GNU Gzip vs Zstandard: catalog facts
 GNU Gzip |  Zstandard |
|---|
|
Free Free software from the GNU Project. |
Free Free and open source, dual licensed BSD or GPLv2. |
|
Linux, Command line |
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line |
- Available on nearly every Unix-like system
- The .gz format is read almost everywhere
|
- 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
|
- Compresses single files or streams, not multi-file archives
- Lower compression ratio than xz, zstd or lzip
|
- 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: GPL-3.0-or-later |
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.
Copy comparison link
