WebP Converter — Convert JPG, PNG to WebP Online Free
Convert JPG, PNG and GIF images to WebP directly in your browser. Set the quality, see the exact size of the result, and keep transparency intact. Runs entirely in your browser.
Drag & drop an image here
or click to browse (JPG, PNG, GIF)
What is WebP? WebP is an image format created by Google and released in 2010. Its lossy mode reuses the intra-frame coding of the VP8 video codec, and its lossless mode uses its own entropy coding, all wrapped in a RIFF container. One format therefore covers what JPEG, PNG and GIF each do separately: photographic compression, an alpha channel for transparency, and animation. Every current browser can display it.
How to Use the WebP Converter
-
Add a JPG, PNG or GIF — Drag the file onto the drop zone or use Choose File. It is read with
FileReaderand drawn to a canvas inside the page — no upload takes place at any point. - Set the quality — The slider runs from 10 to 100 and is handed to the browser's WebP encoder. Every move re-encodes the image, so the preview and the reported size always match the setting currently shown.
- Compare sizes, not just pictures — The header above each panel shows the original file name and size and the WebP size, and the badge underneath reports the difference as a percentage. A negative figure means WebP came out larger, which happens with small or already-optimized sources.
- Inspect the result at full size — Zoom the page and check flat areas, gradients and text edges. WebP degrades differently from JPEG — instead of 8x8 blocking it tends to smooth fine texture away, which is easy to miss at thumbnail size.
-
Download the .webp file — Download WebP saves the result with the same base name and a
.webpextension. The pixel dimensions are unchanged; only the encoding is different.
How the Conversion Works
The tool decodes your file into an Image, draws it onto a canvas at its original pixel
dimensions, and calls canvas.toBlob(callback, 'image/webp', quality). The encoding is
done by the browser's own WebP encoder — the same code that produces WebP when a browser saves an
image — so nothing is uploaded and no server-side queue is involved. The size shown for the result is
the real byte length of the encoded Blob, and the saving is measured against the file you supplied:
saved % = (1 - webpBytes / originalBytes) x 100
Because the canvas holds only pixels, the WebP output carries no metadata from the source: EXIF camera fields, GPS coordinates and ICC color profiles are all dropped. The alpha channel, on the other hand, is part of the pixel data and survives, which is the main practical advantage of converting to WebP rather than to JPEG.
How much smaller will it actually be?
Google, which developed the format, reports savings in the region of a quarter to a third against a comparable JPEG at matched quality, and around a quarter against PNG in lossless mode. Those are averages over test sets, not a promise about any particular file. What you get depends heavily on the source: a large photograph straight off a camera usually converts well, while a small PNG icon with few colors, or a JPEG that has already been optimized, can come out the same size or larger. The badge under the preview reports the real number for your image, so treat that as the answer.
Where WebP fits against the other formats
| Format | Transparency | Animation | Compression | Best used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WebP | Yes, 8-bit alpha | Yes | Lossy and lossless | General web delivery where a modern browser is expected |
| JPEG | No | No | Lossy only | Photographs that must open anywhere, including old software |
| PNG | Yes, 8-bit alpha | No | Lossless only | Screenshots, line art, logos, anything re-edited repeatedly |
| GIF | 1-bit only | Yes | Lossless, 256 colors | Legacy compatibility; superseded by WebP for almost everything |
| AVIF | Yes | Yes | Lossy and lossless | Smaller still than WebP, but slower to encode and less universally supported |
Browser support
WebP support is no longer a reason to hesitate — every browser released in the last several years displays it, and the last major hold-out, Safari, added it in 2020:
| Browser | WebP supported since |
|---|---|
| Google Chrome | Version 32 (2014) |
| Opera | Version 19 (2014) |
| Microsoft Edge | Version 18 (2018) |
| Firefox | Version 65 (2019) |
| Safari | Version 14 (2020), macOS Big Sur and iOS 14 |
The remaining gaps are outside the browser: email clients, older desktop image viewers, some
print workflows and a number of content management systems still expect JPEG or PNG. For a website
the safe pattern is a <picture> element with a WebP source and a JPEG or PNG
fallback, which lets each browser take what it can read. For anything that will be emailed or handed
to a print shop, send the original format.
Two limits worth knowing. WebP cannot exceed 16,383 x 16,383 pixels, so very large panoramas and scans will fail to encode. And because the conversion draws a single frame to a canvas, an animated GIF loses its animation — only the first frame is converted. Use a dedicated animation converter if you need the motion preserved.
Frequently Asked Questions
WebP is an image format Google released in 2010. Lossy WebP is built on the intra-frame compression of the VP8 video codec; lossless WebP uses a separate scheme with its own entropy coding. Both live in a RIFF container. It combines capabilities that used to require three formats: photographic compression like JPEG, an alpha channel like PNG, and animation like GIF.
Google's published comparisons put lossy WebP roughly a quarter to a third smaller than JPEG at matched quality, and lossless WebP around a quarter smaller than PNG. Those are averages across test images, not a rule. Small icons, images with few colors, and files that were already carefully optimized may shrink very little or grow. The percentage badge in the tool reports the actual result for your file.
All current ones. Chrome and Opera have supported it since 2014, Edge since version 18 in 2018, Firefox since version 65 in 2019, and Safari since version 14 in 2020 on macOS Big Sur and iOS 14. Outside the browser support is patchier: some email clients, older desktop viewers and print workflows still expect JPEG or PNG.
Yes. WebP has a full 8-bit alpha channel, so a transparent PNG converts with its transparency intact — unlike a conversion to JPEG, which has no alpha at all and fills those areas in. This makes WebP a good replacement for PNG logos and cut-out product images, which are often where the largest savings appear.
This tool only converts to WebP; it accepts JPG, PNG and GIF as input. Converting back is possible in any image editor or with a canvas-based converter, but a round trip through two lossy encoders loses more detail than either one alone. Keep the original file rather than relying on converting back.
No. The file is read locally with FileReader, drawn to a canvas, and encoded by the browser itself. Nothing is transmitted, nothing is stored, and closing the tab discards everything. Note that this also means EXIF metadata, including GPS coordinates, is dropped from the WebP output as a side effect of re-encoding.
Usually because the source was already efficient. A small PNG with a handful of flat colors compresses extremely well with PNG's own algorithm, and WebP's container plus its encoding overhead can exceed it. The same happens with a JPEG that has already been through an optimizer. If the badge shows a negative saving, keep the original — converting would cost you bytes rather than save them.
Only the first frame survives. The conversion draws the image once onto a canvas, and a canvas holds a single still frame, so the animation is lost even though the WebP format itself supports animation. If you need an animated WebP, use a tool built specifically for animation rather than a canvas-based converter.
Use Cases
Replacing a Heavy Hero Image
The largest element on a landing page is usually a photograph. Converting it and adding a WebP source to a picture element cuts the bytes without changing the layout.
Shrinking Transparent PNG Logos
Cut-out product shots and logos with alpha are often the biggest files on a site. WebP keeps the transparency, which a conversion to JPEG cannot.
Testing a Quality Setting for a Pipeline
Before wiring WebP into a build step, run a few representative images through the slider to find the lowest quality that still holds up, then encode the batch at that value.
Checking Whether WebP Is Worth It
The percentage badge answers the question directly for a given image. If it comes back negative, that file is better left in its original format.
Publishing Without Camera Metadata
Because the file is rebuilt from a canvas, the WebP output carries no EXIF. Converting a phone photo before publishing removes its timestamp and GPS tag along the way.
Preparing Assets for an App Bundle
Mobile and desktop application bundles have download-size budgets. Converting bundled artwork to WebP frees room without touching the code.