Why WebP?
WebP is Google's open image format, now supported by all modern browsers. Compared to PNG:
- 25–35% smaller for the same visual quality
- Supports transparency (like PNG) and animation (like GIF)
- Lossless and lossy modes available
For a website with dozens of images, switching from PNG to WebP can meaningfully reduce page load times and bandwidth costs — without any visible quality difference to users.
Browser Support
WebP is supported by Chrome, Firefox, Safari (version 14+), and Edge. As of 2024, over 97% of global web users are on browsers that support WebP. For the remaining edge cases, you can provide a PNG fallback using the HTML <picture> element.
Step-by-Step
- Open the PNG to WebP converter
- Drop one or more PNG files onto the upload zone (Pro/Business accounts can batch-convert)
- Choose between lossless (perfect quality, moderate size reduction) and lossy (smaller file, slight quality reduction)
- Set quality level for lossy output (80–85 is the recommended default)
- Download the converted WebP files
All conversion runs in your browser using the Canvas API's built-in WebP encoder. No files leave your device.
Lossless vs. Lossy WebP
Lossless WebP is a direct replacement for PNG: pixel-perfect, no quality degradation, but smaller file size. Use it for:
- Screenshots
- Diagrams and illustrations
- Images with text overlaid
- Any image where exact colors matter
Lossy WebP reduces file size further by discarding some image data. At quality 85, it's visually indistinguishable from lossless for most photographs. Use it for:
- Photos
- Product images
- Hero images and banners
Using WebP in Your Website
<!-- Provide WebP with PNG fallback -->
<picture>
<source srcset="image.webp" type="image/webp">
<img src="image.png" alt="Description">
</picture>
Modern frameworks (Next.js, Nuxt, Astro) handle WebP conversion and the <picture> fallback automatically when you use their built-in image components. If you're on a custom stack, the snippet above is all you need.
Checking Your Results
After converting, compare the file sizes using Finder or Windows Explorer. For a typical PNG photograph, you should see 25–40% size reduction. If the WebP is larger than the PNG, your PNG was already well-compressed and lossless WebP won't help — try lossy WebP instead.