HEIC is the high-efficiency format iPhone photos use by default. Browsers can't display it directly, so converting is needed to use or share it on the web.
WebP is a web format that is smaller than JPG and supports transparency and animation. When you convert HEIC to WebP, you can open it in more places and the file grows. See the comparison below for what changes.
This converter reads the file itself to confirm it is HEIC, then converts it to WebP right in your browser. Your image is never uploaded.
HEIC vs WebP: what's the difference?
| Item | HEIC | WebP |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparent background | Yes | Yes |
| Animation | No | Yes |
| Introduced | 2015 | 2010 |
| Support in programs and upload forms | limited | moderate |
| Shown directly in browsers | No | Yes |
| Photo file size (JPG = 1) | about 0.5× | about 0.7× |
What is HEIC?
HEIC is HEVC (H.265) compression packaged in the HEIF container, and Apple adopted it as the default camera format from iOS 11. At the same quality it takes up about half the space of JPG.
What is WebP?
WebP is a web image format Google released in 2010. At the same quality it can be roughly 25-35% smaller than JPG, and it handles lossy and lossless compression, transparency and animation in a single format.
What changes when you convert HEIC to WebP
An already-compressed image is compressed again
Both HEIC and WebP are lossy, so converting HEIC to WebP adds a little more degradation. Keeping quality at 90 or higher usually avoids visible differences, and it's best to convert from the original only once.
Live Photo video and depth data are dropped
Besides the main photo, a HEIC can contain extras such as a short video and a depth map. The result contains only the main photo.
You can adjust quality, size and background color
When converting HEIC to WebP, you can use the quality slider (default 90), exact width-and-height sizing with margin fill, and percentage resizing. HEIC is already lossy, so pushing quality too low stacks up visible degradation. Even when size matters, try not to go below 80.
How the file size changes
For the same photo, WebP tends to be larger than HEIC (about 1.4×). This is for photos; for simple images such as logos and screenshots, PNG can actually come out smaller.
WebP opens in more places
Support for HEIC in programs, document tools and upload forms is limited, while WebP is moderate. If you need to upload somewhere HEIC wouldn't open, try again after converting.
When to convert
- You need to upload to a program, messenger or upload form that can't open HEIC
- You want to use it on a website or blog but browsers can't display HEIC
- You want to make HEIC images lighter so pages load faster
- You want to open photos taken on an iPhone on a Windows PC or Android
HEIC → WebP: practical tips
If the HEIC photo is for a website or blog, WebP is better than JPG for file size. Around quality 80, it shrinks a lot with no noticeable difference.