WebP vs PNG vs JPEG: Which Format Should You Use?

The Short Answer

• Photos and real-world images → WebP (or JPEG as fallback)
• Logos, icons, screenshots, and illustrations with transparency → WebP (or PNG as fallback)
• When in doubt for the web → WebP

JPEG: The Old Reliable

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) has been around since 1992. It’s the default format for photographs because it uses lossy compression that works extremely well on complex, natural images.

Pros:

• Universal support in every browser, OS, and app
• Excellent for photographs and complex color gradients
• Editable in virtually any software

Cons:

• Doesn’t support transparency
• Artifacts appear at higher compression levels
• No animation support
• Larger files than WebP at the same quality

Best for: Photographs, social media images, email attachments where compatibility is critical.

PNG: The Lossless Standard

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) was created in 1996 as a patent-free alternative to GIF. It uses lossless compression, preserving every pixel of the original image.

Pros:

• Perfect lossless quality — no compression artifacts ever
• Supports full transparency (alpha channel)
• Universal support
• Great for screenshots, logos, diagrams

Cons:

• Much larger file sizes than JPEG or WebP for photos
• No animation support (APNG exists but is rarely used)
• Slow to decode in some browsers for very large files

Best for: Logos, icons, screenshots, any image where pixel-perfect quality or transparency is needed.

WebP: The Modern Choice

WebP combines the best of JPEG and PNG while being more efficient than both.

Pros:

• 25–34% smaller than JPEG at the same quality
• Up to 26% smaller than PNG at the same quality
• Supports both lossy and lossless modes
• Supports transparency (even in lossy mode)
• Supports animation
• 97%+ browser support as of 2024

Cons:

• Not supported by IE 11 or very old mobile browsers
• Some older desktop apps (old Photoshop versions, certain CMS) may not open WebP
• Slightly higher CPU usage to encode than JPEG

Best for: Virtually everything on the web today.

Real-World File Size Comparison

Here’s a typical comparison for a 1920×1080 photograph:

Format	File Size	Notes
PNG (lossless)	3.2 MB	Original quality
JPEG Q85	420 KB	Common web standard
WebP Q80	290 KB	~31% smaller than JPEG
WebP Q90	380 KB	Similar quality to JPEG Q95

For a site with 50 images per page, switching from JPEG to WebP can save 60–70 KB per image, reducing total page weight by several megabytes.

Impact on SEO and Core Web Vitals

Google’s Core Web Vitals include Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures how fast the main image loads. Smaller images load faster, directly improving LCP scores.

Google PageSpeed Insights explicitly flags JPEG and PNG images that could be served as WebP and estimates the potential savings. Converting to WebP is one of the highest-impact, lowest-effort improvements you can make to your site’s performance score.

How to Choose

1. Is it a photo? Use WebP. Fallback to JPEG if you need IE11 support.
2. Does it need transparency? Use WebP. Fallback to PNG.
3. Is it a vector graphic like a logo? Consider SVG first. If raster, use WebP or PNG.
4. Are you sending to a printer or designer? Use PNG or high-quality JPEG.

Converting Your Images

Use Imgora to convert your existing JPEG and PNG images to WebP for free, directly in your browser. No uploads, no account, completely private.

---

Related: What Is a WebP File? · Best WebP Compression Settings for Bloggers