Ouch app icon

Image compression for Mac

Make images smaller. Not worse for nothing.

Ouch compresses, converts and resizes hundreds of images in one pass. It measures every result first, and if a file is already efficient, it leaves the original exactly alone.

Coming to theMac App Store See how Ouch protects your files

macOS 14+ · Apple silicon · No account · No upload · No subscription

The Ouch window after a run of five images, reading 11 MB saved. Four files are listed with what they went from and to, at 33%, 89%, 78% and 79% smaller, and a fifth is marked already efficient with the original kept.
  • 591.9 MB recovered from 452 images in one run
  • 1 minute 49 seconds on a 2021 M1 Pro MacBook Pro
  • Hundreds at a time, free no file cap, watermark or time limit

Measured on a folder of HIF, HEIC and JPG images with subfolders. Results vary by image and settings.

Compression with a stopping point

The image compressor that admits defeat.

Most compressors re-encode every file you give them. Ouch asks a better question: will this actually make the image smaller?

If the answer is no, it stops. No pointless re-encode. No silent quality loss. No imaginary saving.

You will see plain answers such as:

  • Already efficient, original kept
  • Already saved well below this setting
  • JPEG only, the modern version came out no smaller

Because sometimes the best thing an image compressor can do
is nothing.

One window. Four settings.

Drop a folder. Choose what matters. Let Ouch do the measuring.

  1. 01

    Pick the result you want

    Keep the same format, convert to another, or create a modern web format with its fallback.

  2. 02

    Set quality and size

    Choose Lossless, Almost the same quality, Smaller file or Much smaller. Keep the original dimensions, fit images to a screen size, or use an exact pixel size with Pro.

  3. 03

    Decide what information stays

    Keep metadata, remove location only, or remove it all.

  4. 04

    Save only genuine improvements

    Ouch opens and checks every result. If it is not valid, not the right size or not actually smaller, it does not replace the original.

Real files. Real measurements.

A third off a photograph. Four fifths off a screenshot.

Different images have different room to shrink. Ouch reports what it actually saves instead of hiding everything behind one flattering average.

89% Hero image smaller in the same format, and 98% smaller as AVIF
79% Screenshot smaller in the same format, and 87% smaller as AVIF
33% Photograph smaller in the same format, and 40% smaller as AVIF
Lossless screenshot: WebP came out 3.3 times smaller than PNG, at 31,508 bytes instead of 103,589.

These are measured examples, not a promise for every image. Your result depends on the source, output format, quality and dimensions.

The biggest saving is often hiding in the dimensions

Why optimise a 4032px photo for a 1600px space?

Codec choice matters. Image dimensions often matter more. Ouch can resize while it compresses and converts, so the oversized pixels disappear in the same pass.

Fit images within 8K, 4K, 2K or 1K for free. Choose an exact pixel size with Pro.

No export routine. No second app. No second round of compression.

Ouch with the Fits within setting open, offering the original size and screen-size presets

Nine ways out

Keep compatibility. Chase smaller files. Or make both.

Free

Same format, smaller

PNG stays PNG. JPEG stays JPEG. Existing links and workflows keep working.

Free

HEIC

Small, fast and at home in Apple Photos. Encoded by the Mac’s media engine.

Free

JPEG

Opens almost anywhere. Encoded with mozjpeg for meaningfully smaller files than the standard macOS encoder.

Free

PNG

Lossless by default. Made for logos, screenshots and sharp-edged graphics.

Pro

WebP

A fast, widely supported web format that keeps transparency and animation.

Pro

AVIF

The smallest files of all when you control the website. Slower to encode, worth it when every byte matters.

Pro

Web pairs

AVIF plus JPEG, or WebP plus JPEG, written together in a Web images folder. The modern image and its fallback, which is the pair a <picture> element wants.

Pro

GIF

For the systems that still require it. When you control the destination, WebP animation is usually far smaller.

Ouch recognises 39 file extensions, including JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, HIF and TIFF.

Ouch set to Web: AVIF + JPEG, explaining that both files are saved into a Web images folder

Your originals deserve more than a checkbox

Replace is off by default. Caution stays on.

Turn on Replace originals only when you want to. Even then, Ouch will not move an original until the new file has been opened, decoded, checked at the intended size and confirmed to be genuinely smaller.

Then the original goes to the Trash, where it remains recoverable.

  • Files that cannot be improved stay untouched.
  • Animations are never silently flattened into still images.
  • Ouch never overwrites a file it did not create.
  • A second run skips its own output.
  • Photo libraries, creative projects and other document bundles are left closed and untouched.
  • File permissions and timestamps are preserved.
  • Read-only folders are identified clearly instead of triggering a useless permission request.
Ouch with Replace originals available, and the feature strip showing that originals go to the Trash

It does not just make a new file.
It checks its work.

On your Mac means on your Mac

Turn off Wi-Fi. Ouch keeps working.

There is no server, upload or account. Your images never leave your Mac.

The only network connection is to Apple when you buy the Pro unlock, so Apple can process the payment and confirm that you own it.

That is the whole privacy policy in practice. Read the full one.

A complete free compressor. One useful upgrade.

Free is free. Pro is once.

No trial clock. No watermark. No file cap. No subscription.

Ouch Free

For personal photos, screenshots and everyday folders.

  • Same format, HEIC, JPEG and PNG
  • Hundreds of images at once
  • One whole folder per run
  • All four quality settings, including Lossless, not one pixel changes
  • Every screen-size preset
  • Remove location or all metadata
  • Replace originals when you choose
Coming to theMac App Store

Ouch Pro

For websites, production work and deeper folder structures.

  • Everything in Free
  • WebP, AVIF and GIF
  • AVIF + JPEG and WebP + JPEG export pairs
  • Every subfolder, at any depth
  • Exact pixel dimensions
  • Every future version included
Coming to theMac App Store

One payment. Never a subscription.

Ouch showing the Pro formats, including WebP, AVIF and the web export pairs

Serious encoders. Simple interface.

The controls are small. The machinery is not.

Ouch uses mozjpeg for JPEG, libwebp for WebP, libaom for AVIF and Zopfli for PNG. HEIC runs through the Mac’s own media engine for near-instant encoding.

During a long batch, Ouch uses the performance cores and leaves the efficiency cores alone, helping your Mac stay responsive while the work gets done.

Every included library is permissively licensed. Full licence text lives inside the app.

Questions people ask before downloading.

Whether it uploads anything, what free actually includes, what happens to your originals, and whether Pro is a subscription.

Read the answers

Your images could be smaller. Ouch will tell you when they cannot.

Compress, convert and resize hundreds at a time. Free on Apple silicon Macs running macOS 14 or later.

Coming to theMac App Store

Compare Free and Pro

No account · No upload · No subscription