JPG vs PNG vs WEBP: Which Image Format Should You Use?

Quick answer

Use JPG for photographs, PNG for screenshots, logos, and anything needing a transparent background, and WEBP when you want smaller files than JPG with more flexibility — it's supported by all modern browsers and is a safe default for most web images today.

JPG (JPEG)

JPG uses lossy compression tuned for photographs — smooth color gradients, natural detail — and can shrink a photo by 70-90% with minimal visible quality loss. Its weaknesses: no transparency support, and it handles sharp edges or text poorly, often showing blocky artifacts around high-contrast lines.

PNG

PNG uses lossless compression, so it preserves every pixel exactly and supports full transparency (an alpha channel), making it the standard choice for logos, icons, and screenshots with text. The tradeoff is file size — a photo saved as PNG is often 5-10x larger than the same photo saved as JPG, with no visible quality benefit for that use case.

WEBP

WEBP is a newer format from Google that supports both lossy and lossless compression, plus transparency, in a single format — effectively combining the strengths of JPG and PNG. At equivalent visual quality, WEBP files are typically 25-35% smaller than JPG and significantly smaller than PNG. The main historical drawback — inconsistent browser support — is no longer a real concern, as of the current generation of browsers.

Side-by-side comparison

Try it yourself

Not sure which format your image should be? Compress it with ToolFlight and compare the resulting file size directly against the original.