WebGL, WebGL2 and WebGPU: what your browser actually supports

Web pages reach your GPU through graphics APIs. Three matter today.

WebGL

The original API, based on OpenGL ES 2.0. It is supported almost everywhere and is enough for basic 3D, but it is limited in features and efficiency.

WebGL 2

Based on OpenGL ES 3.0. It adds instanced rendering, transform feedback, 3D textures and better shader features. Most tests on this site use it. It is supported by current versions of all major browsers.

WebGPU

A modern API modelled on Vulkan, Metal and Direct3D 12. It supports general-purpose compute through WGSL shaders, which makes it suitable for workloads like matrix multiplication. Support is still rolling out, so the WebGPU Compute test says plainly when your browser lacks it instead of pretending another API is WebGPU.

Checking your system

Open the GPU Info tool. It shows which APIs are available, the reported GPU, texture limits and extensions. If a hardware GPU is installed but you see a software renderer, enable hardware acceleration in your browser settings and update your graphics driver.

A note on GPU names

Browsers may report a generic or masked GPU string to limit fingerprinting. We label detection confidence so a masked name is never presented as certain.