Image Ninja – Convert Images to WebP & AVIF on Upload

Image Ninja makes your website faster by turning the images you upload into smaller, modern WebP or AVIF files. No coding, no extra steps: upload your images as usual and Image Ninja does the rest.

Images are usually the heaviest part of a web page. WebP and AVIF look the same as JPEG and PNG but are much smaller, so your pages load faster, especially on phones and slow connections. Faster pages also help with search rankings (Core Web Vitals).

How it works

1. Choose a format under Settings > Media. WebP is recommended.
2. Upload images the way you always do: in the Media Library, the block editor, or your page builder.
3. Image Ninja converts each JPEG or PNG before WordPress saves it. Your Media Library, your theme, and your page builder simply use the smaller WebP or AVIF image, like any other image.

Because the image is converted at upload, it works with every theme and page builder, and there is nothing to set up on your server.

Features

• WebP or AVIF, your choice. WebP works in all modern browsers. AVIF files are often even smaller. You can also let Image Ninja try AVIF first and use WebP when AVIF is not possible.
• Adjustable image quality. One simple setting from 1 to 100, with a sensible default of 80.
• Accurate colours. When your server has ImageMagick, colour profiles are kept, so photos from professional cameras (Adobe RGB, Display P3) look exactly as intended. Camera details and copyright information are kept too.
• Photos are never sideways. Photos taken with a phone held sideways are turned the right way up before they are converted.
• Removes photo locations (new). Phones save the exact place where a photo was taken inside the image, which can reveal your home address to anyone who downloads it. Image Ninja removes the location and keeps everything else. On by default.
• Only converts when it helps (new). If a converted image would be bigger than the original (this happens with some small icons and simple graphics), your original is kept instead. On by default.
• Keep your originals if you want (new). Optionally keep a copy of every original JPEG or PNG as a backup, linked from the image details and deleted together with the image.
• See what happened to every image (new). The Media Library shows the format, how much smaller the image became, and a link to the original. In list view, the “Image Ninja” column shows it at a glance.
• Checks your server for you. The settings page shows which formats your server can create and explains in plain words what to ask your hosting provider if something is missing.
• Lightweight. No external services, no accounts, no tracking. Everything happens on your own server.

Which format should I choose?

• WebP (recommended): works in every modern browser and is quick to create. Typically 25–35% smaller than JPEG, and often 80–90% smaller than PNG photos.
• AVIF (smallest files): often around half the size of a JPEG. Takes a few seconds per image to create, and very old browsers (for example Safari before version 16) cannot show AVIF.
• AVIF, or WebP when AVIF is not possible: tries AVIF first and uses WebP if your server cannot create an AVIF or the AVIF would be bigger.

License

This plugin is licensed under the GPLv2 or later license.