Modern Image Formats

80 Quality Score

Active Installs

23/30

At 100,000 active installs and a Popularity sub-score of 75/30, this plugin has meaningful traction though it is far behind image optimization leaders like LiteSpeed Cache at 7 million installs.

Update Freshness

25/25

A perfect 25/25 on Maintenance reflects an update within the last month and a tested-with WordPress 7.0 designation, signalling an actively maintained project.

User Rating

11/15

A score of 68/100 from only 25 ratings is mediocre and based on a small sample, so user satisfaction is hard to judge confidently.

Support Health

8/15

Support threads resolve at 66.7%, which is below the typical 80%+ bar and explains the middling 50/15 sub-score.

WP Compatibility

15/15

A perfect 25/15 on Compatibility confirms it meets current PHP 7.4, WordPress 6.9 minimums, and the latest 7.0 release without flags.

Scores higher than 81% of indexed plugins

About

Converts images to more modern formats such as WebP or AVIF during upload.

Active Installs 100k+

Rating ★★★½ 3.5/5

Last Updated 2026-08-26 4:45am GMT

Requires WordPress 6.9+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 7.4+

✓ No known vulnerabilities

What It Does

Modern Image Formats automatically converts JPEG and PNG uploads to WebP or AVIF formats during the upload process, serving smaller files to browsers that support them. It falls back to the original image for older browsers, so visitors always get a compatible file. The result is faster page loads with less bandwidth, often without any visible quality loss.

Who It's For

This plugin is a good fit for WordPress site owners with large image libraries who want automatic modern format conversion without installing a heavier optimizer suite. It works especially well on photography portfolios, blogs, and WooCommerce stores where image weight is a real bottleneck. Developers building performance-focused sites on PHP 7.4+ and WordPress 6.9+ will also appreciate the hands-off approach.

Who Should Skip It

If you are already running EWWW Image Optimizer, LiteSpeed Cache, or another plugin that handles WebP conversion, you do not need this. Sites on PHP versions older than 7.4 or WordPress below 6.9 cannot run it at all.

The Bottom Line

Modern Image Formats is a competent, actively maintained plugin that delivers exactly what its name promises, scoring 80.09/100 overall with strong maintenance and compatibility but a weak support track record and thin rating base. It is a reasonable pick if you want lightweight, automatic WebP and AVIF conversion without the bloat of a full optimization suite. Just be aware that better-supported alternatives exist if you also need broader caching or bulk compression features.

Related Plugins

LiteSpeed Cache 95/100

Pick LiteSpeed Cache if your host runs LiteSpeed servers and you want WebP conversion bundled with page caching and full-page optimization.

Jetpack 94/100

Choose Jetpack when you also need security, backups, and growth tools alongside image acceleration from a single vendor.

Redis Object Cache 92/100

Reach for Redis Object Cache if your actual performance problem is database or object cache latency rather than image weight.

Super Page Cache 90/100

Opt for Super Page Cache when your site sits behind Cloudflare and you want edge caching to handle speed rather than per-image conversion.

EWWW Image Optimizer 89/100

EWWW Image Optimizer is the better single-purpose choice when you want bulk re-compression of existing libraries plus WebP and AVIF output in one plugin.