What Is AVIF? The Next Step in Image Compression

AVIF is a newer image format based on the AV1 video codec, designed to compress images even further than WebP while maintaining strong visual quality. In many comparisons, AVIF files come in noticeably smaller than equivalent WebP or JPG files.

The trade-off today is support and tooling: encoding AVIF can be slower, and while most modern browsers can display AVIF images, broader support for creating and editing them is still catching up compared to older formats.

For most sites, a practical approach is to use AVIF where support allows and fall back to WebP or JPG otherwise — which is why ConvertImageNow accepts AVIF as an input format today, with output support planned as browser tooling matures.