TinyPNG Alternative: The 5 MB Limit Is Over
“The file exceeds the maximum size of 5 MB.”
You know that message. You just wanted to compress a photo from your camera or a high-resolution screenshot, and TinyPNG slams the door in your face. In 2026, a single shot from a recent smartphone routinely tops 5 MB. That limit — a holdover from an era when images weighed ten times less — has become absurd.
TinyPNG is still a benchmark for compression quality. But its free cap and narrow format range have turned into roadblocks. MediaBay handles up to 100 MB per file, supports HEIC and AVIF for free, and does it without ever uploading your image. Here’s the comparison, no detours.
The frustration: a limit from another age, and ignored formats
Two walls go up fast with TinyPNG’s free tier:
- The size limit. 5 MB per file (and a capped number of images per batch). A photo from a mirrorless camera, a 4K screenshot, or a print-ready visual is out from the start.
- The format range. TinyPNG centers on PNG, JPG, and WebP. The formats our devices actually produce today — the HEIC of iPhones — or the formats of the future — AVIF — aren’t its territory.
The result: for an 8 MB iPhone photo in HEIC, you’re blocked twice. Neither the size nor the format gets through.
Comparison: MediaBay vs TinyPNG
| Criterion | MediaBay | TinyPNG |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum size | Up to 100 MB per file | 5 MB (free tier) |
| Input formats | JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, HEIC, AVIF | Mainly PNG, JPG, WebP |
| HEIC (iPhone photos) | Yes, free | Not supported |
| AVIF (next generation) | Yes, free | No |
| Processing | 100% local (in your browser) | Upload to their servers |
| Privacy | Absolute — zero upload | Files sent to a third-party server |
| Cost | Free, no sign-up | Free but capped, then paid |
| Offline | Yes (installable PWA) | No |
The secret: why MediaBay doesn’t need to limit you
TinyPNG’s 5 MB limit isn’t a whim: it protects their servers. Every image you compress is uploaded, processed on their infrastructure, then sent back. The bigger the file, the more it costs them in bandwidth and compute. Capping the size means capping their costs.
MediaBay simply doesn’t have that problem, because it processes nothing on its servers. The conversion and compression engine — including the libheif decoder (for HEIC) and the AVIF codec, compiled to WebAssembly — runs directly in your browser.
It’s your device’s computing power and RAM doing the work. Direct consequences:
- The limit is your RAM, not a business rule. That’s why we can target 100 MB where a cloud service stops at 5.
- Heavy, modern formats get through: an iPhone HEIC or an AVIF decodes locally, with no server cost, so no extra cost for you.
- Total privacy: your photo never leaves your device. Open the Network tab (
F12) during a conversion — you’ll see no outbound request carrying your image.
The right alternative for every pain point
The 5 MB cap is just one symptom of the cloud model. Depending on what holds you back, MediaBay has an answer:
- Daily quotas and credits to top up? See why MediaBay is the free, unlimited CloudConvert alternative.
- Privacy of your visuals? Read how MediaBay is the 100% private iLoveIMG alternative, with zero upload.
- Queues and upload times? See why MediaBay is the FreeConvert alternative with no queue.
Compress and convert with no cap — right now
No error message at 5 MB, no rejected format, no upload.
👉 Compress your images with no limit on MediaBay — drop your file, pick the output format, get the result instantly.
The conversions TinyPNG doesn’t do (or does poorly), for free:
- Convert HEIC to JPG — your iPhone photos finally readable everywhere
- Convert PNG to WebP — web compression without the size cap
- Convert PNG to AVIF — the lightest format on the market
- All our conversion guides
Written by Nikola Markovic · published May 26, 2026.