7-Zip-zstd — The Complete Guide: 7-Zip with Zstandard and LZ4 for Fast Compression of Large Data
7-Zip-zstd is a community fork of 7-Zip for Windows that adds Zstandard, Brotli, LZ4, LZ5, Lizard and Fast LZMA2 to the usual codecs. The interface is identical to 7-Zip, so there is nothing new to learn; the extra methods simply appear in the compression dialog next to the familiar LZMA2.
7-Zip-zstd
Tino Reichardt (mcmilk) and contributors
7-Zip build for Windows with extra codecs — Zstandard, Brotli, LZ4 and Lizard — for very fast compression of large data sets.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Fast codecs — Zstandard and LZ4 compress much faster than LZMA2.
- Every 7-Zip format — 7Z, ZIP, RAR, ISO and CAB open as usual.
- Single-file formats — opening ZST, LZ4 and Brotli files.
- Same interface — the 7-Zip file manager and right-click menu.
- Open source — LGPL, free for commercial use as well.
When it pays off
When backing up or moving tens of gigabytes of simulation results, point clouds and models, where speed matters more than ratio. Important: a 7Z archive made with an extra codec will not open in standard 7-Zip, so for sending to a client use plain ZIP or 7Z. This is a separate project, not by the 7-Zip author.
Related tools
The original — 7-Zip. A modern Windows 11 interface that also includes Zstandard — NanaZip. A cross-platform tool — PeaZip.
7-Zip
Igor Pavlov
File compression and extraction — ZIP, 7z, RAR and more, with strong compression and AES-256 encryption.
Get it from the vendor
NanaZip
M2-Team
A modern 7-Zip derivative for Windows — integrates with the Windows 11 context menu and adds formats.
Get it from the vendor
PeaZip
Giorgio Tani
Open, create and encrypt archives in 200+ formats, including splitting large model files.
Get it from the vendor
Bandizip
Bandisoft
Fast Windows archiver with a clean interface: creates ZIP, 7Z and TAR and opens RAR, ISO and dozens more. Free Standard edition with ads.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
For internal archives of heavy data, 7-Zip-zstd saves a lot of time. For anything you share outside your team, stay with a standard format.