Convert Images to WEBP Online - Free WEBP Converter

What is WEBP format?

WEBP is a modern image format developed by Google. It offers both lossy and lossless compression and supports transparency and animations. WEBP files are significantly smaller than JPG or PNG while maintaining high quality.

Why convert images to WEBP?

Excellent compression

WEBP provides 25-35% smaller files than JPG and 25-50% smaller than PNG at the same quality.

Transparency support

Unlike JPG, WEBP supports an alpha channel for transparency.

Broad support

WEBP is supported in all modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari.

How to use this tool?

1. Upload images - Click the “Browse files” button or simply drag images into the designated area
2. Set quality - Select the quality level (75-90% recommended)
3. Automatic conversion - Images will be automatically converted to WEBP format
4. Download - Download individual images or all of them at once as a ZIP archive

Browser support

WEBP is supported in:

• Chrome - all versions
• Edge - all versions
• Firefox 65 and newer
• Safari 14 and newer (iOS 14, macOS Big Sur)
• Opera - all versions

Supported input formats

The tool supports conversion from these formats:

• JPG/JPEG - the most common photographic format
• PNG - including transparency, which will be preserved
• GIF - static and animated images
• BMP - basic bitmap format
• TIFF - professional format
• SVG - vector graphics

Quality settings

WEBP quality determines the ratio between file size and image quality:

• 85-95% - high quality, larger files
• 75-85% - optimal for most uses
• 65-75% - smaller files, still good quality
• Below 65% - small files, visible quality loss

Comparison with other formats

For the same visual quality:

• WEBP vs JPG - 25-35% smaller files
• WEBP vs PNG - 25-50% smaller files (even more for photos)
• WEBP vs GIF - 60-80% smaller files for animations

When to use WEBP?

Ideal for:

• Websites and applications
• Photos with transparent backgrounds
• Images requiring smaller file sizes
• Modern projects with current browser support

Less suitable for:

• Projects requiring support for older browsers
• Printing (use PNG or TIFF)
• Maximum compression (consider AVIF)

Practical advantages of WEBP

Real file size savings

Impact on web performance

Example: E-shop with 50 product images

• JPG total: 50 × 400 KB = 20 MB
• WEBP total: 50 × 280 KB = 14 MB
• Savings: 6 MB = faster loading by 2-4 seconds

Core Web Vitals

Google evaluates loading speed:

• ⚡ LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) - WEBP accelerates loading of main images
• 📊 CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) - Smaller files = fewer shifts
• ⏱️ FID (First Input Delay) - Faster loading = earlier interactivity

WEBP vs Other Formats

WEBP vs JPG

Photo 1920×1080:
├─ JPG (85% quality): 850 KB
├─ WEBP (85% quality): 580 KB (-32%)
└─ Visual quality: Identical

Advantages of WEBP:

• ✅ 25-35% smaller at the same quality
• ✅ Supports transparency (JPG does not)
• ✅ Supports animations (JPG does not)

Disadvantages of WEBP:

• ⚠️ Poorer support in older software
• ⚠️ Longer compression time

WEBP vs PNG

Logo with transparency 800×600:
├─ PNG: 320 KB
├─ WEBP: 95 KB (-70%)
└─ Transparency: Preserved in both

When to use WEBP instead of PNG:

• Web and applications (speed more important than compatibility)
• Modern platforms
• Images with transparency

When to stick with PNG:

• Graphic design (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator)
• Professional printing
• Maximum compatibility

WEBP vs GIF

Animation 500×500, 30 frames:
├─ GIF: 4.2 MB
├─ WEBP: 950 KB (-77%)
└─ Color quality: WEBP 16M colors, GIF 256 colors

WEBP animations are better than GIF:

• 🎨 Millions of colors instead of 256
• 📦 60-80% smaller files
• 🔍 Higher quality without dithering

Implementing WEBP on the web

HTML with fallback

<picture>
  <source srcset="image.webp" type="image/webp">
  <source srcset="image.jpg" type="image/jpeg">
  <img src="image.jpg" alt="Image description">
</picture>

How it works:

• Modern browsers load WEBP
• Older browsers load JPG
• All users see the image

CSS background

.hero {
  background-image: url('hero.jpg');
}

/* Modernizr or @supports */
.webp .hero {
  background-image: url('hero.webp');
}

Automatic server-side detection

# .htaccess - Apache
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteCond %{HTTP_ACCEPT} image/webp
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.webp -f
  RewriteRule ^(.+)\.(jpe?g|png)$ $1.webp [T=image/webp,E=accept:1]
</IfModule>

Migrating from JPG/PNG to WEBP

Strategy for an existing website

Phase 1: Preparation

1. Back up all original images
2. Convert all JPG/PNG to WEBP (80-85% quality)
3. Save WEBP next to the original files

Phase 2: Implementation

1. Use the <picture> element with a fallback
2. Update CSS for background images
3. Test in all browsers

Phase 3: Monitoring

1. Monitor PageSpeed Insights score
2. Check Core Web Vitals
3. Analyze analytics data

Process automation

# cwebp - official tool from Google
cwebp -q 85 input.jpg -o output.webp

# Batch conversion of all JPGs
for file in *.jpg; do
  cwebp -q 85 "$file" -o "${file%.jpg}.webp"
done

Cross-platform support

Browsers

Coverage: More than 95% of internet users (2024)

Mobile devices

• ✅ Android 4.0+ (2011)
• ✅ iOS 14+ (2020)
• ✅ Chrome Mobile - all versions
• ✅ Firefox Mobile 68+

Software

• ⚠️ Adobe Photoshop - Plugin required
• ⚠️ GIMP - Yes (with plugin)
• ✅ Figma - Native export
• ✅ Canva - Supports WEBP
• ⚠️ Microsoft Office - Limited support

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Advanced WEBP settings

Compression types

1. Lossy

   • Quality 0-100
   • Ideal for photos
   • Small file sizes

2. Lossless

   • No data loss
   • Ideal for graphics
   • Larger than lossy, smaller than PNG

3. Near-lossless

   • Compromise between lossy and lossless
   • Almost imperceptible loss
   • Significantly smaller than lossless

Optimization parameters

# High quality (90%) for portfolio
cwebp -q 90 -m 6 input.jpg -o output.webp

# Balanced (80%) for general web
cwebp -q 80 -m 4 input.jpg -o output.webp

# Aggressive compression (70%) for thumbnails
cwebp -q 70 -m 2 input.jpg -o output.webp

# Lossless for logos and graphics
cwebp -lossless input.png -o output.webp

Future of WEBP

Competitor: AVIF

AVIF is a newer format with even better compression (20-30% more than WEBP), but:

• ⚠️ Support is still growing
• ⚠️ Slower compression
• ⚠️ Higher CPU demands

Recommendation: Use WEBP now, monitor AVIF for the future

Adoption by major players

• Google - Prefers WEBP across all services
• Facebook/Meta - WEBP for photos
• YouTube - Thumbnails in WEBP
• WordPress - Native support since version 5.8
• Shopify - Automatic conversion to WEBP

Advantages of this tool

• 100% Free - no registration or limitations
• Privacy protection - all processing occurs locally in your browser
• Batch processing - convert multiple images at once
• Transparency preservation - alpha channel remains intact
• Adjustable quality - control over the size/quality ratio
• No size limit - no file size restrictions
• Fast - instant conversion without uploading to a server
• Modern technology - Utilizes the latest web standards
• SEO benefit - Smaller images = better PageSpeed