What is AVIF? Is It Better Than WebP and JPEG?

If you follow web performance or image optimization, you may have seen AVIF mentioned as the next evolution in image formats — smaller than WebP, which is already smaller than JPEG. This guide explains what AVIF is, how it compares to existing formats, browser support, and when it's the right choice.

What is AVIF?

AVIF stands for AV1 Image File Format. It's based on the AV1 video codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media — a group that includes Google, Mozilla, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and others. AV1 was originally designed for video streaming; AVIF takes the same compression technology and applies it to still images.

The key advantage: AV1's compression algorithms are significantly more efficient than those used by JPEG (from 1992) or WebP (from 2010). AVIF can achieve the same perceived visual quality as JPEG at roughly half the file size, or the same quality as WebP at 20–30% smaller files.

AVIF vs WebP vs JPEG: how do they compare?

What makes AVIF compression so efficient?

AVIF uses several techniques that older formats don't:

• Larger transform blocks. AV1 can analyse larger areas of an image at once, finding more compression opportunities than JPEG's 8×8 pixel blocks.
• Better intra-prediction. AVIF predicts what each block of pixels should look like based on surrounding areas, storing only the difference — which is often much smaller.
• High bit depth support. AVIF natively supports 10-bit and 12-bit colour, making it ideal for HDR photographs and wide-gamut displays.
• Chroma subsampling flexibility. AVIF can maintain full colour resolution where it matters most, unlike JPEG which always uses chroma subsampling.

Browser and platform support

AVIF support has grown rapidly. As of 2024:

• Chrome: Full support since Chrome 85 (August 2020)
• Firefox: Full support since Firefox 93 (October 2021)
• Safari: Support since Safari 16.4 (March 2023) on macOS and iOS
• Edge: Full support since Edge 121 (2024)

Global browser support now covers over 90% of users. AVIF is no longer an experimental format — it's a viable default for web images.

When should you use AVIF?

• You're optimizing images for a website and want the smallest possible file sizes
• You have HDR photographs that need wide colour gamut support
• You're serving images to an audience predominantly on Chrome, Firefox, or modern Safari
• You need transparency (like PNG) with better compression than WebP lossless

When should you avoid AVIF?

• You need to share images with Windows users via email or Explorer, where AVIF support is inconsistent
• You're uploading to a platform that doesn't support AVIF (most social media still expects JPEG or PNG)
• You're working in software that doesn't support AVIF decoding yet

For web use, you can serve AVIF with a WebP fallback using the HTML <picture> element — browsers that don't support AVIF will automatically use the WebP version.

How to convert images to AVIF for free

Safe File Converter can export JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF, SVG, and other formats as AVIF, entirely in your browser. Note that AVIF encoding via the browser Canvas API requires Chrome 85+ or Firefox 93+. Safari 16.4+ also supports it. The conversion happens locally — nothing is uploaded.