What Is WebP? Benefits, Drawbacks and How to Convert It
If you have ever right-clicked a picture on a website, saved it, and found a file ending in .webp that your editor would not open, you have met WebP. Here is what the format is, why it exists, and what to do when you need a JPG instead.
What is WebP?
WebP is an image format developed by Google and released in 2010. It was designed to make web images smaller so pages load faster. A single format covers what used to need three: lossy photos like JPG, lossless graphics like PNG, and animation like GIF. It also supports transparency.
Advantages of WebP
- Smaller files. Lossy WebP is typically about 25-35% smaller than a JPG at similar visual quality; lossless WebP is usually noticeably smaller than PNG.
- Transparency in both lossy and lossless modes, so you can have a small photo cut-out with a see-through background.
- Animation in a fraction of the size of GIF.
- Faster websites. Lighter images improve loading speed and help performance scores such as Core Web Vitals.
Disadvantages of WebP
- Some older software, printers, forms and content systems do not accept it.
- Editing support, while now common, is still less universal than JPG.
- Saving images from the web as WebP can surprise people expecting JPG or PNG.
Browser support
Current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari and Opera all display WebP, so you can use it on your own website with confidence.
How to convert WebP to JPG
- Open the WebP to JPG converter.
- Drop in one or more .webp files.
- Choose a quality and press Convert.
- Download the JPG files or a ZIP.
Note that JPG cannot store transparency, so transparent areas become white. If you need transparency, convert to PNG instead using the image compressor's PNG output.
How to convert JPG or PNG to WebP
Use the JPG to WebP converter. A quality of about 85% is a good starting point for photographs. Resize pictures to their displayed size first with the image resizer, because a huge image shown small still wastes bandwidth.
Should you use WebP on your website?
Yes, for most sites: it is widely supported and meaningfully lighter. Keep original JPG or PNG files as backups, and consider your audience if you must support very old systems. For a full comparison with the other formats, see PNG vs JPG vs WebP, and for the technical difference between lossy and lossless, read lossy vs lossless compression.
How WebP achieves smaller files
Lossy WebP is based on the compression technology of the VP8 video codec. It predicts each block of pixels from the blocks around it and stores only the difference, which is more efficient than the way JPG encodes each block independently. Lossless WebP uses a different set of techniques, including predicting pixels from neighbors and storing repeated patterns compactly, and it usually beats PNG. Both modes can also include an alpha channel for transparency.
WebP versus AVIF
AVIF, based on the AV1 video codec, often produces even smaller files than WebP at the same quality. However, it takes longer to encode and support in editing software and upload forms is less universal. For most website owners, WebP is the practical choice today, with AVIF as an optional upgrade.
Using WebP on a website with a safe fallback
The HTML picture element lets browsers pick the best format they support:
<picture><source srcset="photo.webp" type="image/webp"><img src="photo.jpg" alt="Description" width="800" height="600"></picture>
Always include width and height attributes and meaningful alt text; they prevent layout shifts and help accessibility.
A simple conversion workflow
- Resize the original to the size at which it will be displayed.
- Convert to WebP at about 80-85% quality and compare it with the original.
- Keep the original JPG or PNG as your master file.
- Upload the WebP and test the page on a phone.
Common problems
If an upload form refuses a .webp file, convert it to JPG. If an image has a transparent background and you need it in a program that does not support WebP, export PNG instead. If colors look different after conversion, make sure the source was in the standard sRGB color space.
Quick reference
- WebP is a modern format from Google for photos, graphics and animation.
- Lossy mode is typically 25-35% smaller than comparable JPG files.
- It supports transparency, unlike JPG.
- Every current browser supports it, but some older software and forms do not.
- Keep a JPG or PNG master and use the picture element for a fallback.
When in doubt, ask where the picture will be used. For the web, WebP is an easy win; for anything that might be opened in older programs, printed by a shop or uploaded to a government portal, JPG remains the safest choice.
Frequently asked questions
Is WebP better than PNG?
For most web uses, lossless WebP is smaller than PNG with identical quality. PNG remains the more universally accepted format.
Why does my site say "WebP not supported"?
The form or software was built before WebP became common. Convert the picture to JPG or PNG.
The tool runs in your browser. No upload, no sign-up, no limits.
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