10 Best Image Compression Tools (2025 Comparison)

Want to reduce your image file sizes without reducing quality? These are the best image compression tools for the job.
In this post, we’ll be comparing and reviewing the best tools for image compression on the market.
That includes both image compression plugins that you can use to optimize all the images on your website, as well as browser-based image compression tools that you can use to quickly optimize images on the fly.
The best image compression tools – summary
TL;DR:
- NitroPack – Ideal for website owners that want an easy but effective way to speed up their website, and optimize images automatically. Supports WordPress and other popular CMS.
- TinyPNG – A quick and simple free tool for optimizing multiple images on the fly. Supports WebP, PNG, and JPEG.
- Shortpixel – The best solution for those that need a dedicated WordPress image compression plugin. They also have a free web-based optimization tool.
#1 – NitroPack
NitroPack is our top pick for the best image compression tool for website owners.
It’s actually a cloud-based, all-in-one performance optimization toolkit that comes with everything you need to speed up your site, including a complete image optimization stack.
All you have to do is sign up and connect it to your CMS via connector plugins, and it’ll automatically deploy a bunch of useful image optimizations to boost your site speed.
That includes Adaptive Image Sizing, which preemptively rescales your images by changing the dimensions to match the containers they’re displayed in across all screen sizes.
It also includes Lazy Loading, which defers loading of non-critical resources. This means that when visitors first open up your website pages, only the images above the fold are loaded, while images further down the page are only loaded as the user scrolls down and they appear on the screen.
And of course, it also includes both lossy and lossless compression to reduce image file sizes.
It’s not just images that NitroPack optimizes either. It also applies tons of other performance-enhancing optimizations to your site, such as advanced caching, CDN deployment, and CSS, HTML, and JS minification.
Taken together, these optimizations should significantly reduce your page loading times and boost your website’s Core Web Vitals, which should help you to rank and improve the customer experience.
Key features
- Lossy compression
- Lossless compression
- Adaptive Image Sizing
- LazyLoading
- Caching
- Global CDN
- CSS, JS, and HTML optimization
Pros
- All-in-one optimization toolkit
- Advanced image optimizations
- Lossy & lossless compression supported
- Easy setup and configuration
- Set it and forget it solution
Cons
- No web-based image compression tool
- Usage limits on the free plan
Pricing
Free plan available. Paid plans starts at $21/month, with 2 months free if billed annually.
Read our NitroPack review.
#2 – TinyPNG
TinyPNG is the best tool for compressing images on the fly. It’s ideal for users who just want to open up a website and whizz their images through a tool quickly.
TinyPNG couldn’t be easier to use. All you have to do is open up the site, and drag and drop your WebP, JPEG, or PNG files onto the upload box.
TinyPNG will compress it in a few sessions and serve up a download link that you can click to save the compressed version to your computer.
We tested it out with a bunch of images, and it reduced the file size by at least 60% every time. And what’s more, we couldn’t detect any differences in quality between the compressed and uncompressed versions.
This is likely due to the smart lossy compression method TinyPNG uses. It strips the image of unnecessary metadata and selectively combines similar colors using a technique called quantization, the effects of which are nearly invisible.
Key features
- Smart lossy compression
- Drag and drop upload tool
- Bulk uploads (up to 20 files at once)
- WebP, PNG, and JPEG compatibility
Pros
- Easy to use
- Fast compression
- Significant size reduction
- Good quality output
- Supports WebP uploads
Cons
- 5 MB size limit on the free version
- No lossless compression option
Pricing
Limited free plan. Paid plans start at $39/year/user.
#3 – ShortPixel
ShortPixel is an advanced image optimizer that offers both a browser-based optimization tool for on-the-fly image compression and a WordPress plugin that automatically optimizes all your website images.
ShortPixel’s browser tool is much more flexible than TinyPNG, if a bit harder to use. There are two ways to use it.
The first way is to just drag and drop up to 50 image files into the online tool. You can compress JPGs, PNGs, and GIFs up to 10 MB in size.
Once you’ve dragged them in, you can choose from three compression levels—Lossy, Glossy, or Lossless—depending on your preferred tradeoff between quality and file size.
The other way to use the online tool is to enter the URL of a website page. ShortPixel will then parse the HTML source of the page to extract and optimize all the images in it, and then serve up the compressed versions for you to download.
But if you want to unlock the full power of ShortPixel, the best thing to do is install the ShortPixel plugin on your WordPress site.
The plugin can automatically adjust the image sizes of all the images you upload to WordPress and compress and optimize them in the background so that they load as quickly as possible. It’s a fully-automated, set-it-and-forget-it image optimization solution.
Plus, it can even convert regular JPG or PNG images to new, ultra-fast-loading WebP and AVIF file formats.
Key features
- Web app
- WordPress plugin
- Bulk uploads
- 3 compression modes
- URL image extraction and optimization
- Automatic image resizing and compression
- WebP and AVIF file conversion
Pros
- Advanced image optimization tools
- Set your own compression level
- Supports WebP and AVIF file formats
- Compress images from upload or URL
Cons
- Higher learning curve
- UI isn’t as simple as TinyPNG
Pricing
Limited free plan. Paid plans start at $4.99/month with 2 months free if billed annually.
#4 – Imagify
Imagify is another powerful image optimization platform. You can use it to compress your images directly in your CMS or through the online app. It supports all the most common image formats including JPG, PNG, GIF, and PDF.
Imagify lets you set your own level of compression. There are three modes to choose from: Normal, Aggressive, and Ultra. The more aggressive the mode, the more substantial the file size reduction will be. The less aggressive the mode, the higher the quality.
It’ll also show you the before/after compression statistics in your dashboard, so you can keep track of your gains.
Aside from compression, you can also change your image size, either in the online app or through your CMS. You just specify the dimensions in either pixels or as a percentage value, and Imagify will take care of it.
Right now, WordPress is the only CMS that there’s a plugin for, but Imagify plan to soon expand that out to include Shopify, Magento, Joomla, and PrestaShop. There’s also an API that you can use to integrate Imagify with your business’ apps or development projects.
Key features
- Image compression
- Backup option (restore original images)
- Image resizing
- Before/after statistics
- Web app and WordPress plugin
- Customizable settings/configuration
- Robust API
Pros
- Compresses images on their own server (rather than yours)
- Multiple compression types supported
- Secure and encrypted connections
- Most image file types supported
Cons
- Image upload size restricted to 2 MB for free users
- Applies automatic charges for overages on paid plans
- Currently only offers a WordPress plugin (but plans to support other CMS soon)
Pricing
Free plan available. Paid plans starts at $9.99/month with 2 months free if billed annually.
#5 – Optimole
Optimole is a cloud-based, all-in-one image optimization solution for WordPress.
A lot of image compression plugins for WordPress carry out the compression/optimization locally on your servers. This drains your website’s processing resources.
Optimole solves this problem.
Its main USP is that it’s fully cloud-based, so it doesn’t just compress/optimize your images, but also handles the storage and delivery side of things so that it doesn’t put any unnecessary strain on your server.
Images are automatically optimized in real-time and resized to fit the visitor’s browser and viewport. Then, they’re served up via a CDN for the fastest possible loading speeds. It even detects the website visitor’s internet connection quality and downgrades/upgrades image quality accordingly, which is a really neat feature.
Optimole also deploys Lazy Loading on your site, so that images are only loaded in the website visitor’s browser when they’re on the screen. This reduces initial page weight so that your site loads faster. And you can even set it up to add custom watermarks to your images to stop others from stealing them.
The WordPress plugin is super easy to set up and use, and it’s fully compatible with all page builders.
Key features
- Cloud-based compression
- CDN
- Image resizing
- Real-time optimization
- Lazy loading
- WordPress plugin
Pros
- Advanced features
- Less demanding on your server
- Complete image optimization stack
- Easy WordPress integration
Cons
- Only works with WordPress
Pricing
Limited free plan. Paid plans start at $22.99/month with 2 months free when billed annually.
#6 – WP Compress
WP Compress is a good choice if you’re looking for an all-in-one WordPress performance plugin. It offers image optimization, plus other performance features like website caching, CSS & JS optimization, CDN delivery, etc.
One of the coolest things about WP Compress is that it gives you the option to optimize images in real-time, either locally or through the included CDN.
With real-time optimization, your images and scripts will be optimized and resized as visitors click through to your site based on their device, screen resolution, etc. This allows you to slash load times without negatively impacting the user experience.
You can also compress your entire media library in one click as soon as you’ve activated the plugin. And from then on, you can configure it so that images are automatically compressed as you upload them.
The plugin offers different compression modes including lossless, intelligent, and ultra compression. And it can also convert your images to WebP and Retina formats if needed.
Key features
- Image compression
- Real-time optimization
- Traditional optimization
- Website caching
- Global CDN
- Remote management
- WordPress plugin
Pros
- All-in-one performance plugin
- Real-time optimization is a nice feature
- One-click image library compression
- Customizable compression level
Cons
- Might be overkill if you just want to compress images
- No fee plan
Pricing
Plans start from $9/month. They offer a 14-day money back guarantee.
#7 – Compressnow
Compressnow is a super simple and easy-to-use free image compression tool that works in your browser.
All you have to do is open up the Compressnow website and upload the image(s) you want to compress (up to 10 at a time). Then, drag the sliding scale to set your compression level, hit the Compress button, and download the new files one by one or in a ZIP folder.
The cool thing is you get to decide exactly how much you want to reduce the file size by setting the compression percentage. For example, if you want to make it really small, you can set the compression level at 10%. If you just want to reduce it a little, you could set it at 90%. Or anywhere in between.
While this flexibility is really useful, the downside is that percentage-based compression like this often leads to lower-quality image outputs compared to more sophisticated compression methods.
Compressnow supports four file formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, and GIF.
Key features
- Percentage-based compression scale
- JPG, PPEG, PNG, and GIF compression
- Bulk upload (up to 10 images)
- ZIP downloads
Pros
- A completely free tool
- Very straightforward and easy to use
- Can compress images in bulk (up to 10 at once)
- Set your own compression percentage
Cons
- Quality isn’t as good as some other tools
- No WordPress plugin
- No image resizing
Pricing
Compressnow is completely free to use.
#8 – Optimizilla
Optimizilla is an online image optimizer that uses an intelligent lossy compression method to shrink your image file sizes down without reducing the quality too much.
To get started, open up the tool in your browser and upload some images. You can compress up to 20 GIFs, JPEG and PNG images at once, and you’re free to mix and match different formats in the same batch.
Optimizilla’s system will then intelligently analyze your images and compress them to the perfect size to balance quality with file size.
But what’s cool is, it’ll then show you a side-by-side preview of how the compressed image looks compared to the uncompressed version, as well as the new file size. And if you’re not happy with the current level of compression, you can slide the scale to change the compression level, and the preview will update in real time.
When you’re done making your tweaks and have found your perfect compression level, you can download all your compressed images in a neat and tidy ZIP file, or just download each one individually.
And all the image data will be automatically purged after an hour, so you don’t have to worry about privacy/security.
Key features
- Image preview
- Before/after comparison
- File size data
- Customizable compression level
- Bulk uploads (maximum of 10 images)
- ZIP download
- Automatic data purges after 1 hour
- Browser-based tool
Pros
- Preview images before you download
- Secure and privacy-friendly
- Good balance of compression and quality
- Completely free
Cons
- No lossless compression
- No WordPress plugin
Pricing
Optimizilla is free to use.
#9 – JPEG Optimizer
JPEG Optimizer is another free online tool that you can use to compress images. Plus, it can also convert your JPEGs into PNG or GIF formats.
If you need to compress a lot of images for free, JPEG Optimizer is a good option. It supports bulk compression and lets you upload up to 20 images at once (which is more than most), so you can get the whole batch compressed fast.
It’s also very customizable. You can set a value for image quality on a scale of 1-100. The lower the value, the smaller the file size, but the lower the quality will be.
If there’s a maximum file size you don’t want your images to go over, you can enter that in the Max size box and it’ll take priority over your preferred quality.
You can even set a max width or height if you also want to resize the compressed image while keeping the original proportions intact.
All the processing is handled in your browser, so your files are never sent to JPEG Optimizer’s server. That way, you don’t have to worry about security or data privacy.
Key features
- Image compression
- Bulk uploads (up to 20)
- Convert JPEG to PNG/GIF
- Max file sizes
- Image resizing
- Browser-based tool
Pros
- Easy uploads
- Lots of configuration options
- Can handle resizing
- Completely free
Cons
- Lacks advanced optimization features
- No WordPress plugin
Pricing
JPEG Optimizer is free to use.
#10 – Kraken
Last but not least, we have Kraken—an advanced image optimizer and compressor for websites.
Kraken offers best-in-class compression algorithms that allow you to get the smallest possible files with the best possible quality.
It’s also one of the only tools to offer official plugins for both WordPress and Magento, for easy integration.
There’s also a developer-friendly API that you can use to integrate Kraken with all your apps and services.
Aside from compression, Kraken can also handle image resizing and cropping. And if you don’t want to integrate it into your website, you can use the free web interface to compress and resize a small number of images instead.
Key features
- Image compression
- Image resizing
- Image cropping
- Web interface
- WordPress plugin
- Magento plugin
- API
Pros
- Best-in-class compression algorithm
- Supports multiple CMS
- Developer friendly
- Advanced optimization tools
Cons
- Could be easier to use
- No Shopify plugin
Pricing
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $5/month with 2 months free when billed annually.
Best image compression tools FAQ
Why is image compression important?
Image compression minimizes the size of your image files in bytes. This is important for websites as the smaller your images are, the less time they take to load when visitors open your website pages.
And that matters because faster loading times lead to better user experiences. Plus, website speed is also an important SEO ranking factor, so you’re more likely to rank higher on search engines like Google if you compress your images.
Do image compression tools reduce quality?
The best image compression tools will be able to reduce the size of your images without reducing quality. Depending on what method of compression you use, there may be a small reduction in quality but in most cases, you won’t be able to notice the difference.
Lossy vs lossless compression: What’s the difference?
Lossless compression reduces the size of your images by removing unnecessary metadata in most cases. Some algorithms will work slightly differently, depending on the tool.
But, regardless of how the algorithm works, it doesn’t affect the image quality at all.
In contrast, Lossy compression does sacrifice some original data to get the smallest possible file sizes. As a result, the compressed file tends to be smaller but may be slightly lower quality.
Final thoughts
That concludes our roundup of the best image compression software.
If you’re still not sure which one to use, here’s what we’d recommend:
- Use NitroPack if you want a set-it-and-forget-it image compression and optimization solution for your website. It’ll compress all the images on your site automatically and apply other optimizations to speed up loading times.
- Use TinyPNG if you want to optimize images in your browser. It’s super easy to use and can substantially reduce sizes without impacting quality.
We hope you found this helpful.
And if you’re curious to learn more about the importance of website performance, be sure to check out our post on page load time statistics.
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