Image Format Guide: JPG vs PNG vs WebP

Choosing the right image format can make a significant difference in your website's performance, your image quality, and even your search engine rankings. With several formats to choose from, it's easy to get confused about which one to use and when.

In this guide, we'll break down the three most popular web image formats — JPG (JPEG), PNG, and WebP — explaining their strengths, weaknesses, and ideal use cases.

JPG (JPEG)

Full name: Joint Photographic Experts Group

JPG has been the workhorse of web images since the early days of the internet. It uses lossy compression, meaning it permanently removes some image data to achieve smaller file sizes.

Strengths

Small file sizes — JPG excels at compressing photographs and complex images with many colors and gradients.
Universal support — Every browser, device, and image viewer supports JPG.
Adjustable quality — You can choose a quality level from 0 to 100, trading file size for visual fidelity.

Weaknesses

Lossy compression — Each time you save a JPG, it loses quality. Repeatedly editing and saving the same JPG leads to visible degradation.
No transparency — JPG doesn't support transparent backgrounds.
Poor for text and graphics — Sharp edges, text, and flat-color graphics tend to look blurry or show compression artifacts in JPG format.

Best for

Photographs, hero images, background images, and any image with complex colors and gradients where transparency isn't needed.

PNG

Full name: Portable Network Graphics

PNG was developed as a patent-free replacement for GIF and offers lossless compression. This means no image data is lost during compression.

Strengths

Lossless quality — PNG preserves every pixel exactly as it is. No matter how many times you save, quality stays perfect.
Transparency support — PNG supports full alpha channel transparency, allowing smooth, anti-aliased transparent edges.
Sharp graphics — Text, logos, icons, and flat-color designs look crisp and clean in PNG format.

Weaknesses

Larger file sizes — Lossless compression means PNG files are typically 5-10 times larger than equivalent JPGs for photographs.
Not ideal for photos — While PNGs can store photographs, the file sizes become impractical for web use.

Best for

Logos, icons, screenshots, graphics with text, images requiring transparency, and any image where quality preservation is more important than file size.

WebP

Full name: Web Picture format (developed by Google)

WebP is a modern image format that combines the best of both worlds. It supports both lossy and lossless compression, transparency, and even animation.

Strengths

Superior compression — WebP images are typically 25-35% smaller than equivalent JPGs and significantly smaller than PNGs.
Transparency support — Like PNG, WebP supports alpha channel transparency, but with much smaller file sizes.
Lossy and lossless modes — Choose the compression type that fits your needs.
Animation support — WebP can replace animated GIFs with much smaller file sizes.

Weaknesses

Compatibility — While all modern browsers support WebP, some older software and tools may not open WebP files natively.
Slower encoding — Creating WebP files takes slightly more processing time than JPG or PNG.

Best for

Virtually everything on the modern web. WebP should be your default format for web images in 2026. Use it for photos, graphics, transparent images, and even animations.

Quick Comparison Table

| Feature | JPG | PNG | WebP | |---------|-----|-----|------| | Compression | Lossy | Lossless | Both | | Transparency | No | Yes | Yes | | Animation | No | No | Yes | | File Size | Small | Large | Smallest | | Quality | Good | Perfect | Excellent | | Browser Support | Universal | Universal | Modern browsers |

How to Choose the Right Format

Here's a simple decision tree:

Does the image need transparency? → Use WebP or PNG
Is it a photograph? → Use WebP (or JPG as fallback)
Is it a logo, icon, or graphic with text? → Use WebP or PNG
Does it need to be animated? → Use WebP (or GIF as fallback)
Do you need universal compatibility? → Use JPG for photos, PNG for graphics

For most web projects in 2026, the winning strategy is to serve WebP as your primary format with JPG or PNG fallbacks for older browsers. You can use Movfy's Image Converter to quickly convert your images between any of these formats, and then run them through the Image Compressor to optimize file sizes further.

The Future: AVIF

It's worth mentioning AVIF, a newer format based on the AV1 video codec. AVIF offers even better compression than WebP, but browser and tool support is still catching up. Keep an eye on AVIF as it matures — it may become the dominant web format in the coming years.

Conclusion

Understanding image formats helps you make smarter decisions about your web assets. Use JPG for photographs when compatibility matters, PNG for graphics requiring perfect quality and transparency, and WebP for the best overall balance of quality and performance. With tools like Movfy's converter and compressor, switching between formats is effortless — so you can always serve the optimal format for every situation.