Is WebP better than JPG?
For pictures on a website, usually. WebP compresses photographs more efficiently than JPEG, so at the same visual quality the file is smaller, and a smaller file makes a faster page. Google, which created the format, published a comparison finding lossy WebP images 25 to 34 percent smaller than JPEGs at an equal SSIM score, a standard measure of how closely a compressed image matches its original.
For files that leave the browser, JPG is still the safer choice. Every camera, printer, photo app, office program and upload form accepts JPEG, and some of them still refuse WebP.
WebP and JPG side by side
| Compared on | WebP | JPG (JPEG) |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy or lossless | Lossy |
| Size at similar quality | Smaller: 25 to 34 percent in Google's comparison | Larger |
| Transparency | Yes, in lossy and lossless files | No |
| Animation | Yes | No |
| Largest image | 16,383 pixels on a side, per Google's WebP FAQ | 65,535 pixels on a side, set by ITU-T T.81 |
| Browsers | Every current browser | Every browser |
| Other software | Good in current programs, patchy in older ones and in forms | Universal |
When should a website use WebP?
For nearly every photo and graphic it serves. Every current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari displays WebP, so every visitor gets the smaller file, and the bytes you save come off every page view. It also stands in for PNG on images with transparency, where a lossy WebP with a transparent background is usually much smaller than the PNG.
Convert a photo library with the JPG to WebP converter, or let Optimize images for the web pick the format and quality for each image. Start between quality 0.75 and 0.82 and compare at full size; WebP's artifacts differ from JPEG's, softening fine texture where JPEG tends to leave blocks.
When is JPG still the better choice?
- Photos you email, message or hand to someone else, who may open them in software that predates WebP.
- Upload forms that accept only JPG and PNG.
- Prints, and anything going to a print shop.
- Images wider or taller than 16,383 pixels, such as long panoramas, which a WebP file cannot hold.
A WebP you have received can be turned back with the WebP to JPG converter. Converting between two lossy formats costs a little quality each way, so convert from the original where you have it.
Can Safari and the iPhone use WebP?
Yes, for viewing: current Safari on a Mac, iPhone or iPad displays WebP like any other image. Making one is a different matter, because Safari's built-in image encoder cannot write WebP; File4Edit writes it there with its own WebP encoder, which downloads the first time you save a WebP and runs in the tab.
How do you check with your own images?
Published figures are averages, and your photos may compress a little better or worse. Compare image formats encodes your own image as WebP, JPEG and PNG in your browser and plots file size against quality for each, which answers the question for your pictures rather than for someone else's.
Look at each result at full size rather than as a thumbnail. Differences between formats show first in fine texture, skin and smooth skies, long before they show in a small preview.