JPG vs PNG vs WebP: Which Image Format Should You Use?

Use JPG for photos and for anything you upload to a form; use PNG for screenshots, logos, text and anything that needs sharp edges or a transparent background; use WebP for images on a website, where Google measures it at 25–34% smaller than JPG for the same quality and about 97% of browsers support it. You can switch between them with the PNG to JPG converter, the WebP converter and the other converters linked below, all of which work inside your browser.

The rest of this guide shows why, with a size test on real images, a plain explanation of lossy and lossless compression, browser support as of October 2026, and short notes on the two newer formats you will meet: HEIC from iPhones and AVIF.

The short answer

Lossy vs lossless: the difference that matters

JPG is lossy. It divides the picture into small blocks and throws away fine detail the eye is least likely to notice. For photos, with their soft gradients and natural noise, this works brilliantly: a JPG can be a tenth of the size of an uncompressed photo with no visible change. On sharp edges, such as text, thin lines and flat-colour logos, the lost detail shows up as faint smudges and halos. Each time you edit and re-save a JPG, a little more is lost.

PNG is lossless. Every pixel is stored exactly, and the file is compressed the way a ZIP file is. That suits images with large areas of identical colour (screenshots, diagrams, logos), which compress very well. Photos have almost no identical neighbouring pixels, so a photo saved as PNG is enormous.

WebP does both. It has a lossy mode that competes with JPG and a lossless mode that competes with PNG, and both can carry transparency. Google states that lossless WebP files are 26% smaller than PNG and lossy WebP files are 25–34% smaller than comparable JPGs.

A real size test

We saved four real photos and one web-page screenshot in each format, at about 1200 px on the long side, using Chrome's built-in encoders (the same ones the site's converters use). JPG and WebP were both set to quality 75. These are single measurements, so read them as typical rather than exact; the same quality number in two formats does not guarantee identical visual quality.

Three things stand out. WebP was 23–50% smaller than JPG on the photos, in line with Google's figure. PNG photos were 13 to 20 times bigger than the JPGs, which is why a PNG photo almost never meets a form's size limit. And for the screenshot, PNG was about the same size as JPG while keeping the text perfectly sharp, so for screenshots PNG costs you nothing.

Transparency and animation

• JPG has no transparency. When a transparent image becomes a JPG, the empty areas are filled with a solid colour; the converters on this site fill them with white.
• PNG supports full transparency, including soft, semi-transparent edges, which is why logos and icons are usually PNG. An animated variant (APNG) exists but is rarely used.
• WebP supports transparency in both its lossy and lossless modes, and animation. Google says animated WebP files are smaller than GIF and APNG.
• GIF, the old animation format, is limited to 256 colours per frame and makes large files. A short video or animated WebP usually looks better at a fraction of the size.

Browser and app support in 2026

As of October 2026, caniuse.com lists WebP as supported by Chrome 32+, Edge 18+, Firefox 65+, Safari 16+ on Mac (partly from version 14) and Safari on iPhone from iOS 14, covering about 97% of users. AVIF is supported by Chrome 85+, Firefox 93+, Edge 121+ and Safari 16.4+ on Mac (iOS 16+ on iPhone), about 96% of users.

Browser support is not the same as everywhere support. Many government and exam portals still accept only JPG/JPEG, some older desktop programs cannot open WebP, and some apps convert or reject it. So use WebP on your own website, and send JPG anywhere you are not sure.

One quirk affects making WebP files: caniuse lists Safari, on Mac and iPhone, as unable to create WebP images from a web page, even though it can display them. The site's WebP converters therefore need Chrome, Edge or Firefox; in Safari they save a PNG with a .webp name. On an iPhone, a WebP made on a computer or an Android phone works fine.

HEIC and AVIF in brief

HEIC is what iPhones save when Settings > Camera > Formats is set to High Efficiency; Apple notes that Most Compatible saves JPEG instead. HEIC files are small and good quality, but caniuse shows only Safari 17 and later can display them, and most portals reject them. Convert with the HEIC to JPG converter (or HEIC to PNG if you need lossless), or switch your camera to Most Compatible before photographing documents. The comparison of HEIC vs JPG goes into more detail.

AVIF is a newer format that often makes photos smaller still than WebP at similar quality, and it supports transparency and animation. Browsers handle it well, but fewer editing programs and upload forms do. There is no dedicated AVIF converter on this site, but the image tools open any format your browser can display, so loading an AVIF into the image compressor gives you a JPG.

Which format for photos, logos, screenshots, websites and forms

• Photos. JPG at quality 75–85 for sharing and printing. Keep the original camera file as your master copy, because every lossy re-save loses detail.
• Logos and icons. If you have an SVG (a vector file), keep it: it is sharp at any size. For a pixel version, use PNG with a transparent background. Never save a logo as JPG; the edges blur and the background turns into a white box. The SVG to PNG converter makes the PNG.
• Screenshots. PNG. If one is too big for an upload limit, save a JPG copy at quality 85–90; text stays readable at that level.
• Websites. WebP for photos and most graphics, resized to the width they are displayed at. The JPG to WebP and PNG to WebP converters handle single images.
• Forms. JPG unless the form lists another format. If there is a KB limit, see how to compress an image to 20, 50 or 100 KB.

Converting between formats without losing quality

• JPG to PNG does not restore quality. Detail removed by JPG compression is gone; the JPG to PNG converter only stops further loss, and the file gets much bigger. Do it when an app needs PNG or you will edit the image many times.
• PNG to JPG drops transparency. The converter fills transparent areas with white and saves at quality 90 by default. Fine for photos and screenshots, wrong for logos.
• WebP back to JPG or PNG. When an app or portal refuses WebP, the WebP to JPG or WebP to PNG converter fixes it in seconds.
• Convert from the best copy you have. Each lossy conversion is another generation of loss, so go from the original to the final format in one step rather than JPG to WebP to JPG.

Frequently asked questions

Is WebP better than JPG?

For websites, usually yes: similar quality in a smaller file, and almost every browser supports it. For sharing with people, printing and uploading to forms, JPG is still safer because every device, app and portal accepts it.

Does converting a JPG to PNG improve quality?

No. PNG keeps exactly what is in the JPG, including its compression marks. The file gets bigger but not sharper.

Why does a government form reject my WebP or HEIC photo?

Most portals accept only JPG/JPEG (and PDF for documents). Convert the photo to JPG first; renaming the file is not enough, because the format inside stays the same.

Which format gives the smallest file?

For photos, AVIF and WebP usually beat JPG, and PNG is by far the largest. For screenshots and flat graphics, PNG or lossless WebP is often as small as JPG and looks better.

Does WebP support transparent backgrounds?

Yes, in both lossy and lossless modes. Lossy WebP with transparency is often the smallest way to put a logo or cut-out photo on a web page.

Can I open WebP files on Windows and phones?

Any current browser opens them: drag the file into Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. Some older photo viewers and editing programs cannot; for those, convert the file to PNG or JPG first.

Sources: caniuse.com support tables for WebP, AVIF, HEIF and canvas WebP export (checked October 2026); Google for Developers, "An image format for the Web" (WebP); Apple Support, "Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices"; size tests made in Chrome with the site's converters, October 2026.