diff --git a/docs/cli.rst b/docs/cli.rst
index d896a6e..66c93cc 100644
--- a/docs/cli.rst
+++ b/docs/cli.rst
@@ -1740,6 +1740,14 @@ By default this command will create a table with the following schema:
 
 Content will be treated as binary by default and stored in a ``BLOB`` column. You can use the ``--text`` option to store that content in a ``TEXT`` column instead.
 
+Pass ``--sqlar`` to store the content zlib-compressed instead, using the same ``name``, ``mode``, ``mtime``, ``sz`` and ``data`` columns as `SQLite's own sqlar archive format <https://sqlite.org/sqlar.html>`__:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    sqlite-utils insert-files archive.db sqlar *.gif --sqlar
+
+Content is only stored compressed if doing so makes it smaller - otherwise the original bytes are stored as-is, matching the behaviour of SQLite's ``sqlar_compress()`` function.
+
 You can customize the schema using one or more ``-c`` options. For a table schema that includes just the path, MD5 hash and last modification time of the file, you would use this:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
@@ -1792,6 +1800,8 @@ The full list of column definitions you can use is as follows:
     The binary file contents, which will be stored as a BLOB
 ``content_text``
     The text file contents, which will be stored as TEXT
+``content_sqlar``
+    The file contents zlib-compressed for storage in a ``sqlar``-compatible BLOB column, matching the behaviour of ``--sqlar`` - the content is left uncompressed if compression would not make it smaller
 ``mtime``
     The modification time of the file, as floating point seconds since the Unix epoch
 ``ctime``
@@ -1819,7 +1829,7 @@ You can insert data piped from standard input like this:
 
 The ``-`` argument indicates data should be read from standard input. The string passed using the ``--name`` option will be used for the file name and path values.
 
-When inserting data from standard input only the following column definitions are supported: ``name``, ``path``, ``content``, ``content_text``, ``sha256``, ``md5`` and ``size``.
+When inserting data from standard input only the following column definitions are supported: ``name``, ``path``, ``content``, ``content_text``, ``content_sqlar``, ``sha256``, ``md5`` and ``size``.
 
 .. _cli_convert:
 
diff --git a/sqlite_utils/cli.py b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
index a3c37fd..5609d65 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/cli.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import pathlib
 import pdb  # noqa: T100
 import sys
 import textwrap
+import zlib
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from runpy import run_module
 from typing import Any
@@ -2913,6 +2914,11 @@ def extract(
 @click.option("--upsert", is_flag=True, help="Upsert files with matching primary key")
 @click.option("--name", type=str, help="File name to use")
 @click.option("--text", is_flag=True, help="Store file content as TEXT, not BLOB")
+@click.option(
+    "--sqlar",
+    is_flag=True,
+    help="Store file content zlib-compressed, compatible with SQLite's sqlar format",
+)
 @click.option(
     "--encoding",
     help="Character encoding for input, defaults to utf-8",
@@ -2930,6 +2936,7 @@ def insert_files(
     upsert,
     name,
     text,
+    sqlar,
     encoding,
     silent,
     load_extension,
@@ -2949,13 +2956,23 @@ def insert_files(
             -c size:size \\
             --pk name
     """
+    if text and sqlar:
+        raise click.ClickException("Cannot use --text and --sqlar together")
     if not column:
         if text:
             column = ["path:path", "content_text:content_text", "size:size"]
+        elif sqlar:
+            column = [
+                "name:name",
+                "mode:mode",
+                "mtime:mtime_int",
+                "sz:size",
+                "data:content_sqlar",
+            ]
         else:
             column = ["path:path", "content:content", "size:size"]
         if not pks:
-            pks = ["path"]
+            pks = ["name"] if sqlar else ["path"]
 
     def yield_paths_and_relative_paths():
         for f_or_d in file_or_dir:
@@ -2997,6 +3014,9 @@ def insert_files(
                         "content_text": lambda p, data=stdin_data: data.decode(
                             encoding or "utf-8"
                         ),
+                        "content_sqlar": lambda p, data=stdin_data: sqlar_compress(
+                            data
+                        ),
                         "sha256": lambda p, data=stdin_data: hashlib.sha256(
                             data
                         ).hexdigest(),
@@ -3688,6 +3708,14 @@ class UnicodeDecodeErrorForPath(Exception):
         self.path = path
 
 
+def sqlar_compress(data):
+    # Matches SQLite's sqlar_compress(): use the zlib-compressed blob only
+    # if it is actually smaller than the original, otherwise store as-is.
+    # https://sqlite.org/sqlar.html
+    compressed = zlib.compress(data)
+    return compressed if len(compressed) < len(data) else data
+
+
 FILE_COLUMNS = {
     "name": lambda p: p.name,
     "path": lambda p: str(p),
@@ -3696,6 +3724,7 @@ FILE_COLUMNS = {
     "md5": lambda p: hashlib.md5(p.resolve().read_bytes()).hexdigest(),
     "mode": lambda p: p.stat().st_mode,
     "content": lambda p: p.resolve().read_bytes(),
+    "content_sqlar": lambda p: sqlar_compress(p.resolve().read_bytes()),
     "mtime": lambda p: p.stat().st_mtime,
     "ctime": lambda p: p.stat().st_ctime,
     "mtime_int": lambda p: int(p.stat().st_mtime),
diff --git a/tests/test_insert_files.py b/tests/test_insert_files.py
index 8894aea..9a5278d 100644
--- a/tests/test_insert_files.py
+++ b/tests/test_insert_files.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import pathlib
 import sys
+import zlib
 
 import pytest
 from click.testing import CliRunner
@@ -171,6 +172,55 @@ def test_insert_files_fixed_value_column_bad_type():
         assert "colname:text:value" in result.output
 
 
+def test_insert_files_sqlar():
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    with runner.isolated_filesystem():
+        tmpdir = pathlib.Path(".")
+        db_path = str(tmpdir / "files.db")
+        # Compresses well - lots of repetition
+        compressible = b"abcdefgh" * 1000
+        # Does not compress smaller than the original
+        incompressible = os.urandom(20)
+        (tmpdir / "one.txt").write_bytes(compressible)
+        (tmpdir / "two.bin").write_bytes(incompressible)
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli.cli,
+            ["insert-files", db_path, "sqlar", str(tmpdir), "--sqlar"],
+            catch_exceptions=False,
+        )
+        assert result.exit_code == 0, result.output
+        db = Database(db_path)
+        assert db["sqlar"].columns_dict == {
+            "name": str,
+            "mode": int,
+            "mtime": int,
+            "sz": int,
+            "data": bytes,
+        }
+        assert db["sqlar"].pks == ["name"]
+        rows_by_name = {r["name"]: r for r in db["sqlar"].rows}
+        one, two = rows_by_name["one.txt"], rows_by_name["two.bin"]
+        assert one["sz"] == len(compressible)
+        assert len(one["data"]) < len(compressible)
+        assert zlib.decompress(one["data"]) == compressible
+        assert two["sz"] == len(incompressible)
+        assert two["data"] == incompressible
+
+
+def test_insert_files_sqlar_and_text_conflict():
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    with runner.isolated_filesystem():
+        tmpdir = pathlib.Path(".")
+        db_path = str(tmpdir / "files.db")
+        (tmpdir / "one.txt").write_text("hello", "utf-8")
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli.cli,
+            ["insert-files", db_path, "files", str(tmpdir), "--text", "--sqlar"],
+        )
+        assert result.exit_code == 1
+        assert "Cannot use --text and --sqlar together" in result.output
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "use_text,encoding,input,expected",
     (