The WebP format
Smaller than JPEG, smaller than PNG, supports transparency and animation. The default choice for the web.
What is WebP?
WebP was released by Google in 2010, derived from the VP8 video codec. It has both a lossy mode that competes with JPEG and a lossless mode that competes with PNG — and it beats each of them on size in its respective mode.
Crucially, its lossy mode supports transparency, which JPEG cannot do at all. That single combination — small, lossy, transparent — has no equivalent in the older formats and is why WebP replaced PNG for so many web assets.
Typical savings are 25–35% against JPEG at matched visual quality and considerably more against PNG for graphics.
Common uses
- Photographs and graphics on modern websites
- Assets that need transparency but must stay small
- Short animations as a lighter alternative to GIF
- Any image where page weight matters
Advantages
- Substantially smaller than JPEG and PNG at equivalent quality
- Both lossy and lossless modes in one format
- Alpha transparency in both modes
- Animation support
Limitations
- Support outside browsers is inconsistent — some desktop apps and many email clients still refuse it
- Still larger than AVIF at the same quality
- Encoding is slower than JPEG
- Lossy WebP can produce halos around very sharp edges at low quality
Browser support
Supported by every current browser — Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge. Outside the browser, expect gaps in older desktop software and email clients.