JPEG vs PNG vs WebP vs AVIF: Which Image Format to Use
A definitive comparison of JPEG, PNG, WebP, and AVIF: how each compresses, transparency and animation support, browser support, and when to use which.
Choosing an image format used to be simple: JPEG for photos, PNG for everything else. Today there are four serious contenders — JPEG, PNG, WebP, and AVIF— and picking the right one can cut your file sizes in half (or better) without anyone noticing a quality drop. This guide breaks down exactly how each format compresses, what it can and cannot do, and how to choose with confidence.
JPEG: the photographic workhorse
JPEG (or JPG) has been the default format for photographs since the 1990s, and for good reason. It uses lossycompression built on the discrete cosine transform, breaking an image into 8×8 blocks and discarding high-frequency detail your eye barely registers. On a typical photo it can deliver a tenth of the size of an uncompressed original with no obvious loss at normal viewing sizes.
Its weaknesses are well known. JPEG has no transparency (no alpha channel), no animation, and only 8 bits per color channel. It also struggles with sharp edges and flat color — text, logos, and line art pick up visible “ringing” artifacts around the edges. Re-saving a JPEG repeatedly compounds the damage, because the loss is permanent and cumulative.
- Compression: lossy only.
- Transparency / animation: neither.
- Browser support:universal — every browser and device made.
- Best for: photographs and complex realistic images where maximum compatibility matters.
When a JPEG is your only option, the goal is to compress it once, well. Our JPEG compressorlets you dial in a quality level and see the size trade-off instantly — entirely in your browser.
PNG: pixel-perfect graphics and transparency
PNG is the lossless counterpart to JPEG. It compresses with the same DEFLATE algorithm found in ZIP files, so it preserves every pixel exactly and decompresses to a byte-perfect copy. That makes it ideal for anything with crisp edges or flat areas of color: logos, icons, screenshots, charts, and UI assets.
PNG also added the feature JPEG never had: a full alpha channel for smooth transparency, which is why it became the web standard for graphics that sit over varied backgrounds. The downside is size. On a full-color photograph, a PNG can easily be five to ten times larger than the equivalent JPEG, because lossless compression simply cannot throw away the photographic detail that makes JPEG so small.
- Compression: lossless.
- Transparency: yes, full 8-bit alpha. Animation: no (that is APNG, rarely used).
- Browser support: universal.
- Best for: logos, icons, line art, screenshots, and any image needing transparency or pixel-perfect edges.
PNGs often carry redundant metadata and sub-optimal encoding. A lossless pass through our PNG compressor can shave a meaningful chunk off the file without changing a single visible pixel.
WebP: the modern all-rounder
WebP, developed by Google, was the first widely adopted format to do everything in one container. It offers both lossy and lossless modes, supports transparency in both, and can even hold animation as a smaller, higher-quality replacement for GIF.
In practice, lossy WebP typically runs 25–35% smaller than a JPEGat comparable quality, and lossless WebP tends to beat PNG by roughly 20–26%. It is supported in every current major browser — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge — which makes it a safe, low-risk upgrade from the legacy formats for almost any website.
- Compression: both lossy and lossless.
- Transparency / animation: both supported.
- Browser support: excellent across all modern browsers.
- Best for: general-purpose web images where you want smaller files than JPEG or PNG with virtually no compatibility risk.
You can convert existing assets to WebP or re-compress WebP files with our WebP compressor.
AVIF: the smallest files available
AVIF is the newest of the four, derived from the AV1 video codec. It is the compression champion: on most images it produces the smallest file at a given quality, often 50% smaller than JPEG and noticeably smaller than WebP. It supports lossy and lossless modes, transparency, animation, wide color gamut, and HDR with 10- and 12-bit depth— useful for modern displays.
The trade-offs are encoding speed and slightly younger support. AVIF can be slower to encode than JPEG or WebP, and while every current major browser now decodes it, very old browser versions may not. For maximum reach, sites commonly serve AVIF with a WebP or JPEG fallback using the HTML <picture> element.
- Compression: both lossy and lossless, with the best ratios of the four.
- Transparency / animation: both, plus HDR and wide color.
- Browser support: all current major browsers; provide a fallback for very old clients.
- Best for: performance-critical sites where the smallest possible files matter most.
Try squeezing a photo through our AVIF compressorand compare the result against the same image as JPEG or WebP — the difference is often striking.
The quick decision guide
When you are not sure which to reach for, start here:
- Photos, maximum compatibility → JPEG. The universal choice when the file might be opened anywhere, by anything.
- Logos, icons, screenshots, transparency → PNG. Lossless edges and a full alpha channel.
- General web images, smaller with no risk → WebP. A drop-in upgrade that works everywhere modern.
- Smallest possible files for performance → AVIF (with a fallback). The best compression you can get today.
For an authoritative reference on how browsers handle each format, the MDN guide to image file types is the best place to dig deeper.
Converting between formats
The fastest way to find the right format is to try a few and compare. If you have a folder of legacy JPEGs or oversized PNGs, our image converter lets you switch between JPEG, PNG, WebP, and AVIF and watch the file sizes change side by side. Because every FileShrinking tool runs 100% in your browser, your images are never uploaded anywhere — you can experiment with sensitive or personal files with zero privacy risk.
The short version: keep a high-quality master, choose the format that fits the job, and compress once. Do that and you will ship images that are both small and sharp — without ever sending them off your device.