JPG vs PNG vs WebP: Which Image Format Should You Use?
Published 2026-07-15
Three formats, three different trade-offs. Here's what actually separates them, and a quick way to decide which one fits your image.
The short answer
Use PNG for screenshots, logos, and anything that needs a transparent background. Use JPEG for photos where small file size matters more than perfect quality and you need maximum compatibility. Use WebP for photos when you want the best balance of quality and file size and don't need to support very old software.
PNG: lossless, and the only one with real transparency support
PNG never throws away image data, every pixel you save is exactly the pixel you get back. That makes it the right choice for anything with sharp edges or flat colors, screenshots, UI mockups, logos, diagrams, since lossy compression tends to introduce visible fuzziness around hard edges and text. PNG also supports a full alpha transparency channel, so it's the format to reach for whenever part of the image needs to be see-through. The trade-off: for photographic content, PNG files are typically 3 to 10 times larger than an equivalent JPEG or WebP, because photos are full of the kind of subtle gradients and noise that lossless compression can't shrink very much.
JPEG: the universal photo format
JPEG has been around since 1992 and is supported by essentially every piece of software, browser, and device made since. It uses lossy compression tuned for photographic content, discarding detail in ways that are hard to notice at normal viewing sizes. It has no transparency support at all, and it tends to show visible blocky artifacts around sharp text or graphic edges, which is why it's a poor fit for screenshots. For ordinary photos where broad compatibility matters (email attachments, older systems, print labs that only accept JPEG), it's still a completely reasonable default.
WebP: usually the best photo format today
Developed by Google and now supported in every major browser, WebP typically produces files 25 to 35% smaller than JPEG at the same visual quality, and it supports both transparency and lossless compression if you need those. For a standard photo destined for a website, a social post, or general storage, WebP is usually the best available trade-off between quality and size. The main reason to avoid it is compatibility: some older software, certain print workflows, or specific upload forms may still only accept JPEG or PNG.
A simple decision guide
Need transparency, or is it a screenshot, logo, or graphic with sharp edges and text? Use PNG. Is it a photo, and does the destination explicitly require JPEG (an old system, a print lab, a picky upload form)? Use JPEG. Is it a photo and you have a free choice of format? Use WebP, you'll get noticeably smaller files at the same quality with no real downside for almost any modern use case.