Performance6 min read·Updated September 5, 2026

CDNs and WebP: Cloudflare, Fastly, imgix, Cloudinary

imgix, Cloudinary, ImageKit and Cloudflare can emit WebP/AVIF from a master. That is fantastic at scale. It does not excuse a 12 MB source, and it does not help a Webflow site with no image CDN. Convert locally when you do not have (or do not want) that stack.

CDN is a derivative machine

Derivatives inherit the master. A 2000 px WebP master makes every w= cheaper. A 8000 px TIFF makes every first hit slow.

Why it matters

Bills track transformations and origin bytes.
Local/dev has no CDN.
Some clients forbid third-party image clouds.

How to do it

If you have Cloudinary/imgix: still cap the master at ~2500 px WebP or JPEG.
If you do not: convert everything you ship to WebP here.
Do not double-encode at quality 40 on the CDN after a 80% local WebP — pick one quality owner.

Put it into practice

Convert your images to WebP right now, free and privately in your browser.

Open the converter

Frequently asked questions

You can leave auto-format on for AVIF negotiation. Do not also smash quality.

For millions of user uploads, yes. For a marketing site, local WebP is enough.

Keep reading

Performance6 min read

Polish vs local WebP

Polish can serve WebP at the edge. Local conversion still wins for originals, offline work and hosts without Polish.

Platforms6 min read

WebP for Contentful

Contentful's Images API can format=webp, but huge masters still cost transform time and origin weight. Pre-convert assets to WebP.