Free Tool

GZIP Compression Test

Check if a website uses GZIP or Brotli compression. See content-encoding headers and caching configuration.

Want Deeper SEO Insights?

Recommended Tool

Affiliate

Take your SEO to the next level with Morningscore – an intuitive SEO tool that helps you track rankings, find opportunities, and grow your organic traffic. Perfect for agencies and businesses serious about SEO results.

Rank tracking & keyword research
Competitor analysis & backlink monitoring
Actionable SEO missions & guidance

Disclosure: We may earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we genuinely believe in. Your support helps us keep supporting this tool! ❤️

Why Compression Matters for Performance

Text-based resources like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript compress by 60-80% on average. Without compression, browsers download the full uncompressed payload over the network, resulting in slower page loads and higher bandwidth costs. Google uses page speed as a ranking signal, and uncompressed responses are one of the most common — and most easily fixable — performance bottlenecks. Enabling compression is typically a single server configuration change that immediately improves Time to First Byte and Largest Contentful Paint for every visitor.

GZIP vs Brotli vs Deflate

GZIP is the most widely supported compression algorithm, understood by every modern browser and supported by every major web server. Brotli, developed by Google, achieves 15-25% better compression ratios than GZIP at comparable CPU cost and is supported by all modern browsers over HTTPS. Deflate is the oldest algorithm and largely superseded by GZIP — it uses the same underlying algorithm but with a simpler wrapper, and some implementations have compatibility issues. For best results, configure your server to serve Brotli to browsers that support it and fall back to GZIP for the rest.

How to Enable Compression

  • Apache: Add 'AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/css application/javascript application/json' to your .htaccess or virtual host configuration. For Brotli, enable mod_brotli and use 'AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS' with the same content types.
  • Nginx: Add 'gzip on; gzip_types text/html text/css application/javascript application/json;' to your server block. For Brotli, compile the ngx_brotli module and add 'brotli on; brotli_types text/html text/css application/javascript application/json;'.
  • CDN (Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify): Most CDN providers enable GZIP and Brotli compression by default for text-based content types. Check your CDN dashboard to confirm compression is active — some plans require explicit opt-in for Brotli.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between GZIP and Brotli?
GZIP uses the DEFLATE algorithm and has been the web standard since the mid-1990s. Brotli, developed by Google in 2015, uses a more advanced algorithm that achieves 15-25% smaller file sizes at the same compression speed. Brotli requires HTTPS and is supported by all modern browsers, making it the preferred choice for new deployments.
How do I enable GZIP on my website?
The method depends on your web server. For Apache, enable mod_deflate and add filter rules to .htaccess. For Nginx, add 'gzip on' directives to your server configuration. If you use a CDN like Cloudflare or Vercel, compression is typically enabled by default — check your CDN dashboard to confirm.
How much does compression improve page speed?
Text-based resources (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JSON, SVG) typically compress by 60-80%. On a page with 500 KB of uncompressed text resources, enabling GZIP can reduce the transfer size to under 150 KB. This directly improves Time to First Byte, Largest Contentful Paint, and reduces bandwidth costs for both you and your visitors.
Can Brotli and GZIP be used together?
Yes. The best practice is to configure your server to serve Brotli to browsers that include 'br' in the Accept-Encoding header and fall back to GZIP for older browsers. Most CDNs handle this negotiation automatically. The browser sends its supported encodings, and the server picks the best available match.