Convert GIF to MP4

Turn a heavy animated GIF into a small MP4 video, usually a tenth of the size with smoother playback. The single most effective compression on this site.

The converter is ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. It downloads once (30 MB) when you pick your first file, then stays in your browser cache.

Your file is processed by your own browser and never uploaded. The engine itself is a one-time 30 MB download the first time you use it, and after that it comes out of your browser cache.

How to use GIF to MP4

  1. 1Drop your .gif onto the box above, or click to pick one.
  2. 2The frames are re-encoded as H.264 video. There is nothing to configure.
  3. 3Preview and download the .mp4. Compare the sizes in the row for a pleasant surprise.

The best trade on this site

Most conversions here involve a trade-off worth explaining. This one barely does: GIF is a 1989 image format pressed into service as video, and H.264 is an actual video codec. Re-encoding an animated GIF as MP4 keeps every frame and its timing, smooths the palette dithering slightly, and cuts the file size by a factor of five to twenty. The platforms already know this, which is why a GIF posted to most social feeds is quietly transformed into exactly this kind of file.

There is nothing to configure because there is no decision worth making: the tool ensures even dimensions for the encoder, keeps the frame timing untouched, and writes the index at the front of the file so the video starts instantly when embedded.

What to do about looping

The one honest caveat: GIF carries its loop-forever instruction inside the file, and MP4 has no equivalent field. Looping an MP4 is the player's decision. On the web that is one attribute on the video element, and social platforms loop short videos by default. Only a bare desktop player will play it once and stop. If the file's destination is a web page you control, muted autoplay loop playsinline is the incantation that makes the MP4 behave exactly like the GIF did, at a fraction of the weight.

Where the saved bytes come from

A GIF encodes each region of each frame against a fixed palette, with no notion of motion. H.264 spends its bits on differences: a static background costs almost nothing after the first frame, and gentle motion costs little more. The noisier the GIF's dithering, the more dramatic the savings, because dither patterns are expensive noise in GIF and get gently absorbed by the encoder here. Everything runs locally in your browser, files up to 500 MB accepted, though a GIF that size deserved this conversion long ago.

Frequently asked questions

How much smaller will the MP4 be?
Usually dramatically. GIF stores frames close to independently with a 256-colour palette; H.264 stores compact differences between frames. On typical animated GIFs the MP4 comes out 80 to 95 percent smaller, and the row shows your exact numbers. This is the rare conversion with almost no downside, which is why platforms silently do it to GIFs you post.
Does the MP4 loop like the GIF did?
The file itself has no loop instruction, because MP4 does not carry one; looping is the player's job. Everywhere GIFs get replaced by video, which includes social feeds and web pages with loop attributes, the video loops seamlessly. Played in a bare player it runs once and stops.
Will the quality drop?
It typically looks better, not worse. The GIF already paid the format's harshest costs, 256 colours and coarse dithering, and H.264 preserves what is left while smoothing the dither noise slightly. Frame timing is kept as-is, so the motion is identical.
Why convert at all if the GIF works?
Weight. A 10 MB GIF in a web page costs every visitor 10 MB and decodes expensively; the same animation as a 600 KB MP4 with muted autoplay looks identical and loads in a blink. Pages, presentations and messages all get faster, which is why the modern web treats big GIFs as a bug.
Is my GIF sent to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser with ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. The file never leaves your device.

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