WebP or JPEG: which to pick

How the two formats compare on file size, quality, transparency and compatibility, and what that means when the destination is Discord.

Last updated 2026-08-19

Most compressors ask which format you want on the way out, and that choice moves the final file size more than anything else you can change. For Discord the answer is usually WebP, with a few exceptions worth knowing about.

The core differences

Technically, WebP borrows block prediction from the VP8 video codec, so it can infer a block from its neighbours and store less. JPEG processes each block independently with no such prediction layer.

Real-world size gap

How much you save depends on the content. Compressing each type until the loss is invisible gives roughly these numbers:

The pattern: the flatter the image and the sharper its edges, the more WebP wins. Screenshots, interfaces and illustration gain the most; noisy photographic detail gains the least.

Transparency and animation

JPEG has no alpha channel at all, so converting a transparent PNG to JPEG fills the background with white or black. For cut-out assets, stickers and emoji art the real choice is between PNG and WebP, and WebP is usually far smaller at the same visual result.

Animation follows the same logic. GIF is limited to 256 colours and compresses poorly, so a five-second loop easily runs to several megabytes. The same content as animated WebP is often a third of that, and as MP4 closer to a tenth. Discord handles all three, so unless you specifically need hover-to-play behaviour, MP4 is the cheapest option.

Which to pick when

• Staying inside Discord: WebP. Spend the savings on a higher quality setting.
• Recipient will edit it: JPEG. Older editors and some print services still refuse WebP.
• Transparency needed: WebP, never JPEG.
• Archival copy: neither; keep the original separately.
• Not sure: use the Auto mode, which picks WebP where the browser can encode it and falls back to JPEG otherwise.

What quality value to use

Fixed quality is the wrong knob. What you actually care about is staying under a size limit, and the quality needed to hit a given size varies wildly between images.

The better approach inverts it: set the target size and let a binary search find the highest quality that still fits. That is how FitSize works, you say 20 MB and it does the arithmetic. When the original already fits, it is re-encoded at a visually lossless setting instead of being waved through: a PNG screenshot turned into WebP often drops another 70–80% with nothing visible to show for it. If you would rather not touch a file that already fits, switch that option to keep the original.

Frequently asked questions

Does Discord display WebP properly?

Yes. The web client, desktop app and mobile apps all render WebP thumbnails and full images, and animated WebP animates. Problems only appear when someone re-opens the saved file in older third-party software.

How much smaller is WebP than JPEG?

At matched visual quality, roughly 25% to 30% for typical photos. Screenshots and flat-colour art with sharp edges do better, sometimes 40% or more. Very detailed high-resolution photos narrow the gap.

So why would I ever pick JPEG?

Compatibility. If the recipient will load the file into an old version of Photoshop, a game that accepts custom images, or a print shop upload form, JPEG basically never fails. For files that stay inside Discord there is no reason to avoid WebP.

What about PNG?

PNG is lossless, so there is little to squeeze and the result often still exceeds the limit. When you need transparency, use WebP instead, it supports both transparency and lossy compression, and typically lands at a fraction of the PNG size.