diff --git a/examples/basic.rs b/examples/basic.rs
index dc2bbc5..f56ca72 100644
--- a/examples/basic.rs
+++ b/examples/basic.rs
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ pub async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         status_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
         idle_wakeup_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(30),
         buffer_events: 8192,
+        binary: false,
     };
 
     let mut repl = ReplicationClient::connect(cfg).await?;
diff --git a/examples/bounded_replay.rs b/examples/bounded_replay.rs
index 60cee6a..7a210d2 100644
--- a/examples/bounded_replay.rs
+++ b/examples/bounded_replay.rs
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ pub async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         status_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
         idle_wakeup_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(30),
         buffer_events: 8192,
+        binary: false,
     };
 
     let mut repl = ReplicationClient::connect(cfg).await?;
diff --git a/examples/checkpointed.rs b/examples/checkpointed.rs
index c44eeb7..37e8e82 100644
--- a/examples/checkpointed.rs
+++ b/examples/checkpointed.rs
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         status_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
         idle_wakeup_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(30),
         buffer_events: 8192,
+        binary: false,
     };
 
     let mut repl = ReplicationClient::connect(cfg).await?;
diff --git a/examples/control_and_stream.rs b/examples/control_and_stream.rs
index c0aa5ca..1eb24b3 100644
--- a/examples/control_and_stream.rs
+++ b/examples/control_and_stream.rs
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ pub async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         status_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
         idle_wakeup_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(30),
         buffer_events: 8192,
+        binary: false,
     };
 
     let mut repl = ReplicationClient::connect(cfg).await?;
diff --git a/examples/with_mtls.rs b/examples/with_mtls.rs
index 320f662..c33fc0d 100644
--- a/examples/with_mtls.rs
+++ b/examples/with_mtls.rs
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ pub async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         status_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
         idle_wakeup_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(30),
         buffer_events: 8192,
+        binary: false,
     };
 
     let mut repl = ReplicationClient::connect(cfg).await?;
diff --git a/examples/with_tls.rs b/examples/with_tls.rs
index 2f53ef5..15540c1 100644
--- a/examples/with_tls.rs
+++ b/examples/with_tls.rs
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ pub async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         status_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
         idle_wakeup_interval: std::time::Duration::from_secs(30),
         buffer_events: 8192,
+        binary: false,
     };
 
     let mut repl = ReplicationClient::connect(cfg).await?;
diff --git a/src/client/worker.rs b/src/client/worker.rs
index 37bb654..8c0c729 100644
--- a/src/client/worker.rs
+++ b/src/client/worker.rs
@@ -182,10 +182,15 @@ impl WorkerState {
     ) -> Result<()> {
         // Escape single quotes in publication name
         let publication = self.cfg.publication.replace('\'', "''");
+        let binary_opt = if self.cfg.binary {
+            ", binary 'true'"
+        } else {
+            ""
+        };
         let sql = format!(
             "START_REPLICATION SLOT {} LOGICAL {} \
-            (proto_version '1', publication_names '{}', messages 'true')",
-            self.cfg.slot, self.cfg.start_lsn, publication,
+            (proto_version '1', publication_names '{}', messages 'true'{})",
+            self.cfg.slot, self.cfg.start_lsn, publication, binary_opt,
         );
         write_query(stream, &sql).await?;
 
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 05e9fc4..2dbb1cb 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -313,6 +313,19 @@ pub struct ReplicationConfig {
     ///
     /// Default: 8192 events
     pub buffer_events: usize,
+
+    /// Request column values in PostgreSQL binary wire format.
+    ///
+    /// When `true`, the `binary 'true'` option is added to `START_REPLICATION`
+    /// and `pgoutput` will encode column values using each type's binary
+    /// send function instead of text output.
+    ///
+    /// Leave as `false` (the default) unless you control both ends and have
+    /// measured a real win: any column whose type lacks a binary send function
+    /// will cause the walsender to error and close the replication stream.
+    ///
+    /// Requires PostgreSQL 14 or newer.
+    pub binary: bool,
 }
 
 impl Default for ReplicationConfig {
@@ -331,6 +344,7 @@ impl Default for ReplicationConfig {
             status_interval: Duration::from_secs(10),
             idle_wakeup_interval: Duration::from_secs(10),
             buffer_events: 8192,
+            binary: false,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -482,6 +496,12 @@ impl ReplicationConfig {
         self
     }
 
+    /// Request binary-format column values from `pgoutput` (requires PG 14+).
+    pub fn with_binary(mut self, binary: bool) -> Self {
+        self.binary = binary;
+        self
+    }
+
     /// Returns the connection string for display (password masked).
     ///
     /// Useful for logging without exposing credentials.