WebP vs JPG vs PNG: Which Image Format Should You Use?

JPG, PNG and WebP are the three image formats you'll meet most often on the web. Each is best at different things, and choosing the right one can make images several times smaller.

At a glance

	JPG	PNG	WebP
Compression	Lossy	Lossless	Lossy or lossless
Best for	Photos	Logos, screenshots, graphics	Almost everything on the web
Transparency	No	Yes	Yes
Animation	No	No (APNG aside)	Yes
File size for photos	Small	Very large	Smallest
Support	Universal	Universal	All modern browsers

JPG: the photo format

JPG (or JPEG) throws away detail the eye is unlikely to notice. At 80–90% quality, most people can't tell the difference from the original, while the file is a fraction of the size. It's supported everywhere, from ancient phones to printing kiosks.

Weakness: sharp edges and text get fuzzy "artifacts", and every re-save loses a bit more quality. It has no transparency.

PNG: the pixel-perfect format

PNG keeps every pixel exactly, so it's ideal for screenshots, logos, icons, diagrams and anything with text or flat colors. It supports transparent backgrounds.

Weakness: photos saved as PNG are huge, often 5 to 10 times larger than a good JPG.

WebP: the modern all-rounder

Google's WebP format supports both lossy and lossless compression plus transparency and animation. Google reports lossy WebP files are typically 25–34% smaller than comparable JPGs, and lossless WebP files about 26% smaller than PNGs. Every modern browser supports it.

Weakness: some older software, email clients and upload forms still don't accept WebP.

Which should you use?

• Photos on a website: WebP, with JPG as a fallback if needed. Convert with JPG to WebP.
• Logos and icons: SVG if you have it; otherwise PNG or lossless WebP via PNG to WebP.
• Screenshots with text: PNG.
• Uploading to forms, printing, sending to anyone: JPG, because it works everywhere.
• Anything with transparency: PNG or WebP, never JPG.

Converting back

Downloaded a WebP that your app won't open? Convert it with WebP to JPG or WebP to PNG.

What about AVIF?

AVIF is newer still and often even smaller than WebP, especially for photos, though it's slower to encode and less widely accepted outside browsers. For most websites today, WebP is the practical sweet spot.

Tips

• Resize images to the size they're actually shown at before converting; that saves more than any format change.
• Don't convert a JPG to PNG hoping to improve quality. It only makes the file bigger.
• Keep your originals. Every lossy conversion loses a little detail.