JPG vs PNG vs WebP: Which Image Format Is Best for Your Website?

Images are usually the heaviest part of a web page. Picking the right format is one of the easiest ways to make your site faster — no redesign, no new hosting, just smaller files. Here's how JPG, PNG, and WebP compare, and which one to use where.

The quick comparison

JPG and JPEG are the same format — the only difference is the file extension.

JPG: the classic for photos

JPG uses lossy compression: it throws away detail your eye is unlikely to notice. That makes photos much smaller than they would be as PNG. The downsides are no transparency, and visible artifacts around sharp edges and text if you compress too hard.

Use JPG when: you need maximum compatibility — for example email newsletters, or uploading to a platform that won't accept WebP.

PNG: sharp edges and transparency

PNG is lossless, so every pixel is kept exactly. That's perfect for logos, icons, screenshots, and graphics with text, and it supports transparent backgrounds. But saving a photo as PNG often produces a file several times bigger than the same photo as JPG.

Use PNG when: you need pixel-perfect graphics and the platform doesn't support WebP, or when you're keeping a master copy to edit later.

WebP: the modern web format

WebP was created by Google specifically for the web, and it can do both jobs:

• Lossy WebP replaces JPG for photos. Google's own comparisons found lossy WebP files are about 25–34% smaller than JPGs of similar quality.
• Lossless WebP replaces PNG for graphics. Google reports lossless WebP is around 26% smaller than PNG.
• Transparency works in both modes, so a transparent PNG logo can become a much smaller WebP.

Every modern browser supports WebP — Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari (since Safari 14). WordPress has accepted WebP uploads since version 5.8, and most site builders and CDNs handle it too.

Why smaller images matter for SEO

Google uses page experience signals, including Core Web Vitals, when ranking pages. One of them, Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), measures how quickly the main content — very often a hero image — appears. A lighter image means a faster LCP, a faster page on mobile data, and fewer visitors leaving before the page loads.

Smaller images also mean less bandwidth for your hosting and a better experience for readers on slow connections.

A simple rule of thumb

1. Photos on your website → WebP (lossy, around 75–85% quality).
2. Logos, icons, and graphics → WebP (or SVG for simple logos), keeping a PNG master.
3. Email, or platforms without WebP support → JPG for photos, PNG for graphics.
4. Always resize first. A 4000px phone photo shown at 800px wastes bandwidth no matter which format you use.

What WebP doesn't replace

• Your originals. Keep your full-quality JPG or PNG files in case you need to edit or re-export.
• SVG for simple vector logos. If your logo is a vector, SVG stays sharp at any size and is often tiny.
• Platforms that recompress uploads. Pinterest, Instagram and similar platforms convert images on their side, so uploading WebP there doesn't help — upload a high-quality JPG or PNG instead.

Convert your images in seconds

Ready to switch? The free Pixlory WebP Converter turns JPG, JPEG, and PNG images into WebP right in your browser — set the quality, optionally resize, and see exactly how much smaller each file gets. For a step-by-step walkthrough, read how to convert images to WebP.