diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 94927980e..e0ee10bfd 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/cespare/xxhash v1.1.0
 	github.com/denisbrodbeck/machineid v1.0.1
 	github.com/kalafut/imohash v1.0.2
+	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.15.9
 	github.com/schollz/cli/v2 v2.2.1
 	github.com/schollz/logger v1.2.0
 	github.com/schollz/mnemonicode v1.0.1
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ require (
 )
 
 require (
+	github.com/DataDog/zstd v1.5.2
 	github.com/OneOfOne/xxhash v1.2.5 // indirect
 	github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index d585298f5..1e6bfbed4 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 github.com/BurntSushi/toml v0.3.1/go.mod h1:xHWCNGjB5oqiDr8zfno3MHue2Ht5sIBksp03qcyfWMU=
+github.com/DataDog/zstd v1.5.2 h1:vUG4lAyuPCXO0TLbXvPv7EB7cNK1QV/luu55UHLrrn8=
+github.com/DataDog/zstd v1.5.2/go.mod h1:g4AWEaM3yOg3HYfnJ3YIawPnVdXJh9QME85blwSAmyw=
 github.com/OneOfOne/xxhash v1.2.2/go.mod h1:HSdplMjZKSmBqAxg5vPj2TmRDmfkzw+cTzAElWljhcU=
 github.com/OneOfOne/xxhash v1.2.5 h1:zl/OfRA6nftbBK9qTohYBJ5xvw6C/oNKizR7cZGl3cI=
 github.com/OneOfOne/xxhash v1.2.5/go.mod h1:eZbhyaAYD41SGSSsnmcpxVoRiQ/MPUTjUdIIOT9Um7Q=
@@ -15,6 +17,8 @@ github.com/denisbrodbeck/machineid v1.0.1/go.mod h1:dJUwb7PTidGDeYyUBmXZ2GphQBbj
 github.com/k0kubun/go-ansi v0.0.0-20180517002512-3bf9e2903213/go.mod h1:vNUNkEQ1e29fT/6vq2aBdFsgNPmy8qMdSay1npru+Sw=
 github.com/kalafut/imohash v1.0.2 h1:j/cUPa15YvXv7abJlM+kdJIycbBMpmO7WqhPl4YB76I=
 github.com/kalafut/imohash v1.0.2/go.mod h1:PjHBF0vpo1q7zMqiTn0qwSTQU2wDn5QIe8S8sFQuZS8=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.15.9 h1:wKRjX6JRtDdrE9qwa4b/Cip7ACOshUI4smpCQanqjSY=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.15.9/go.mod h1:PhcZ0MbTNciWF3rruxRgKxI5NkcHHrHUDtV4Yw2GlzU=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.1.0 h1:L/CwN0zerZDmRFUapSPitk6f+Q3+0za1rQkzVuMiMFI=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.1.0/go.mod h1:dAy3ld7l9f0ibDNOQOHHMYYIIbhfbHSm3C4ZsoJORNo=
 github.com/kr/pty v1.1.1/go.mod h1:pFQYn66WHrOpPYNljwOMqo10TkYh1fy3cYio2l3bCsQ=
diff --git a/src/compress/compress.go b/src/compress/compress.go
index 334382225..e78757ee3 100644
--- a/src/compress/compress.go
+++ b/src/compress/compress.go
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@ package compress
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"compress/flate"
 	"io"
 
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd"
+
 	log "github.com/schollz/logger"
 )
 
@@ -30,22 +31,24 @@ func Decompress(src []byte) []byte {
 	return deCompressedData.Bytes()
 }
 
-// compress uses flate to compress a byte slice to a corresponding level
+// compress uses zstd to compress a byte slice to a corresponding level
 func compress(src []byte, dest io.Writer, level int) {
-	compressor, err := flate.NewWriter(dest, level)
+	compressor, err := zstd.NewWriter(dest, zstd.WithEncoderLevel(zstd.EncoderLevelFromZstd(level)))
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Debugf("error level data: %v", err)
-		return
+		panic(err)
 	}
-	if _, err := compressor.Write(src); err != nil {
+	if _, err = compressor.Write(src); err != nil {
 		log.Debugf("error writing data: %v", err)
 	}
 	compressor.Close()
 }
 
-// compress uses flate to decompress an io.Reader
+// decompress uses zstd to decompress an io.Reader
 func decompress(src io.Reader, dest io.Writer) {
-	decompressor := flate.NewReader(src)
+	decompressor, err := zstd.NewReader(src)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
 	if _, err := io.Copy(dest, decompressor); err != nil {
 		log.Debugf("error copying data: %v", err)
 	}