What is AVIF? The Next-Generation Image Format

AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is the newest mainstream image format, offering compression that surpasses both JPG and WebP. Based on the AV1 video codec, AVIF represents the current state of the art in image compression.

Origins and Development

AVIF is derived from the AV1 video codec, created by the Alliance for Open Media (which includes Google, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, and others). Being open-source and royalty-free, AVIF avoids the licensing issues that have plagued some competing formats.

Compression Performance

AVIF achieves remarkable compression ratios:

• 50% smaller than JPG at the same visual quality
• 20% smaller than WebP at the same visual quality
• Particularly excels at low-to-medium quality settings
• Handles gradients and fine textures exceptionally well

Features

• Lossy and lossless compression modes
• Full alpha channel transparency
• HDR and wide color gamut support
• Film grain synthesis
• Up to 12-bit color depth

Current Browser Support

AVIF support has expanded rapidly. Chrome, Firefox, and Samsung Internet have supported AVIF since 2021. Safari added support in iOS 16 and macOS Ventura (2022). As of 2025, AVIF has approximately 93% global browser support.

Limitations

AVIF's main limitation is encoding speed. Creating AVIF files is significantly slower than creating WebP or JPG files. This makes real-time encoding impractical for some use cases. Maximum image dimensions are also limited (8193x4320 in some implementations).

Try AVIF

Convert your images to AVIF to see the compression benefits firsthand. Try PNG to AVIF or JPG to AVIF. Need to convert AVIF to a more compatible format? Use AVIF to PNG or AVIF to JPG.