diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..17ba414d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+from argparse import Namespace
+import contextlib
+import io
+import os
+import pathlib
+import sys
+import unittest
+import tempfile
+
+import zstandard as zstd
+from zstandard import cli
+
+
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def redirect_stdout():
+    sys.stdout = io.StringIO()
+    yield sys.stdout
+    sys.stdout = sys.__stdout__
+
+
+class TestCli(unittest.TestCase):
+    @classmethod
+    def setUpClass(cls):
+        cls.count = 1
+        cls._tmp_dir = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory()
+        cls.tmp_dir = pathlib.Path(cls._tmp_dir.name)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        for file in self.tmp_dir.iterdir():
+            file.unlink()
+
+    @classmethod
+    def tearDownClass(cls):
+        cls._tmp_dir.__exit__(None, None, None)
+
+    def test_parser_default(self):
+        args = cli._parser(["my-file"])
+        self.assertEqual(
+            args,
+            Namespace(
+                file="my-file",
+                outfile=None,
+                decompress=False,
+                level=3,
+                override=False,
+                threads=0,
+                rm=False,
+            ),
+        )
+
+    def test_parser(self):
+        args = cli._parser(
+            [
+                "my-file",
+                "-d",
+                "-o",
+                "out-file",
+                "-l",
+                "2",
+                "--override",
+                "--threads",
+                "-1",
+                "--rm",
+            ]
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            args,
+            Namespace(
+                file="my-file",
+                outfile="out-file",
+                decompress=True,
+                level=2,
+                override=True,
+                threads=-1,
+                rm=True,
+            ),
+        )
+
+    def make_source_file(self):
+        data = os.urandom(2048) * 2
+        name = self.tmp_dir / "source.dat"
+        name.write_bytes(data)
+        return data, name
+
+    def compress(self, data, **kw):
+        out = io.BytesIO()
+        if kw:
+            ctx = zstd.ZstdCompressor(**kw)
+        else:
+            ctx = None
+        with zstd.open(out, "wb", cctx=ctx) as f:
+            f.write(data)
+        return out.getvalue()
+
+    def _compress_run(self, main_args, compress_args, outfile=None):
+        data, name = self.make_source_file()
+        with redirect_stdout():
+            cli.main([str(name.absolute())] + main_args)
+
+        if not outfile:
+            dest = self.tmp_dir / f"{name.name}.zst"
+        else:
+            dest = self.tmp_dir / outfile
+        self.assertTrue(dest.exists())
+        self.assertEqual(
+            dest.read_bytes(), self.compress(data, **compress_args)
+        )
+        return data, name
+
+    def test_compress(self):
+        self._compress_run([], {})
+
+    def test_compress_level(self):
+        self._compress_run(["-l", "7"], dict(level=7))
+
+    def test_compress_thread(self):
+        self._compress_run(["--threads", "-1"], {})
+
+    def test_compress_rm(self):
+        _, name = self._compress_run(["--rm"], {})
+        self.assertFalse(name.exists())
+
+    def test_compress_override(self):
+        _, name = self._compress_run([], {})
+        self.assertRaises(FileExistsError, lambda: self._compress_run([], {}))
+        self._compress_run(["--override"], {})
+
+    def test_compress_not_exist(self):
+        name = self.tmp_dir / "unknown_file"
+        self.assertRaises(
+            FileNotFoundError, lambda: cli.main([str(name.absolute())])
+        )
+
+    def test_compress_outfile(self):
+        self._compress_run(["-o", str(self.tmp_dir / "output")], {}, "output")
+
+    def test_compress_same_output(self):
+        _, name = self.make_source_file()
+
+        def go(dest):
+            self.assertRaises(
+                NotImplementedError,
+                lambda: cli.main([str(name.absolute()), "-o", str(dest)]),
+            )
+
+        go(name)
+        go(name.parent / ".." / name.parent.name / name.name)
+
+    def make_compressed_file(self):
+        data = os.urandom(2048) * 2
+        name = self.tmp_dir / "source.dat.zst"
+        with zstd.open(name, "wb") as f:
+            f.write(data)
+        return data, name
+
+    def _decompress_run(self, main_args, outfile=None):
+        data, name = self.make_compressed_file()
+        with redirect_stdout():
+            cli.main([str(name.absolute()), "-d"] + main_args)
+
+        if not outfile:
+            dest = self.tmp_dir / name.stem
+        else:
+            dest = self.tmp_dir / outfile
+        self.assertTrue(dest.exists())
+        self.assertEqual(dest.read_bytes(), data)
+        return data, name
+
+    def test_decompress(self):
+        self._decompress_run([])
+
+    def test_decompress_rm(self):
+        _, name = self._decompress_run(["--rm"])
+        self.assertFalse(name.exists())
+
+    def test_decompress_override(self):
+        _, name = self._decompress_run([])
+        self.assertRaises(FileExistsError, lambda: self._decompress_run([]))
+        self._decompress_run(["--override"])
+
+    def test_decompress_not_exist(self):
+        name = self.tmp_dir / "unknown_file"
+        self.assertRaises(
+            FileNotFoundError, lambda: cli.main([str(name.absolute()), "-d"])
+        )
+
+    def test_decompress_outfile(self):
+        self._decompress_run(["-o", str(self.tmp_dir / "output")], "output")
+
+    def test_decompress_same_output(self):
+        _, name = self.make_source_file()
+
+        def go(dest, n=name):
+            self.assertRaises(
+                NotImplementedError,
+                lambda: cli.main([str(n.absolute()), "-d", "-o", str(dest)]),
+            )
+
+        go(name)
+        go(name.parent / ".." / name.parent.name / name.name)
+
+    def test_decompress_no_ext(self):
+        no_ext = self.tmp_dir / "no_ext"
+        no_ext.touch()
+        self.assertRaises(
+            NotImplementedError,
+            lambda: cli.main([str(no_ext.absolute()), "-d"]),
+        )
diff --git a/zstandard/__main__.py b/zstandard/__main__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f4db9174
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zstandard/__main__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from zstandard.cli import main
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/zstandard/backend_cffi.py b/zstandard/backend_cffi.py
index 43f645f1..61f27e97 100644
--- a/zstandard/backend_cffi.py
+++ b/zstandard/backend_cffi.py
@@ -1754,7 +1754,7 @@ class ZstdCompressor(object):
 
     :param level:
        Integer compression level. Valid values are all negative integers
-       through 22.
+       through 22. Default 3.
     :param dict_data:
        A ``ZstdCompressionDict`` to be used to compress with dictionary
         data.
diff --git a/zstandard/cli.py b/zstandard/cli.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bb5d6e95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zstandard/cli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+import argparse
+
+CHUNK_SIZE = 8 * 1024 * 1024
+
+
+def main(args=None):
+    arguments = _parser(args)
+    _run(arguments)
+
+
+def _parser(args=None):
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        prog="zstandard",
+        description="Simple cli to use zstandard to de/compress files",
+        formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter,
+    )
+
+    parser.add_argument("file", help="A filename")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "-o",
+        "--outfile",
+        help="Save to this filename",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "-d",
+        "--decompress",
+        help="Decompress instead of compressing.",
+        action="store_true",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "-l",
+        "--level",
+        help="Integer compression level. "
+        "Valid values are all negative integers through 22",
+        type=int,
+        default=3,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--override",
+        help="Allow overriding existing output files",
+        action="store_true",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--threads",
+        help="Number of threads to use to compress data concurrently. "
+        "0 disables multi-threaded compression. -1 means all logical CPUs",
+        type=int,
+        default=0,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--rm",
+        help="Remove source file after successful de/compression",
+        action="store_true",
+    )
+    return parser.parse_args(args)
+
+
+def _check_args(args):
+    import pathlib
+
+    file = pathlib.Path(args.file)
+    if not file.exists() or not file.is_file():
+        raise FileNotFoundError(
+            f"File {args.file} does not exits or is not a file"
+        )
+    if args.outfile is None:
+        if args.decompress:
+            outfile = file.with_name(file.stem)
+        else:
+            outfile = file.with_name(f"{file.name}.zst")
+    else:
+        outfile = pathlib.Path(args.outfile)
+    if file.resolve() == outfile.resolve():
+        raise NotImplementedError(
+            "Overriding the input file is not supported."
+            "Please specify another output file"
+        )
+    if outfile.exists() and not args.override:
+        raise FileExistsError(
+            f"File {args.outfile} exists. Pass --override to override it"
+        )
+    return file, outfile
+
+
+def _run(args):
+    import zstandard as zstd
+
+    file, outfile = _check_args(args)
+
+    in_fp, out_fp = None, None
+    try:
+        if args.decompress:
+            in_fp = zstd.open(file, "rb")
+            out_fp = open(outfile, "wb")
+            operation = "decompressing"
+        else:
+            in_fp = open(file, "rb")
+            ctx = zstd.ZstdCompressor(level=args.level, threads=args.threads)
+            out_fp = zstd.open(outfile, "wb", cctx=ctx)
+            operation = "compressing"
+        tot = 0
+        while True:
+            data = in_fp.read(CHUNK_SIZE)
+            if not data:
+                break
+            out_fp.write(data)
+            tot += len(data)
+            print(f"{operation} .. {tot//(1024*1024)} MB", end="\r")
+        print(" " * 100, end="\r")
+
+    finally:
+        if in_fp is not None:
+            in_fp.close()
+        if out_fp is not None:
+            out_fp.close()
+
+    outsize = outfile.stat().st_size
+    if args.decompress:
+        print(outfile.name, f": {outsize} bytes")
+    else:
+        insize = file.stat().st_size or 1
+        print(
+            args.file,
+            f": {outsize/insize*100:.2f}% ({insize} => {outsize} bytes)",
+            outfile.name,
+        )
+
+    if args.rm:
+        file.unlink()