
Depends on the goal. ZIP is the universal baseline — every OS extracts it out of the box. Formats like 7Z or TAR.GZ compress better but require specific tools. CAB may win on compression ratio, password support, or OS integration for specific workflows; ZIP wins on raw compatibility.