Format guides
WebP vs JPG: which is better for your website?
4 min read
WebP is the format most page-speed tools nag you about. It is genuinely more efficient than JPG, but that does not make it the right choice in every situation.
Size and quality
At visually comparable quality, WebP files are commonly 25–35% smaller than JPG. The saving is largest on images with flat regions and gradients, and smallest on dense, noisy photographs.
What WebP adds
- Transparency, which JPG does not support at all.
- A lossless mode, useful for graphics and screenshots.
- Animation support, as a lighter alternative to GIF.
Where JPG still wins
Compatibility. Every camera, printer, marketplace and desktop application accepts JPG. Some older software, print workflows and third-party platforms still reject WebP outright, so keep JPG for files you hand to other people rather than serve on a page.
A practical rule
Serve WebP on your website, keep an original JPG or PNG master for editing, and export a JPG copy whenever a file is going to someone else's system.
Frequently asked questions
Do all browsers support WebP?
All current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari do. Very old browsers do not.
Should I convert my whole image library?
Convert what is served on your site. Keep the originals, since re-encoding an image repeatedly reduces quality.
Is WebP lossless?
It can be. WebP supports both a lossy and a lossless mode.
Use WebP for delivery and JPG for interchange. That covers both page speed and compatibility without maintaining two libraries of originals.