What Is AVIF? The Next-Gen Image Format Explained

Updated June 2026 · 4 min read

AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is the newest mainstream image format, built on top of the AV1 video codec. It was finalized in 2019 and designed to beat every existing format — including WebP and JPEG — at compression efficiency. If you've noticed more websites serving .avif files recently, here's why.

AVIF vs WebP vs JPEG: File Size

Multiple independent benchmarks (Netflix, Cloudinary, Shopify) have tested AVIF against other formats. The results are consistent:

• AVIF vs JPEG: 50-60% smaller at the same perceptual quality. A 200 KB JPEG becomes ~80 KB.
• AVIF vs WebP: 20-30% smaller at equivalent quality. The gap narrows at high quality settings, widens at low bitrates.
• Lossless AVIF: Significantly smaller than lossless PNG and lossless WebP — sometimes by 40%+.

Where AVIF Shines

• HDR imagery: AVIF supports 10-bit and 12-bit color depth with HDR metadata. WebP and JPEG are limited to 8-bit.
• Transparency with deep color: PNG handles transparency but only 8-bit. WebP handles both but caps at 8-bit. AVIF does full alpha + deep color.
• Very low bitrates: At aggressive compression levels where JPEG turns into blocky mush and WebP gets blurry, AVIF still looks acceptable — important for large image-heavy sites.

Browser Support (2026)

AVIF is supported in Chrome (85+), Firefox (93+), Edge (85+), and Opera (71+). Safari added support in version 16.4 (March 2023), meaning iOS 16.4+ and macOS 13.3+ can display AVIF. That covers roughly 92% of global users. For the remaining 8%, serve a JPEG or WebP fallback with the <picture> element.

When NOT to Use AVIF

• Real-time encoding: AVIF is slow to encode. For user-uploaded images that need instant conversion, WebP is still the practical choice.
• Animated content in Safari: Safari supports static AVIF but animated AVIF (AVIF sequence) support is inconsistent. Use animated WebP or GIF for animations.
• You need maximum compatibility: If your audience includes older devices (pre-iOS 16, pre-Android 10), WebP has wider reach.

AVIF vs WebP: Which Should You Use?

If browser support isn't an issue, AVIF produces the smallest files. But WebP remains the safer default for most sites — it's universally supported, encodes 10x faster, and the file size difference is often under 20% at web-quality settings. Many large sites (like Google Images and Netflix) serve AVIF to supported browsers and WebP to everyone else — that's the optimal strategy.

If you have an AVIF file and need broad compatibility, use our converter to convert AVIF to WebP or JPEG in seconds — no upload, all local.