diff --git a/docs/manual/apps.rst b/docs/manual/apps.rst
index 630d5657d..4c7f1b995 100644
--- a/docs/manual/apps.rst
+++ b/docs/manual/apps.rst
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ The tool can be used while ``wayback`` is running, and pywb will detect many cha
 It can be used to:
 
 * Create a new collection --  ``wb-manager init <coll>``
-* Add WARCs to collection -- ``wb-manager add <coll> <warc>``
+* Add WARCs or WACZs to collection -- ``wb-manager add <coll> <warc/wacz>``
 * Add override templates
 * Add and remove metadata to a collections ``metadata.yaml``
 * List all collections
diff --git a/pywb/manager/manager.py b/pywb/manager/manager.py
index 18c76ee77..40a8bef8f 100644
--- a/pywb/manager/manager.py
+++ b/pywb/manager/manager.py
@@ -5,12 +5,15 @@
 import heapq
 import yaml
 import re
+import gzip
 import six
 
 from distutils.util import strtobool
 from pkg_resources import resource_string, get_distribution
 
 from argparse import ArgumentParser, RawTextHelpFormatter
+from tempfile import mkdtemp
+from zipfile import ZipFile
 
 from pywb.utils.loaders import load_yaml_config
 from warcio.timeutils import timestamp20_now
@@ -47,6 +50,9 @@ class CollectionsManager(object):
 
     COLLS_DIR = 'collections'
 
+    WARC_RX = re.compile(r'.*\.w?arc(\.gz)?$')
+    WACZ_RX = re.compile(r'.*\.wacz$')
+
     def __init__(self, coll_name, colls_dir=None, must_exist=True):
         colls_dir = colls_dir or self.COLLS_DIR
         self.default_config = load_yaml_config(DEFAULT_CONFIG)
@@ -115,29 +121,127 @@ def _assert_coll_exists(self):
                    'To create a new collection, run\n\n{1} init {0}')
             raise IOError(msg.format(self.coll_name, sys.argv[0]))
 
-    def add_warcs(self, warcs):
+    def add_archives(self, archives, uncompress_wacz=False):
         if not os.path.isdir(self.archive_dir):
             raise IOError('Directory {0} does not exist'.
                           format(self.archive_dir))
 
-        full_paths = []
-        duplicate_warcs = []
-        for filename in warcs:
-            filename = os.path.abspath(filename)
+        invalid_archives = []
+        warc_paths = []
+        for archive in archives:
+            if self.WARC_RX.match(archive):
+                full_path = self._add_warc(archive)
+                if full_path:
+                    warc_paths.append(full_path)
+            elif self.WACZ_RX.match(archive):
+                if uncompress_wacz:
+                    self._add_wacz_uncompressed(archive)
+                else:
+                    raise NotImplementedError('Adding waczs without unpacking is not yet implemented. Use '
+                                              '\'--uncompress-wacz\' flag to add the wacz\'s content.')
+            else:
+                invalid_archives.append(archive)
+
+        self._index_merge_warcs(warc_paths, self.DEF_INDEX_FILE)
+
+        if invalid_archives:
+            logging.warning(f'Invalid archives weren\'t added: {", ".join(invalid_archives)}')
+
+    def _add_warc(self, warc):
+        filename = os.path.abspath(warc)
+
+        # don't overwrite existing warcs with duplicate names
+        if os.path.exists(os.path.join(self.archive_dir, os.path.basename(filename))):
+            logging.warning(f'Warc {filename} wasn\'t added because of duplicate name.')
+            return None
+
+        shutil.copy2(filename, self.archive_dir)
+        full_path = os.path.join(self.archive_dir, filename)
+        logging.info('Copied ' + filename + ' to ' + self.archive_dir)
+        return full_path
+
+    def _add_wacz_uncompressed(self, wacz):
+        wacz = os.path.abspath(wacz)
+        temp_dir = mkdtemp()
+        warc_regex = re.compile(r'.+\.warc(\.gz)?$')
+        cdx_regex = re.compile(r'.+\.cdx(\.gz)?$')
+        with ZipFile(wacz, 'r') as wacz_zip_file:
+            archive_members = wacz_zip_file.namelist()
+            warc_files = [file for file in archive_members if warc_regex.match(file)]
+            if not warc_files:
+                logging.warning(f'WACZ {wacz} does not contain any warc files.')
+                return
+
+            # extract warc files
+            for warc_file in warc_files:
+                wacz_zip_file.extract(warc_file, temp_dir)
 
-            # don't overwrite existing warcs with duplicate names
-            if os.path.exists(os.path.join(self.archive_dir, os.path.basename(filename))):
-                duplicate_warcs.append(filename)
+            cdx_files = [file for file in archive_members if cdx_regex.match(file)]
+            if not cdx_files:
+                logging.warning(f'WACZ {wacz} does not contain any indices.')
+                return
+
+            for cdx_file in cdx_files:
+                wacz_zip_file.extract(cdx_file, temp_dir)
+
+        # copy extracted warc files to collections archive dir, use wacz filename as filename with added index if
+        # multiple warc files exist
+        warc_filename_mapping = {}
+        full_paths = []
+        for idx, extracted_warc_file in enumerate(warc_files):
+            _, warc_ext = os.path.splitext(extracted_warc_file)
+            if warc_ext == '.gz':
+                warc_ext = '.warc.gz'
+            warc_filename = os.path.basename(wacz)
+            warc_filename, _ = os.path.splitext(warc_filename)
+            warc_filename = f'{warc_filename}-{idx}{warc_ext}'
+            warc_destination_path = os.path.join(self.archive_dir, warc_filename)
+
+            if os.path.exists(warc_destination_path):
+                logging.warning(f'Warc {warc_filename} wasn\'t added because of duplicate name.')
                 continue
 
-            shutil.copy2(filename, self.archive_dir)
-            full_paths.append(os.path.join(self.archive_dir, filename))
-            logging.info('Copied ' + filename + ' to ' + self.archive_dir)
+            warc_filename_mapping[os.path.basename(extracted_warc_file)] = warc_filename
+            shutil.copy2(os.path.join(temp_dir, extracted_warc_file), warc_destination_path)
+            full_paths.append(warc_destination_path)
 
-        self._index_merge_warcs(full_paths, self.DEF_INDEX_FILE)
+        # rewrite filenames in wacz indices and merge them with collection index file
+        for cdx_file in cdx_files:
+            self._add_wacz_index(os.path.join(self.indexes_dir, self.DEF_INDEX_FILE), os.path.join(temp_dir, cdx_file),
+                                 warc_filename_mapping)
 
-        if duplicate_warcs:
-            logging.warning(f'Warcs {", ".join(duplicate_warcs)} weren\'t added because of duplicate names.')
+        # delete temporary files
+        shutil.rmtree(temp_dir)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _add_wacz_index(collection_index_path, wacz_index_path, filename_mapping):
+        from pywb.warcserver.index.cdxobject import CDXObject
+
+        # copy collection index to temporary directory
+        tempdir = mkdtemp()
+        collection_index_name = os.path.basename(collection_index_path)
+        collection_index_temp_path = os.path.join(tempdir, collection_index_name)
+
+        if os.path.exists(collection_index_path):
+            shutil.copy2(collection_index_path, collection_index_temp_path)
+
+        with open(collection_index_temp_path, 'a') as collection_index_temp_file:
+            if wacz_index_path.endswith('.gz'):
+                wacz_index_file = gzip.open(wacz_index_path, 'rb')
+            else:
+                wacz_index_file = open(wacz_index_path, 'rb')
+            collection_index_temp_file.write('\n')
+            for line in wacz_index_file.readlines():
+                cdx_object = CDXObject(cdxline=line)
+                if cdx_object['filename'] in filename_mapping:
+                    cdx_object['filename'] = filename_mapping[cdx_object['filename']]
+                collection_index_temp_file.write(cdx_object.to_cdxj())
+
+            wacz_index_file.close()
+
+        # copy temporary index back to original location and delete temporary directory
+        shutil.move(collection_index_temp_path, collection_index_path)
+        shutil.rmtree(tempdir)
 
     def reindex(self):
         cdx_file = os.path.join(self.indexes_dir, self.DEF_INDEX_FILE)
@@ -383,16 +487,17 @@ def do_list(r):
     listcmd = subparsers.add_parser('list', help=list_help)
     listcmd.set_defaults(func=do_list)
 
-    # Add Warcs
+    # Add Warcs or Waczs
     def do_add(r):
         m = CollectionsManager(r.coll_name)
-        m.add_warcs(r.files)
-
-    addwarc_help = 'Copy ARCS/WARCS to collection directory and reindex'
-    addwarc = subparsers.add_parser('add', help=addwarc_help)
-    addwarc.add_argument('coll_name')
-    addwarc.add_argument('files', nargs='+')
-    addwarc.set_defaults(func=do_add)
+        m.add_archives(r.files, r.uncompress_wacz)
+
+    add_archives_help = 'Copy ARCS/WARCS/WACZ to collection directory and reindex'
+    add_archives = subparsers.add_parser('add', help=add_archives_help)
+    add_archives.add_argument('--uncompress-wacz', dest='uncompress_wacz', action='store_true')
+    add_archives.add_argument('coll_name')
+    add_archives.add_argument('files', nargs='+')
+    add_archives.set_defaults(func=do_add)
 
     # Reindex All
     def do_reindex(r):
diff --git a/sample_archive/cdxj/example.cdx.gz b/sample_archive/cdxj/example.cdx.gz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..974659635
Binary files /dev/null and b/sample_archive/cdxj/example.cdx.gz differ
diff --git a/sample_archive/waczs/invalid_example_1.wacz b/sample_archive/waczs/invalid_example_1.wacz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f5dc1abf3
Binary files /dev/null and b/sample_archive/waczs/invalid_example_1.wacz differ
diff --git a/sample_archive/waczs/valid_example_1.wacz b/sample_archive/waczs/valid_example_1.wacz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d4b7516d
Binary files /dev/null and b/sample_archive/waczs/valid_example_1.wacz differ
diff --git a/tests/test_manager.py b/tests/test_manager.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..285e64f8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_manager.py
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+import os
+
+import pytest
+
+from pywb.manager.manager import CollectionsManager
+
+VALID_WACZ_PATH = 'sample_archive/waczs/valid_example_1.wacz'
+INVALID_WACZ_PATH = 'sample_archive/waczs/invalid_example_1.wacz'
+
+TEST_COLLECTION_NAME = 'test-col'
+
+
+class TestManager:
+    def test_add_valid_wacz_uncompressed(self, tmp_path):
+        """Test if adding a valid wacz file to a collection succeeds"""
+        manager = self.get_test_collections_manager(tmp_path)
+        manager._add_wacz_uncompressed(VALID_WACZ_PATH)
+        assert 'valid_example_1-0.warc' in os.listdir(manager.archive_dir)
+        assert manager.DEF_INDEX_FILE in os.listdir(manager.indexes_dir)
+        with open(os.path.join(manager.indexes_dir, manager.DEF_INDEX_FILE), 'r') as f:
+            assert '"filename": "valid_example_1-0.warc"' in f.read()
+
+    def test_add_invalid_wacz_uncompressed(self, tmp_path, caplog):
+        """Test if adding an invalid wacz file to a collection fails"""
+        manager = self.get_test_collections_manager(tmp_path)
+        manager._add_wacz_uncompressed(INVALID_WACZ_PATH)
+        assert 'invalid_example_1-0.warc' not in os.listdir(manager.archive_dir)
+        assert 'sample_archive/waczs/invalid_example_1.wacz does not contain any warc files.' in caplog.text
+
+        index_path = os.path.join(manager.indexes_dir, manager.DEF_INDEX_FILE)
+        if os.path.exists(index_path):
+            with open(index_path, 'r') as f:
+                assert '"filename": "invalid_example_1-0.warc"' not in f.read()
+
+    def test_add_valid_archives_uncompressed_wacz(self, tmp_path):
+        manager = self.get_test_collections_manager(tmp_path)
+        archives = ['sample_archive/warcs/example.arc', 'sample_archive/warcs/example.arc.gz',
+                    'sample_archive/warcs/example.warc', 'sample_archive/warcs/example.warc.gz',
+                    'sample_archive/waczs/valid_example_1.wacz']
+        manager.add_archives(archives, uncompress_wacz=True)
+
+        with open(os.path.join(manager.indexes_dir, manager.DEF_INDEX_FILE), 'r') as f:
+            index_text = f.read()
+
+        for archive in archives:
+            archive = os.path.basename(archive)
+
+            if archive.endswith('wacz'):
+                archive = 'valid_example_1-0.warc'
+
+            assert archive in os.listdir(manager.archive_dir)
+            assert archive in index_text
+
+    def test_add_valid_archives_dont_uncompress_wacz(self, tmp_path):
+        manager = self.get_test_collections_manager(tmp_path)
+        archives = ['sample_archive/warcs/example.arc', 'sample_archive/warcs/example.arc.gz',
+                    'sample_archive/warcs/example.warc', 'sample_archive/warcs/example.warc.gz',
+                    'sample_archive/waczs/valid_example_1.wacz']
+
+        with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+            manager.add_archives(archives, uncompress_wacz=False)
+
+    def test_add_invalid_archives_uncompress_wacz(self, tmp_path, caplog):
+        manager = self.get_test_collections_manager(tmp_path)
+        manager.add_archives(['sample_archive/warcs/example.warc', 'sample_archive/text_content/sample.html'],
+                             uncompress_wacz=True)
+        assert 'sample.html' not in os.listdir(manager.archive_dir)
+        assert 'example.warc' in os.listdir(manager.archive_dir)
+        assert "Invalid archives weren't added: sample_archive/text_content/sample.html" in caplog.messages
+
+    def test_merge_wacz_index(self, tmp_path):
+        manager = self.get_test_collections_manager(tmp_path)
+        manager._add_wacz_index(os.path.join(manager.indexes_dir, manager.DEF_INDEX_FILE),
+                                'sample_archive/cdxj/example.cdxj',
+                                {'example.warc.gz': 'rewritten.warc.gz'})
+        with open(os.path.join(manager.indexes_dir, manager.DEF_INDEX_FILE), 'r') as f:
+            index_content = f.read()
+
+        assert 'example.warc.gz' not in index_content
+        assert 'rewritten.warc.gz' in index_content
+
+    def test_merge_wacz_index_gzip(self, tmp_path):
+        manager = self.get_test_collections_manager(tmp_path)
+        manager._add_wacz_index(os.path.join(manager.indexes_dir, manager.DEF_INDEX_FILE),
+                                'sample_archive/cdxj/example.cdx.gz',
+                                {'example-collection.warc': 'rewritten.warc'})
+        with open(os.path.join(manager.indexes_dir, manager.DEF_INDEX_FILE), 'r') as f:
+            index_content = f.read()
+
+        assert 'example-collection.warc' not in index_content
+        assert 'rewritten.warc' in index_content
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_test_collections_manager(collections_path):
+        manager = CollectionsManager(TEST_COLLECTION_NAME, colls_dir=collections_path, must_exist=False)
+        manager.add_collection()
+        return manager