WebP is the format built for the modern web: it compresses better than both JPG and PNG and, crucially, still supports transparency. Converting a transparent PNG to WebP can cut the file size by half or more with no visible difference, which is why it is the go-to choice for fast-loading sites. Every current browser supports it.
WebP's secret weapon: transparency at a fraction of the size
The reason WebP is so compelling for graphics is that it does something PNG and JPG cannot do together: it keeps a full alpha channel while compressing like a modern photo codec. A transparent PNG logo that weighs 300 KB often lands around 80 KB as WebP, with edges and semi-transparent shadows preserved. WebP achieves this with smarter prediction and block transforms borrowed from video encoding, so it squeezes far more from the same pixels. For sites serving lots of transparent UI assets, icons, and overlays, that saving compounds across every page view into real bandwidth and speed gains. If you do not need transparency and the image is a flat-colour graphic, lossless PNG compression is a safe sibling that keeps the format browsers have supported the longest.
Lossy or lossless WebP, and when each fits
WebP offers two modes, and the right one depends on your image. Lossy WebP suits photographic content and complex art, trading invisible detail for the smallest files. Lossless WebP suits sharp logos and screenshots where you want every edge perfect but still smaller than PNG. This tool tunes the encoder so transparent graphics stay crisp while photos compress aggressively. Once your image is WebP it is ready for the modern web, but remember some older email clients and legacy software still expect classic formats — in those cases convert the photo to PNG to JPG for maximum compatibility, or shrink the source first with the image resizer so WebP has less to encode in the first place.