Comparison guide
TinyPNG alternatives (2026): an honest comparison
A fair look at TinyPNG, ShortPixel, Kraken.io, Squoosh, and Tinify.dev: published rates, format support, and when each one is the better choice.
TinyPNG is a good tool, and for many people it is all they need. But it is not the only option, and depending on your formats, volume, and budget, another service — including ours — may fit better. This guide lists the alternatives we actually consider credible, including where each one beats the others.
Disclosure up front: this guide is published by Tinify.dev, which is operated independently and is not affiliated with Tinify B.V. or TinyPNG. Where we compare pricing we use rates published on the competitors' own sites, checked in July 2026.
The short list
| Service | Free tier | Paid model | Formats (input) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TinyPNG | 500 API compressions/month | Pay-as-you-go: $0.009 then $0.002/op | WebP, JPEG, PNG | Mature ecosystem, official plugins |
| Tinify.dev | 500 API operations/month | $9 or $29/month plans + flat overage | AVIF, WebP, JPEG, PNG, GIF | Files deleted after two hours |
| ShortPixel | Monthly free credits | $9.99/month Unlimited, per website | JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, AVIF | Strong WordPress plugin and CDN |
| Kraken.io | Free web tool | ~$9/month per 2 GB of image data | JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP | Billed by data volume, not operations |
| Squoosh | Fully free | None | Most common formats | Runs locally in the browser, one file at a time |
All five compress images well. The differences that actually matter are pricing shape, batch handling, format support, and what happens to your files after processing.
When TinyPNG is the right choice
TinyPNG has earned its position. The API has years of production use, official plugins for WordPress and Photoshop, and client libraries in most languages. Its pay-as-you-go pricing means a quiet month above the free tier costs almost nothing — there is no subscription to justify.
If your volume is modest, your formats are PNG, JPEG, and WebP, and you value the most battle-tested option, stay with TinyPNG.
When an alternative makes sense
- You process thousands of images a month. Pay-as-you-go adds up: 10,000 compressions cost $85.50 at TinyPNG's published rates, while flat plans elsewhere cover the same volume for less. Our TinyPNG comparison includes a calculator for your own numbers.
- You need AVIF or GIF input. TinyPNG's web tool focuses on WebP, JPEG, and PNG. Tinify.dev's compressor accepts AVIF and GIF too, and Squoosh handles most formats locally.
- You live in WordPress. ShortPixel's plugin optimizes your media library in place and its Unlimited plan is $9.99/month for one site. For a single busy WordPress site it is hard to beat on price.
- You think in gigabytes, not operations. Kraken.io bills by data volume. Many small thumbnails stretch a quota a long way; large photographs exhaust it quickly.
- Files must never leave your machine. Squoosh compresses in the browser with no upload at all. It is one image at a time with no API, but for sensitive material it is the honest recommendation.
What we do differently at Tinify.dev
Since this is our blog, here is our own pitch, kept factual. The web tools (compress, resize, crop, convert) are free without an account, accept up to 50 files per batch at 40 MB each, and files are permanently deleted after two hours. If compression would make a file larger, we return the original and label it not optimized instead of reporting a fake saving. The API includes 500 free successful operations every month; paid plans are $9/month (2,000 operations) and $29/month (10,000) with flat overage rates of $0.005 and $0.003.
Whether that beats TinyPNG depends on your volume — at low usage TinyPNG's lack of a base fee wins, at high usage flat plans win. The comparison page shows the crossover honestly.
How to choose
- Count last month's images and multiply by a typical month's growth.
- Check which input and output formats you actually serve.
- Price that volume at each service's published rates — not the marketing page headline.
- Test two or three of your heaviest real images on each tool and compare results at 100% zoom before deciding.
Any of the services above can be the right answer. Pick the one whose pricing shape matches your workload, and re-check the math once a year — published rates change.