WebP vs JPG: which is better?

JPEG has been the default photo format since 1992. It uses lossy compression tuned for natural images: it throws away fine detail your eye does not miss so a photograph stays small, and it does nothing else — no transparency, no animation. Its real strength is reach. Every browser, operating system, camera, printer and app on earth opens a JPG, which is why it is still the safest choice for sharing and uploading.

WebP is the format Google built for the web in 2010. At the same visible quality it compresses photos roughly 25–35% smaller than JPEG, it has both lossy and lossless modes, and it supports transparency and animation — one format that can stand in for JPG, PNG and GIF on a web page. Every mainstream browser has displayed it since 2020. The catch is everything that is not a browser: some desktop apps and older tools still cannot open a .webp file, and its lossy mode caps out at 8-bit colour.

There is no single winner, because the two formats are built for different jobs:

• Choose WebP for images on a web page — product photos, hero images, blog illustrations. At the same visible quality the file is roughly 25–35% smaller than the JPG, so the page loads faster, and if the image needs a transparent background WebP handles it where JPG cannot.
• Choose JPG whenever the file has to open somewhere you do not control — an email attachment, an upload form, a print service, a slide deck, an older desktop app, or anything that simply expects a photo. A JPG is never the file that gets bounced for being the wrong format.

Quality is not the deciding factor. At everyday settings — a JPG quality around 75–82 is usually indistinguishable on screen — both formats look the same to a viewer; the difference is file size and where the file will open. And the size gap is narrower than the headline number suggests: a JPG re-encoded with a professional-grade encoder typically comes out 20–60% smaller than a camera or phone original with no visible loss, which closes much of WebP's advantage for the file you actually ship. If you are deciding for a website specifically, the guides on compressing JPEG for the web and which JPEG quality setting to use cover the numbers.

Whichever way you land, the EditItAll converter switches between the two formats right on your device, so nothing is uploaded:

1. Open the converter — or go straight to JPG to WebP for a website, or WebP to JPG when a saved web image will not open — and drop your files in. A whole batch is fine.
2. Set the quality. Both formats are lossy at normal settings, so the slider is the only control: higher keeps more detail, lower makes a smaller file. There is no target-size field — the size shown in the results list is the output, so nudge the slider and check again if you need a specific number.
3. Download. One file saves directly; a batch comes down as a single ZIP.

The conversion runs entirely in your browser — you can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it keeps working, which is the clearest proof the photos are not going anywhere. EXIF and GPS metadata are stripped on export, and there is no account, no watermark and no limit. Already in the right format and just need it smaller? The JPG compressor and WebP compressor re-encode in place with the same quality slider.

Converting does not recover detail. Both formats are lossy, so a JPG turned into WebP keeps the JPG's flaws and adds one more encode; the file gets smaller, not better. Convert from the best original you have, and keep it.

Do not stack lossy saves. Round-tripping JPG to WebP and back to JPG re-encodes the photo twice. If you might need the JPG again, keep the original JPG instead of converting the WebP back.

Transparency is a one-way street. A WebP with a transparent background converted to JPG is flattened onto a solid backdrop, because JPG has no alpha channel — send it to PNG or keep it as WebP if the holes matter. For the wider picture of how lossy and lossless formats trade off, see lossy vs lossless image compression, or browse the converting images guides.