JXL vs WebP: next-gen compression or safe web default?
WebP is the proven modern web format with excellent browser support. JXL (JPEG XL) pushes compression further and can losslessly recompress JPEGs, but playback support is still catching up.
| JXL | WebP | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Often best-in-class | Much better than JPEG/PNG |
| Lossless mode | Yes, beats PNG often | Yes |
| Transparency | Yes | Yes |
| Browser support | Growing (Safari, Chrome) | Near universal |
| Encoding speed | Slower (WASM) | Fast |
| Best for | Archives, future-proof masters | Production websites today |
Verdict
Ship WebP for live sites today. Experiment with JXL when you want maximum savings and can serve a fallback. Frespy encodes both locally with jsquash.