diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index afcb36a..9a268e7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -97,9 +97,28 @@ For use with [Calendar](https://github.com/lau/calendar) you can still
 specify tzdata ~> 0.1.7 in your mix.exs file in case you experience problems
 using version ~> 0.5.20
 
-## Hackney dependency and security
+## HTTP Client
 
-Tzdata depends on Hackney in order to do HTTPS requests to get new updates. This is done because Erlang's built in HTTP client `httpc` does not verify SSL certificates when doing HTTPS requests. Hackney verifies the certificate of IANA when getting new tzdata releases from IANA.
+Tzdata uses Req (via the Finch HTTP client) for HTTPS requests to get new updates.
+
+### Using Hackney (Legacy)
+
+If you need to continue using Hackney, you can configure it explicitly:
+
+```elixir
+# mix.exs
+defp deps do
+  [
+    {:tzdata, "~> 1.2"},
+    {:hackney, "~> 1.0"}
+  ]
+end
+
+# config/config.exs
+config :tzdata, http_client: Tzdata.HTTPClient.Hackney
+```
+
+Note: Hackney has known security vulnerabilities and is less actively maintained than Req/Finch.
 
 ## Documentation
 
diff --git a/lib/tzdata/data_loader.ex b/lib/tzdata/data_loader.ex
index 192dd54..eec918e 100644
--- a/lib/tzdata/data_loader.ex
+++ b/lib/tzdata/data_loader.ex
@@ -171,6 +171,6 @@ defmodule Tzdata.DataLoader do
   defp data_dir, do: Tzdata.Util.data_dir()
 
   defp http_client() do
-    Application.get_env(:tzdata, :http_client, Tzdata.HTTPClient.Hackney)
+    Application.get_env(:tzdata, :http_client, Tzdata.HTTPClient.Req)
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/tzdata/http_client/req.ex b/lib/tzdata/http_client/req.ex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a93184
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/tzdata/http_client/req.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+defmodule Tzdata.HTTPClient.Req do
+  @moduledoc false
+
+  @behaviour Tzdata.HTTPClient
+
+  @impl true
+  def get(url, headers, options) do
+    follow_redirect = Keyword.get(options, :follow_redirect, false)
+
+    req_options = [
+      headers: headers,
+      redirect: follow_redirect,
+      decode_body: false
+    ]
+
+    case Req.request([method: :get, url: url] ++ req_options) do
+      {:ok, %Req.Response{status: status, headers: response_headers, body: body}} ->
+        # Convert headers to list of tuples to match HTTPClient behavior
+        headers_list = Enum.map(response_headers, fn {k, v} -> {k, List.first(v) || v} end)
+        {:ok, {status, headers_list, body}}
+
+      {:error, reason} ->
+        {:error, reason}
+    end
+  end
+
+  @impl true
+  def head(url, headers, _options) do
+    case Req.request(method: :head, url: url, headers: headers) do
+      {:ok, %Req.Response{status: status, headers: response_headers}} ->
+        headers_list = Enum.map(response_headers, fn {k, v} -> {k, List.first(v) || v} end)
+        {:ok, {status, headers_list}}
+
+      {:error, reason} ->
+        {:error, reason}
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/tzdata/tzdata_app.ex b/lib/tzdata/tzdata_app.ex
index d060e95..bec5070 100644
--- a/lib/tzdata/tzdata_app.ex
+++ b/lib/tzdata/tzdata_app.ex
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ defmodule Tzdata.App do
   use Application
 
   def start(_type, _args) do
-    children = [Tzdata.EtsHolder]
+    children = [
+      {Finch, name: Tzdata.Finch},
+      Tzdata.EtsHolder
+    ]
     children = case Application.fetch_env(:tzdata, :autoupdate) do
       {:ok, :enabled} -> children ++ [Tzdata.ReleaseUpdater]
       {:ok, :disabled} -> children
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index 78d1e6f..88f90ad 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ defmodule Tzdata.Mixfile do
 
   defp deps do
     [
-      {:hackney, "~> 1.17"},
+      {:req, "~> 0.5"},
       {:ex_doc, "~> 0.21", only: :dev, runtime: false}
     ]
   end
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ defmodule Tzdata.Mixfile do
     [
       autoupdate: :enabled,
       data_dir: nil,
-      http_client: Tzdata.HTTPClient.Hackney
+      http_client: Tzdata.HTTPClient.Req
     ]
   end
 
diff --git a/mix.lock b/mix.lock
index c278e8a..dbfaec5 100644
--- a/mix.lock
+++ b/mix.lock
@@ -1,16 +1,17 @@
 %{
-  "certifi": {:hex, :certifi, "2.14.0", "ed3bef654e69cde5e6c022df8070a579a79e8ba2368a00acf3d75b82d9aceeed", [:rebar3], [], "hexpm", "ea59d87ef89da429b8e905264fdec3419f84f2215bb3d81e07a18aac919026c3"},
   "earmark_parser": {:hex, :earmark_parser, "1.4.43", "34b2f401fe473080e39ff2b90feb8ddfeef7639f8ee0bbf71bb41911831d77c5", [:mix], [], "hexpm", "970a3cd19503f5e8e527a190662be2cee5d98eed1ff72ed9b3d1a3d466692de8"},
   "ex_doc": {:hex, :ex_doc, "0.37.2", "2a3aa7014094f0e4e286a82aa5194a34dd17057160988b8509b15aa6c292720c", [:mix], [{:earmark_parser, "~> 1.4.42", [hex: :earmark_parser, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:makeup_c, ">= 0.1.0", [hex: :makeup_c, repo: "hexpm", optional: true]}, {:makeup_elixir, "~> 0.14 or ~> 1.0", [hex: :makeup_elixir, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:makeup_erlang, "~> 0.1 or ~> 1.0", [hex: :makeup_erlang, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:makeup_html, ">= 0.1.0", [hex: :makeup_html, repo: "hexpm", optional: true]}], "hexpm", "4dfa56075ce4887e4e8b1dcc121cd5fcb0f02b00391fd367ff5336d98fa49049"},
-  "hackney": {:hex, :hackney, "1.23.0", "55cc09077112bcb4a69e54be46ed9bc55537763a96cd4a80a221663a7eafd767", [:rebar3], [{:certifi, "~> 2.14.0", [hex: :certifi, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:idna, "~> 6.1.0", [hex: :idna, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:metrics, "~> 1.0.0", [hex: :metrics, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:mimerl, "~> 1.1", [hex: :mimerl, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:parse_trans, "3.4.1", [hex: :parse_trans, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:ssl_verify_fun, "~> 1.1.0", [hex: :ssl_verify_fun, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:unicode_util_compat, "~> 0.7.0", [hex: :unicode_util_compat, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}], "hexpm", "6cd1c04cd15c81e5a493f167b226a15f0938a84fc8f0736ebe4ddcab65c0b44e"},
-  "idna": {:hex, :idna, "6.1.1", "8a63070e9f7d0c62eb9d9fcb360a7de382448200fbbd1b106cc96d3d8099df8d", [:rebar3], [{:unicode_util_compat, "~>0.7.0", [hex: :unicode_util_compat, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}], "hexpm", "92376eb7894412ed19ac475e4a86f7b413c1b9fbb5bd16dccd57934157944cea"},
+  "finch": {:hex, :finch, "0.21.0", "b1c3b2d48af02d0c66d2a9ebfb5622be5c5ecd62937cf79a88a7f98d48a8290c", [:mix], [{:mime, "~> 1.0 or ~> 2.0", [hex: :mime, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:mint, "~> 1.6.2 or ~> 1.7", [hex: :mint, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:nimble_options, "~> 0.4 or ~> 1.0", [hex: :nimble_options, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:nimble_pool, "~> 1.1", [hex: :nimble_pool, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:telemetry, "~> 0.4 or ~> 1.0", [hex: :telemetry, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}], "hexpm", "87dc6e169794cb2570f75841a19da99cfde834249568f2a5b121b809588a4377"},
+  "hpax": {:hex, :hpax, "1.0.3", "ed67ef51ad4df91e75cc6a1494f851850c0bd98ebc0be6e81b026e765ee535aa", [:mix], [], "hexpm", "8eab6e1cfa8d5918c2ce4ba43588e894af35dbd8e91e6e55c817bca5847df34a"},
+  "jason": {:hex, :jason, "1.4.4", "b9226785a9aa77b6857ca22832cffa5d5011a667207eb2a0ad56adb5db443b8a", [:mix], [{:decimal, "~> 1.0 or ~> 2.0", [hex: :decimal, repo: "hexpm", optional: true]}], "hexpm", "c5eb0cab91f094599f94d55bc63409236a8ec69a21a67814529e8d5f6cc90b3b"},
   "makeup": {:hex, :makeup, "1.2.1", "e90ac1c65589ef354378def3ba19d401e739ee7ee06fb47f94c687016e3713d1", [:mix], [{:nimble_parsec, "~> 1.4", [hex: :nimble_parsec, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}], "hexpm", "d36484867b0bae0fea568d10131197a4c2e47056a6fbe84922bf6ba71c8d17ce"},
   "makeup_elixir": {:hex, :makeup_elixir, "1.0.1", "e928a4f984e795e41e3abd27bfc09f51db16ab8ba1aebdba2b3a575437efafc2", [:mix], [{:makeup, "~> 1.0", [hex: :makeup, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:nimble_parsec, "~> 1.2.3 or ~> 1.3", [hex: :nimble_parsec, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}], "hexpm", "7284900d412a3e5cfd97fdaed4f5ed389b8f2b4cb49efc0eb3bd10e2febf9507"},
   "makeup_erlang": {:hex, :makeup_erlang, "1.0.2", "03e1804074b3aa64d5fad7aa64601ed0fb395337b982d9bcf04029d68d51b6a7", [:mix], [{:makeup, "~> 1.0", [hex: :makeup, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}], "hexpm", "af33ff7ef368d5893e4a267933e7744e46ce3cf1f61e2dccf53a111ed3aa3727"},
-  "metrics": {:hex, :metrics, "1.0.1", "25f094dea2cda98213cecc3aeff09e940299d950904393b2a29d191c346a8486", [:rebar3], [], "hexpm", "69b09adddc4f74a40716ae54d140f93beb0fb8978d8636eaded0c31b6f099f16"},
-  "mimerl": {:hex, :mimerl, "1.3.0", "d0cd9fc04b9061f82490f6581e0128379830e78535e017f7780f37fea7545726", [:rebar3], [], "hexpm", "a1e15a50d1887217de95f0b9b0793e32853f7c258a5cd227650889b38839fe9d"},
+  "mime": {:hex, :mime, "2.0.7", "b8d739037be7cd402aee1ba0306edfdef982687ee7e9859bee6198c1e7e2f128", [:mix], [], "hexpm", "6171188e399ee16023ffc5b76ce445eb6d9672e2e241d2df6050f3c771e80ccd"},
+  "mint": {:hex, :mint, "1.7.1", "113fdb2b2f3b59e47c7955971854641c61f378549d73e829e1768de90fc1abf1", [:mix], [{:castore, "~> 0.1.0 or ~> 1.0", [hex: :castore, repo: "hexpm", optional: true]}, {:hpax, "~> 0.1.1 or ~> 0.2.0 or ~> 1.0", [hex: :hpax, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}], "hexpm", "fceba0a4d0f24301ddee3024ae116df1c3f4bb7a563a731f45fdfeb9d39a231b"},
+  "nimble_options": {:hex, :nimble_options, "1.1.1", "e3a492d54d85fc3fd7c5baf411d9d2852922f66e69476317787a7b2bb000a61b", [:mix], [], "hexpm", "821b2470ca9442c4b6984882fe9bb0389371b8ddec4d45a9504f00a66f650b44"},
   "nimble_parsec": {:hex, :nimble_parsec, "1.4.2", "8efba0122db06df95bfaa78f791344a89352ba04baedd3849593bfce4d0dc1c6", [:mix], [], "hexpm", "4b21398942dda052b403bbe1da991ccd03a053668d147d53fb8c4e0efe09c973"},
-  "parse_trans": {:hex, :parse_trans, "3.4.1", "6e6aa8167cb44cc8f39441d05193be6e6f4e7c2946cb2759f015f8c56b76e5ff", [:rebar3], [], "hexpm", "620a406ce75dada827b82e453c19cf06776be266f5a67cff34e1ef2cbb60e49a"},
-  "ssl_verify_fun": {:hex, :ssl_verify_fun, "1.1.7", "354c321cf377240c7b8716899e182ce4890c5938111a1296add3ec74cf1715df", [:make, :mix, :rebar3], [], "hexpm", "fe4c190e8f37401d30167c8c405eda19469f34577987c76dde613e838bbc67f8"},
-  "unicode_util_compat": {:hex, :unicode_util_compat, "0.7.0", "bc84380c9ab48177092f43ac89e4dfa2c6d62b40b8bd132b1059ecc7232f9a78", [:rebar3], [], "hexpm", "25eee6d67df61960cf6a794239566599b09e17e668d3700247bc498638152521"},
+  "nimble_pool": {:hex, :nimble_pool, "1.1.0", "bf9c29fbdcba3564a8b800d1eeb5a3c58f36e1e11d7b7fb2e084a643f645f06b", [:mix], [], "hexpm", "af2e4e6b34197db81f7aad230c1118eac993acc0dae6bc83bac0126d4ae0813a"},
+  "req": {:hex, :req, "0.5.17", "0096ddd5b0ed6f576a03dde4b158a0c727215b15d2795e59e0916c6971066ede", [:mix], [{:brotli, "~> 0.3.1", [hex: :brotli, repo: "hexpm", optional: true]}, {:ezstd, "~> 1.0", [hex: :ezstd, repo: "hexpm", optional: true]}, {:finch, "~> 0.17", [hex: :finch, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:jason, "~> 1.0", [hex: :jason, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:mime, "~> 2.0.6 or ~> 2.1", [hex: :mime, repo: "hexpm", optional: false]}, {:nimble_csv, "~> 1.0", [hex: :nimble_csv, repo: "hexpm", optional: true]}, {:plug, "~> 1.0", [hex: :plug, repo: "hexpm", optional: true]}], "hexpm", "0b8bc6ffdfebbc07968e59d3ff96d52f2202d0536f10fef4dc11dc02a2a43e39"},
+  "telemetry": {:hex, :telemetry, "1.3.0", "fedebbae410d715cf8e7062c96a1ef32ec22e764197f70cda73d82778d61e7a2", [:rebar3], [], "hexpm", "7015fc8919dbe63764f4b4b87a95b7c0996bd539e0d499be6ec9d7f3875b79e6"},
 }
diff --git a/test/integration/req_download_test.exs b/test/integration/req_download_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7a33fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/req_download_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+defmodule Tzdata.Integration.ReqDownloadTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case
+
+  @moduletag :integration
+  @moduletag timeout: 60_000
+
+  alias Tzdata.HTTPClient.Req, as: ReqClient
+
+  @iana_url "https://data.iana.org/time-zones/tzdata-latest.tar.gz"
+
+  describe "Req adapter with real IANA data" do
+    test "can perform HEAD request to get content-length" do
+      assert {:ok, {status, headers}} = ReqClient.head(@iana_url, [], [])
+      assert status == 200
+
+      content_length =
+        headers
+        |> Enum.find(fn {k, _v} -> String.downcase(k) == "content-length" end)
+        |> elem(1)
+        |> String.to_integer()
+
+      assert content_length > 100_000  # Reasonable size for tzdata archive
+    end
+
+    test "can perform HEAD request to get last-modified header" do
+      assert {:ok, {status, headers}} = ReqClient.head(@iana_url, [], [])
+      assert status == 200
+
+      last_modified =
+        Enum.find_value(headers, fn {k, v} ->
+          if String.downcase(k) == "last-modified", do: v
+        end)
+
+      assert is_binary(last_modified)
+      assert String.length(last_modified) > 0
+    end
+
+    test "can download actual IANA tzdata file" do
+      assert {:ok, {status, _headers, body}} = ReqClient.get(@iana_url, [], [])
+      assert status == 200
+      assert is_binary(body)
+      assert byte_size(body) > 100_000  # Reasonable size for tzdata archive
+
+      # Verify it's a gzip file
+      assert binary_part(body, 0, 2) == <<0x1F, 0x8B>>
+    end
+
+    test "handles follow_redirect option correctly" do
+      # Test with a URL that redirects (if IANA uses redirects)
+      assert {:ok, {status, _headers, body}} =
+        ReqClient.get(@iana_url, [], [follow_redirect: true])
+
+      assert status == 200
+      assert is_binary(body)
+      assert byte_size(body) > 100_000
+    end
+
+    test "sends custom headers in real request" do
+      custom_headers = [{"User-Agent", "tzdata-test"}]
+
+      assert {:ok, {status, _headers, body}} =
+        ReqClient.get(@iana_url, custom_headers, [])
+
+      assert status == 200
+      assert is_binary(body)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/tzdata/finch_pool_test.exs b/test/tzdata/finch_pool_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..680b4c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tzdata/finch_pool_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+defmodule Tzdata.FinchPoolTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case
+
+  test "Finch pool is started and available" do
+    # Verify the Finch pool is registered
+    assert Process.whereis(Tzdata.Finch) != nil
+
+    # Verify it responds to a simple request
+    url = "https://httpbin.org/get"
+    request = Finch.build(:get, url)
+    assert {:ok, %Finch.Response{}} = Finch.request(request, Tzdata.Finch)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/tzdata/http_client/req_test.exs b/test/tzdata/http_client/req_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2781728
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tzdata/http_client/req_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+defmodule Tzdata.HTTPClient.ReqTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: false
+
+  alias Tzdata.HTTPClient.Req, as: ReqClient
+
+  @moduletag :req
+
+  describe "get/3" do
+    test "successfully performs GET request" do
+      url = "https://httpbin.org/get"
+      headers = []
+      options = []
+
+      assert {:ok, {status, response_headers, body}} = ReqClient.get(url, headers, options)
+      assert status == 200
+      assert is_list(response_headers)
+      assert is_binary(body)
+      assert body =~ "httpbin"
+    end
+
+    test "follows redirects when follow_redirect is true" do
+      url = "https://httpbin.org/redirect/1"
+      headers = []
+      options = [follow_redirect: true]
+
+      assert {:ok, {status, response_headers, body}} = ReqClient.get(url, headers, options)
+      assert status == 200
+      assert is_list(response_headers)
+      assert is_binary(body)
+    end
+
+    test "does not follow redirects when follow_redirect is false" do
+      url = "https://httpbin.org/redirect/1"
+      headers = []
+      options = [follow_redirect: false]
+
+      assert {:ok, {status, response_headers, _body}} = ReqClient.get(url, headers, options)
+      assert status in [301, 302, 307, 308]
+      # Should have location header
+      assert Enum.any?(response_headers, fn {k, _v} -> String.downcase(k) == "location" end)
+    end
+
+    test "sends custom headers in request" do
+      url = "https://httpbin.org/headers"
+      headers = [{"X-Custom-Header", "test-value"}]
+      options = []
+
+      assert {:ok, {status, _response_headers, body}} = ReqClient.get(url, headers, options)
+      assert status == 200
+      assert body =~ "X-Custom-Header"
+      assert body =~ "test-value"
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "head/3" do
+    test "successfully performs HEAD request" do
+      url = "https://httpbin.org/get"
+      headers = []
+      options = []
+
+      assert {:ok, {status, response_headers}} = ReqClient.head(url, headers, options)
+      assert status == 200
+      assert is_list(response_headers)
+    end
+
+    test "returns error for invalid URL" do
+      url = "https://this-domain-does-not-exist-12345.com"
+      headers = []
+      options = []
+
+      assert {:error, _reason} = ReqClient.head(url, headers, options)
+    end
+  end
+end