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bzip3Zstandard
Free

Free to use, with source code published on GitHub.

 Free

Free and open source, dual licensed BSD or GPLv2.

Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
  • Aims for better compression than bzip2
  • Includes cat, grep and less style helper commands
  • Compression close to zlib's ratio at several times the speed, and much faster decompression
  • The format is standardised in RFC 8878 with multiple independent implementations
  • The .bz3 format is less widely supported than gzip or bzip2
  • Command line only
  • A command-line tool with no graphical interface of its own
  • Maximum ratio is below xz or 7z at their slowest settings, which is the trade it makes on…
Downloadable app Downloadable app
Open source Open source
License not stated License: BSD-3-Clause
No account needed No account needed
Works offline Works offline

Checked September 23, 2026

Checked September 21, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.