SammaPix vs Squoosh: Which Free Browser Image Compressor Wins? (2026)

What Squoosh is (and what it is great at)

Squoosh was built by Google Chrome Labs and released in 2018. The core idea was to demonstrate what WebAssembly could do in a browser: run native C++ codec libraries like MozJPEG, OxiPNG, and libwebp directly on the user's device, with zero server involvement. It succeeded brilliantly at that goal.

The Squoosh interface gives you a draggable split-screen comparing your original image with the compressed output in real time. You can adjust quality sliders, switch between codec options (MozJPEG, WebP, AVIF, OxiPNG), and see the resulting file size update instantly before you commit to downloading. For a developer or designer who wants to squeeze every byte out of a single hero image, Squoosh is a genuinely excellent tool.

That precision is Squoosh's strength. It is also its intended scope. Squoosh was designed as a showcase and a developer utility, not as a production batch tool or an all-in-one image editing platform. That distinction matters when you are evaluating it against SammaPix.

Privacy: both tools keep files on your device

This is important to state clearly, because some comparison articles get it wrong. Squoosh does not upload your images to Google or any server. It uses WebAssembly to run codec libraries locally in your browser tab. Your image data never leaves your machine.

SammaPix works the same way. When you use the SammaPix Compress tool, your files are processed on your CPU using WebAssembly modules. Nothing is sent to any server. You can verify this by opening your browser's network inspector while compressing: no outbound requests containing image data will appear.

On privacy, Squoosh and SammaPix are equivalent. Both are safe for sensitive content: medical images, legal documents, unreleased product photos, private family photos. This contrasts with upload-based tools like TinyPNG or Compressor.io, where files leave your device for server-side processing. If you want to understand that difference in detail, see our comparison of SammaPix vs TinyPNG.

The batch processing gap

This is where Squoosh and SammaPix diverge most clearly, and where the choice between them becomes straightforward for most users.

Squoosh handles one image at a time. You open a file, adjust settings, download the result, and then start over with the next image. There is no batch mode, no multi-file drop, and no way to process a folder of images in a single session. For a developer optimizing a single hero image or a designer fine-tuning one logo, this is perfectly adequate. For someone compressing 40 product photos before uploading them to an e-commerce platform, it is a serious bottleneck.

SammaPix supports batch compression natively. Drop multiple files, and they are processed simultaneously using parallel WebAssembly workers. When they are ready, download them all in a ZIP. The free tier handles multiple files without requiring a paid plan, and there is no daily image limit imposed on the compression tool.

• Squoosh: one image per session, manual codec adjustment each time, then download
• SammaPix: drop multiple files, process in parallel, download ZIP of all results

For anyone whose compression workflow involves more than a handful of images per session, this difference alone makes SammaPix the more practical tool in daily use.

Feature comparison: SammaPix vs Squoosh

Format support: HEIC and the iPhone gap

Squoosh supports a solid range of output codecs: MozJPEG, OxiPNG, WebP, AVIF, JXL (experimental), and others through its WebAssembly module system. For output, it covers most modern web formats well.

The gap is on the input side. Squoosh does not support HEIC files. HEIC is the default camera format on every iPhone running iOS 11 or later, which means a large portion of consumer photos taken since 2017 arrive in a format that Squoosh cannot open. You would need to convert the file to JPEG or PNG first using another tool, then bring it into Squoosh for compression.

SammaPix handles HEIC directly. You can drop an iPhone photo into the compress tool or the convert tool, and it processes without a prior conversion step. For teams or individuals who frequently work with photos from Apple devices, this removes a friction point that adds up quickly across dozens of files.

• Squoosh input: JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, BMP, ICO (no HEIC, no GIF animation)
• SammaPix input: JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, GIF, and more

Codec control: Squoosh goes deeper, SammaPix goes wider

Squoosh's strongest feature is its compression control panel. For each codec, you get access to the underlying parameters: quality, effort, chroma subsampling, color space, and more. The live split-screen lets you drag a divider to compare compressed versus original at pixel level, helping you find the exact quality setting where file size drops but visual quality holds.

This level of control is genuinely valuable for specific use cases. A frontend developer optimizing a single large image for a landing page, or a designer preparing an app icon for submission, benefits from being able to dial in the precise quality threshold. Squoosh is the right tool for that job.

SammaPix takes the opposite approach: instead of exposing codec internals, it applies a sensible default quality setting that works well across a wide range of image types. The tradeoff is that you sacrifice granular control in exchange for speed, simplicity, and the ability to process many files at once without configuring each one individually. For the majority of everyday compression tasks, the default setting produces results that are competitive with manually-tuned Squoosh output.

Where SammaPix goes wider is in the breadth of tools it offers alongside compression. After compressing a batch, you can immediately resize them using the resize tool, convert formats, remove backgrounds, work with PDFs, or strip EXIF data. Squoosh does none of those things.

A note on compression quality

Because Squoosh allows manual quality adjustment, it is possible to compress a file more aggressively in Squoosh than SammaPix's default setting would. This is not a flaw in SammaPix. The default setting is calibrated to preserve reasonable visual quality for web use. If you want maximum compression and are willing to accept some visible quality loss, Squoosh gives you that control explicitly. SammaPix prioritizes a sensible balance for general use.

When to use Squoosh vs SammaPix

Squoosh is the better choice if:

• You are compressing one image at a time and want granular control over codec settings
• You need a live side-by-side visual comparison before committing to a quality level
• You are a developer exploring codec options like AVIF vs WebP vs MozJPEG for a specific use case
• You want to push beyond default quality settings and accept visible compression artifacts deliberately
• You prefer a minimal, focused tool with no account and no additional features

SammaPix is the better choice if:

• You need to compress multiple images at once, whether 5 files or 50
• You regularly work with HEIC files from an iPhone or recent Apple device
• You want a single tool that handles compression, resizing, format conversion, and PDF operations
• You do not want to configure codec settings manually for every image
• You are handling GIF files alongside standard image formats
• You want AI-powered features like background removal or file renaming as part of the same workflow

Overall verdict: SammaPix vs Squoosh

Squoosh is a genuinely excellent tool and deserves its reputation. Google Chrome Labs built it well, it runs entirely in the browser, and its codec control panel is the best freely available single-image tuning interface on the web. If you work with one image at a time and want precise control over the output, Squoosh is a strong choice that we recommend without reservation.

The limitation is scope. Squoosh was not designed for batch workflows, does not handle HEIC, and stops at compression. For the majority of everyday image workflows, those limitations matter.

SammaPix is a broader tool. Compression is one part of a 20-tool toolkit that includes format conversion, resizing, cropping, PDF operations, background removal, EXIF management, and more. Everything runs in the browser with no uploads, the same privacy guarantee as Squoosh. Batch processing is built in by default. And HEIC files from iPhones work without a pre-conversion step.

The honest summary: use Squoosh when you need to tune one image with full codec control. Use SammaPix when you need to process multiple images efficiently, handle modern formats, or do more than just compress. The two tools are not really in competition; they solve different sides of the same problem.

Curious how upload-based compressors like TinyPNG compare on the privacy and compression quality fronts? Read our SammaPix vs TinyPNG benchmark for a detailed side-by-side with real compression numbers.

FAQ

Does Squoosh upload my images to a server?

No. Squoosh processes images entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. Your files are never sent to Google or any other server. SammaPix works the same way. Both tools are safe for sensitive content.

Can Squoosh compress multiple images at once?

No. Squoosh is designed for one image at a time. You open a file, adjust settings, download the result, and then start the process over for the next image. SammaPix supports batch compression: drop multiple files at once, they are processed in parallel, and you download all results in a single ZIP.

Is SammaPix a good Squoosh alternative?

Yes, particularly for batch work and users who need tools beyond compression. Both run 100% in the browser. SammaPix adds batch processing, HEIC support, resize, convert, PDF tools, and more. The tradeoff is that SammaPix does not offer Squoosh's granular per-image codec control panel. If you need manual quality tuning per image, Squoosh is still worth using.

What formats does Squoosh support?

Squoosh accepts JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, and BMP as input. Output codecs include MozJPEG, OxiPNG, WebP, AVIF, and others. It does not support HEIC as input. SammaPix adds HEIC and GIF to its supported input formats on top of the formats Squoosh handles.

Is Squoosh still maintained in 2026?

Squoosh is an open-source project from Google Chrome Labs. The core tool remains functional and stable. Active development has slowed compared to its peak, and the tool has not expanded to address batch workflows or multi-tool use cases. It continues to work well for its intended purpose as a single-image compression and codec exploration tool.