Pigz
pigz: Parallel Gzip Implementation
A parallel implementation of gzip that utilizes multiple CPU cores for compression and decompression, achieving faster speeds on multi-core systems
What is Pigz?
What Is pigz?
pigz (Parallel Implementation of GZip) is a fully functional replacement for gzip that exploits multiple processors and cores when compressing data. It was written by Mark Adler, who co-authored the zlib compression library and the gzip format specification.
Key Features
pigz divides the input into 128KB blocks and compresses each block in parallel on separate threads. On a machine with multiple cores, this results in compression speeds that scale nearly linearly with the number of available cores — making it dramatically faster than single-threaded gzip on modern hardware.
The output is fully compatible with gzip and gunzip. pigz supports gzip, zlib, and raw deflate formats, plus zip archive creation. Decompression is mostly single-threaded (due to the nature of the deflate format) but pigz does use additional threads for reading, writing, and checksum calculation.
Use Cases
pigz is commonly used in backup scripts, CI/CD pipelines, log compression, and any workflow where gzip is a bottleneck. It is a drop-in replacement — just alias gzip to pigz and everything works faster.
Pigz Features
Features
- Parallel compression/decompression utilizing multiple CPU cores
- Faster than standard gzip on multi-core systems
- Compatible with gzip
- Supports gzip, zlib, and raw deflate compression methods
- Can decompress files compressed by gzip
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Cons
Official Links
Reviews & Ratings
Login to Review6 reviews
Rating Breakdown
Recent Reviews
Riley Moore
Apr 20, 2026Massive time-saver for large compression jobs
As someone who regularly compresses multi-gigabyte log files, pigz has been a game-changer. The parallel processing cuts compression times significantly on my 8-core workstation, often completing tasks 3-4 times faster than standard gzip. It maintains perfect compatibility with existing gzip …
Lisa Miller
Apr 20, 2026Speed comes at a compatibility cost
pigz is blazing fast on my 8-core workstation, often cutting compression times by 60-70% compared to regular gzip. However, I've run into occasional compatibility headaches with older systems or scripts that expect standard gzip headers. The syntax is nearly identical …
Morgan Thomas
Apr 19, 2026A Speedy Tool with a Few Rough Edges
pigz is a lifesaver when I need to compress large log files quickly, easily cutting my compression time in half compared to standard gzip. However, the command-line options can be a bit arcane, and it doesn't always play nicely with …
Avery Smith
Apr 18, 2026Fast when it works, but compatibility headaches
pigz delivers on its promise of speed, drastically cutting down compression times for large files on my multi-core workstation. However, I've run into issues where some older systems can't handle the pigz-compressed archives, forcing me to fall back to standard …
Skyler Hall
Apr 18, 2026A Must-Have for Anyone Working with Large Files
pigz has been a game-changer for my daily workflow. I regularly compress multi-gigabyte log files, and what used to take minutes with gzip now completes in seconds thanks to its parallel processing. The command-line syntax is nearly identical to gzip, …
Rating Distribution
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