PNG vs JPG vs WebP vs AVIF — Which Format Should You Use?

Choosing the right image format can cut your file sizes in half, fix broken transparency, and even speed up your website significantly. Here is everything you need to know to make the right choice — and how to convert between formats for free.

The quick answer

JPG — Photos and complex images for the web when transparency is not needed.
PNG — Logos, screenshots, and anything requiring transparency or pixel-perfect quality.
WebP — Best all-rounder for modern web use. Smaller than JPG and PNG, and supports transparency.
AVIF — The newest and smallest format. Great quality-to-size ratio, with slightly less browser support.
GIF — Animated images with limited colors. Mostly replaced by short videos and WebP for animation.

JPG (JPEG)

JPEG is the oldest and most widely supported format. It uses lossy compression, which means some detail is discarded to reduce file size. It works best for photographs because the compression artefacts are hard to see in complex, colorful images.

Universally supported
Small files for photos
No transparency (alpha channel)
Loses quality every time you save it again

PNG

PNG uses lossless compression — every pixel is preserved exactly. This makes it ideal for logos, icons, screenshots, and images with text where sharpness matters. It also supports full transparency (alpha channel).

Lossless quality
Full transparency support
Universally supported
Much larger files than JPG for photos

WebP

Developed by Google, WebP is supported by all modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari 14+, Edge). It offers both lossy and lossless compression and supports transparency — making it a direct replacement for both JPG and PNG.

Typically 25–35% smaller than comparable JPG
Transparency support
Lossless mode available
Not supported in very old browsers (pre-2020)

Best practice: For new websites, use WebP for everything. Fall back to JPG or PNG only if you need compatibility with software that does not support WebP yet.

AVIF

AVIF is the newest format, based on the AV1 video codec. It produces the smallest files of any format at comparable visual quality. Netflix and Apple have started adopting it for images on their websites.

Best compression of any format, often around 50% smaller than JPG
HDR and wide-color-gamut support
Transparency support
Not supported in older browsers and some software
Slower to encode than other formats

GIF

GIF is the classic animated image format. It only supports 256 colors per frame, which makes it quite poor for full-color photos. For animation today, use short MP4 video or animated WebP — but GIF still has wide compatibility as a simple looping animation format.

Universal support and looping animation
Very limited color palette (256 colors)
Large file sizes for complex animations

How to convert between formats

Open the tool — Go to Wizard Image — Convert Image.
Upload your image — Any format works as input: JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, TIFF, BMP.
Choose an output format — Select from the dropdown (JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, TIFF, BMP).
Adjust quality — For lossy formats (JPG, WebP, AVIF) you can set the quality level.
Convert and download — Your converted file is ready instantly.

Converting PNG to JPG removes transparency. Any transparent areas will be filled with white. If you need to keep transparency, choose WebP or AVIF as the output instead.

Format comparison table

JPG — Quality: Good for photos | Transparency: No | Animation: No | Size: Medium
PNG — Quality: Perfect (lossless) | Transparency: Yes | Animation: No | Size: Large
WebP — Quality: Excellent | Transparency: Yes | Animation: Yes | Size: Small
AVIF — Quality: Excellent | Transparency: Yes | Animation: Yes | Size: Smallest
GIF — Quality: Poor (256 colors) | Transparency: 1-bit only | Animation: Yes | Size: Large