What is WebP? The Complete Guide & How to Convert Files (2026)
TL;DR: What You Need to Know About WebP What it is: A modern web image format created by Google. The main benefit: It makes files 25–34% smaller than JPG and PNG without losing visible quality, which speeds up your website. Versatility: It supports both transparency (like PNG) and animation (like GIF). Support: It works on 95%+ of modern web browsers.
If you've ever right-clicked an image on a website and noticed it saved as a .webp file, you've already encountered WebP — even if you didn't know what it was. WebP is one of the most important image formats on the modern web, and understanding it can help you make your website faster, reduce storage costs, and improve your Google search rankings.
In this guide, you'll learn exactly what WebP is, how it compares to JPG and PNG, when you should use it, and how to convert your existing images to WebP for free — right in your browser.
1. What is WebP?
WebP (pronounced "weppy") is a modern image format developed by Google and first released in 2010. It was designed specifically for the web — to deliver high-quality images at significantly smaller file sizes than older formats like JPG and PNG.
At its core, WebP uses advanced compression algorithms based on the VP8 video codec. The result is an image format that produces files 25–34% smaller than equivalent JPG images and up to 26% smaller than PNG images, with no visible difference in quality at typical viewing sizes.