AVIF in plain English
AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is a relatively new image format built on top of the AV1 video codec — the same codec used by Netflix, YouTube, and most major streaming platforms to deliver high-quality video at low file sizes. Applied to still images, the result is remarkable: AVIF can be 50% smaller than JPG and 20–30% smaller than WEBP at equivalent visual quality.
It was developed by the Alliance for Open Media, a coalition including Google, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and Microsoft. Unlike older formats, AVIF is open and royalty-free — no licensing fees, no restrictions.
How does it compare to other formats?
| Format | Compression | Transparency | Browser support | Encode speed |
|---|
| AVIF | Excellent | Yes | Good (95%+) | Slow |
| WEBP | Very good | Yes | Excellent | Fast |
| JPG | Decent | No | Universal | Very fast |
| PNG | Poor (photos) | Yes | Universal | Fast |
AVIF wins on compression and quality. Its main drawback is encode speed — converting a large image to AVIF takes noticeably longer than WEBP or JPG, especially in a browser. For most users this is a one-time cost, not a dealbreaker.
Should you use AVIF?
It depends on your use case:
- Website images: Yes, if you're comfortable with slightly longer encode times. The bandwidth savings are significant, especially on mobile. Most modern browsers support it.
- Sharing photos: WEBP is still the safer bet for sharing, since some apps and older devices don't yet handle AVIF well.
- Archiving: AVIF is excellent for archiving photos at smaller sizes without quality loss.
- Logos and graphics: Both AVIF and WEBP handle transparency — either works, though WEBP encodes faster.
Browser support in 2026
Chrome, Firefox, Safari (16.4+), and Edge all support AVIF. It covers 95%+ of users globally. The main gap is very old iOS devices and some niche browsers — if you're targeting a general audience, AVIF is safe to use.
How to convert images to AVIF
Filesmith supports AVIF as both an input and output format. Converting is the same process as any other format — drop your image, select AVIF, adjust quality, and download. The encode will take a few seconds longer than WEBP, which is normal.
A quality setting of 70–80% is usually ideal for AVIF — the format's compression is efficient enough that you don't need to push quality as high as with JPG to get excellent results.
The bottom line
AVIF is genuinely impressive technology and represents where image formats are heading. If you're optimising a website for performance, it's worth using. For everyday sharing and conversion, WEBP is still the more practical choice — faster to encode, universally supported, and the file size difference is minimal for most use cases.
The good news is you don't have to choose permanently — Filesmith makes switching between formats trivial, so you can always test both and compare results with the side-by-side slider.