Video to GIF
Drop a short video, get an optimized animated GIF — 10 fps, 480 px wide by default.
Drop your file here
or click to browse — up to 1024 Mb.
How to convert video to GIF
Why convert video to GIF?
An animated GIF plays everywhere with zero plumbing — no video tag, no autoplay policy, no codec headache — which makes it the fastest way to paste a product demo into a README, reproduce a UI bug in Linear or GitHub, or drop a quick reaction loop into Slack. The trade-off is size and color depth, so it shines for clips under ten seconds where smooth-feeling motion matters more than pixel-perfect fidelity. Our converter runs a two-pass ffmpeg pipeline in a Rust service in the cloud: the first pass generates a 256-color palette tuned to your specific clip, the second pass encodes the final GIF with dithering for clean gradients. Everything travels over an encrypted connection (TLS), your video is auto-deleted right after conversion and never shared, with no watermark, no signup and no upsell.
When a GIF is actually the right choice
It's easy to assume MP4 always wins — it's smaller and sharper — but the GIF survives for real reasons, and knowing them saves you frustration. A GIF is a single image file, so it autoplays and loops in places that don't support or don't allow video: a GitHub or Linear comment, a wiki, a README, an email client, an old chat app, a Notion page. There's no player chrome, no play button, no controls to click, no muted-autoplay policy to satisfy — it just moves, the instant it loads. For a short reaction clip, a subtle UI micro-interaction, or a three-second bug repro pasted into an issue, that friction-free, universal behaviour is exactly what you want.
The rule of thumb: reach for a GIF when the loop is short, silent and needs to play absolutely anywhere without a video element. The moment the clip runs longer than a handful of seconds, or the colours matter, an MP4 is both smaller and better-looking — and you can always convert one to the other.
The tradeoffs to keep in mind
• Size — GIF has no cross-frame compression, so file size climbs fast with length, frame rate and dimensions. A long or full-resolution GIF can easily be many times heavier than the same clip as MP4.
• Colours — every frame is limited to a 256-colour palette. Footage with rich colour or smooth gradients (photos, sunsets, video) shows visible banding; flat UI and line art hold up much better.
• Length — GIF rewards brevity. Keep it to a few seconds; anything approaching a real video belongs in MP4.
• No audio — GIFs are silent by design. If sound matters, a GIF is the wrong format.
GIF or MP4?
A quick way to decide before you convert:
| Situation | Pick |
|---|---|
| Short loop in a GitHub/Linear issue or README | GIF |
| Silent reaction clip, no controls wanted | GIF |
| Clip longer than ~5 seconds | MP4 |
| Colour-rich footage or gradients | MP4 |
| You need sound | MP4 |
| Embedding on your own web page | MP4 (autoplay muted loop) |
Tips for a small, clean GIF
• Keep it short — the single biggest factor. Trim to just the moment that matters; every extra second adds frames and weight.
• Keep dimensions modest — 480 px wide (our default) is plenty for a demo or reaction. Doubling the width roughly quadruples the pixel count and the size.
• Accept a lower frame rate — 10 fps reads as smooth for most content while storing far fewer frames than 30 fps. We use 10 fps by default for exactly this reason.
• Prefer simple, flat visuals — UI captures and line art compress far better into 256 colours than busy live-action footage.
• Need something bigger, longer or in colour? Convert to MP4 instead — it will be smaller and sharper.
Read the guide: audio & video conversion explained →Frequently asked
Is it free?
Yes, no signup, no watermark, no daily quota.
What input formats are accepted?
Any common video container : mp4, webm, mov, avi, mkv.
What's the max file size?
50 Mb per video. Keep clips short for snappy GIFs.
What frame rate and width are used?
10 fps and 480 px wide by default — a balance between size and smoothness.
When is a GIF actually the right choice?
For short, silent loops that must autoplay everywhere with no player, no controls and no autoplay policy to fight — reaction clips, a UI bug in a GitHub or Linear issue, a tiny demo in a README. For anything longer than a few seconds, an MP4 is smaller and looks better.
Why is my GIF so large?
GIF has no cross-frame compression and only 256 colours, so file size grows fast with length, frame rate and dimensions. Keep clips under ten seconds, at 10 fps and a modest width, to stay light.
How do I make the GIF smaller?
Trim the clip shorter, lower the frame rate, and reduce the width. Fewer frames and fewer pixels are by far the biggest levers on a GIF's size.
Will the audio be kept?
No, GIFs are silent by spec. Use the video converter if you need sound.
GIF or MP4 — which should I use?
GIF only when the destination truly needs a .gif or you want a caption-free, controls-free loop; MP4 for everything else because it's far smaller and sharper. Our GIF-to-MP4 tool handles the reverse.
Are my files stored?
No — files travel over an encrypted connection and are auto-deleted right after conversion.