State of WebP 2025: Comprehensive Adoption and Performance Report

WebP has reached a critical inflection point in 2025, with browser support exceeding 96.5% globally and major platforms embracing the format. This comprehensive report analyzes adoption trends, performance benchmarks, and the competitive landscape with emerging formats like AVIF.

Executive Summary

Based on analysis of browser statistics, CDN usage data, and web performance metrics from major websites, WebP has firmly established itself as the dominant next-generation image format. Key findings:

Browser Support Evolution

WebP's journey to universal adoption has been gradual but steady. Here's how support has evolved:

The remaining 3.5% primarily consists of Internet Explorer 11 users and outdated Android WebView implementations. For most websites, this represents an acceptable fallback requirement.

Performance Benchmarks: WebP vs Alternatives

We analyzed compression performance across different image types using industry-standard test suites. Results show WebP's compression efficiency varies by content type:

Benchmark methodology: 1,000 image corpus from Google's WebP compression study, quality matched using SSIM > 0.95

Adoption by Top Websites

Analysis of the top 10,000 websites (by Alexa rank) reveals strong WebP adoption among high-traffic sites:

Platform Support

• Content Delivery Networks: Cloudflare, Fastly, CloudFront all offer automatic WebP conversion
• CMS Platforms: WordPress (95% plugin support), Drupal, Joomla native support since 2022
• E-commerce: Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento all default to WebP when supported
• Image Services: Imgix, Cloudinary, ImageKit provide WebP as default format

The AVIF Challenge

While WebP dominates in 2025, AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) has emerged as a formidable competitor:

Migration Trends

Our analysis suggests a hybrid approach is emerging as the industry standard:

<picture>
  <source srcset="hero.avif" type="image/avif">
  <source srcset="hero.webp" type="image/webp">
  <img src="hero.jpg" alt="Hero image" loading="lazy">
</picture>

<!-- Browser picks first supported format -->
<!-- AVIF (85% support) → WebP (96% support) → JPG (100% support) -->

This "progressive enhancement" strategy delivers optimal compression to modern browsers while maintaining universal compatibility.

Real-World Impact: Case Studies

Case Study 1: E-commerce Platform

Case Study 2: News Publishing Site

Implementation Best Practices

1. Conversion Strategy

1. Audit existing images - Identify high-traffic pages and large image files first
2. Test quality settings - WebP quality 80-85 often matches JPG quality 90 visually
3. Automate conversion - Use build tools or CDN features for automatic format negotiation
4. Implement progressive enhancement - Serve AVIF → WebP → JPG/PNG based on browser support

2. Serving Strategy

Three common approaches for serving WebP images:

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

Accept: image/webp,image/apng,image/*,*/*;q=0.8
→ Server returns image.webp instead of image.jpg

const supportsWebP = await (async () => {
  const webpData = 'data:image/webp;base64,UklGRh4AAABXRUJQVlA4TBEAAAAvAAAAAAfQ//73v/+BiOh/AAA=';
  const img = new Image();
  img.src = webpData;
  return img.decode().then(() => true).catch(() => false);
})();

Future Outlook: 2026 and Beyond

Based on current trajectories, we predict:

• WebP reaches 98% browser support by 2026 - As legacy device replacement continues
• AVIF adoption accelerates to 92% by 2027 - Safari 16+ and Chrome 89+ become dominant
• JPEG XL remains niche - Despite technical advantages, limited browser support hinders adoption
• Hybrid approach becomes standard - Most sites serve AVIF+WebP+JPG by default
• AI-driven optimization emerges - Tools automatically select optimal format per image type

Methodology & Data Sources

This report synthesizes data from multiple authoritative sources:

• Can I Use - Browser support statistics (November 2025)
• HTTP Archive - Website adoption analysis (Top 10,000 sites)
• Google WebP Study - Compression benchmark methodology
• Industry case studies from CDN providers (Cloudflare, Fastly, Akamai)