What is WebP?

WebP is a modern image format developed by Google that provides both lossy and lossless compression. Lossy WebP is typically 25-35% smaller than equivalent-quality JPEG, while lossless WebP is about 26% smaller than PNG. WebP also supports transparency (alpha channel) and animation, making it a versatile replacement for JPEG, PNG, and GIF on the web.

// JavaScript — convert image to WebP format in browser
async function toWebP(file, quality = 0.8) {
  const img = await createImageBitmap(file);
  const canvas = new OffscreenCanvas(img.width, img.height);
  canvas.getContext("2d").drawImage(img, 0, 0);
  return canvas.convertToBlob({ type: "image/webp", quality });
}
// WebP is 25-35% smaller than JPEG at equivalent quality

# Python — convert to WebP
from PIL import Image
img = Image.open("photo.jpg")
img.save("photo.webp", quality=80, method=6)

Common use cases

Web developers serve WebP images to improve page load speed and Core Web Vitals, often using <picture> elements with JPEG/PNG fallbacks. Content management systems auto-convert uploaded images to WebP. E-commerce platforms use WebP for product catalogs to reduce bandwidth costs. All modern browsers — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge — support WebP.