PNG to WebP: The Web's Preferred Image Format
WebP is a modern image format developed by Google that delivers significantly smaller file sizes than PNG while maintaining comparable or superior visual quality. Converting your PNG images to WebP is one of the highest-impact optimisations you can make to a website.
How Much Smaller Is WebP?
According to Google's own benchmarks:
- WebP lossless images are 26% smaller than equivalent PNGs
- WebP lossy images are 25–34% smaller than comparable JPGs
For a website with 50 images averaging 200 KB each, switching to WebP can reduce total image payload from 10 MB to under 7 MB — a direct improvement to page load speed.
Browser Support in 2026
WebP is now supported by all major browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari (since 14), Edge, and Opera. It is safe to use WebP as your primary format for web images. For legacy support (Internet Explorer), always keep a PNG fallback using the HTML <picture> element.
WebP Supports Transparency
Unlike JPG, WebP supports alpha transparency — making it a direct upgrade over PNG for transparent images on the web. You get the same transparent background with a significantly smaller file size.
When to Use PNG to WebP
- Website hero images, product photos, and blog images
- Logos and UI elements that need transparency
- Any image served on a modern web stack (WordPress, Shopify, Next.js all support WebP natively)
When to Keep PNG
- Images destined for print (WebP is a screen format)
- Images that need to be opened in older desktop software
- Source files you will edit — keep a PNG master, serve WebP
How to Convert PNG to WebP Free
- Go to the Konvertibly PNG to WebP converter
- Upload your PNG file
- Select lossless or lossy WebP (lossless for graphics, lossy for photos)
- Download the WebP file
Optimise your images now: Free PNG to WebP converter