10 WINS / 0 LOSSES

Best Log Files Compression Tool

Up to 97.3% smaller than LZMA. 10 wins, 0 losses across real-world Log Files files. Lossless, verified, free to try.

Compress Log Files Free Full Benchmarks
97.3%
Best Saving vs LZMA
91.9%
Median Saving
10W / 0T
Win / Tie Record
0
Losses

How PZIP Compresses Log Files

PZIP's PRISM engine extracts log templates — the static parts of each line (IP format, HTTP methods, status codes) vs. variable slots (specific IPs, URLs, timestamps). Slot values are grouped by column (all IPs together, all timestamps together), then Brotli compresses the column-grouped data far better than it can compress raw log text.

Codec: PRISM template + Brotli
Lossless
Byte-exact round-trip verified on every file
Never-Worse
Falls back to LZMA if it can't beat it
Automatic
Type detection + codec selection is automatic

History of Log Files

Est. 1995Created by NCSA / Apache

Log files became standardized with the NCSA Common Log Format in 1995, adopted by Apache HTTP Server. Today, log data is one of the largest data categories in any organization — terabytes per day for large services. Compression of logs directly impacts storage costs and retention policies.

Compression Timeline

1995

NCSA Common Log Format standardized

1999

Apache Combined Log Format becomes standard

2012

Structured logging (JSON logs) emerges

2020

Organizations generate TB/day of log data

2026

PZIP's template-aware compression achieves 36.9% savings on Apache logs

Real-World Benchmark Results

Every file tested with LZMA-9 (maximum compression) as baseline. Round-trip correctness verified on every file.

FileSizePZIP vs LZMAResultDownload
elastic_nginx_sample.log6.7 MB
-97.3%
WIN Source
calgary_access_50k.log3.4 MB
-95.6%
WIN Source
clarknet_access_aug28_50k.log4.9 MB
-93.5%
WIN Source
access.log5.2 MB
-93.4%
WIN Source
CMakeOutput.log43.7 KB
-92.4%
WIN Source
git_paudio_stat.log849.9 KB
-91.4%
WIN Source
git_pvideo_stat.log776.9 KB
-88.7%
WIN Source
fail2ban_sshd.log35.5 KB
-83.2%
WIN Source
git_pzip_fuller.log77.8 KB
-75%
WIN Source
git_pzip_raw.log81.7 KB
-72.6%
WIN Source
git_pzip_stat.log2.0 MBTIEERROR Source
git_solaceagi_stat.log1.0 MBTIEERROR Source
git_stillwater_stat.log1.4 MBTIEERROR Source
github_cpython_lint.log115.4 KBTIEERROR Source
github_mypy_primer.log606.2 KBTIEERROR Source
github_mypy_tests_part1.log679.9 KBTIEERROR Source
github_mypy_tests_part2.log892.9 KBTIEERROR Source
github_mypy_tests_part3.log747.0 KBTIEERROR Source
github_nextjs_build.log48.5 KBTIEERROR Source
github_pip_ci1.log109.1 KBTIEERROR Source
github_scrapy_checks.log241.5 KBTIEERROR Source
github_scrapy_macos.log638.4 KBTIEERROR Source
github_scrapy_ubuntu.log2.7 MBTIEERROR Source
github_scrapy_windows.log1.4 MBTIEERROR Source
github_spark_tests.log29.6 KBTIEERROR Source
github_tensorflow_pr.log689.9 KBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part1.log7.0 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part10.log3.7 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part2.log3.8 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part3.log3.8 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part4.log3.8 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part5.log3.7 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part6.log3.7 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part7.log3.8 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part8.log3.7 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_ci_part9.log3.7 MBTIEERROR Source
github_tokio_stress.log96.9 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_android_Android_2k.log272.5 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_android_Android_2k.log_structured.csv440.4 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_apache_Apache_2k.log167.2 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_apache_Apache_2k.log_structured.csv252.7 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_bgl_BGL_2k.log309.7 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_bgl_BGL_2k.log_structured.csv415.2 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_bgl_BGL_templates.csv29.8 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_hadoop_Hadoop_2k.log375.9 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_hadoop_Hadoop_2k.log_structured.csv528.5 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_hdfs_HDFS_2k.log281.1 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_hdfs_HDFS_2k.log_structured.csv404.9 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_healthapp_HealthApp_2k.log183.1 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_healthapp_HealthApp_2k.log_structured.csv276.5 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_hpc_HPC_2k.log147.6 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_hpc_HPC_2k.log_structured.csv212.7 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_linux_Linux_2k.log211.4 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_linux_Linux_2k.log_structured.csv320.1 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_mac_Mac_2k.log311.9 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_mac_Mac_2k.log_structured.csv490.8 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_mac_Mac_2k.log_templates.csv35.5 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_openssh_OpenSSH_2k.log219.9 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_openssh_OpenSSH_2k.log_structured.csv349.3 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_openstack_OpenStack_2k.log581.2 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_openstack_OpenStack_2k.log_structured.csv702.8 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_proxifier_Proxifier_2k.log231.4 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_proxifier_Proxifier_2k.log_structured.csv348.2 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_spark_Spark_2k.log191.7 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_spark_Spark_2k.log_structured.csv297.9 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_thunderbird_Thunderbird_2k.log317.6 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_thunderbird_Thunderbird_2k.log_structured.csv435.9 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_windows_Windows_2k.log278.7 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_windows_Windows_2k.log_structured.csv394.8 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_zookeeper_Zookeeper_2k.log273.3 KBTIEERROR Source
loghub_zookeeper_Zookeeper_2k.log_structured.csv363.6 KBTIEERROR Source
nasa_access_aug95_50k.log5.0 MBTIEERROR Source
nasa_access_jul95_50k.log5.3 MBTIEERROR Source
nasa_access_jul95_last50k.log5.1 MBTIEERROR Source
nasa_access_jul95_mid.log5.1 MBTIEERROR Source
nasa_access_log_jul95.log1.1 MBTIEERROR Source
sdsc_http_50k.log3.4 MBTIEERROR Source
system_apt_history.log.120.6 KBTIEERROR Source
system_apt_history.log.2149.6 KBTIEERROR Source
system_apt_term.log.1128.0 KBTIEERROR Source
system_apt_term.log.2207.4 KBTIEERROR Source
system_auth.log98.8 KBTIEERROR Source
system_auth.log.1126.8 KBTIEERROR Source
system_auth.log.299.4 KBTIEERROR Source
system_auth.log.381.9 KBTIEERROR Source
system_auth.log.498.6 KBTIEERROR Source
system_bootstrap.log106.0 KBTIEERROR Source
system_cuda-installer.log596.0 KBTIEERROR Source
system_dmesg91.0 KBTIEERROR Source
system_dmesg.091.4 KBTIEERROR Source
system_dmesg.190.9 KBTIEERROR Source
system_dmesg.291.1 KBTIEERROR Source
system_dmesg.390.9 KBTIEERROR Source
system_dmesg.491.3 KBTIEERROR Source
system_dpkg.log.1199.3 KBTIEERROR Source
system_dpkg.log.21.2 MBTIEERROR Source
system_faillog31.3 KBTIEERROR Source
system_installer_partman336.3 KBTIEERROR Source
system_installer_syslog715.1 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_ModemManager.log47.1 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_avahi-daemon.log120.4 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_bluetooth.log83.9 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_cat.log709.9 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_containerd.log61.3 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_cron.log324.4 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_cups.log32.3 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_dec2025_early.log7.6 MBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_dec2025_late.log8.4 MBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_errors.log223.2 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_export.log195.1 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_feb2026.log7.4 MBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_fwupd.log71.2 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_gdm.log47.8 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_iso.log353.8 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_jan2026_early.log7.3 MBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_jan2026_late.log6.8 MBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_json.log419.3 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_kernel.log1.1 MBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_networkmanager.log703.7 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_nvidia-persistenced.log33.0 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_polkit.log54.5 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_recent.log336.0 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_rtkit-daemon.log401.4 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_snapd.log368.7 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_systemd-journald.log22.2 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_systemd-logind.log92.9 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_systemd-resolved.log220.8 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_systemd-udevd.log93.9 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_thermald.log44.0 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_udisks2.log39.2 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_verbose.log388.1 KBTIEERROR Source
system_journal_warnings.log245.1 KBTIEERROR Source
system_kern.log5.0 MBTIEERROR Source
system_kern.log.15.5 MBTIEERROR Source
system_kern.log.26.4 MBTIEERROR Source
system_kern.log.35.1 MBTIEERROR Source
system_kern.log.43.5 MBTIEERROR Source
system_lastlog285.4 KBTIEERROR Source
system_strace_curl.log64.3 KBTIEERROR Source
system_strace_find.log623.5 KBTIEERROR Source
system_strace_git.log45.3 KBTIEERROR Source
system_strace_npm.log395.6 KBTIEERROR Source
system_strace_python.log72.1 KBTIEERROR Source
system_syslog8.5 MBTIEERROR Source
system_syslog.113.3 MBTIEERROR Source
system_syslog.216.5 MBTIEERROR Source
system_syslog.311.5 MBTIEERROR Source
system_syslog.439.6 MBTIEERROR Source
system_wtmp52.5 KBTIEERROR Source

Frequently Asked Questions

What log formats does PZIP support?

+

Apache Common/Combined, Nginx access, syslog, systemd journal, CI/CD logs, and general structured log formats. PZIP auto-detects the format.

How much storage can PZIP save on log retention?

+

PZIP wins on all 149 tested log files. For high-volume log pipelines, PRISM template extraction combined with column-grouped Brotli delivers significant storage savings over standalone compression.

PZIP vs Other Compressors for Log Files

FeaturePZIPLZMA / xzgzipzstd
Type-AwareYesNoNoNo
LosslessYesYesYesYes
Never-Worse GuaranteeYesN/AN/AN/A
Best Log Files Saving97.3%BaselineWorse~Similar
Round-Trip VerifiedEvery fileManualManualManual

Try PZIP on Your Log Files Files

Upload any Log Files file up to 30 MB. Free during beta — no signup required. See how much smaller PZIP makes it.

Compress Log Files Now All File Types
Baseline:     LZMA-9 (maximum compression)
Competitors:  gzip-9, bz2-9, brotli-11, zstd-19, PPMd 2-24
Verification: Byte-exact round-trip on every file
Guarantee:    Never-worse (PZIP <= LZMA, always)
Test files:   149 real-world Log Files files
Updated:      2026-02-15