JPG vs PNG vs WebP — Which Image Format Should You Use?

Three image formats dominate the web. Each has strengths the others lack. Here is exactly when to use each.

The Short Answer

Format Comparison Table

When to Use JPG

JPG is the safe, universal choice for photographs when you are not sure what the recipient's environment supports.

✅ Email attachments — JPG is universally supported in email clients ✅ Images for older software or systems ✅ Print — JPG at quality 90+ is fine for most print jobs ✅ Social media uploads (JPG is re-compressed by platforms anyway)

❌ Logos and icons — use PNG ❌ Images that need transparency — use PNG or WebP ❌ Websites where you control the HTML — use WebP

When to Use PNG

PNG's unique strength is lossless fidelity — no data loss ever, regardless of how many times it is opened and resaved.

✅ Logos and brand marks (clean edges, flat colours, transparency) ✅ Screenshots with text — text edges remain crisp ✅ Working copies during image editing — no generation loss ✅ Images with transparency on any background ✅ Icons at small sizes — lossy artefacts are very visible on small icons

❌ Photographs — produces files 5–10× larger than JPG for no visible benefit ❌ When file size matters — a PNG photograph wastes bandwidth

When to Use WebP

WebP wins on file size for almost every content type. If you control the output channel (website, app) and know the viewer supports WebP — use it.

✅ All website images — 25–34% smaller than JPG, 26% smaller than PNG lossless ✅ Images with transparency replacing PNG — smaller and same quality ✅ Animated images replacing GIF — dramatically smaller, full colour ✅ Core Web Vitals optimization — smaller images = faster page = better score

❌ Email attachments — several email clients do not display WebP inline ❌ Where universal compatibility is required without fallback ❌ Very old CMS or hardware that cannot process WebP

File Size Reality (1080×1080 photograph, visual quality matched)

For a website with 50 images, switching from JPG to WebP saves ~4.5 MB per page load.