AVIF vs JPG: Which Format Should You Use?
Quick Answer
- For websites: AVIF — roughly 50% smaller files than JPG at the same visual quality, supported by every major browser since 2023
- For maximum compatibility: JPG — works absolutely everywhere, no exceptions
- For photos you send to other people: JPG — email, messengers, print labs, and most platforms still expect it
What Is AVIF?
AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is the newest image format, released in 2019. It compresses images using the AV1 video codec — a royalty-free codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media. In plain terms, AVIF is a video codec repurposed for still images, which is why it's so efficient: it reuses all the techniques video compression has spent two decades perfecting.
AVIF also supports transparency (alpha channel), lossless mode, animation, HDR, and 12-bit color depth. Browser support crossed 90% in 2025, and all major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) have rendered AVIF for years — as of 2026 it is ready for production use.
What Is JPG?
JPG (JPEG) was standardized in 1992. It uses lossy compression with an 8-bit DCT pipeline and fixed 8×8 blocks. It's the most widely used image format in the world — virtually every device, browser, application, and online service supports it. JPG is the universal fallback: when in doubt, JPG works. Its weakness is efficiency: at the same visual quality, JPG files are roughly twice the size of AVIF, and it shows blocking and ringing artifacts below roughly 70% quality.
File Size Comparison: Real Benchmarks
We encoded a real 12MP photo (3024×4032 iPad capture, street scene) at visually equivalent quality — settings matched with dssim (structural similarity), the same methodology validated by Malte Ubl's research and Netflix's AVIF benchmarking:
| Format | Quality | File Size | vs JPG | dssim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVIF | 70 | 2,083 KB | −17.6% | 0.00124 |
| JPG | 80 | 2,529 KB | — | 0.00138 |
dssim measures visual difference from the source (lower = closer). Both formats score below 0.01, meaning both are virtually indistinguishable from the original — the AVIF file is simply 17.6% smaller at the same perceived quality. Source image and full five-format comparison: PNG vs JPG vs WebP vs HEIC vs AVIF.
Across a broader quality range, independent benchmarks report the same result. The SPCP Benchmark (2025), the most comprehensive academic comparison of still-image codecs (10 formats, 408 encoder configurations, 28 quality metrics), measured BD-Rate against JPEG — the average bitrate needed to reach the same quality:
| Comparison | BD-Rate (PSNR) | What this means |
|---|---|---|
| AVIF vs JPEG | −57% | AVIF needs roughly half the file size to match JPEG's quality |
| WebP vs JPEG | −29% | WebP is a meaningful upgrade, a generation behind AVIF |
| AVIF vs WebP | −37% | The AVIF–WebP gap is larger than WebP's whole advantage over JPEG |
Netflix's independent image compression framework, using the perceptually-trained VMAF metric, confirms the same ranking — AVIF beats JPEG by a wide margin across different test images. The result is robust: AVIF's efficiency advantage is not a single-test artifact.
Quality Setting Mapping (Measured In-Browser)
Quality numbers are codec-specific — AVIF quality 70 is not JPG quality 70. To make the comparison practical, we measured the mapping ourselves using the same encoder stack our online tools use (Chrome's built-in JPEG encoder + the libaom AVIF encoder from @jsquash/avif): 8 real iPhone photos (3024×4032 HEIC captures), each encoded at 5 AVIF and 4 JPG quality settings, compared with block-grid SSIM (dssim). The table shows, per AVIF quality, the JPG quality with the closest visual difference (median across the 8 photos):
| AVIF quality | ≈ JPG quality | AVIF file size | JPG file size | AVIF savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 61 | 158 KB | 286 KB | −45% |
| 50 | 76 | 229 KB | 379 KB | −40% |
| 60 | 85 | 328 KB | 507 KB | −35% |
| 70 | 89 | 402 KB | 573 KB | −30% |
| 80 | 91 | 496 KB | 620 KB | −20% |
Methodology: 8 iPhone HEIC photos decoded losslessly, cover-cropped to a 1200×1200 analysis square, block-grid SSIM (Wang et al. 2004, 8×8 blocks) reported as dssim = 1/SSIM − 1; mapping = JPG quality with closest dssim per AVIF quality, medians across photos. Note the mapping depends on the encoder: the same photo encoded with ImageMagick's svt-av1 AVIF encoder shows AVIF quality 70 ≈ JPG quality 80 (see our full format comparison) — quality scales are version-specific, which is exactly why we publish the measured mapping for the stack our tools actually use.
Compatibility Comparison
| Platform | JPG | AVIF |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome | ✅ | ✅ (since 2020) |
| Firefox | ✅ | ✅ (since 2021) |
| Safari | ✅ | ✅ (iOS 16+ / macOS 13+) |
| Edge | ✅ | ✅ |
| iPhone / Android | ✅ | ✅ (iOS 16+ / Android 12+) |
| Windows / macOS | ✅ | ✅ (built-in viewers) |
| WordPress | ✅ | ✅ (6.5+) |
| Email, messengers, print labs, legacy CMS | ✅ | ⚠️ often rejected or re-encoded |
The key difference: JPG works in every email client, every messenger, every print service. AVIF is supported by every modern web browser — but many non-browser tools still don't accept it.
When to Use AVIF
- Serving images on a website you control (use <picture> with a JPG fallback for older clients)
- You want the best quality-to-file-size ratio — AVIF has no competitor among widely supported formats
- You need transparency, HDR, or 12-bit color
- You're building new tooling and can use modern pipelines
When to Use JPG
- Emails, chat apps, and platforms that reject or re-encode AVIF
- Sending photos to non-technical people or legacy software
- Print labs and government/exam upload portals — many still require JPG
- Anywhere you need "it will just work" with zero edge cases
How to Convert AVIF to JPG
Need to turn an AVIF file into a JPG — for an email attachment, a print order, or a platform that doesn't accept AVIF? Use our free converter — it runs entirely in your browser, your file never leaves your device:
AVIF to JPG Converter → — instant, private, no uploads, no account.
Also available: AVIF to PNG (if you need transparency) and the image compressor (to shrink a photo while keeping its format).
How to Convert JPG to AVIF
Going the other way — JPG to AVIF — is how you actually capture the size savings this article is about. If you're preparing images for a website you control, convert your JPGs to AVIF and keep the JPGs as the fallback:
JPG to AVIF Converter → — free, private, no uploads, no account.
Also available: PNG to AVIF (for lossless graphics with transparency) and the image compressor (which can also re-encode to AVIF with a quality slider). For every other pairing — WebP to AVIF, TIFF to WebP, AVIF to TIFF — see our complete any-to-any conversion guide.
What About WebP and HEIC?
WebP (Google, 2010) is the "safe modern" middle ground — 25-35% smaller than JPG, 96%+ browser support, but a generation behind AVIF in efficiency (see the BD-Rate table above). HEIC is Apple's format: as efficient as AVIF, but locked to the Apple ecosystem and patent-encumbered. AVIF is the best combination of efficiency and openness — the reason it's the format of choice for the modern web.
Beyond AVIF: JPEG XL
JPEG XL is the most likely successor — it can losslessly recompress existing JPGs (about 20% smaller with zero quality loss) and decodes progressively. But it's not widely shipped in browsers yet. For now, AVIF is the practical choice: supported, efficient, and available today.
Conclusion
- Websites: use AVIF with a JPG fallback — half the file size, no visible difference
- Photos you send around: keep JPG — it works everywhere, always
- Legacy AVIF files: convert to JPG with our browser-based converter — free, private, no uploads