Image Format Comparison

JXL vs WebP — Next-Gen Image Format Showdown

JPEG XL (JXL) and WebP are both next-generation image formats designed to replace JPEG on the web. WebP (2010, Google) has broad browser support and is widely deployed. JPEG XL (2021, ISO) offers better compression than WebP, supports lossless recompression of existing JPEGs without quality loss, and has a richer feature set. However, JXL's browser support has been inconsistent — Chrome removed it in 2022 before adding it back.

JXLvsWebP

Quick Verdict

Use JXL when…

Use JXL for long-term photo archiving (lossless JPEG recompression saves ~20% with bit-perfect decoding back to JPEG), HDR photography, and production workflows where quality is paramount and you control the viewing software.

Use WebP when…

Use WebP for web deployment today — it has near-universal browser support (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) and delivers 25–35% better compression than JPEG without the compatibility risks that have plagued JXL.

JXL vs WebP: Feature Comparison

Feature	JXL	WebP
Browser support (2025)	Chrome 110+, Firefox 113+, Safari not yet	All modern browsers (since 2022 for Safari)
Compression vs JPG	~60% smaller lossy, 20% smaller lossless JPEG	25–35% smaller
Lossless JPEG recompression	Yes (reversible, bit-perfect JPEG restoration)	No
HDR / wide gamut	Full support	Limited
Animation	Yes	Yes
Transparency	Yes	Yes
Progressive decoding	Yes (low-to-high quality)	No
Open standard	Yes (ISO/IEC 18181)	Yes (Google open-source)

When JXL wins

✓Browser support (2025): Chrome 110+, Firefox 113+, Safari not yet
✓Compression vs JPG: ~60% smaller lossy, 20% smaller lossless JPEG
✓Lossless JPEG recompression: Yes (reversible, bit-perfect JPEG restoration)

When WebP wins

✓Browser support (2025): All modern browsers (since 2022 for Safari)
✓Compression vs JPG: 25–35% smaller
✓Lossless JPEG recompression: No

Frequently asked questions

Did Chrome remove JPEG XL support?

Chrome 107 (October 2022) removed JXL support after Google's team concluded WebP and AVIF met most web use cases. Chrome 110 (February 2023) re-added JXL behind a flag, and JXL became available by default in Chrome in 2024. Firefox added JXL in Firefox 113 (2023). Safari has not yet added JXL support as of early 2025.

What makes JPEG XL lossless JPEG recompression useful?

With JXL lossless recompression, you can take an existing JPEG and store it as a smaller JXL file, then decode the JXL back to the bit-exact original JPEG. This is unique — most image conversions are lossy. You could reduce a photo library by 20% while retaining the ability to restore every original JPEG exactly. The `cjxl --lossless_jpeg=1` flag enables this mode.

Should I use JXL or WebP for my website today?

Use WebP for compatibility — it works in Safari (since 15.0, 2021), Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. If you want to push further, add AVIF as a primary format with WebP as a fallback using an HTML picture element. JXL is promising for the future and for archival use, but Safari's lack of support makes it risky for web use without fallbacks.