A TinyPNG alternative that never uploads your images

TinyPNG is a good compressor. The difference worth knowing about is not how well it compresses - it is where your image goes to be compressed, and for a lot of files that is the only question that matters.

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TinyPNG and Softland, side by side

 TinyPNGSoftland
Where compression happensOn their servers - the file is uploadedIn your browser - the file is never transmitted
Works offlineNoYes, once the page has loaded
File size limitSet by the serviceSet by your own machine
Resizing and format conversionAvailable on paid plans and via the APIIncluded, same page
AccountNeeded for the API and higher limitsNone, for anything

The difference is architectural, not incremental

TinyPNG works by receiving your file, compressing it with its own encoder, and sending back a smaller one. That design is why it can do what it does well, and it is also why the file has to exist, however briefly, on infrastructure that is not yours.

Softland reads the file with the canvas and image codecs already built into your browser. There is no upload step to wait through, no queue, and no copy anywhere except on your own disk. You can confirm this yourself: open the network tab, compress an image, and watch that no request carrying it is made.

When that actually matters

For a photograph of a landscape destined for a public blog post, it does not matter at all, and you should use whichever tool gives you the smaller file.

It matters for the other half of what people compress: a passport scan being shrunk to fit an upload limit, a signed contract, a medical letter, a screenshot with customer data in it, an unreleased product photograph, a design mock under embargo. Those are routinely put through whichever compressor came up first, and most people never consider that they have just posted the file to a third party.

On compression quality

A server-side encoder can afford to be slower and more thorough than one running in a browser tab, and on some PNGs TinyPNG will produce a smaller file than the browser will. That is a real advantage and it is worth being straightforward about.

In practice the gap is usually smaller than the gap you create yourself by resizing first. A 4000-pixel photograph displayed in a 600-pixel column is carrying more than ten times the data it needs, and no encoder on either side of the network recovers that for you. Resize to the display size, then compress, and the difference between encoders stops being the thing deciding your page weight.

When TinyPNG is the better choice

  • You need to compress images automatically as part of a build or a backend pipeline - that is what an API is for, and Softland is a page rather than a service.
  • You are squeezing the last few percent out of PNGs for a performance budget and want the strongest available encoder rather than the one in your browser.
  • You are processing hundreds of files unattended and would rather a server did the work than your laptop.

Frequently asked questions

Is Softland really not uploading my image?
Yes, and it is verifiable rather than a promise. Open your browser developer tools, go to the network tab, and compress a file. No request containing the image is made, because the compression is done by your browser.
Does it compress as well as TinyPNG?
For JPEGs and WebP, close enough that the difference is rarely visible in page weight. For some PNGs, TinyPNG produces a smaller file. Resizing to the size the image is actually displayed at makes a bigger difference than either.
Is there a file size limit?
Only the memory of the device you are using. There is no server imposing a cap, because there is no server involved.
Does Softland have an API?
No. It is a browser tool. If you need compression inside a build step or a backend, an API-based service such as TinyPNG is the right choice.

Try it yourself

Resize, convert and compress images without uploading.

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TinyPNG is a trademark of its respective owner. Softland is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by TinyPNG. This comparison reflects how each product works rather than what either costs, because pricing and plan limits change; check TinyPNG’s own site for its current terms.