WebP has gone from a niche Google format to a web standard, and that has left a lot of people asking a practical question: should you still use JPG, or switch to WebP? Both are excellent for photographs, but they are not interchangeable. This guide compares JPG and WebP on size, quality, support, and features, so you can decide with confidence.
The Short Answer
For images on a website, WebP is usually the better choice: it produces smaller files at the same quality and supports transparency and animation that JPG cannot. For images that must open anywhere — including older software, some email clients, and print workflows — JPG remains the safest, most universal option. The ideal setup serves WebP with a JPG fallback, so modern browsers get the smaller file and everything else still works.
What JPG Does Well
JPG has been the default photo format for three decades, and its strength is reach. Every browser, operating system, camera, printer, and editing tool reads it without question. It is the format you can send to anyone, upload anywhere, and open on any device with zero risk. For a photograph that needs to simply work outside the web — attached to an email, handed to a print shop, opened in legacy software — JPG is still the dependable default.
Its limitations are the flip side of its age: no transparency, no animation, and less efficient compression than modern formats.
What WebP Does Better
WebP, developed by Google, was designed to do what JPG does but more efficiently, plus a few things JPG cannot. It offers both lossy and lossless compression, full alpha transparency, and animation — so a single format can replace JPG, PNG, and animated GIF on the web. Crucially, it compresses photographs more efficiently than JPG at the same visual quality.
That efficiency is its headline advantage for the web, where every kilobyte affects load time and Core Web Vitals.
File Size: How Much Smaller Is WebP?
Google reports that lossy WebP images are typically 25 to 34 percent smaller than comparable JPEGs at equivalent quality. On a photo-heavy page, that can translate into meaningfully faster loads and lower bandwidth costs. WebP also has a lossless mode that is usually smaller than PNG, which is useful for graphics. In short, for almost any image, WebP produces a smaller file than JPG at the same perceived quality.
Browser and App Support
This is JPG's remaining advantage, though the gap has nearly closed for the web. WebP is now supported in every current major browser, including Safari since version 14, so you can serve it to web visitors with confidence. The caveats are outside the browser: some older desktop software, certain email clients, and some print or upload systems still do not accept WebP. JPG has no such gaps anywhere.
So the rule of thumb is straightforward: for the open web, WebP support is no longer a real concern; for files that travel into other software or workflows, JPG is the safer bet.
Quality at the Same File Size
Because WebP compresses more efficiently, at the same file size it generally preserves more detail than JPG, and at the same quality it produces a smaller file. At very high quality settings the two look essentially identical, and the practical difference is simply that WebP gets there with fewer bytes. JPG can show blockiness and edge halos when pushed to small sizes; WebP holds up somewhat better under aggressive compression.
JPG vs WebP at a Glance
| Property | JPG | WebP |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy and lossless |
| Typical photo size | Baseline | 25–34% smaller |
| Transparency | No | Yes (alpha) |
| Animation | No | Yes |
| Browser support | Universal | All modern browsers (Safari 14+) |
| Support outside browsers | Universal | Some older software lacks it |
| Best for | Compatibility, print, email | Modern web images |
Which Should You Use?
Choose **WebP** for images on your website — it is smaller, supports transparency, and is fully supported by browsers. Choose **JPG** when an image must open everywhere with no risk, such as email attachments, print files, or systems you do not control. For the best of both, serve WebP with a JPG fallback so each visitor gets the most efficient file their software supports. For the wider decision across all formats, see How to Choose the Right Image Format for the Web, and to push efficiency further, compare WebP vs AVIF.
How to Convert Between JPG and WebP
You can convert either direction without software. To modernize photos for the web, convert JPG to WebP. If you receive a WebP and need a universally compatible file for email or print, convert WebP to JPG. Keep your original high-quality files and generate whichever format a given use case needs. For more background, read What Is WebP.