zstandard
Zstandard bindings for Python
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is production-stable, actively maintained, has no security vulnerabilities, carries a permissive license, and offers prebuilt wheels for most platforms. Install it if you need Zstandard compression in Python and want access to the full C API feature set; the medium install friction is offset by broad wheel availability and zero runtime dependencies.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9 or later; C compiler needed if building from source rather than using a prebuilt wheel.
- Medium install friction due to compiled C extension wheels; however, prebuilt wheels are available for common platforms (x86_64, ARM, i686, ppc64le, s390x across Linux, macOS, Windows, and musl variants), and the package is actively maintained with recent commits.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-3-Clause (permissive) — BSD-3-Clause is permissive; you may use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects provided you retain the license notice.
last release 2025-09-14 (334 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-25 · 639 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 193,840,002 downloads/mo, #211 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
import zstandard as zstd
data = b'example data'
cctx = zstd.ZstdCompressor()
compressed = cctx.compress(data)
dctx = zstd.ZstdDecompressor()
decompressed = dctx.decompress(compressed)- Whether the CFFI interface is recommended over the C extension for specific use cases or platforms.
- Performance characteristics compared to other Python compression libraries in typical workloads.
What it is and what it does
python-zstandard is a Python wrapper around the Zstandard (zstd) compression library, providing both a C extension and CFFI interface to access the full feature set of the underlying C API. It lets you compress and decompress data using the Zstandard algorithm, which offers high compression ratios and fast decompression speeds. The package is designed to balance performance with Pythonic usability and safety, exposing most of the flexibility of the C API without sacrificing ease of use.
The package supports modern Python versions (3.9 through 3.14, including free-threading variants) and is distributed as prebuilt wheels for most common platforms, reducing installation friction. It has no runtime dependencies and is actively maintained, making it suitable for production use in applications that need efficient data compression.
Use it for
- Compress data in transit or at rest when you need faster decompression than traditional gzip or bzip2.
- Build archive or backup tools that require high compression ratios with tunable compression levels.
- Integrate Zstandard compression into network protocols or serialization frameworks.
- Compress large datasets in data processing pipelines where both speed and ratio matter.
- Implement streaming compression for real-time data without loading entire payloads into memory.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is production-stable, actively maintained, has no security vulnerabilities, carries a permissive license, and offers prebuilt wheels for most platforms. Install it if you need Zstandard compression in Python and want access to the full C API feature set; the medium install friction is offset by broad wheel availability and zero runtime dependencies.
Install
zstandard on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to compiled C extension wheels; however, prebuilt wheels are available for common platforms (x86_64, ARM, i686, ppc64le, s390x across Linux, macOS, Windows, and musl variants), and the package is actively maintained with recent commits.
Requires Python 3.9 or later; C compiler needed if building from source rather than using a prebuilt wheel.
License in practice
BSD-3-Clause is permissive; you may use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects provided you retain the license notice.
Quickstart
import zstandard as zstd
data = b'example data'
cctx = zstd.ZstdCompressor()
compressed = cctx.compress(data)
dctx = zstd.ZstdDecompressor()
decompressed = dctx.decompress(compressed)Verify before relying
- Whether the CFFI interface is recommended over the C extension for specific use cases or platforms.
- Performance characteristics compared to other Python compression libraries in typical workloads.
Package facts
| License | BSD-3-Clause permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 334 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 193,840,002 / month, #211 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersProgramming Language :: CProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Programming Language :: Python :: Free Threading :: 1 - Unstable |
Evidence: zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux2010_i686.manylinux2014_i686.manylinux_2_12_i686.manylinux_2_17_i686.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux2014_aarch64.manylinux_2_17_aarch64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux2014_ppc64le.manylinux_2_17_ppc64le.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux2014_s390x.manylinux_2_17_s390x.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux2014_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_1_aarch64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_1_x86_64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_i686.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_ppc64le.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_s390x.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-win32.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp310-cp310-win_amd64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp311-cp311-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp311-cp311-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp311-cp311-manylinux2010_i686.manylinux2014_i686.manylinux_2_12_i686.manylinux_2_17_i686.whl; zstandard-0.25.0-cp311-cp311-manylinux2014_aarch64.manylinux_2_17_aarch64.whl
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See also tzst · brotlicffi · xopen · cffi