---
id: backports-zstd
version: "1.6.0"
license: PSF-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# backports.zstd — Backport of compression.zstd

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Popularity: top 1,000 on PyPI

## Install

pip install backports-zstd
uv add backports-zstd
poetry add backports-zstd

## Description

<div align="center" size="15px">

# backports.zstd

Backport of [PEP-784 “adding Zstandard to the standard library”][PEP-784]

[![GitHub build status](https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/rogdham/backports.zstd/build.yml?branch=master)](https://github.com/rogdham/backports.zstd/actions?query=branch:master)
[![Release on PyPI](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/backports.zstd)](https://pypi.org/project/backports.zstd/)

---

[📖 PEP-784][PEP-784]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[📃 Changelog](./CHANGELOG.md)

[PEP-784]: https://peps.python.org/pep-0784/

</div>

---

## Install

Add the following dependency to your project:

```
backports.zstd ; python_version<'3.14'
```

…or just run `pip install backports.zstd`.

## Usage

When importing a module needing Zstandard support, use a conditional import based on the
version of Python. See below for examples.

### zstd

```python
import sys

if sys.version_info >= (3, 14):
    from compression import zstd
else:
    from backports import zstd


# use the zstd module, for example:
zstd.compress(b"Hello, world!")
```

Refer to the [official Python documentation][doc-zstd] for usage of the module.

[doc-zstd]:...

## AI interpretation — verify before relying

Provides Zstandard (zstd) compression support for Python versions before 3.14, backporting PEP-784's standard library compression module along with zstd-enabled tarfile and zipfile modules.

Verdict: A well-maintained, production-stable backport of PEP-784's zstd compression for older Python versions. No security vulnerabilities reported. Medium install friction is expected for a compiled extension with broad platform coverage. Suitable for projects needing zstd support before Python 3.14.

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/backports-zstd) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/backports-zstd/)