WebP vs AVIF: The Future of Web Images

Modern websites need image formats that balance quality, file size, and browser compatibility. WebP and AVIF are the two leading next-generation options.

What Is WebP?

WebP is a Google-developed format supporting both lossy and lossless compression, plus transparency and animation. It typically produces files 25–35% smaller than JPEG at equivalent quality.

Browser support: 95%+ of global users (all major browsers since 2020).

What Is AVIF?

AVIF is based on the AV1 video codec and often outperforms WebP by an additional 20–30% at the same visual quality. It excels with photographic content.

Browser support: 85%+ and growing (Chrome, Firefox, Safari 16+).

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	WebP	AVIF
Compression	Excellent	Best-in-class
Browser support	Wider	Good, improving
Encoding speed	Fast	Slower
Transparency	Yes	Yes

Recommended Strategy

Use the HTML <picture> element to serve AVIF first, WebP as fallback, and JPEG/PNG for legacy browsers:

<picture>
  <source srcset="image.avif" type="image/avif">
  <source srcset="image.webp" type="image/webp">
  <img src="image.jpg" alt="Description">
</picture>

Convert Images with PicsReduce

Use our free WebP Converter to convert JPG and PNG files to WebP instantly in your browser.