diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 715c29e..d86573a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -61,10 +61,15 @@ jobs:
         with:
           path: dist-bin
           merge-multiple: true # flatten all per-target artifacts into one dir
-      - name: Checksums
+      - name: Checksums + compress
         run: |
           cd dist-bin
+          # Checksum the RAW binaries first — install.sh verifies the DECOMPRESSED artifact
+          # (what actually runs), so SHA256SUMS lists raw-binary hashes.
           sha256sum insta-* > SHA256SUMS
+          # gzip the unix binaries (~60MB → ~20MB download). Leave the Windows .exe raw
+          # (manual download). install.sh fetches <asset>.gz and gunzips.
+          for f in insta-darwin-* insta-linux-*; do gzip -f "$f"; done
           ls -lh
           cat SHA256SUMS
       - name: Resolve tag
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 36b6b2c..ac48dcf 100644
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -82,11 +82,18 @@ fi
 tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
 trap 'rm -rf "$tmp"' EXIT
 
-echo "Installing $BIN ($asset, $version) — downloading ~60MB…"
-# --progress-bar (not -s): the binary is ~60MB, so a silent download looks frozen. Show progress
-# to a TTY; stay quiet when piped without one. Keep the tiny SHA256SUMS fetch silent.
+# --progress-bar (not -s): a silent download looks frozen. Show progress to a TTY; stay quiet
+# when piped without one. Keep the tiny SHA256SUMS fetch silent.
 if [ -t 2 ]; then dl="curl -fL --progress-bar"; else dl="curl -fsSL"; fi
-$dl "$base/$asset" -o "$tmp/$BIN" || { echo "error: download failed ($base/$asset)" >&2; exit 1; }
+# Prefer the gzipped asset (~3× smaller); fall back to the raw binary for older releases.
+if curl -fsSL -I "$base/$asset.gz" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "Installing $BIN ($asset, $version) — downloading ~20MB…"
+  $dl "$base/$asset.gz" -o "$tmp/$BIN.gz" || { echo "error: download failed ($base/$asset.gz)" >&2; exit 1; }
+  gunzip "$tmp/$BIN.gz" || { echo "error: could not decompress $asset.gz" >&2; exit 1; }
+else
+  echo "Installing $BIN ($asset, $version) — downloading ~60MB…"
+  $dl "$base/$asset" -o "$tmp/$BIN" || { echo "error: download failed ($base/$asset)" >&2; exit 1; }
+fi
 curl -fsSL "$base/SHA256SUMS" -o "$tmp/SHA256SUMS" || { echo "error: could not fetch SHA256SUMS" >&2; exit 1; }
 
 # ---- verify checksum ----