SVG vs PNG: Which Image Format Should You Actually Use?

This isn't actually a close call once you know the underlying difference: SVG is vector, PNG is raster — and that single fact decides almost every case. Here's how to pick correctly instead of guessing.

The core difference

A PNG is a fixed grid of pixels — zoom in far enough and you'll see blocky edges, because there's no more detail to reveal. An SVG is a set of mathematical instructions (paths, shapes, curves) that gets redrawn at any size, so it stays perfectly crisp whether it's 16px or 1600px wide.

When SVG wins

• Logos — need to look identical from a favicon to a billboard
• Icons — sharp at any size, and easy to recolour with CSS
• Simple illustrations and diagrams made of flat shapes and lines
• Anything that needs to scale across many screen sizes without shipping multiple image files

When PNG (or JPEG/WebP) wins

• Photographs — real-world images with continuous tone and colour gradients that vector shapes can't represent
• Screenshots — pixel-accurate captures of an actual screen
• Complex textures, gradients or photo-realistic renders
• Any image where file size for a *fixed* display size matters more than infinite scalability

Why raw SVGs from design tools are often bloated

SVGs exported straight from Figma, Illustrator or Sketch usually carry a lot of dead weight — editor metadata, unused `<defs>`, redundant groups, needlessly long decimal precision on every path point. None of it affects how the image looks, but all of it adds to page weight. Running the export through an SVG Optimizer strips this out and can shrink the file significantly with zero visual difference.

A simple decision rule

Ask one question: does this image need to scale to different sizes, or does it need to represent real-world detail? Scaling need → SVG. Real-world detail → PNG/JPEG/WebP. Almost every edge case resolves cleanly once you frame it that way.