diff --git a/influxdb/client.go b/influxdb/client.go
index c35a5f968..85013e044 100644
--- a/influxdb/client.go
+++ b/influxdb/client.go
@@ -2,13 +2,16 @@ package influxdb
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"compress/gzip"
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
@@ -78,6 +81,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	// Transport is the HTTP transport to use for requests
 	// If nil, a default transport will be used.
 	Transport *http.Transport
+
+	// Which compression should we use for writing to influxdb, defaults to "gzip".
+	Compression string
 }
 
 // AuthenticationMethod defines the type of authentication used.
@@ -106,11 +112,12 @@ type Credentials struct {
 
 // HTTPClient is safe for concurrent use.
 type HTTPClient struct {
-	mu     sync.RWMutex
-	config Config
-	urls   []url.URL
-	client *http.Client
-	index  int32
+	mu          sync.RWMutex
+	config      Config
+	urls        []url.URL
+	client      *http.Client
+	index       int32
+	compression string
 }
 
 // NewHTTPClient returns a new Client from the provided config.
@@ -134,6 +141,14 @@ func NewHTTPClient(conf Config) (*HTTPClient, error) {
 			Transport: conf.Transport,
 		},
 	}
+	switch compression := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(conf.Compression)); compression {
+	case "none":
+		return c, nil
+	case "gzip", "": // treat gzip as default
+		c.compression = "gzip"
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is not a supported compression type", compression)
+	}
 	return c, nil
 }
 
@@ -310,8 +325,29 @@ func (c *HTTPClient) Ping(ctx context.Context) (time.Duration, string, error) {
 }
 
 func (c *HTTPClient) Write(bp BatchPoints) error {
-	var b bytes.Buffer
+	b := bytes.Buffer{}
 	precision := bp.Precision()
+
+	u := c.url()
+	u.Path = "write"
+	v := url.Values{}
+	v.Set("db", bp.Database())
+	v.Set("rp", bp.RetentionPolicy())
+	v.Set("precision", bp.Precision())
+	v.Set("consistency", bp.WriteConsistency())
+	u.RawQuery = v.Encode()
+
+	reqBody := io.Reader(&b)
+
+	if c.compression == "gzip" {
+		var err error
+		reqBody, err = CompressWithGzip(reqBody, gzip.DefaultCompression)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+	}
+
 	for _, p := range bp.Points() {
 		if _, err := b.Write(p.Bytes(precision)); err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -322,19 +358,14 @@ func (c *HTTPClient) Write(bp BatchPoints) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	u := c.url()
-	u.Path = "write"
-	v := url.Values{}
-	v.Set("db", bp.Database())
-	v.Set("rp", bp.RetentionPolicy())
-	v.Set("precision", bp.Precision())
-	v.Set("consistency", bp.WriteConsistency())
-	u.RawQuery = v.Encode()
-	req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", u.String(), &b)
+	req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", u.String(), reqBody)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream")
+	if c.compression == "gzip" {
+		req.Header.Set("Content-Encoding", "gzip")
+	}
 
 	_, err = c.do(req, nil, http.StatusNoContent, http.StatusOK)
 	return err
diff --git a/influxdb/client_test.go b/influxdb/client_test.go
index aac711d82..d4d420a7d 100644
--- a/influxdb/client_test.go
+++ b/influxdb/client_test.go
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 package influxdb
 
 import (
+	"compress/gzip"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 )
 
 func TestClient_Query(t *testing.T) {
@@ -154,6 +157,21 @@ func TestClient_Concurrent_Use(t *testing.T) {
 func TestClient_Write(t *testing.T) {
 	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		var data Response
+		uncompressedBody, err := gzip.NewReader(r.Body)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+		}
+		bod, err := ioutil.ReadAll(uncompressedBody)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+		}
+		if r.Header.Get("Content-Encoding") != "gzip" {
+			t.Errorf("expected gzip Content-Encoding but got %s", r.Header.Get("Content-Encoding"))
+		}
+		expected := "testpt,tag1=tag1 value=1i 942105600000000003\n"
+		if string(bod) != expected {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected send, expected '%s', got '%s'", expected, string(bod))
+		}
 		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
 		_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(data)
 	}))
@@ -162,10 +180,55 @@ func TestClient_Write(t *testing.T) {
 	config := Config{URLs: []string{ts.URL}}
 	c, _ := NewHTTPClient(config)
 
+	bp, err := NewBatchPoints(BatchPointsConfig{})
+	bp.AddPoint(Point{
+		Name:   "testpt",
+		Tags:   map[string]string{"tag1": "tag1"},
+		Fields: map[string]interface{}{"value": 1},
+		Time:   time.Date(1999, 11, 9, 0, 0, 0, 3, time.UTC),
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error.  expected %v, actual %v", nil, err)
+	}
+	err = c.Write(bp)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error.  expected %v, actual %v", nil, err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestClient_Write_noCompression(t *testing.T) {
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		var data Response
+		bod, err := ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body)
+		expected := "testpt,tag1=tag1 value=1i 942105600000000003\n"
+		if string(bod) != expected {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected send, expected '%s', got '%s'", expected, string(bod))
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+		}
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+		_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(data)
+	}))
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	config := Config{
+		URLs:        []string{ts.URL},
+		Compression: "none",
+	}
+	c, _ := NewHTTPClient(config)
+
 	bp, err := NewBatchPoints(BatchPointsConfig{})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected error.  expected %v, actual %v", nil, err)
 	}
+
+	bp.AddPoint(Point{
+		Name:   "testpt",
+		Tags:   map[string]string{"tag1": "tag1"},
+		Fields: map[string]interface{}{"value": 1},
+		Time:   time.Date(1999, 11, 9, 0, 0, 0, 3, time.UTC),
+	})
 	err = c.Write(bp)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected error.  expected %v, actual %v", nil, err)
diff --git a/influxdb/gzip.go b/influxdb/gzip.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..966673296
--- /dev/null
+++ b/influxdb/gzip.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package influxdb
+
+import (
+	"compress/gzip"
+	"io"
+)
+
+// CompressWithGzip takes an io.Reader as input and pipes
+// it through a gzip.Writer returning an io.Reader containing
+// the gzipped data.
+// An error is returned if passing data to the gzip.Writer fails
+// this is shamelessly stolen from https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf
+func CompressWithGzip(data io.Reader, level int) (io.Reader, error) {
+	pipeReader, pipeWriter := io.Pipe()
+	gzipWriter, err := gzip.NewWriterLevel(pipeWriter, level)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	go func() {
+		_, err := io.Copy(gzipWriter, data)
+		gzipWriter.Close()
+		// subsequent reads from the read half of the pipe will
+		// return no bytes and the error err, or EOF if err is nil.
+		pipeWriter.CloseWithError(err)
+	}()
+
+	return pipeReader, err
+}
diff --git a/services/influxdb/config.go b/services/influxdb/config.go
index d0b358ec4..cdafdfc9e 100644
--- a/services/influxdb/config.go
+++ b/services/influxdb/config.go
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	StartUpTimeout           toml.Duration       `toml:"startup-timeout" override:"startup-timeout"`
 	SubscriptionSyncInterval toml.Duration       `toml:"subscriptions-sync-interval" override:"subscriptions-sync-interval"`
 	SubscriptionPath         string              `toml:"subscription-path" override:"subscription-path"`
+	Compression              string              `toml:"compression" override:"compression"`
 }
 
 func NewConfig() Config {
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ func (c *Config) Init() {
 	c.SubscriptionSyncInterval = toml.Duration(DefaultSubscriptionSyncInterval)
 	c.SubscriptionMode = ClusterMode
 	c.SubscriptionPath = ""
+	c.Compression = "gzip"
 }
 
 func (c *Config) ApplyConditionalDefaults() {
@@ -95,6 +97,9 @@ func (c *Config) ApplyConditionalDefaults() {
 	if c.SubscriptionSyncInterval == toml.Duration(0) {
 		c.SubscriptionSyncInterval = toml.Duration(DefaultSubscriptionSyncInterval)
 	}
+	if c.Compression == "" {
+		c.Compression = "gzip"
+	}
 }
 
 var validNamePattern = regexp.MustCompile(`^[-\._\p{L}0-9]+$`)
@@ -124,6 +129,12 @@ func (c Config) Validate() error {
 	default:
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid subscription protocol, must be one of 'udp', 'http' or 'https', got %q: %v", c.SubscriptionProtocol, c)
 	}
+	switch c.Compression {
+	case "gzip", "none":
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("Invalid compression, must be one of 'gzip' or 'none', got %s", c.Compression)
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }