The presence of countless image compression tools points to a single conclusion–image optimization is crucial and shouldn’t be ignored. The last five years of data for the top one million websites by HTTP Archive indicates these average figures: And if you take only WordPress into account, the home to over 40% of all the websites on the internet, the image takes up north of 45%. In a nutshell, image optimization can do wonders to the page load speed, improving the on-page SEO. In contrast, a media-heavy web page taking only a few more seconds to load can push the majority of the users to your competition. While image optimization is crucial for any website, this is unavoidable for image-heavy businesses like eCommerce. This article will introduce standalone tools and some 3rd-party cloud media management platforms for image compression. And we will make it interesting by taking this demo image (1091KB) and performing compression on the go. So, you’ll see the live results (compression quality and percentage size reduction) along with each tool. Let’s get started.
TinyPNG
TinyPNG is a blazing fast tool to compress WebP, PNG, and JPEG without visible quality loss. What it does is “selectively decrease the number of the colors.” The free plans have you compress up to 20 images with a maximum file size of 5MB. The pro plan works similarly and lifts these restrictions for a small yearly fee. Besides, it works well with transparent images and animations. TinyPNG also features an Adobe Photoshop plugin that assists in compression without leaving your favorite image editor. Additionally, TinyPNG has a WooCommerce-compatible WordPress plugin for live image optimization. Conclusively, TinyPNG is a simple yet advanced image compression tool and works well for first-timers and experts alike. Compression Test Result:
Compressor.io
Compressor comes with advanced options and support for JPEG, PNG, SVG, GIF, and WEBP file types. You can pick from Lossy and Lossless compression mechanisms. The former is about maximum compression without any visible quality loss (similar to TinyPNG), and Lossless indicates maximum color retention with minimum compression. Compressor’s free subscription permits ten simultaneous files with a maximum of 10MB size limit. And likewise, you can opt for the annual plan for unlimited compression. The pro plan lets you save the image metadata. Besides, you can set the final image quality. Compressor.io also has a WordPress plugin and developer API in the works, which were listed as ‘coming soon.’ Compression Test Result:
CompressNow
CompressNow is a free image compression tool that you can use on ten images at a time with a 9MB size limit. This works for JPG, JPEG, GIF, and PNG and lets you decide the compression level upfront. This doesn’t have any paid tier or API integration. So ideally, this suits beginners with one-off compression tasks. The website confirms the deletion of processed images every 30 minutes, which is good for data privacy. CompressNow’s best feat remains the compression choice it gives. Ergo, you can try for different % and go ahead with the most appropriate. Although, the compression test for this tool doesn’t sit well with others as you’re free to choose the size reduction. However, we’ll use the maximum possible compression without caring for the output quality. Compression Test Result:
Kraken.io
Kraken supports bulk compression even in its free tier with a 1MB file cap on individual images. You can process JPEG, PNG, GIF, Animated GIF, and SVG with three modes: Lossy, Lossless, and Expert. Evidently, Lossy works for maximum compression, Lossless preserves quality, and Exert mode lets you decide the compression parameters. Since it didn’t specify the number of files one can process, I tried uploading over 300 images, and it processed them quickly without any issue. You can remove the 1MB size limit with the pro plans. All paid subscriptions start free with a 100MB quota and can process files up to 32MB. The premium plans also come with multiple API keys, Kraken cloud storage, support for zip upload, WordPress and Magento plugins, and a lot of features to make its case as a premium image compression tool. But unfortunately, the compression algorithms didn’t seem as optimized and performed poorly for the demo image. However, Kraken performed optimally for other images with a one-off falter (again) with our demo file. Conclusively, you can still opt for Kraken, but get ready to screen out a few uncompressed outputs in between. Compression Test Result:
OptimiZilla
OptimiZilla is another freeware and beginner’s image compression tool that lets you optimize 20 images in one go. It’s compatible with JPEG, GIF, and PNG image types without any mentioned size limit. At the onset, it looks extremely fundamental. However, the fun starts once you upload the subject image(s). This feature permits mass uploading and individual image optimization in a slideshow-like arrangement, followed by bulk downloading. Though this tool is devoid of premium features like cloud storage, API integration, or any fancy plugins, yet, it’s the one I personally felt great about and will wholeheartedly recommend. And like CompressNow, there isn’t any standard compression level, and one can decide the output before downloading. Anyway, we’ll proceed with the maximum compression for the test. Compression Test Result:
Imagify.io
Imagify finds a place with the advanced image compression tools with its API and WordPress plugin. The compression algorithm works for JPG, PNG, GIF & PDF with Normal, Aggressive, and Ultra processing modes. The first one is lossless optimization, while the other two aim for higher compression levels with minimum quality loss. Alternatively, one can also select a size in pixels or percentage for a custom output. Notably, the option to select size comes only with an Imganify account, including the free plan, which comes with a 20MB quota. The paid plans don’t cap the usage and are practically infinite. Finally, the free tier limitations make it ideal for a paid subscription. Compression Test Result:
JPEG Compress
JPEG Compress is another freeware with a simple-to-use interface. This one can process up to 20 images simultaneously with a total size limit of 10 MB. In addition to supporting multiple file formats, JPEG Compress assures data safety. Everything you upload gets deleted after 5-10 minutes of inactivity. Compression Test Result:
Imagekit.io
Like Image4.io, Imagekit is another expert-only tool for 3rd-party media management and image compression. It comes with a generous free-forever plan offering 20GB of cloud storage. Imagekit also serves content based on the end-users network with support for browser data-saver modes. Additionally, you can opt for custom output depending upon device type, desktop or mobile. Besides, Imagekit can also help serve images in next-gen formats, like WebP and AVIF, even if the originally uploaded images are a JPEG or PNG. However, you can always turn this off to maintain your initial upload file format. Moreover, there is a nifty image editor that you can use to alter the final result. So ultimately, Imagekit feels like an excellent image and video serving platform that can easily be integrated with any web infrastructure. Compression Test Result:
Conclusion
I guess the list has everything for everyone. In short, Imagify and Imagekit are best suited to serious website integrations and are meant for paid users. While TinyPNG, Kraken, and Compressor.io offer value to both the free and paying customers. But for those strictly looking for a free option, try Optimizilla, JPEG Compress, and CompressNow. PS: You can also use these file compression tools to process more than just images.
