Compare
GZIP vs XZ
GZIP and XZ are lossless compressors commonly applied to a single file. Their practical trade-offs include output size, compression and extraction time, and support on the recipient's systems.
Which format should you choose?
Follow the format required by the package or recipient; when either is acceptable, benchmark representative files and check extraction support.
Good fit for GZIP
Compress a file or tar archive without data loss
- Unix distributions, logs, and text files
Good fit for XZ
Compress a file or tar archive without data loss
- Software distributions using XZ
Basic information
| Field | GZIP | XZ |
|---|---|---|
| Extension | .gz, .gzip | .xz |
| MIME type | application/gzip | application/x-xz |
| Common uses | Compress a file or tar archive without data loss | Compress a file or tar archive without data loss |
| How to open | Decompress with a GZIP-compatible tool. For tar.gz, also extract the tar archive. | Use an XZ-compatible decompressor. For tar.xz, extract the tar archive after decompression. |
| Export or convert | When converting to ZIP or another archive, check file names, directory structure, and extracted contents. | After converting to another format, compare extracted files, names, directory structure, and content. |
Choose by use case
Unix distributions, logs, and text files
Compress a file or tar archive without data loss
GZIPSoftware distributions using XZ
Compress a file or tar archive without data loss
XZKey point 1
Both commonly compress one file at a time.
More on the differencesKey point 2
XZ may reduce some data further but can take more processing.
More on the differencesMore on the differences
Use the distribution's established format where compatibility matters. For new packages, compare size and CPU time on representative data and confirm users can extract it.
- GZIP and XZ are compression streams, not multi-file archives by themselves.
- Tar is often paired with either format to bundle files.
- Compression ratio and speed vary by data and settings.
Frequently asked questions
Is XZ always smaller than GZIP?
No. Results depend on the input and settings; test the files that matter.