JPG, PNG, WebP or AVIF: which format should you use?
Four formats cover almost every need. Here is what each one does well, where it falls short, and how to choose in a few seconds.
The short answer
- Photo for a website: WebP, or AVIF for the smallest files, with JPG as a fallback for old systems.
- Photo to share, print or upload to a form: JPG, which every device and service accepts.
- Logo, icon, screenshot, image with text: PNG, or WebP if the destination accepts it.
- Image with a transparent background: PNG or WebP. Never JPG.
Comparison table
| Format | Compression | Transparency | Typical photo size | Compatibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPG | Lossy | No | Reference (100%) | Universal |
| PNG | Lossless | Yes | 300 to 1,000% | Universal |
| WebP | Lossy or lossless | Yes | 65 to 75% | All current browsers, most apps |
| AVIF | Lossy or lossless | Yes | 45 to 60% | All current browsers, fewer apps |
Sizes are typical for a photo at comparable visual quality; your results depend on the image.
JPG: the universal photo format
JPG removes details the eye barely notices, which makes photos small. The quality setting controls the trade-off: 75 to 85% is invisible for most photos. Its weaknesses are sharp edges and text, which get blurry halos, and the lack of transparency. Each new save also loses a little more detail, so keep an original.
PNG: exact pixels, transparency
PNG keeps every pixel exactly. That is ideal for logos, interface screenshots and diagrams, where crisp edges matter, and it supports transparency. For photos, the files are very large. A PNG with few colors can be made much lighter by reducing it to a palette of 256 colors, which is what our PNG compressor does.
WebP: the best default for the web
WebP does what JPG and PNG do, with smaller files: lossy for photos, lossless for graphics, transparency in both cases. Every current browser displays it, and most content management systems accept it. Its only weak point is older desktop software that cannot open it; WebP to JPG solves that in seconds.
AVIF: the smallest files
AVIF, based on the AV1 video codec, gives the smallest files at the same visual quality, often half the size of a JPG. Browsers display it, but encoding is slower and many programs cannot open it yet. It is an excellent choice for websites that can serve a fallback.
Converting between formats
Converting a JPG to PNG does not bring back lost details, it only stops further loss. Converting a PNG photo to JPG or WebP, on the other hand, saves a lot of space. Our image converter handles all these formats in your browser.