Video to GIF Converter
Cut a moment out of any video and turn it into an animated GIF that plays by itself in chats, emails, slides and docs. You decide the clip, the width, the frame rate and how it loops; the converter builds a color palette for that clip so the 256 colors are spent where they matter.
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 video
Add up to 20 clips of up to 95 MB each. MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV, AVI, 3GP and animated WebP or APNG files all work.
- 2
Choose the moment and the size
Set Width (480 px by default) and Frame rate (12 fps). Under Advanced settings, type Start at and End at, and adjust speed, loop, boomerang, colors and dithering.
- 3
Make the GIF
Press Convert to GIF, preview the animation and download it, or download the whole batch as a ZIP. Files are deleted from the server after 30 minutes.
How do I convert a video to a GIF?
Upload the video, type the start and end of the moment you want, keep 480 px and 12 fps, and press Convert to GIF. A clip of a few seconds comes out small enough for most chats and emails.
Convert video to GIF: every setting, group by group
GIF size and clip
- Width: 16 to 1920 px; height follows the video
- Frame rate: 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24 or 30 fps
- Start at / End at: seconds or minutes:seconds
Playback
- Speed: 0.5×, 1×, 1.5×, 2× or 4×
- Loop: forever, or play once and stop
- Boomerang: forward, then backward
Colors
- Colors: 256, 128, 64 or 32 per frame
- Dithering: None, Bayer, Floyd–Steinberg or Sierra
- Palette built from your clip, not a fixed web palette
Choosing a frame rate for a GIF from video
- 5 fps
Slideshow feel; tiny files
- 12 fps
Default; smooth for talking and gestures
- 20 fps
Sports, gaming, fast pans
- 30 fps
Close to video; largest files
A GIF stores every frame as a full picture compressed with LZW, a lossless method, so each extra frame adds weight in a way a video file never would. That makes the scale above the main size lever after clip length: 10 to 15 fps is the range where motion still reads as smooth while the file stays shareable. Screen recordings with little movement can go down to 8 fps; a skateboard trick needs 20.
Color is the other lever. The GIF format allows at most 256 colors per frame, so the converter analyzes your clip first and builds a palette from the colors it actually contains. Dithering then mixes neighboring palette colors in a fine pattern to fake the missing shades: Sierra and Floyd–Steinberg look the most natural, Bayer gives a regular crosshatch that compresses better, and None leaves flat bands but the smallest file. If you are converting a common format, the MP4 to GIF and MOV to GIF pages open the same tool with the input type preset.
Why GIF is still the format for looping clips
1987
CompuServe releases GIF
The first version, GIF87a, was built for still images on dial-up online services.
1989
GIF89a adds animation
Frame delays and transparency arrive with the 89a revision, the version every GIF uses today.
1995
Netscape adds looping
Netscape Navigator 2.0 reads a small extension block that tells the browser how many times to repeat.
2004
LZW patents expire
The last Unisys patents on GIF's compression run out, and GIF becomes free for any software to write.
That long history is the reason GIF still wins whenever a clip has to play without a play button: email clients, issue trackers, wikis, old forums and slide decks all render it as an image. The cost is size. A GIF of the same moment is typically several times larger than an MP4, so the converter gives you the controls that matter (clip length, width, frame rate, colors) instead of a single quality slider. When the target platform plays video inline anyway, convert the clip to MP4 with the video converter and keep the sound.
Gif maker from video: checklist before you convert
- The range is the exact moment, ideally under six seconds
- Width matches where it will be seen: 320 px for chat, 480 px for forums, 640 px or more for docs
- Frame rate is 10 to 15 fps unless the action is fast
- Boomerang is on if the clip's start and end do not match
- Loop is set to Play once for a GIF that should stop on a final message
- Text on screen stays readable at the chosen width
Converting video to GIF: questions
Is this video to GIF converter free, and does it add a watermark?
It is free to use and nothing is stamped on the GIF. There is no account to create; the only limits are 20 videos per batch and 95 MB per video.
How long can a GIF made from a video be?
There is no fixed cap on length, but size grows with every second. Most GIFs that get shared are two to six seconds long. For anything longer than about ten seconds, an MP4 is usually the better file to send.
What does the Boomerang option do?
It plays the clip forward and then in reverse, so the last frame flows back into the first and the loop has no jump. Because the clip runs twice, the GIF is about twice as long and twice as large; shorten the range to compensate.
Can I convert a vertical phone video to a GIF?
Yes. Width sets the horizontal size and the height follows the original aspect ratio, so a 9:16 clip at 480 px wide becomes 480 × 853 px. For a vertical GIF in a chat, 320 px wide is often enough.
How do I make a slow-motion GIF from a video?
Set Speed to 0.5×. The clip plays at half speed and lasts twice as long, so the file also roughly doubles. Pick a short range around the moment you want to slow down.
Why does the GIF look different from my video's colors?
Each GIF frame is limited to a palette of 256 colors chosen from millions in the video. Bright, flat footage such as screen recordings or cartoons converts almost perfectly; dusk scenes, faces and smoke show the limit most.
My GIF is too big for Discord. What should I change first?
Shorten the clip, then lower Width to 320 or 360 px, then drop Frame rate to 10 fps. Free Discord accounts accept files up to 10 MB. For an exact size cap, the video converter's Limit file size option can target a number for you, as in compress GIF for Discord.
Can I go from video to GIF on my phone?
Yes. The page works in Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android: tap the upload area, pick the clip from your gallery, and the GIF downloads to your Files or Downloads folder. To share it, attach the file from there in your messaging app; on iPhone you can also save it to Photos, which plays GIFs in its Animated album.
All Video to GIF tools
Pick the exact target you were asked for. Every page below is the same tool with different defaults.
- AVI to GIF ConverterConvert AVI to GIF online, including DivX, Xvid, MJPEG and DV files from older cameras. Pick the moment, width and frame rate; get a GIF that loops.
- MKV to GIF ConverterConvert MKV to GIF online by cutting one scene out of a long Matroska file. Set start and end time, width and frame rate; subtitles and audio are left out.
- MOV to GIF ConverterConvert MOV to GIF online. Make looping GIFs from iPhone videos, Live Photos saved as video and Mac screen recordings. HEVC supported, no app needed.
- MP4 to GIF ConverterConvert MP4 to GIF online with control over width, frame rate, start and end time and colors. Loops by default, no watermark, 20 videos per batch.
- WebM to GIF ConverterConvert WebM to GIF online, including VP8, VP9 and AV1 video. Set width, frame rate and start and end time, and get a looping GIF that plays anywhere.