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WebP vs AVIF: which image format should you use?
JPEG was invented in 1992 and PNG in 1996. The web has moved on, but most websites are still using them. Switching to a modern format like WebP or AVIF can cut your image file sizes by 40–80% with no visible difference in quality — making it the single most impactful thing you can do to speed up your site.
Why do image formats matter?
Different formats use different methods to compress image data. Newer formats are simply smarter about it. A photo saved as a JPEG at 400 KB can often be saved as AVIF at 80 KB and look identical to the human eye. Multiply that across every image on your site and you’ve dramatically reduced the amount of data visitors have to download.
Images are the biggest contributor to page weight on most websites, so this is where the fastest gains are.
What is WebP?
WebP is a modern image format created by Google. It produces smaller files than JPEG and PNG while keeping the same visual quality. It also supports transparent backgrounds (like PNG) and animated images (like GIF), so it can replace all three older formats.
WebP is supported by all major browsers — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge — covering well over 97% of web users worldwide.
What is AVIF?
AVIF is newer than WebP and compresses images even further — typically 20–30% smaller than WebP at the same quality. It handles photographs, gradients, and fine detail particularly well. The trade-off is that it’s slightly less universally supported, though all modern browsers released since 2022 support it, covering around 90% of users.
Which should you use?
If you can only choose one: use AVIF where supported, with WebP as a backup. In practice you don’t have to choose — most tools and plugins handle this automatically, serving AVIF to browsers that support it and WebP to everyone else.
Either format is a major improvement over JPEG and PNG. The difference between WebP and AVIF is smaller than the difference between WebP and JPEG.
How to switch to WebP or AVIF
If your site runs on WordPress
Picqlo converts all your existing images to AVIF and WebP automatically, and handles new uploads as you add them. Your original files are kept as backups. No manual conversion, no re-uploading — it runs in the background. Most sites see image weight drop by 50–70% after installation.
On Shopify
Shopify serves WebP automatically for product images on all modern themes — no action required. For older themes or custom image blocks, check with your theme developer.
On other platforms
Ask your developer or hosting provider to enable WebP or AVIF conversion. Most modern hosting platforms and content delivery networks (CDNs) support this as a setting, often without needing to re-upload any images. Cloudflare, for example, can convert images to WebP automatically as part of its Polish feature.
How much could you save?
Use PageWeight to scan your site and see exactly which images are oversized, with the estimated savings if they were converted. Most image-heavy sites find between 500 KB and 3 MB of savings per page.