Optimizing and managing images for web apps is not an easy thing to do. For that reason, many decide to skip this important step. If you are one of them, you are making a huge mistake. Optimized images improve your overall SEO and engagement, as well as contribute to the technical strength of your app or site.

There are tons of things that you can achieve with image optimization. Starting from decreased page size to faster-loading pages, a bit of effort and the right tools can really turn things around for you.

Below you'll read all about such image optimization tools. But right now, let's start by explaining what this is and why it's important for you.

Understanding Image Optimization: Why is it Important?

There are different ways of optimizing an image. When you need to use it for a web app or website, this is mostly related to resizing the media file you have. You can’t just use a simple program to reduce the file size without losing image quality. If you need to do it, which is highly likely for a web app, you need a quality tool to help you with this.

But, it doesn’t stop there. Image optimization can include compressing file sizes, but it also covers file types, names, thumbnails, and even alt attributes. Simply put, you’d be optimizing the file to make it of the best quality possible.

Reduced image files increase the user experience by loading faster. Research shows that great images can also result in higher conversion rates.

Optimize images for website are also vital for SEO. Google is a fan of fast-loading, high-quality, optimized images. You are boosting your chances of ranking higher in searches if you spend some time fixing those multimedia files.

Now that you know this, it is time to find out which are the best tools for image optimization.

Best Tools for Image Optimization for your Web App

Apps require quality images of smaller sizes. When you try to resize and optimize an image you have, things can go one of two ways. You will make it smaller in both, but unless you know how to truly optimize it, the quality can become disastrous. That sure doesn't help your SEO or look appealing to the audience and users.

That being said, here are the top tools you can use to make this process simpler and faster.

EWWW Image Optimizer

Right now, EWWW Image Optimizer is an API with millions of users, and the number is growing. This app has shown tremendous results in optimizing images. They offer successful compression features that turn up quality images for apps and websites.

AbstractAPI has decided to place this tool at the top of their image resize APIs list for several reasons. Some of the things they rate highly include:

  • Easy-to-use plugin
  • Works perfectly with WordPress
  • Comes at a very low cost

Thanks to this tool, your app will load faster, which is something that users will surely enjoy. While this tool does not come with a free trial like others in this list, its starting cost is pretty low – only $5 a month. This is the minimum plan, which includes auto-compress, Lazy Load feature, auto-scale, and the next-gen WebP auto-compression format. Other plan options go as high as 800GB of bandwidth.

Some other features that are truly impressive include:

  • No speed limits and unlimited file sizes
  • Roadside assistance and non-stop support service
  • Bulk optimization available

Oh, and their backups are free, too!

Image4

When it comes to the versatility of features and reasonable price, Image4 is also an excellent option for you. Its rates are higher compared with the previous option, but $39 per month is still an acceptable rate for the quality offered. This is an all-in-one platform allowing you to optimize, deliver, and store your images in a single place.

Some of the best features of Image4 are:

  • Full API access
  • Can be used for B2B, e-commerce, and SaaS purposes
  • Image optimization both for your apps and your website
  • Smart detection of devices, network status, location, and browser
  •   Integrates with WordPress, Slack, Zapier, and Cloudflare
image4 image optimization tool scaled

ImageKit

ImageKit is yet another excellent optimization tool that offers real-time transformations, CDN with automatic optimizations, and storage options. Their plan is ‘forever free’,  but to enjoy all of the offered features, you still need to opt for the premium plan. Compared to the other two options discussed so far, this is a more costly option – the plans begin at $49 and go upward. The best features of this tool include:

  • Performance analytics and monitoring
  • Thumbnail creation
  • Text overlays and watermarking features
  • Global CDN
  • External storage integrations

Imagify

Imagify does an excellent job of speeding up your app. When you use this tool, you can resize and otherwise optimize images easily and fast. If you enable the automatic feature, it will optimize your thumbnails and images on its own as soon as you upload them to your website or app.

This particular tool is compatible with WordPress, NextGen Gallery, and WooCommerce. Some of its best features include:

  • Optimizes various image formats: GIF, PDF, PNG, and JPG
  • Resizes images while maintaining their quality
  • Easy interface to use
  • Includes API

Imagify has a free plan that gives you 20MB or around 200 images per month. You can also use it to convert WebP. If you wish to use more of its features, the priced plans start at a monthly rate of $9.99.

imagify image optimization tool

Compressor

You can compress all sorts of image files, as well as WebP images with the Compressor tool. Pick between lossless or lossy image compression to determine the file size and image quality – this is made simple and is very fast. With Compressor.io, you can optimize SVG, GIF, JPEG, and PNG files. Other features include:

  • Drag-and-drop feature for easier compressions
  • Easy-to-use tool
  • You can fix your photos’ orientation

Compared to other tools in this list, Compressor doesn’t have as many capabilities or integrations. It doesn’t have a developer API and is not compatible with WordPress.

If you do like what it has to offer and is enough for your app, the tool is free up to 10MG. Their pro plans are very cheap too, starting at only $50 per year.

TinyPNG

Used to optimize the most common image files, JPEG and PNG, TinyPNG is an excellent and easy compression tool. It can reduce the file size of your multimedia by using lossy compression techniques. In other words, the tool will decrease the color number in the image and cut down the storage data without compromising its quality.

If you pick this particular tool, you can enjoy the following features:

  • Uses lossy compression techniques to provide optimized images
  • Stores partially transparent images
  • You can use it to optimize animated images
  • Has an image shrinking feature for apps
tinypng image optimization tool 1 scaled

Keep in mind that, even though this is one of the cheapest tools (starting at a rate of $25 per year), it has more limited capabilities compared to the first choices in this list. It doesn’t have advanced CDN features required for professional and business sites and apps.

Optimizilla

If you're looking for a free image compressor with good features, this is it. Optimizilla will fix your images by using lossy algorithms. Its capacity is limited since it is free, so you can only upload up to 20 images. It supports only PNG and JPEG formats, which makes it very similar to the previous tool.

Optimizilla might have more limited features, but it is very simple to use and practical if you don’t have a lot to add to your app all the time. It’s ideal if you have few files and do not need advanced CDN features.

Kraken

Another top-rated optimizer and compressor to use for your SaaS business nowadays is Kraken. This one does wonders with saving storage space, bandwidth, as well as boosting your app's speed. Here are some of its best features:

  • Simple-to-use and master tool
  • Plugins for Magento and WordPress
  • Image optimization API
  • You can change the CDN provider if you want
  • Web interface and cloud storage features
  • Image resizing and ZIP uploader

For only $5 a month, you can get these features for 500MB of images, or you can opt for bigger plans at a higher rate.

Wrapping Up

Apps that load slowly and have blurry images don't leave the right kind of impression on customers. They are also bad for SEO, which means that Google will toss them aside simply because you haven't bothered to optimize your images.

Thankfully, there are tons of image optimization tools available today. With a tool from this list, you can increase app downloads and usage and achieve better SEO and design appealing website. Consider these options and make a smart decision based on your budget, your app's needs as well as your preferences. You can't go wrong with either if you do this.

If you still need any help with image optimization in website designing, feel free to Contact Us!

Frequently Asked Questions

Image optimization is the process of reducing the file size of images while maintaining their visual quality. It's primarily used to improve website performance by ensuring that images load quickly without compromising their appearance.

We optimize images to enhance web page loading speed, improve user experience, and reduce bandwidth usage. This is crucial for websites as faster-loading pages rank better in search engines and retain more users.

Image optimization is typically achieved by resizing images to appropriate dimensions, compressing them using specialized software or algorithms, and selecting the right file format (e.g., JPEG, PNG) for the content.

An example of image optimization is converting a high-resolution photograph to a web-friendly format (e.g., JPEG) and reducing its file size without noticeably diminishing the image quality. This results in quicker page loading times while preserving the image's visual integrity.