ZimIt (.zim archive maker)

Network & Web, Resources

Free
No Download/Install required
No registration

https://zimit.kiwix.org/

This online tool will create the .zim archive of any site for you.

Just provide the site root URL and your mail, and it will soon sent you a link once the archive is done, ready to download.

Advanced settings permit to chose the languages, how images are retrieved and many other settings that could be required if the site to archive relies heavily on dynamically generated content.

Once submitted, you will be redirected to a page indicating the status of your task and its position in the queue, permitting to eventually cancel the task. You do not need to keep that page open as you will receive both that URL and the final download link by email.

Note: unless a very particular reason (missing content, no access), we do not recommend to create a zim archive of a site that has already been archived by the Kiwix team. Save the bandwidth, save the planet, check the Kiwix repository first.

Expert Tip: if you want more control, or bypass size or time limitation, you can create the zim archive yourself, either with a local docker version of “ZimIt” or with “zimwriterfs” that can package local files.

Disciplines: Library science, Education, Digital archiving, Humanitarian work, Journalism.

Free alternative to HTTrack, SingleFile, WebCopy.

ZimIt compared with HTTrack, SingleFile and WebCopy
ZimIt (.zim archive maker)	HTTrack	SingleFile	WebCopy
Output format: A single ZIM file, built by running Browsertrix Crawler to produce WARC files and converting them with warc2zim. The ZIM is meant to be read in a Kiwix reader.	Output format: A local folder that mirrors the site structure, with relative links so it can be browsed offline. Version 3.50 adds WARC output.	Output format: One HTML file per saved page. An optional self-extracting ZIP is also offered, and MHTML and other formats appear in the maintainer comparison.	Output format: A local copy of the site: pages, images and style sheets, with links rewritten to point to the local files.
Handling of dynamic content: The crawl runs in an automated browser, and options such as --waitUntil control page loading.	Handling of dynamic content: The FAQ warns that intensive Java and JavaScript sites may be incomplete, and that generated file names are not always recognized. It follows robots.txt by default.	Handling of dynamic content: The page is saved from the browser as displayed, as an extension or a command-line tool. It targets single pages, not a recursive crawl of a whole site.	Handling of dynamic content: There is no JavaScript parsing, so links generated by scripts may be missed and the copy can be incomplete. It stores what the server returns, not source code.
Licence and openness: Zimit is GPL-3.0 or later. The same engine runs locally from the Docker image ghcr.io/openzim/zimit, with options such as --pageLimit and --workers.	Licence and openness: Free software under the GNU GPL.	Licence and openness: AGPL-3.0, with third-party code under MIT. The author asks to be contacted about licensing for a commercial service or product.	Licence and openness: Free of charge to use, with optional donations. The full licence agreement is linked from the vendor page.
Platform and use: The hosted tool takes a root URL and an email address, queues the task and sends the download link by email. Local use needs Docker.	Platform and use: WinHTTrack for Windows 7 SP1 and later, WebHTTrack for macOS, Linux, Unix and BSD. Release 3.50-5 is listed on the project site.	Platform and use: Extensions exist for Chrome, Firefox (desktop and mobile), Edge, Safari, Vivaldi, Brave, Waterfox, Yandex browser and Opera. A separate CLI is maintained.	Platform and use: Windows only, with Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6 required. The most recent feature post on the vendor site dates from March 2024.

Topics covered: ZIM archive, online tool, site root URL, email notification, advanced settings, language selection, image retrieval, dynamically generated content, task status, queue position, Kiwix repository, bandwidth conservation, local docker version, zimwriterfs, file packaging, content access, expert control ISO 26300, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 19115, and ISO 15489..