Is RIOT completely free to use?

Yes, RIOT is distributed as freeware with no feature restrictions, time limits, or mandatory registration. The project is funded through voluntary donations and sponsorships.

Can RIOT convert HEIC or AVIF images to JPEG or WebP?

RIOT can open HEIC and AVIF files for optimization and re-encode them to JPEG, PNG, WebP, or GIF. AVIF output is not yet enabled in the 2026.9 release but is planned for a future update.

Does RIOT preserve EXIF metadata by default?

The default preset behavior strips metadata to maximize savings, but the Metadata panel lets you choose to keep all, keep only EXIF, or strip everything on a per-batch or global basis.