Choosing between SVG and PNG isn't really about "which is better." They solve different problems. Use the wrong one and either your site looks blurry or your page weighs 5 MB.
The one-sentence version
- **SVG** for anything you drew — logos, icons, charts, illustrations.
- **PNG** for anything you photographed or captured — screenshots, textures, photos.
Why SVG wins for logos and icons
Vector means math, not pixels. An SVG stays crisp at any size — from a 16px favicon to a billboard. File sizes are typically **1-10 KB** for icons, versus 20-200 KB for equivalent PNGs. Bonus: you can style them with CSS.
Why PNG still matters
PNGs handle **photographic detail and gradients** that would take thousands of vector paths to reproduce. Screenshots, product photos, textured illustrations — PNG (or WebP) wins.
The performance angle
Every icon shipped as PNG at 2× and 3× resolution is bytes wasted. Switching an icon set from PNG sprites to inline SVGs commonly cuts icon payload by 80% and gets rid of image requests entirely.
Practical tips
- Export SVGs from Figma / Illustrator with **"Outline strokes"** if the recipient might not have your fonts.
- Run SVGs through an optimizer (SVGO) before shipping — designers leave a lot of cruft in.
- For PNGs, [Image Compressor](/tools/image-compressor) usually saves 40-60% with no visible loss.
- Need to convert an icon PNG to SVG? Only auto-trace works for simple shapes — for anything intricate, redraw.
When you're not sure
Ask: "Can I draw this with paths and shapes?" If yes → SVG. If no → PNG or WebP.
