diff --git a/cmd/drainer/drainer.toml b/cmd/drainer/drainer.toml
index c94c87906..1fe6175e5 100644
--- a/cmd/drainer/drainer.toml
+++ b/cmd/drainer/drainer.toml
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ data-dir = "data.drainer"
 # a comma separated list of PD endpoints
 pd-urls = "http://127.0.0.1:2379"
 
+# Use the specified compressor to compress payload between pump and drainer
+compressor = ""
+
 #[security]
 # Path of file that contains list of trusted SSL CAs for connection with cluster components.
 # ssl-ca = "/path/to/ca.pem"
diff --git a/drainer/config.go b/drainer/config.go
index 9f963354e..6504a3b58 100644
--- a/drainer/config.go
+++ b/drainer/config.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ const (
 var (
 	maxBinlogItemCount     int
 	defaultBinlogItemCount = 16 << 12
+	supportedCompressors   = [...]string{"gzip"}
 )
 
 // SyncerConfig is the Syncer's configuration.
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	SyncerCfg       *SyncerConfig   `toml:"syncer" json:"sycner"`
 	Security        security.Config `toml:"security" json:"security"`
 	SyncedCheckTime int             `toml:"synced-check-time" json:"synced-check-time"`
+	Compressor      string          `toml:"compressor" json:"compressor"`
 	EtcdTimeout     time.Duration
 	MetricsAddr     string
 	MetricsInterval int
@@ -106,6 +108,7 @@ func NewConfig() *Config {
 	fs.StringVar(&cfg.LogFile, "log-file", "", "log file path")
 	fs.StringVar(&cfg.LogRotate, "log-rotate", "", "log file rotate type, hour/day")
 	fs.Int64Var(&cfg.InitialCommitTS, "initial-commit-ts", 0, "if drainer donesn't have checkpoint, use initial commitTS to initial checkpoint")
+	fs.StringVar(&cfg.Compressor, "compressor", "", "use the specified compressor to compress payload between pump and drainer, only 'gzip' is supported now (default \"\", ie. compression disabled.)")
 	fs.IntVar(&cfg.SyncerCfg.TxnBatch, "txn-batch", 20, "number of binlog events in a transaction batch")
 	fs.StringVar(&cfg.SyncerCfg.IgnoreSchemas, "ignore-schemas", "INFORMATION_SCHEMA,PERFORMANCE_SCHEMA,mysql", "disable sync those schemas")
 	fs.IntVar(&cfg.SyncerCfg.WorkerCount, "c", 16, "parallel worker count")
@@ -245,6 +248,20 @@ func (cfg *Config) validate() error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if cfg.Compressor != "" {
+		found := false
+		for _, c := range supportedCompressors {
+			if cfg.Compressor == c {
+				found = true
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if !found {
+			return errors.Errorf(
+				"Invalid compressor: %v, must be one of these: %v", cfg.Compressor, supportedCompressors)
+		}
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/drainer/pump.go b/drainer/pump.go
index 45a925998..c353c462e 100644
--- a/drainer/pump.go
+++ b/drainer/pump.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"golang.org/x/net/context"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
+	_ "google.golang.org/grpc/encoding/gzip"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
 )
 
@@ -177,7 +178,14 @@ func (p *Pump) createPullBinlogsClient(ctx context.Context, last int64) error {
 		p.grpcConn.Close()
 	}
 
-	conn, err := grpc.Dial(p.addr, grpc.WithInsecure(), grpc.WithDefaultCallOptions(grpc.MaxCallRecvMsgSize(maxMsgSize)))
+	callOpts := []grpc.CallOption{grpc.MaxCallRecvMsgSize(maxMsgSize)}
+
+	if compressor, ok := ctx.Value(drainerKeyType("compressor")).(string); ok {
+		log.Infof("[pump %s] grpc compression enabled", p.nodeID)
+		callOpts = append(callOpts, grpc.UseCompressor(compressor))
+	}
+
+	conn, err := grpc.Dial(p.addr, grpc.WithInsecure(), grpc.WithDefaultCallOptions(callOpts...))
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("[pump %s] create grpc dial error %v", p.nodeID, err)
 		p.pullCli = nil
diff --git a/drainer/server.go b/drainer/server.go
index 7b6169e4f..2a6a8f0aa 100644
--- a/drainer/server.go
+++ b/drainer/server.go
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ var (
 	pdReconnTimes     = 30
 )
 
+type drainerKeyType string
+
 // Server implements the gRPC interface,
 // and maintains the runtime status
 type Server struct {
@@ -86,6 +88,8 @@ func NewServer(cfg *Config) (*Server, error) {
 	}
 
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, drainerKeyType("compressor"), cfg.Compressor)
+
 	clusterID = pdCli.GetClusterID(ctx)
 	// update latestTS and latestTime
 	latestTS, err := util.GetTSO(pdCli)
diff --git a/pump/server.go b/pump/server.go
index 347fa488f..496835fae 100644
--- a/pump/server.go
+++ b/pump/server.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gorilla/mux"
 	"github.com/ngaut/log"
 	"github.com/pingcap/errors"
-	"github.com/pingcap/pd/client"
+	pd "github.com/pingcap/pd/client"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb-binlog/pkg/flags"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb-binlog/pkg/node"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb-binlog/pkg/util"
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"golang.org/x/net/context"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/credentials"
+	_ "google.golang.org/grpc/encoding/gzip"
 )
 
 var notifyDrainerTimeout = time.Second * 10