Low-temperature specific heat results of the Zr-Fe compounds are presented and compared with the results of their amorphous counterparts. It is shown that for Zr-rich compositions of the amorphous alloys, the electronic parameters cannot explain the superconducting properties, but that a phonon softening seems to play a major role. For compositions rich in Fe, the electronic specific heat coefficient γ values obtained for the compounds make it evident that the γ values observed for the amorphous state are strongly enhanced by magnetic contributions.