diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index da5ff17..3ac9832 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ Supported compression formats are:
 - gzip (``.gz``)
 - bzip2 (``.bz2``)
 - xz (``.xz``)
-- Zstandard (``.zst``) (optional)
+- Zstandard (``.zst``)
 
 
 Example usage
@@ -164,20 +164,19 @@ bzip2 and xz compression methods do not store timestamps in the file headers,
 so output from them is also reproducible.
 
 
-Optional Zstandard support
---------------------------
+Zstandard support
+-----------------
 
-For reading and writing Zstandard (``.zst``) files, either the ``zstd`` command-line
-program or the Python ``zstandard`` package needs to be installed.
+For reading and writing Zstandard (``.zst``) files,
+either the ``zstd`` command-line program,
+the ``backports.zstd`` package or (on Python 3.14+),
+the ``compression.zstd`` module in the standard library is used.
 
 * If the ``threads`` parameter to ``xopen()`` is ``None`` (the default) or any value greater than 0,
   ``xopen`` uses an external ``zstd`` process.
 * If the above fails (because no ``zstd`` program is available) or if ``threads`` is 0,
   the ``zstandard`` package is used.
 
-To ensure that you get the correct ``zstandard`` version, you can specify the ``zstd`` extra for
-``xopen``, that is, install it using ``pip install xopen[zstd]``.
-
 
 Changelog
 ---------
@@ -185,8 +184,15 @@ Changelog
 development version
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
+* Zstandard is now supported by using ``compression.zstd``, which is part of the
+  Python standard library since Python 3.14.
+  On Python versions before 3.14, ``backports.zstd`` is used instead.
+* Zstandard support is no longer optional.
+  That is, it is no longer necessary to install ``xopen`` with the ``zstd`` extra.
+  The reason Zstandard was optional was that ``python-zstandard`` are quite large,
+  but ``backports.zstd`` wheels are much smaller.
 * Dropped support for Python 3.8 and 3.9
-* Started supporting Python 3.13
+* Started supporting Python 3.13 and 3.14 (including free-threaded)
 
 v2.0.2 (2024-06-12)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index afbf201..ec0f923 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ requires-python = ">=3.10"
 dynamic = ["version"]
 dependencies = [
     'isal>=1.6.1; platform.machine == "x86_64" or platform.machine == "AMD64" or platform.machine == "aarch64"',
-    'zlib-ng>=0.4.1; platform.machine == "x86_64" or platform.machine == "AMD64" or platform.machine == "aarch64"'
+    'zlib-ng>=0.4.1; platform.machine == "x86_64" or platform.machine == "AMD64" or platform.machine == "aarch64"',
+    'backports.zstd; python_version < "3.14"',
 ]
 
 [project.urls]
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ homepage = "https://github.com/pycompression/xopen/"
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 dev = ["pytest"]
-zstd = ["zstandard<1"]
+zstd = []  # Leave this in here for backwards compatibility (Zstandard support used to be optional)
 
 [tool.setuptools_scm]
 write_to = "src/xopen/_version.py"
diff --git a/src/xopen/__init__.py b/src/xopen/__init__.py
index 1348ea9..756d10c 100644
--- a/src/xopen/__init__.py
+++ b/src/xopen/__init__.py
@@ -65,10 +65,10 @@
     gzip_ng_threaded = None
     zlib_ng = None
 
-try:
-    import zstandard  # type: ignore
-except ImportError:
-    zstandard = None  # type: ignore
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 14):
+    from compression import zstd
+else:
+    from backports import zstd
 
 try:
     import fcntl
@@ -509,8 +509,8 @@ def _open_zst(
     assert compresslevel != 0
     if compresslevel is None:
         compresslevel = XOPEN_DEFAULT_ZST_COMPRESSION
-    if zstandard:
-        max_window_bits = zstandard.WINDOWLOG_MAX
+    if zstd:
+        max_window_bits = zstd.DecompressionParameter.window_log_max.bounds()[1]
     else:
         max_window_bits = 31
     if threads != 0:
@@ -531,15 +531,22 @@ def _open_zst(
                 _ProgramSettings(program_args, tuple(range(1, 20)), "-T"),
             )
         except OSError:
-            if zstandard is None:
+            if zstd is None:
                 # No fallback available
                 raise
 
-    if zstandard is None:
-        raise ImportError("zstandard module (python-zstandard) not available")
-    dctx = zstandard.ZstdDecompressor(max_window_size=2**max_window_bits)
-    cctx = zstandard.ZstdCompressor(level=compresslevel)
-    f = zstandard.open(filename, mode, cctx=cctx, dctx=dctx)  # type: ignore
+    if zstd is None:
+        raise ImportError("zstd module not available")
+
+    if "r" in mode:
+        level = None
+        options = {
+            zstd.DecompressionParameter.window_log_max: max_window_bits,
+        }
+    else:
+        level = compresslevel
+        options = None
+    f = zstd.open(filename, mode, options=options, level=level)  # type: ignore
     if mode == "rb":
         return io.BufferedReader(f)
     return io.BufferedWriter(f)  # mode "ab" and "wb"
diff --git a/tests/test_xopen.py b/tests/test_xopen.py
index 9e8f816..8f96db7 100644
--- a/tests/test_xopen.py
+++ b/tests/test_xopen.py
@@ -18,10 +18,10 @@
 
 from xopen import xopen, _detect_format_from_content
 
-try:
-    import zstandard
-except ImportError:
-    zstandard = None
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 14):
+    from compression import zstd
+else:
+    from backports import zstd
 
 
 # TODO this is duplicated in test_piped.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 CONTENT_LINES = ["Testing, testing ...\n", "The second line.\n"]
 CONTENT = "".join(CONTENT_LINES)
 extensions = ["", ".gz", ".bz2", ".xz"]
-if shutil.which("zstd") or zstandard:
+if shutil.which("zstd") or zstd:
     extensions += [".zst"]
 base = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "file.txt")
 files = [base + ext for ext in extensions]
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ def test_binary(fname):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("mode", ["b", "", "t"])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("threads", [None, 0])
 def test_roundtrip(ext, tmp_path, threads, mode):
-    if ext == ".zst" and threads == 0 and zstandard is None:
+    if ext == ".zst" and threads == 0 and zstd is None:
         return
     path = tmp_path / f"file{ext}"
     data = b"Hello" if mode == "b" else "Hello"
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ def test_roundtrip(ext, tmp_path, threads, mode):
 
 
 def test_binary_no_isal_no_threads(fname, xopen_without_igzip):
-    if fname.endswith(".zst") and zstandard is None:
+    if fname.endswith(".zst") and zstd is None:
         return
     with xopen_without_igzip(fname, "rb", threads=0) as f:
         lines = list(f)
@@ -268,8 +268,8 @@ def test_invalid_compression_level(tmp_path):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("ext", extensions)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("threads", (0, 1))
 def test_append(ext, threads, tmp_path):
-    if ext == ".zst" and zstandard is None and threads == 0:
-        pytest.skip("No zstandard installed")
+    if ext == ".zst" and zstd is None and threads == 0:
+        pytest.skip("No zstd installed")
     text = b"AB"
     reference = text + text
     path = tmp_path / f"the-file{ext}"
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ def test_read_no_threads(ext):
         ".zst": io.BufferedReader,
         "": io.BufferedReader,
     }
-    if ext == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if ext == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
     klass = klasses[ext]
     with xopen(TEST_DIR / f"file.txt{ext}", "rb", threads=0) as f:
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ def test_write_no_threads(tmp_path, ext):
         "": io.BufferedWriter,
     }
     if ext == ".zst":
-        # Skip zst because if python-zstandard is not installed,
+        # Skip zst because if zstd is not available,
         # we fall back to an external process even when threads=0
         return
     klass = klasses[ext]
@@ -540,7 +540,7 @@ def test_override_output_format_wrong_format(tmp_path):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("opener", OPENERS)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("extension", extensions)
 def test_text_encoding_newline_passthrough(opener, extension, tmp_path):
-    if extension == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if extension == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
     # "Eén ree\nTwee reeën\n" latin-1 encoded with \r for as line separator.
     encoded_text = b"E\xe9n ree\rTwee ree\xebn\r"
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ def test_text_encoding_newline_passthrough(opener, extension, tmp_path):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("opener", OPENERS)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("extension", extensions)
 def test_text_encoding_errors(opener, extension, tmp_path):
-    if extension == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if extension == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
     # "Eén ree\nTwee reeën\n" latin-1 encoded. This is not valid ascii.
     encoded_text = b"E\xe9n ree\nTwee ree\xebn\n"
@@ -583,10 +583,10 @@ def test_read_devnull():
         pass
 
 
-def test_xopen_zst_fails_when_zstandard_not_available(monkeypatch):
+def test_xopen_zst_fails_when_zstd_not_available(monkeypatch):
     import xopen
 
-    monkeypatch.setattr(xopen, "zstandard", None)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(xopen, "zstd", None)
     with pytest.raises(ImportError):
         with xopen.xopen(TEST_DIR / "file.txt.zst", mode="rb", threads=0) as f:
             f.read()
@@ -594,7 +594,7 @@ def test_xopen_zst_fails_when_zstandard_not_available(monkeypatch):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("threads", (0, 1))
 def test_xopen_zst_long_window_size(threads):
-    if threads == 0 and zstandard is None:
+    if threads == 0 and zstd is None:
         return
     elif threads == 1 and not shutil.which("zstd"):
         return
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ def test_xopen_zst_long_window_size(threads):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("threads", (0, 1))
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("ext", extensions)
 def test_pass_file_object_for_reading(ext, threads):
-    if ext == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if ext == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
 
     with open(TEST_DIR / f"file.txt{ext}", "rb") as fh:
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ def test_pass_file_object_for_reading(ext, threads):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("threads", (0, 1))
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("ext", extensions)
 def test_pass_file_object_for_writing(tmp_path, ext, threads):
-    if ext == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if ext == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
     first_line = CONTENT_LINES[0].encode("utf-8")
     with open(tmp_path / "out{ext}", "wb") as fh:
@@ -639,7 +639,7 @@ def test_pass_bytesio_for_reading_and_writing(ext, threads):
     format = ext[1:]
     if ext == "":
         format = None
-    if ext == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if ext == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
     first_line = CONTENT_LINES[0].encode("utf-8")
     writer = xopen(filelike, "wb", format=format, threads=threads)
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ def test_pass_bytesio_for_reading_and_writing(ext, threads):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("threads", (0, 1))
 def test_xopen_stdin(monkeypatch, ext, threads):
-    if ext == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if ext == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
     # Add encoding to suppress encoding warnings
     with open(TEST_DIR / f"file.txt{ext}", "rt", encoding="latin-1") as in_file:
@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ def test_xopen_stdout(monkeypatch):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("threads", (0, 1))
 def test_xopen_read_from_pipe(ext, threads):
-    if ext == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if ext == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
     in_file = TEST_DIR / f"file.txt{ext}"
     process = subprocess.Popen(("cat", str(in_file)), stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
@@ -690,7 +690,7 @@ def test_xopen_read_from_pipe(ext, threads):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("threads", (0, 1))
 def test_xopen_write_to_pipe(threads, ext):
-    if ext == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if ext == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
     format = ext.lstrip(".")
     if format == "":
@@ -711,7 +711,7 @@ def test_xopen_write_to_pipe(threads, ext):
 )
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("threads", (0, 1))
 def test_xopen_dev_stdin_read(threads, ext):
-    if ext == ".zst" and zstandard is None:
+    if ext == ".zst" and zstd is None:
         return
     file = str(Path(__file__).parent / f"file.txt{ext}")
     result = subprocess.run(