JPG vs PNG vs WebP: Which Image Format Should You Use?

Every image format is a tradeoff between quality and file size. Pick wrong and your photo looks blocky — or your "small" logo is somehow 5MB. Here's the simple version.

JPG — photos

Best for photographs and anything with lots of colors and gradients. Uses lossy compression: smaller files, tiny quality cost. Bad for text, logos and screenshots (it smudges sharp edges).

PNG — graphics with sharp edges

Best for logos, screenshots, text and anything needing transparency. Lossless, so edges stay crisp — but photos saved as PNG are enormous. Never use PNG for a photograph.

WebP — the modern best-of-both

Google's format: ~30% smaller than JPG at the same quality, supports transparency like PNG. Supported everywhere modern. When in doubt, WebP wins.

Convert in seconds

ToolNest's Image Compressor converts between JPG, PNG and WebP while shrinking file size — all in your browser. Need exact pixel dimensions too? Pair it with the Image Resizer.