MP4 to GIF Converter
Turn a few seconds of an MP4 into an animated GIF that plays on its own, loops forever and drops into any chat, README or slide. Width, frame rate and clip length decide whether it is crisp or huge, and you set all three.
Video to GIF
or drop MP4, MOV, MKV … 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.
Seconds (e.g. 12.5) or minutes:seconds (0:12). GIFs get large fast, so keep clips to a few seconds.
Same format as the start time. Leave empty to use the whole video.
Play the clip slower or faster. 2× also halves the length and the file size.
Whether the GIF repeats endlessly or plays one time and stops on the last frame.
GIF holds at most 256 colors per frame. Fewer colors make a smaller file but cause banding on skies and skin.
Mixes palette colors in a fine pattern to hide banding. Sierra gives the smoothest result; none gives the smallest file.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the MP4
Add one clip or up to 20, each up to 95 MB. Phone recordings, screen captures and downloads from editing apps all work.
- 2
Cut and size the GIF
Set Start at and End at to the moment you want, then check Width (480 px) and Frame rate (12 fps). Colors, dithering, speed and loop live under Advanced settings.
- 3
Convert and download
Press Convert. Preview the result, then download it on its own or with the rest of the batch as a ZIP.
GIF size by width and frame rate
| Width | Frame rate | Typical size | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 320 px | 10 fps | 1–2 MB | Reaction GIFs, mobile chat |
| 480 px | 12 fps | 2–5 MB | Discord, Slack, forums (default) |
| 640 px | 15 fps | 5–10 MB | README files, tutorials |
| 800 px | 20 fps | 10–20 MB | Product demos on a web page |
The numbers grow quickly because a GIF compresses each frame with LZW, a lossless method from the 1980s, and has no real motion prediction. Doubling the width gives four times as many pixels per frame; doubling the frame rate doubles the frames. An MP4 encoder stores only the parts of the picture that change, which is why a 2 MB MP4 can become a 15 MB GIF.
Cut in this order: shorten the clip, lower the width, lower the frame rate, and only then drop to 128 or 64 colors. Raising Speed to 1.5× or 2× helps too, since a faster GIF of the same moment has fewer frames.
MP4
MPEG-4 video
MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) is a multimedia container standardised by ISO/MPEG and based on Apple's QuickTime format. It usually holds H.264 or HEVC video with AAC audio, and can also carry subtitles, chapters and metadata. It is the most compatible video format in the world, playing on phones, browsers, TVs, game consoles and social platforms. The video inside is almost always lossy, so repeated re-encoding gradually reduces quality.
- Compression
- Lossy
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 2001 · Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)
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
MP4 to GIF trades file size for convenience: a GIF autoplays, loops and shows up inline in places that will not play a video file, such as email, issue trackers and older chat tools.
When a GIF is the right choice, and when MP4 is better
Make a GIF when
- The clip goes into an email; most mail apps animate GIFs but do not play video inline
- It belongs in a GitHub README, Jira ticket or wiki page that shows images inline
- It must loop with no play button, like a UI demo or a loading animation
Keep the MP4 when
- It has sound you want people to hear
- It is full-color footage with gradients, sunsets or skin tones
- The platform converts GIFs to video anyway, as X (formerly Twitter) does
How Discord, Slack and X treat an uploaded GIF
Discord plays an uploaded GIF inline and loops it, but the file still counts against your upload limit. Slack also animates GIFs inline; members can switch that off by unchecking the option for animated images in their accessibility preferences. X accepts GIF uploads and converts them to a silent looping video, so uploading the MP4 there gives the same result with a smaller file.
Desktop Outlook for Windows is the classic exception: versions 2007 to 2016 show only the first frame of an animated GIF, so put the important information in frame one. For step-by-step settings with screenshots, read how to make a GIF from a video.
MP4 to GIF converter questions
How do I make an MP4 to GIF in high quality without a giant file?
Keep 256 colors with Sierra dithering, then spend your size budget on width rather than frames: 640 px at 12 fps usually looks sharper than 480 px at 24 fps for the same bytes. Most of the size comes from motion, so a shorter clip is the cheapest quality upgrade.
Why does my GIF look grainy or banded?
A GIF frame can hold only 256 colors, so skies, skin and gradients get approximated. Dithering scatters the palette colors to hide the steps; with Dithering set to None you see flat bands instead. If the clip is mostly smooth gradients, MP4 or WebP will always look cleaner.
Does the GIF keep the sound of my MP4?
No. The GIF format has no audio track at all, so the sound is simply left out. If the audio matters, share the MP4 itself or trim it with trim video instead of making a GIF.
Can the GIF play once and stop?
Yes. Set Loop to Play once and the animation stops on its last frame. Some chat clients still restart a GIF when you scroll back to it.
Why does 30 fps play a little faster than the video?
GIF stores frame delays in hundredths of a second, so 30 fps becomes a 3-hundredths delay, which plays at 33.3 fps. 10, 20 and 25 fps divide evenly; 12 and 15 fps round to the nearest hundredth.
Can I upload a GIF made here to Discord?
Yes, as long as it fits the upload limit of your account, which is 10 MB on a free plan. A 480 px clip of a few seconds normally does; for longer reactions see compressing video for Discord.