The honest 2026 answer changed while nobody was looking: AVIF is now almost as widely supported as WebP, so the old safe choice is no longer the only safe choice.
For years the advice was simple: WebP if you want it to work everywhere, AVIF only if you are feeling brave.
That advice was built on a browser support gap that has since closed to about a point and a half.
Here is where the three formats actually stand, and which one you want for the job you are doing.
The short version. Building a website, use AVIF with a WebP or JPEG fallback and let the browser pick. Sending a file to a person, use JPEG, because it is the only one nothing will refuse.
Browser Support - the Gap Has Closed
This is the number that used to settle the argument, and it does not settle it any more.
| Format | Global support | Arrived in |
|---|---|---|
| JPEG | Everything, everywhere | 1992 |
| WebP | 96.82 percent | Chrome 32, Firefox 65, Edge 18, Safari 16 |
| AVIF | 95.36 percent | Chrome 85, Firefox 93, Safari 16.4, Edge 121 |
Figures from caniuse.com, read 10 September 2026. The one that mattered was Edge, which only gained AVIF in version 121 in January 2024 and is the reason so much advice written before then still calls AVIF risky.
A point and a half of browser share is a real difference, and it is not the difference it was. If your visitors are on anything from the last three years, both formats reach them.
How Much Smaller, Really
Compression is where AVIF earns its place, and it is also where most articles quote a single number that does not survive contact with real pictures.
Google's own published figures for WebP are the solid ones: lossy WebP runs 25 to 34 percent smaller than a JPEG of matching quality, and lossless WebP about 26 percent smaller than a PNG.
AVIF goes further again. The commonly cited figures put it around 50 percent smaller than JPEG and roughly 20 percent smaller than WebP, and on photographs and gradients that generally holds.
The part nobody mentions. AVIF does not always win - on flat graphics, sharp line art, logos and screenshots, WebP and sometimes even a well-made JPEG come out smaller and cleaner, because AVIF's encoder smooths detail it treats as noise. Test with your own images before converting a whole library.
Where Each One Actually Wins
| Use this | When | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| AVIF | Photographs on a website, large hero images, anything where page weight is the problem | Slow to encode, and weaker on flat graphics and line art |
| WebP | Mixed libraries, e-commerce catalogues, animated images that would otherwise be a GIF | Nothing serious - it is the least risky modern choice |
| JPEG | Email attachments, print shops, uploading to a form, sending a file to another person | Biggest files by a wide margin, and no transparency |
The rule underneath that table is worth stating plainly: modern formats are for pages you control, and JPEG is for handing a file to somebody else.
If You Run a Website, You Do Not Have to Choose
This is the part the "which format" question tends to hide, and it makes most of the debate unnecessary.
The picture element lets one image tag offer several files at once. You list AVIF first, WebP second and a JPEG last, and each browser takes the first one it understands.
Modern visitors get the small file, older ones get the JPEG, and nobody sees a broken image. Most content management systems and image plugins will generate the whole set for you from one upload.
Opening These Files on Your PC
If you landed here because something sent you a file that will not open, that is a different problem from picking a format, and it has a quick answer.
Current Windows 10 and 11 machines already open WebP in Microsoft Photos and File Explorer with nothing installed.
Our guide to viewing WebP files on Windows covers the few machines that still need WebP Image Extensions.
AVIF is the one Windows genuinely does not handle on its own. Microsoft's free AV1 Video Extension is the standard fix, and there are more routes in viewing AVIF files on Windows.
Prefer a viewer that handles all three without touching Windows at all? We compared them in the best AVIF viewers and converters for Windows.
Converting Between Them
For a folder of files rather than one, how to convert AVIF files walks through the desktop tools and what each is good at.
For one or two, a browser tab is faster than an install:
- AVIF converters for turning an AVIF into something ordinary, or the other way.
- WebP converters for the same job on WebP.
- JPG converters when you need the version everything accepts.
Quick questions
Is AVIF safe to use on a website in 2026?
Yes, for most sites. It reaches about 95 percent of browsers, and a WebP or JPEG fallback in a picture element covers the rest with no downside.
Should I convert my whole photo library to AVIF?
Probably not. Encoding is slow, fewer programs open it, and the savings are smallest on exactly the kind of mixed content a personal library contains. Keep originals and convert what you publish.
Which one supports transparency and animation?
AVIF and WebP both do. JPEG does neither, which is the main reason PNG and GIF are still around.
Does WebP or AVIF lose quality every time I save?
The lossy versions do, exactly like JPEG, so repeated re-saving degrades the picture. Both also have lossless modes, and you should always keep the original file.
Why does my printer or an upload form reject AVIF?
Support outside browsers is far behind support inside them. Print services, older phones and plenty of web forms still expect JPEG, so convert before sending rather than after being refused.
What about JPEG XL?
It is technically excellent and still barely supported in browsers, so it is not a choice for the web yet. Worth watching, not worth building on.
Pick AVIF for pages you control, WebP when you want one file that works nearly everywhere, and JPEG whenever the file is leaving your hands.
If Windows will not show your AVIF files, Microsoft's free AV1 Video Extension is the fix, and tell us how you got on if you have tested these formats on your own images.
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