WEBP vs PNG: the modern format comparison

What is WEBP?

WEBP is an image format developed by Google, released in 2010 and now widely supported. It supports both lossy and lossless compression, plus transparency (alpha channel), and animation. The pitch was simple: smaller files, same quality.

That pitch largely delivered. WEBP lossless is typically 26% smaller than PNG. WEBP lossy is around 25–35% smaller than JPG at equivalent quality. For high-traffic websites, that's a meaningful bandwidth reduction.

Browser and platform support in 2026

WEBP support is now close to universal. Chrome, Firefox, Safari (since 14), Edge, and Opera all support it. If you're targeting a modern audience, you can safely serve WEBP.

The gap that remains: some older tools, desktop applications, and non-browser contexts still don't handle WEBP. Photoshop added native WEBP support in 2021 but older versions can't open it. Windows Photo Viewer (the old one, not Photos) doesn't support it. A few CMS platforms auto-convert uploads but may have inconsistent WEBP handling.

Side-by-side comparison

When WEBP is the right choice

Web publishing is WEBP's home turf. If you're managing a website, e-commerce store, or blog, WEBP delivers smaller files and faster load times without visible quality loss. Most modern frameworks (Next.js, Astro, Nuxt) serve WEBP automatically through their image optimization pipelines.

WEBP also works well for any context where file size matters and the image won't need to be opened in older desktop software. Web app assets, email previews (where supported), and CDN-served images are all good candidates.

When PNG is still the better option

PNG wins on compatibility. If you're creating assets for distribution, print production, or handoff to clients with unknown software versions, PNG is safer. It opens in everything.

PNG is also better as a working format. Since it's lossless, it's the right choice for saving source files before export. WEBP is fine for the final output, but don't use it as your only copy of an asset you might need to edit.

Email templates are another case where PNG is more reliable. WEBP support in email clients (Outlook, Apple Mail, Gmail web vs Gmail app) is inconsistent enough that PNG is the safer default.

Converting between WEBP and PNG

If you have PNG assets and want to serve WEBP on the web, you can convert in bulk without any quality loss using lossless WEBP compression. If you receive WEBP files and need to work with them in older tools, converting to PNG preserves every pixel.