diff --git a/docs/02_concepts/13_http_compression.mdx b/docs/02_concepts/13_http_compression.mdx
index b35bd84c..79e26b38 100644
--- a/docs/02_concepts/13_http_compression.mdx
+++ b/docs/02_concepts/13_http_compression.mdx
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ client = ApifyClient(token='MY-APIFY-TOKEN', compression=IdentityCompressor())
 | **Availability**              | Requires the `brotli` extra             | Built-in, no extra needed       |
 | **`Content-Encoding` header** | `br`                                    | `gzip`                          |
 | **Quality range**             | `0–11`                                  | `1–9`                           |
-| **Default quality**           | `6`                                     | `9`                             |
+| **Default quality**           | `6`                                     | `6`                             |
 | **Enable via config**         | `compression='brotli'`                  | `compression='gzip'` (default)  |
 | **Best for**                  | Large payloads where bandwidth matters  | Minimal-dependency environments |
 
diff --git a/src/apify_client/http_compressors/_gzip.py b/src/apify_client/http_compressors/_gzip.py
index d4a3c6f4..fcab22df 100644
--- a/src/apify_client/http_compressors/_gzip.py
+++ b/src/apify_client/http_compressors/_gzip.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class GzipHttpCompressor(HttpCompressor):
     _max_quality = 9
     """Highest valid quality (slowest, best compression)."""
 
-    def __init__(self, *, quality: int = _max_quality) -> None:
+    def __init__(self, *, quality: int = 6) -> None:
         """Initialize the gzip compressor.
 
         Args:
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_http_compressors.py b/tests/unit/test_http_compressors.py
index 4c8bf15f..db0b245f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_http_compressors.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_http_compressors.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import sys
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+from unittest.mock import Mock
 
 import brotli
 import pytest
@@ -59,6 +60,15 @@ def _affected(name: str) -> bool:
         sys.modules.update(saved)
 
 
+def test_gzip_compressor_defaults_to_quality_6(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    """Gzip compressor uses compression level `6` when no quality is given."""
+    compress = Mock(return_value=b'compressed')
+    monkeypatch.setattr(gzip, 'compress', compress)
+
+    assert GzipHttpCompressor().compress(b'payload') == b'compressed'
+    compress.assert_called_once_with(b'payload', compresslevel=6)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     'quality',
     [