diff --git a/compact.go b/compact.go
index 9af6b8c..a837831 100644
--- a/compact.go
+++ b/compact.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	core "dappco.re/go/core"
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd"
 )
 
 var defaultArchiveOutputDirectory = ".core/archive"
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ func (storeInstance *Store) Compact(options CompactOptions) core.Result {
 	if format == "" {
 		format = "gzip"
 	}
-	if format != "gzip" {
+	if format != "gzip" && format != "zstd" {
 		return core.Result{Value: core.E("store.Compact", core.Concat("unsupported archive format: ", format), nil), OK: false}
 	}
 
@@ -99,7 +100,10 @@ func (storeInstance *Store) Compact(options CompactOptions) core.Result {
 		}
 	}()
 
-	writer := gzip.NewWriter(file)
+	writer, err := archiveWriter(file, format)
+	if err != nil {
+		return core.Result{Value: err, OK: false}
+	}
 	writeOK := false
 	defer func() {
 		if !writeOK {
@@ -181,11 +185,29 @@ func compactArchiveLine(entry compactArchiveEntry) (map[string]any, error) {
 	}, nil
 }
 
+func archiveWriter(writer io.Writer, format string) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
+	switch format {
+	case "gzip":
+		return gzip.NewWriter(writer), nil
+	case "zstd":
+		zstdWriter, err := zstd.NewWriter(writer)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, core.E("store.Compact", "create zstd writer", err)
+		}
+		return zstdWriter, nil
+	default:
+		return nil, core.E("store.Compact", core.Concat("unsupported archive format: ", format), nil)
+	}
+}
+
 func compactOutputPath(outputDirectory, format string) string {
 	extension := ".jsonl"
 	if format == "gzip" {
 		extension = ".jsonl.gz"
 	}
+	if format == "zstd" {
+		extension = ".jsonl.zst"
+	}
 	filename := core.Concat("journal-", time.Now().UTC().Format("20060102-150405"), extension)
 	return joinPath(outputDirectory, filename)
 }
diff --git a/compact_test.go b/compact_test.go
index 0cb1889..978998c 100644
--- a/compact_test.go
+++ b/compact_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	core "dappco.re/go/core"
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
@@ -64,6 +65,52 @@ func TestCompact_Compact_Good_GzipArchive(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "session-b", remainingRows[0]["measurement"])
 }
 
+func TestCompact_Compact_Good_ZstdArchive(t *testing.T) {
+	outputDirectory := useArchiveOutputDirectory(t)
+
+	storeInstance, err := New(":memory:", WithJournal("http://127.0.0.1:8086", "core", "events"))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer storeInstance.Close()
+
+	require.True(t,
+		storeInstance.CommitToJournal("session-a", map[string]any{"like": 1}, map[string]string{"workspace": "session-a"}).OK,
+	)
+
+	_, err = storeInstance.database.Exec(
+		"UPDATE "+journalEntriesTableName+" SET committed_at = ? WHERE measurement = ?",
+		time.Now().Add(-48*time.Hour).UnixMilli(),
+		"session-a",
+	)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	result := storeInstance.Compact(CompactOptions{
+		Before: time.Now().Add(-24 * time.Hour),
+		Output: outputDirectory,
+		Format: "zstd",
+	})
+	require.True(t, result.OK, "compact failed: %v", result.Value)
+
+	archivePath, ok := result.Value.(string)
+	require.True(t, ok, "unexpected archive path type: %T", result.Value)
+	assert.True(t, testFilesystem().Exists(archivePath))
+	assert.Contains(t, archivePath, ".jsonl.zst")
+
+	archiveData := requireCoreReadBytes(t, archivePath)
+	reader, err := zstd.NewReader(bytes.NewReader(archiveData))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer reader.Close()
+
+	decompressedData, err := io.ReadAll(reader)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	lines := core.Split(core.Trim(string(decompressedData)), "\n")
+	require.Len(t, lines, 1)
+
+	archivedRow := make(map[string]any)
+	unmarshalResult := core.JSONUnmarshalString(lines[0], &archivedRow)
+	require.True(t, unmarshalResult.OK, "archive line unmarshal failed: %v", unmarshalResult.Value)
+	assert.Equal(t, "session-a", archivedRow["measurement"])
+}
+
 func TestCompact_Compact_Good_NoRows(t *testing.T) {
 	outputDirectory := useArchiveOutputDirectory(t)
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index c9e5c0c..befc5c4 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ go 1.26.0
 
 require (
 	dappco.re/go/core v0.8.0-alpha.1
+	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.5
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1
 	modernc.org/sqlite v1.47.0
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index a347d7d..731c6e5 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -5,13 +5,14 @@ github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc h1:U9qPSI2PIWSS1
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1 h1:GzkhY7T5VNhEkwH0PVJgjz+fX1rhBrR7pRT3mDkpeCY=
 github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1/go.mod h1:Mu1zIs6XwVuF/gI1OepvI0qD18qycQx+mFykh5fBlto=
-github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0/go.mod h1:17dUlkBOakJ0+DkrSSNjCkIjxS6bF9zb3elmeNGIjoY=
 github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20250317173921-a4b03ec1a45e h1:ijClszYn+mADRFY17kjQEVQ1XRhq2/JR1M3sGqeJoxs=
 github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20250317173921-a4b03ec1a45e/go.mod h1:boTsfXsheKC2y+lKOCMpSfarhxDeIzfZG1jqGcPl3cA=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 h1:NIvaJDMOsjHA8n1jAhLSgzrAzy1Hgr+hNrb57e+94F0=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0/go.mod h1:TIyPZe4MgqvfeYDBFedMoGGpEw/LqOeaOT+nhxU+yHo=
 github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru/v2 v2.0.7 h1:a+bsQ5rvGLjzHuww6tVxozPZFVghXaHOwFs4luLUK2k=
 github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru/v2 v2.0.7/go.mod h1:QeFd9opnmA6QUJc5vARoKUSoFhyfM2/ZepoAG6RGpeM=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.5 h1:/h1gH5Ce+VWNLSWqPzOVn6XBO+vJbCNGvjoaGBFW2IE=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.5/go.mod h1:cwPg85FWrGar70rWktvGQj8/hthj3wpl0PGDogxkrSQ=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 h1:flRD4NNwYAUpkphVc1HcthR4KEIFJ65n8Mw5qdRn3LE=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1/go.mod h1:hoEshYVHaxMs3cyo3Yncou5ZscifuDolrwPKZanG3xk=
 github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 h1:5Nx0Ya0ZqY2ygV366QzturHI13Jq95ApcVaJBhpS+AY=
@@ -26,20 +27,15 @@ github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec h1:W09IVJc94
 github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec/go.mod h1:qqbHyh8v60DhA7CoWK5oRCqLrMHRGoxYCSS9EjAz6Eo=
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.14.1 h1:UQB4HGPB6osV0SQTLymcB4TgvyWu6ZyliaW0tI/otEQ=
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.14.1/go.mod h1:MaRKkUm5W0goXpeCfT7UZI6fk/L7L7so1lCWt35ZSgc=
-github.com/stretchr/objx v0.5.2/go.mod h1:FRsXN1f5AsAjCGJKqEizvkpNtU+EGNCLh3NxZ/8L+MA=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1 h1:7s2iGBzp5EwR7/aIZr8ao5+dra3wiQyKjjFuvgVKu7U=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1/go.mod h1:wZwfW3scLgRK+23gO65QZefKpKQRnfz6sD981Nm4B6U=
-github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.4.13/go.mod h1:6yULJ656Px+3vBD8DxQVa3kxgyrAnzto9xy5taEt/CY=
-golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20251023183803-a4bb9ffd2546/go.mod h1:j/pmGrbnkbPtQfxEe5D0VQhZC6qKbfKifgD0oM7sR70=
 golang.org/x/mod v0.34.0 h1:xIHgNUUnW6sYkcM5Jleh05DvLOtwc6RitGHbDk4akRI=
 golang.org/x/mod v0.34.0/go.mod h1:ykgH52iCZe79kzLLMhyCUzhMci+nQj+0XkbXpNYtVjY=
-golang.org/x/net v0.52.0/go.mod h1:R1MAz7uMZxVMualyPXb+VaqGSa3LIaUqk0eEt3w36Sw=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.20.0 h1:e0PTpb7pjO8GAtTs2dQ6jYa5BWYlMuX047Dco/pItO4=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.20.0/go.mod h1:9xrNwdLfx4jkKbNva9FpL6vEN7evnE43NNNJQ2LF3+0=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.42.0 h1:omrd2nAlyT5ESRdCLYdm3+fMfNFE/+Rf4bDIQImRJeo=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.42.0/go.mod h1:4GL1E5IUh+htKOUEOaiffhrAeqysfVGipDYzABqnCmw=
-golang.org/x/telemetry v0.0.0-20260311193753-579e4da9a98c/go.mod h1:TpUTTEp9frx7rTdLpC9gFG9kdI7zVLFTFFlqaH2Cncw=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.43.0 h1:12BdW9CeB3Z+J/I/wj34VMl8X+fEXBxVR90JeMX5E7s=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.43.0/go.mod h1:uHkMso649BX2cZK6+RpuIPXS3ho2hZo4FVwfoy1vIk0=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=