WebP vs AVIF: Which Next-Gen Image Format Should You Use?
For a decade the web ran on JPG and PNG. Now there are two strong successors — WebP and AVIF — and both are widely supported. So which should you actually use? Here's the 2026 comparison, with real numbers and a clear recommendation.
The 20-second answer
- Want the smallest files? → AVIF (with a WebP or JPG fallback).
- Want zero compatibility risk and fast encoding? → WebP.
- Best of both? → Serve AVIF, fall back to WebP, fall back to JPG.
WebP: the universal all-rounder
WebP (from Google) has been supported in every major browser since 2020. It does lossy (beats JPG by ~25–30%) and lossless (beats PNG by ~25%), and supports transparency and animation. It encodes and decodes quickly, and virtually every image tool and CMS handles it. It's the safe, boring, excellent default.
AVIF: the compression champion
AVIF is built on the AV1 video codec and pushes compression further. At the same visual quality it typically produces files 20–30% smaller than WebP, and it's dramatically better at very low bitrates — where WebP and JPG fall apart into blocks, AVIF stays clean. It also supports HDR, wide color gamut and up to 12-bit depth, which matters for photography.
The trade-offs: AVIF encoding is slower (more CPU to compress), and while browser support is now broad — current Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge all decode it — very old browser versions may not.
Real-world numbers
A typical 1600×1067 photograph at equivalent visual quality:
| Format | Approx. size | vs JPG |
|---|---|---|
| JPG (q80) | 240 KB | — |
| WebP (q80) | 180 KB | ~25% smaller |
| AVIF (q55) | 130 KB | ~45% smaller |
Exact numbers vary by image content and encoder settings, but the ranking — AVIF < WebP < JPG — holds consistently for photographs.
How to serve both with a fallback
The HTML <picture> element lets the browser pick the best format it
supports:
<picture><source srcset="hero.avif" type="image/avif"><source srcset="hero.webp"
type="image/webp"><img src="hero.jpg" alt="…"></picture>
Browsers try each <source> in order and fall back to the JPG if neither
next-gen format is supported. This is the production-grade pattern for 2026.
Which should you choose?
If your pipeline can generate both, serve AVIF with a WebP/JPG fallback for the best speed and safety. If you want one format and no fallback logic, WebP is the pragmatic universal pick — smaller than JPG, supported everywhere, and easy to produce. For how these compare to the classic formats, see our PNG vs JPG vs WebP guide.
Try WebP now
The free FreeCompressor image tool converts your images to WebP right in the browser — drop a file, choose WebP, compare, download. AVIF export is on our roadmap.