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bzip2 vs bzip3

A side-by-side feature comparison.

Summary

bzip3 is a 2022 modernization of the Burrows-Wheeler approach pioneered by bzip2 in 1996. It compresses noticeably better at similar speeds while keeping the block-based parallel-decompression-friendly structure that made bzip2 popular for source releases.

Bottom line: bzip3 when you control both ends. bzip2 for compatibility with older Unix systems.

Feature comparison

Feature BZIP2 bzip3
Algorithm BWT + Huffman BWT + arithmetic + RLE
Compression ratio Baseline 15-25% smaller
Speed Slow Comparable
Memory High Higher
Tooling availability Everywhere New — limited

About BZIP2

BZIP2, written by Julian Seward in 1996, compresses one file at a time using the Burrows-Wheeler transform followed by Huffman coding. It typically produces 10-15% smaller files than GZIP at the cost of being slower. Like GZIP, it is almost always paired with TAR (.tar.bz2) and is widely available on every Unix-like system.

Read the full BZIP2 guide →

About bzip3

bzip3 is a modern reincarnation of bzip2, released in 2022 by Kamila Szewczyk. It uses the Burrows-Wheeler transform like its namesake but pairs it with arithmetic coding and modern SIMD-friendly code, achieving substantially better compression than bzip2 at roughly the same speed. Adoption is still niche but growing in the Linux package world.

Read the full bzip3 guide →

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