Video to GIF
Convert a clip into an animated GIF. A palette is generated from your actual frames first, which is what keeps the colours from banding.
Why GIFs get so large
GIF has essentially no interframe compression. Where a video codec stores most frames as the differences from their neighbours, a GIF stores something much closer to a full image per frame, from a palette of at most 256 colours. That is why a five-second clip that occupies 2 MB as an MP4 can become 20 MB as a GIF.
Size scales with width × frame rate × duration, and the three controls above map directly onto those. The clip fence is the most effective of them: halving the selected range halves the output almost exactly. Reducing the width helps too, but less than you would expect, because neighbouring frames already share most of their detail.
A practical order when a result is too big: shorten the clip, then reduce the width, then drop the frame rate. Frame rate last, because it is the change viewers actually notice.
The palette matters more than anything
Converting in a single pass forces the encoder to pick a generic 256-colour palette before it has seen your footage. Skin tones go blotchy, gradients band into visible steps, and anything with a distinctive colour comes out wrong.
This tool runs two passes instead. The first analyses the frames you actually selected and builds a palette from the colours present in them; the second encodes using that palette with Bayer dithering to soften what remains. It takes slightly longer and it is the whole difference between a usable GIF and a muddy one.
Fencing the clip
Drag the two handles over the timeline to set exactly which section becomes the GIF. The thumbnail strip is there so you can find the moment without scrubbing the player, and dragging the playhead seeks the preview.
Most good GIFs are two to six seconds. Past about thirty seconds you are producing a file that many sites will refuse to accept and most readers will not wait to load, which is why the tool warns you at that point.
Nothing leaves your device
The conversion runs in your browser using FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. Your video is read from your disk, processed on your own processor, and handed back — there is no upload, no queue and no server that ever holds a copy. You can verify it in your developer tools’ Network tab, or by disconnecting from the internet after the page loads.
That also means no file size cap from us and no watermark on the result. The real limit is your device’s available memory, which is lower on phones than on laptops.
When you should not use a GIF
If the clip has sound, or runs more than a few seconds, or contains a lot of motion, an MP4 is smaller, sharper and better supported. Most platforms that appear to accept “GIFs” — including social feeds and messaging apps — silently convert them back to video on upload, so you often pay the size penalty for nothing.
GIF earns its place where autoplay without a player matters: an inline demonstration in documentation, a reaction image, an animation embedded in an email. For anything else, a short muted MP4 is usually the better answer. Our guide to video containers explains the trade-offs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my GIF so much larger than the video?
GIF has essentially no interframe compression. A video codec stores most frames as differences from their neighbours; a GIF stores something close to a full image per frame, from a palette of at most 256 colours. A five-second clip that is 2 MB as an MP4 can easily be 20 MB as a GIF.
How do I make the GIF smaller?
In this order: shorten the clip, reduce the width, then lower the frame rate. The clip fence is by far the most effective, because size scales almost linearly with duration. Frame rate last, because it is the change viewers actually notice.
What is the best width and frame rate?
480px wide at 15fps suits most uses and is the default here. Going above 600px or 20fps grows the file quickly for little visible gain. For a short reaction clip, 320px at 12fps is often enough.
How long can the clip be?
The tool warns past 30 seconds. Most good GIFs are two to six seconds. Beyond half a minute you produce a file many sites refuse to accept and most readers will not wait to load.
Why does my GIF look grainy or banded?
A GIF can hold only 256 colours, so gradients and skin tones are the first to suffer. This tool runs two passes, building a palette from your actual selected frames before encoding, which is what keeps banding under control. If it still looks rough, the footage likely has more colour variation than a palette can carry, and a short muted MP4 would serve better.
Is my video uploaded to convert it?
No. Conversion runs in your browser through FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. The file is read from your disk, processed on your own processor, and handed back. There is no server that ever holds a copy.