GIF to WebP Converter
Animated GIFs are heavy for what they show. Converting GIF to WebP keeps every frame and its timing but stores them with modern compression, so the same animation usually takes a fraction of the bytes.
Image Converter
or drop JPG, JPEG, JPE … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
85 keeps photos visually identical to the original. Lower it only when you need a smaller file.
JPG, BMP and EPS have no transparency. Transparent pixels are filled with this color.
Hex color used behind transparent pixels, e.g. #FFFFFF.
This format holds a single image. Choose GIF or WebP output if you want to keep the animation.
A multi-size icon contains several resolutions in one file; browsers and operating systems pick the one they need.
Keep the original dimensions, or enter one side and the aspect ratio is kept.
Pixels for the side you chose above.
Percentage of the original dimensions.
sRGB is right for screens and the web. Keep the original for print workflows; grayscale discards color.
Metadata only, 0 keeps the original value. Printers and some portals read this number; it does not change pixel dimensions.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the GIFs
Add up to 20 animated or still GIFs, up to 95 MB each.
- 2
Choose lossy or lossless
Quality 80 gives the biggest saving. Tick Lossless under Advanced settings for pixel art or flat-color animations that must stay exact.
- 3
Convert and check
Press Convert to WebP, download the files, and play one in your browser to confirm the animation.
Convert GIF to WebP to cut animation weight
GIF was designed in 1987 for still graphics over modems, and its animation was added later. Each frame is stored with LZW compression, limited to 256 colors, and has no way of reusing similar content from the previous frame beyond leaving pixels unchanged. A three-second reaction clip can easily weigh several megabytes.
Animated WebP stores each frame with the same compression WebP uses for still images, either lossy, based on the VP8 video codec, or lossless. It also supports full 24-bit color and an 8-bit alpha channel, so dithered gradients and jagged transparent edges, the two telltale signs of a GIF, disappear. On a page with several animated elements, switching to WebP is one of the larger easy wins for load time.
64%smaller on average when animated GIFs were converted to lossy WebP
Which browsers play animated WebP
2014
Chrome 32
Chrome adds animated WebP playback, the first major browser to do so.
2018
Edge 18
The original Edge gains WebP; later Chromium-based Edge inherits Chrome's support.
2019
Firefox 65
Firefox ships WebP, including animated files, on every desktop platform.
2020
Safari 14
Safari on iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur adds WebP, completing support across major browsers.
GIF
Graphics Interchange Format
GIF was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and is still the most widely supported format for short, looping animations. It is lossless but limited to a palette of 256 colours per frame, so photos and gradients show banding and dithering. It supports only on/off (1-bit) transparency, which leaves jagged edges on curved shapes. Animated GIFs are often far larger than the same clip as MP4 or WebP. Every browser, chat app and social platform plays GIFs.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- Yes
- Introduced
- 1987 · CompuServe
WEBP
WebP image
WebP is an image format released by Google in 2010 to make web pages load faster. It supports both lossy and lossless compression, alpha transparency and animation in a single format. Lossy WebP files are typically 25–35% smaller than JPEGs of similar visual quality, and lossless WebP is usually smaller than PNG. Every current browser supports it, but some older desktop software, print services and upload forms still reject it. Windows, macOS and most modern image editors can open WebP files.
- Compression
- Lossy or lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- Yes
- Introduced
- 2010 · Google
GIF goes to WebP to make animations on a website or in a sticker pack lighter while keeping them animated; WebP goes back to GIF only for apps and forums that cannot play animated WebP.
Where you should keep the GIF version
Email is the main exception. Many mail clients either block WebP or show only a broken image, while GIF animation works in most of them, so newsletter animations should stay GIF. Some forum boards, chat apps and older CMS media libraries also accept GIF uploads but reject .webp files.
If you are publishing to your own site, use the WebP and keep the GIF only as a source file. If someone later needs the animation in a place that refuses WebP, WebP to GIF turns it back, at the cost of the 256-color limit again.
GIF to WebP questions
Does the WebP keep my GIF's animation?
Yes. WebP supports animation natively, so every frame and its display time is carried over and the result plays like the GIF did. The output is a single .webp file, not a folder of frames.
How much smaller is an animated WebP than a GIF?
In Google's comparison of a large set of animated GIFs, lossy WebP versions were 64% smaller and lossless ones 19% smaller. Your result depends on the content: real-world video clips shrink the most, tiny pixel-art loops the least.
Can I make WhatsApp stickers from a GIF?
WhatsApp's animated stickers are animated WebP files at 512 × 512 px and must stay under 500 KB. Resize the GIF to 512 px wide under Advanced settings, convert, and lower Quality if the file is still above the limit. Sticker-maker apps then package the files into a pack.
Are Telegram animated stickers WebP files?
No. Telegram uses WebP or PNG for static stickers, but its animated stickers are TGS files built from vector animation, and video stickers are WEBM. A WebP made from a GIF works there as a static sticker only.
Will the WebP keep the GIF's transparent background?
Yes, and it improves on it. GIF has one fully transparent color, which gives jagged edges on curves. WebP has a full alpha channel, so transparent areas stay transparent and nothing new is added around them.
Should I convert the GIF to video instead?
For clips longer than a few seconds, often yes. An MP4 is smaller still and plays with controls; use GIF to MP4 for that. Keep WebP for short loops that must autoplay silently inside an <img> tag or a sticker.