Compare JPG, PNG, WebP, and AVIF for web use. Learn which format gives the best balance of quality, file size, and browser support for your website.
Images typically account for 50-75% of a web page's total size. Choosing the right image format directly affects:
Let's compare the four main formats you should know about in 2026.
JPG uses lossy compression — it discards some image data to achieve smaller files. At quality 80-85%, the loss is invisible to humans.
Pros:PNG uses lossless compression — no quality is lost, ever. It also supports full alpha transparency.
Pros:Mentioned in this article — free, no sign-up required.
Developed by Google, WebP offers both lossy and lossless compression, plus transparency support. Lossy WebP is 25-34% smaller than JPG at equivalent quality. Lossless WebP is 26% smaller than PNG.
Pros:AVIF is based on the AV1 video codec and offers even better compression than WebP — typically 50% smaller than JPG and 20% smaller than WebP.
Pros:| Feature | JPG | PNG | WebP | AVIF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossless | Both | Both |
| Transparency | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Animation | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| File size (photo) | Medium | Large | Small | Smallest |
| File size (graphic) | Medium | Medium | Small | Smallest |
| Browser support | 100% | 100% | 97% | 93% |
| Best for | Photos | Logos/icons | Everything | Max compression |
Reformat makes it easy to convert between any image format:
All conversions are free, instant, and require no sign-up. Simply upload your image and download the converted file.
Yes, for most websites this is the single biggest performance win. Use the HTML element to serve WebP with JPG/PNG fallbacks.
No — converting from a lossy format to another lossy format doesn't recover lost data. But the WebP file will be smaller at the same visual quality. For best results, convert from your original high-quality source.
Is AVIF ready for production use?Yes, with fallbacks. Use AVIF as the first choice in a element, with WebP and JPG as fallbacks. This gives you the best compression for modern browsers without breaking older ones.
GIF is outdated for everything except simple animations. For animated content, use WebP or MP4 video instead — they're dramatically smaller.
JPG to PNG
Convert JPG images to Portable Network Graphics format