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

Every image you save has to be stored in some format, and the choice affects how big the file is, how good it looks, whether it can have a transparent background, and whether the person or website receiving it can open it at all. This guide compares the formats you’ll meet most often (JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF and Apple’s HEIC) in plain English, and ends with a simple rule for choosing.

Lossy and lossless: the one idea that explains everything

Lossless formats store every pixel exactly. Save, open and save again a hundred times, and the image is identical. The price is size: photos stored losslessly are big.

Lossy formats throw away detail that your eyes are unlikely to notice, such as tiny variations in color within a patch of sky, to make files much smaller. A quality setting controls how much is discarded. Each time a lossy file is edited and saved again, a little more is lost.

JPG is lossy. PNG is lossless. WebP and AVIF can be either, though they’re mostly used in their lossy modes for photos.

A practical consequence: if you’re going to edit an image several times, do the edits on a lossless copy and export to a lossy format only once, at the end. That one habit prevents the gradual blurring and blotchiness that comes from re-saving the same JPG over and over.

JPG (JPEG): the universal photo format

JPG has been around since the early 1990s and is supported by literally everything: phones, cameras, printers, every operating system, every website and every upload form. It’s excellent for photographs and makes them small.

• Best for: photos you’ll email, upload, print or share with anyone.
• Weaknesses: no transparency; sharp text and lines can get faint smudges around them; quality drops a little with each re-save.

PNG: lossless, with transparency

PNG stores images exactly and supports transparency, including soft, partially see-through edges. It shines for logos, icons, screenshots, diagrams and illustrations, where crisp edges and flat colors matter, and for master copies you’ll edit repeatedly.

• Best for: graphics, text-heavy images, transparent cut-outs, editing.
• Weaknesses: photos become very large files, often five to ten times the size of a JPG.

PNGs can be made much smaller by reducing the number of colors they use, which is how services like TinyPNG work. Our compressor does the same.

WebP: the modern all-rounder

Google introduced WebP to make the web faster. Its lossy mode typically produces files 25–35% smaller than JPG at the same visual quality; its lossless mode beats PNG; and it supports transparency and animation. Every current major browser displays WebP, including Safari, and website platforms like WordPress and Shopify accept it.

• Best for: images on your own website or online store, including transparent graphics.
• Weaknesses: some older desktop software, print services and upload forms still don’t accept it.

This is why images you save from websites are so often .webp files, and why converting WebP to JPG is such a common task.

AVIF: the smallest files, newest support

AVIF is built on the AV1 video codec. For photos it often produces files around half the size of a JPG, with fewer of the blocky artifacts JPG shows at low quality. It supports transparency, wide color and HDR. Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari 16 and later display it.

• Best for: websites that want the lightest possible images, with a fallback for older browsers.
• Weaknesses: slower to create; support in desktop apps, editors and forms is still catching up.

HEIC: Apple’s camera format

Since iOS 11, iPhones save photos as HEIC by default. It offers similar efficiency to AVIF (about half the size of JPG) and supports features like depth data. Apple devices handle it seamlessly, but Windows, many Android apps, websites and forms struggle with it, so it’s best thought of as a storage format for your phone rather than a sharing format. Converting HEIC to JPG solves compatibility problems in one step; our guide to opening HEIC files covers the alternatives.

Side-by-side comparison

• Photo file size (smallest to largest, at similar quality): AVIF ≈ HEIC, then WebP, then JPG, then PNG.
• Transparency: PNG, WebP and AVIF yes; JPG no.
• Animation: WebP and AVIF (and GIF); not JPG or standard PNG.
• Compatibility (widest to narrowest): JPG and PNG everywhere; WebP in all modern browsers and most platforms; AVIF in modern browsers; HEIC mainly on Apple devices.
• Editing safety: PNG (lossless) is safest for repeated saves.

A simple rule for choosing

1. Sending or uploading a photo somewhere you don’t control? Use JPG.
2. Logo, screenshot, diagram or anything with transparency? Use PNG, or WebP if it’s for your own website.
3. Photos on your own website? Use WebP, or AVIF if you’re after the very smallest files.
4. Keeping a master copy you’ll edit later? Keep the original, or a PNG.

What about GIF and BMP?

GIF is limited to 256 colors, which makes photos look grainy, but it’s still popular for short animations. For still graphics, PNG is better in every way. BMP stores images uncompressed, producing enormous files; it’s mainly found in old software and scanners. Converting either to a modern format usually makes the file dramatically smaller.

Converting between formats

You can switch any image between JPG, PNG, WebP and AVIF with our image converter, which runs in your browser so your pictures aren’t uploaded. Remember the lossy rule when you do: converting a JPG to PNG won’t restore lost detail, and converting a lossy file to another lossy format adds a small amount of new loss, so always start from the best original you have.