diff --git a/cmd/bitcask/export.go b/cmd/bitcask/export.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1adbacd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/bitcask/export.go
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+
+	"github.com/prologic/bitcask"
+)
+
+var errNotAllDataWritten = errors.New("error: not all data written")
+
+var exportCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:     "export",
+	Aliases: []string{"backup", "dump"},
+	Short:   "Export a database",
+	Long: `This command allows you to export or dump/backup a database's
+key/values into a long-term portable archival format suitable for backup and
+restore purposes or migrating from older on-disk formats of Bitcask.
+
+All key/value pairs are base64 encoded and serialized as JSON one pair per
+line to form an output stream to either standard output or a file. You can
+optionally compress the output with standard compression tools such as gzip.`,
+	Args: cobra.RangeArgs(0, 1),
+	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		var output string
+
+		path := viper.GetString("path")
+
+		if len(args) == 1 {
+			output = args[0]
+		} else {
+			output = "-"
+		}
+
+		os.Exit(export(path, output))
+	},
+}
+
+func init() {
+	RootCmd.AddCommand(exportCmd)
+
+	exportCmd.PersistentFlags().IntP(
+		"with-max-datafile-size", "", bitcask.DefaultMaxDatafileSize,
+		"Maximum size of each datafile",
+	)
+	exportCmd.PersistentFlags().IntP(
+		"with-max-key-size", "", bitcask.DefaultMaxKeySize,
+		"Maximum size of each key",
+	)
+	exportCmd.PersistentFlags().IntP(
+		"with-max-value-size", "", bitcask.DefaultMaxValueSize,
+		"Maximum size of each value",
+	)
+}
+
+type kvPair struct {
+	Key   string `json:"key"`
+	Value string `json:"value"`
+}
+
+func export(path, output string) int {
+	var (
+		err error
+		w   io.WriteCloser
+	)
+
+	db, err := bitcask.Open(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithError(err).Error("error opening database")
+		return 1
+	}
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	if output == "-" {
+		w = os.Stdout
+	} else {
+		w, err = os.OpenFile(output, os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_EXCL|os.O_TRUNC, 0755)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).
+				WithField("output", output).
+				Error("error opening output for writing")
+			return 1
+		}
+	}
+
+	err = db.Fold(func(key string) error {
+		value, err := db.Get(key)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).
+				WithField("key", key).
+				Error("error reading key")
+			return err
+		}
+
+		kv := kvPair{
+			Key:   base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte(key)),
+			Value: base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(value),
+		}
+
+		data, err := json.Marshal(&kv)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).
+				WithField("key", key).
+				Error("error serialzing key")
+			return err
+		}
+
+		if n, err := w.Write(data); err != nil || n != len(data) {
+			if err == nil && n != len(data) {
+				err = errNotAllDataWritten
+			}
+			log.WithError(err).
+				WithField("key", key).
+				WithField("n", n).
+				Error("error writing key")
+			return err
+		}
+
+		if _, err := w.Write([]byte("\n")); err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).Error("error writing newline")
+			return err
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithError(err).
+			WithField("path", path).
+			WithField("output", output).
+			Error("error exporting keys")
+		return 2
+	}
+
+	return 0
+}
diff --git a/cmd/bitcask/import.go b/cmd/bitcask/import.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa526be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/bitcask/import.go
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+
+	"github.com/prologic/bitcask"
+)
+
+var importCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:     "import",
+	Aliases: []string{"restore", "read"},
+	Short:   "Import a database",
+	Long: `This command allows you to import or restore a database from a
+previous export/dump using the export command either creating a new database
+or adding additional key/value pairs to an existing one.`,
+	Args: cobra.RangeArgs(0, 1),
+	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		var input string
+
+		path := viper.GetString("path")
+
+		if len(args) == 1 {
+			input = args[0]
+		} else {
+			input = "-"
+		}
+
+		os.Exit(_import(path, input))
+	},
+}
+
+func init() {
+	RootCmd.AddCommand(importCmd)
+}
+
+func _import(path, input string) int {
+	var (
+		err error
+		r   io.ReadCloser
+	)
+
+	db, err := bitcask.Open(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithError(err).Error("error opening database")
+		return 1
+	}
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	if input == "-" {
+		r = os.Stdin
+	} else {
+		r, err = os.Open(input)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).
+				WithField("input", input).
+				Error("error opening input for reading")
+			return 1
+		}
+	}
+
+	var kv kvPair
+
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(r)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(scanner.Bytes(), &kv); err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).
+				WithField("input", input).
+				Error("error reading input")
+			return 2
+		}
+
+		key, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(kv.Key)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).Error("error decoding key")
+			return 2
+		}
+
+		value, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(kv.Value)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).Error("error decoding value")
+			return 2
+		}
+
+		if err := db.Put(string(key), value); err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).Error("error writing key/value")
+			return 2
+		}
+	}
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		log.WithError(err).
+			WithField("input", input).
+			Error("error reading input")
+		return 2
+
+	}
+
+	return 0
+}