In short
- Use JPG for photos you send, upload or print. Use PNG for screenshots, logos, text and anything that needs a transparent background.
- In our test, a 768 x 512 photo was 544 KB as PNG and 47 KB as JPG at quality 80, with no difference you could see at normal size.
- WebP does both jobs in smaller files and works in browsers used by about 97% of people, so it's the right default for images on your own website.
- AVIF is smaller again (33-39% under JPG at equal quality in our test) and is supported by every current major browser.
- HEIC is fine on Apple devices but most other software and browsers can't open it, so convert it to JPG before sharing.
JPG vs PNG: the short answer
JPG is for photographs. PNG is for graphics: screenshots, logos, charts, diagrams and anything with sharp edges, flat color or a transparent background. WebP can replace both on a website you control, because it has a lossy mode for photos, a lossless mode for graphics and transparency in both.
The difference comes from how each format compresses. JPG is lossy: it throws away detail that's hard to see in busy, natural textures, which is why photos shrink so well. PNG is lossless: every pixel comes back exactly, which keeps text crisp but makes photos huge. Picking a format is mostly about matching the compression to the content, then checking that the place you're sending the file can open it.
How the three formats compare
We ran our own test with Pillow 12.3 (libjpeg-turbo, libwebp 1.6.0) on two images: Kodak test photo 23 (two parrots, 768 x 512 pixels) and a 1200 x 800 synthetic screenshot with text and a bar chart. Sizes are from that test; your images will differ, but the pattern holds.
| Feature | JPG | PNG | WebP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossless | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | No | Yes (full alpha) | Yes, in both modes |
| Animation | No | Only as APNG | Yes |
| Our photo test | 47 KB (quality 80) | 544 KB | 27 KB lossy (quality 80), 412 KB lossless |
| Our screenshot test | 81 KB (quality 80), with smudges around text | 87 KB full color, 34 KB with a 256-color palette | 9 KB lossless |
| Opens almost everywhere | Yes | Yes | Browsers yes; some upload forms and desktop apps no |
| First released | 1992 | 1996 | 2010 (Google) |
Two rows explain most format arguments. A photo saved as PNG was more than 11 times the size of the JPG. A screenshot saved as JPG was barely smaller than the PNG and looked worse.
PNG vs JPG for photos, screenshots and logos
For photos, JPG wins by a wide margin. Natural images are full of fine noise, and PNG has to store all of it exactly. JPG discards most of that noise and you don't notice, because it was never detail you were looking at. At quality 80 our parrot photo was 46.7 KB as JPG against 543.8 KB as PNG.
For screenshots and text, PNG wins. JPG works on 8 x 8 pixel blocks and struggles with hard edges, so it leaves faint grey smudges (ringing) around letters and thin lines. Zoomed in 3x, our quality 80 screenshot showed them clearly. Worse, the JPG wasn't even meaningfully smaller: 81 KB against 87 KB for a full-color PNG and 34 KB once the PNG was reduced to a 256-color palette, which a screenshot with a few hundred colors loses nothing visible from.
For logos, use SVG if you have the vector file. Otherwise PNG, because logos have flat color, sharp edges and usually need a transparent background.
What happens to transparency when you convert PNG to JPG
JPG has no alpha channel, so every transparent pixel has to be filled with a solid color during conversion. Converters usually pick white; a badly written one picks black, which is where the black box behind a logo comes from. The soft, half-transparent pixels on curved edges get blended with that color too, so a logo flattened onto white shows a pale halo when you later place it on a dark background. Choose the background color to match where the image will sit. Our PNG to JPG converter lets you set that color before converting and previews it on each file.
Converting JPG to PNG doesn't improve quality
Saving a JPG as PNG keeps the JPG's damage exactly and makes the file several times bigger. It only helps when you need to edit the image repeatedly or a system demands PNG. Keep your original files and export from them once.
What is WebP, and is it better than PNG and JPG?
WebP is an image format Google released in 2010. One file type covers lossy photos, lossless graphics, transparency and animation. Google's own figures say lossless WebP files are 26% smaller than PNG, and lossy WebP is 25-34% smaller than JPG at the same SSIM quality score.
Our numbers were close to that. We matched the SSIM score of a quality 80 JPG and looked for the smallest WebP that reached it. On three Kodak photos the WebP was 15%, 30% and 31% smaller. Lossless WebP beat PNG on all three photos by 24-33%, and the screenshot dropped from 34 KB (best PNG) to 9 KB.
So is WebP better than PNG? For images shown on a web page, yes: same pixels or same visible quality in fewer bytes. For files that leave your site, not always. Some upload forms only accept JPG and PNG, some desktop software and email clients still don't show WebP, and a WebP can't be larger than 16,383 pixels on either side. Keep a JPG or PNG master and treat WebP as the delivery copy. You can make one with our PNG to WebP converter, and turn a downloaded WebP back into something universal with WebP to JPG or WebP to PNG.
Browser and OS support for WebP and AVIF
We checked the Can I Use data in October 2026. Both formats now work in every current major browser.
| Browser | WebP since | AVIF since |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 32 | 85 |
| Edge | 18 | 121 |
| Firefox | 65 | 93 |
| Safari (Mac) | 14 on macOS 11 Big Sur or later; 16 on any macOS | 16.4 (16.1-16.3 on macOS 13 Ventura only) |
| Safari (iPhone, iPad) | 14 | 16 |
| Global users covered | 96.7% | 95.4% |
AVIF is based on the AV1 video codec and usually compresses further than WebP. In our test it reached the same SSIM as quality 80 JPG at 33-39% smaller files. The cost is slower encoding and a few gaps outside browsers: on Windows, opening AVIF and HEIC in the Photos app can need an extra codec extension from the Microsoft Store.
Because a few percent of visitors still run older browsers, serve modern formats with a fallback. The browser takes the first source it understands:
<picture>
<source type="image/avif" srcset="parrots.avif">
<source type="image/webp" srcset="parrots.webp">
<img src="parrots.jpg" alt="Two macaws, one red and one blue and yellow" width="768" height="512">
</picture>JPEG XL is the next format in line. Safari has displayed still JPEG XL images since version 17, and support is being added to Chrome and Firefox, but it isn't safe as your only format yet.
HEIC vs JPG
HEIC (HEIF with HEVC compression) has been the default iPhone camera format since iOS 11 in 2017. Apple says it gives better compression than JPG at the same visual quality, so photos take less space on the phone and in iCloud. The problem is sharing: only Safari 17 and later shows HEIC in a web page, and many Windows PCs, upload forms and older apps reject it.
Apple's devices convert automatically in some cases, for example when you import over USB or share with a device that can't read HEIC. If you'd rather shoot JPG from the start, go to Settings, Camera, Formats and choose Most Compatible. For files you already have, our HEIC to JPG converter converts batches in the browser.
Which format for which job
| Job | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Photos on your own website | WebP or AVIF, with a JPG fallback | Smallest files at the same visible quality |
| Photos you upload, send or post | JPG | Accepted by every form, app and device |
| Logos and icons | SVG, else PNG (WebP on your site) | Sharp edges, flat color, transparency |
| Screenshots | PNG, or lossless WebP on your site | Text stays crisp; JPG smudges it |
| Transparent backgrounds | PNG or WebP | JPG can't store transparency |
| Email attachments | JPG for photos, PNG for graphics | You don't know the recipient's mail app |
| JPG at quality 90-95, or whatever the printer asks for (often TIFF or PDF) | Print shops rarely accept WebP | |
| Short animations | Animated WebP or a video on your site, GIF for messaging apps | GIF is limited to 256 colors per frame |
For web performance, the format is only part of the work. Resizing a 4,000-pixel photo to the width it's actually shown at usually saves more than switching formats. Our guide to compressing images without losing quality has the numbers, and you can shrink an existing JPG with our JPG compressor.
Frequently asked questions
Is PNG better quality than JPG?
PNG is exact: it stores every pixel without loss, while JPG discards some detail. For photos, a JPG at quality 80-90 looks the same as the PNG at normal viewing size and is often a tenth of the file size. For text, screenshots and logos, PNG looks visibly cleaner.
Is WebP better than PNG?
For images on a website, usually yes. Lossless WebP keeps the same pixels in a smaller file (Google measured 26% smaller on average) and also supports transparency. PNG is still the safer choice for files you send to other people or upload to forms, because more software accepts it.
Should I use WebP or AVIF?
AVIF usually makes smaller files at the same quality, and all current major browsers support it. WebP encodes faster and is supported by slightly more devices. Many sites serve AVIF first and WebP or JPG as a fallback with the picture element.
Why did my transparent PNG get a black background when I saved it as JPG?
JPG has no transparency, so the converter had to fill transparent areas with a solid color and chose black. Convert again and set the background to white or to the color of the page where the image will appear, or keep the file as PNG.
Can I upload WebP images everywhere?
No. Browsers display WebP, but some job portals, government forms, print services and older apps only accept JPG or PNG. Convert to JPG before uploading if a site rejects the file.
Is HEIC better than JPG?
HEIC stores photos in less space at the same visible quality, which is why iPhones use it. JPG is far more compatible: HEIC only displays in Safari among browsers and often fails on Windows and web forms. Keep HEIC on your phone and share JPG.