GIF to MP4 Converter
Turn an animated GIF into an MP4 video that is usually many times smaller and plays everywhere video does. Frame timing is kept exactly, short GIFs can repeat, and nothing is uploaded.
Your file
Drop a GIF to convert to MP4Tap to choose a GIF
Animated GIF
Why use this tool
No file size limit
Full-size photos and long documents, straight from your device.
Nothing is uploaded
Processed entirely in your browser. Your files never leave your device.
No signup needed
Open the tool and go. No account, no email.
GIF is a 1987 image format pressed into service as video. It stores every frame as a separate picture with at most 256 colors, so animations are heavy and grainy. MP4 video compresses motion far better: the same animation is commonly a fifth to a tenth of the size, with smoother colors.
That is why most social networks, messaging apps and websites convert GIFs to video behind the scenes. This GIF to MP4 converter does it for you, in your browser, using your device's own video encoder: you get a standard H.264 MP4 you can upload, embed or edit anywhere.
How to convert a GIF to MP4
Add your GIF
Drop an animated GIF on the box above, or choose one. Its size, dimensions, frame count and length appear under the preview.
Choose how many times it plays
A video plays once and stops, unlike a GIF. Repeat a short animation two, three or five times to give it a sensible length.
Pick the size and background
Keep the GIF's size or double it for sharper playback in feeds. Choose the color that transparent areas become.
Convert and download
Press Convert to MP4. The video plays when it is ready, with its size compared to the GIF, then download it.
Why convert a GIF to MP4
Size is the main reason. A 5 MB reaction GIF often becomes a 500 KB video with smoother color, which loads faster, fits under upload limits and uses less data on phones.
Compatibility is the other. Video editors, presentation software, ad platforms and many social apps take MP4 but treat GIF as a still image or refuse it. An MP4 also gets real playback controls: pause, scrub and full screen.
GIF is still the better choice where autoplay without controls matters and video is not allowed, such as most email clients. To make a GIF smaller instead of converting it, use the GIF compressor.
Exact timing, frame by frame
GIF frames can each have their own delay: a pause on the last frame, a quick flicker in the middle. Many converters resample everything to a fixed frame rate and lose those details. Here each frame keeps its own duration in the video, so it plays exactly like the GIF.
Frames with a delay of 10 milliseconds or less are timed the way browsers actually play them, at 100 milliseconds, so the video matches what you saw.
Transparency, looping and size
MP4 video has no transparency, so see-through parts of a GIF are filled with the background you choose: white for most pages, black for dark themes. For a transparent animation, keep it as a GIF, and use the GIF background remover to make one.
A GIF loops by itself; a video plays once unless the player loops it. Repeating a short GIF two to five times in the video gives apps that dislike very short clips something to work with. Video encoders need even dimensions, so a GIF with an odd width or height gets one extra row or column in the background color. To make the clip faster or slower first, use the GIF speed changer.
Doubling the size makes small GIFs look sharper on large screens and in feeds that upscale videos with blur.
Converting GIF to MP4 with ffmpeg
If you prefer the command line, ffmpeg does the same job: ffmpeg -i input.gif -movflags +faststart -pix_fmt yuv420p -vf "scale=trunc(iw/2)*2:trunc(ih/2)*2" output.mp4. The yuv420p pixel format is what makes the video play in browsers and on phones, and the scale filter rounds the dimensions to even numbers.
The tool above produces the same kind of file, H.264 in MP4 with the index at the start for quick playback, without installing anything.
GIF and MP4 compared
Why sites and apps prefer video for animation, and where GIF still wins.
| GIF | MP4 (H.264) | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical file size | Large | Usually 5–10× smaller |
| Colors | 256 per frame | Millions |
| Transparency | Yes (on or off per pixel) | No |
| Loops by itself | Yes | Only if the player loops |
| Plays in email | Almost everywhere | Rarely |
| Playback controls | None | Pause, scrub, full screen |
When to convert GIFs to video
Social posts
Upload animations as video, which networks accept everywhere and play at full quality.
Faster websites
Replace heavy GIFs with an autoplaying, muted, looping video for a fraction of the size.
Video editing
Bring a GIF into a video editor or presentation as a clip with exact timing.
Messaging with limits
Send a long animation as a small video instead of a GIF that is too large to attach.
Ads and stories
Turn an animated banner into the video format ad platforms and stories ask for.
Archiving
Keep big animated collections at a fraction of the storage.
Frequently asked questions
- Is it free, and is anything uploaded?
- It is free with no watermark, and nothing is uploaded: your browser encodes the video on your device.
- Why is the MP4 so much smaller than the GIF?
- Video codecs store how the picture changes from frame to frame, with millions of colors. GIF stores each frame as a separate 256-color image. Animation is exactly what video compression is good at.
- Will the MP4 loop like the GIF?
- Videos play once unless the player loops them. Repeat the animation two to five times in the video, or set the player on your site or app to loop.
- What happens to a transparent GIF?
- MP4 has no transparency, so transparent areas become the background color you choose.
- Why did I get a WebM file instead of MP4?
- Your browser could not encode H.264, so the tool made a WebM video (VP9) instead. It plays in browsers and most apps. Chrome, Edge and Safari encode MP4.
- Is the timing kept?
- Yes. Each frame keeps its own duration, so pauses and quick flickers play exactly as in the GIF.
- Does the video have sound?
- No. GIFs have no sound, so the video is silent.
- Can I turn a video back into a GIF?
- Yes. Use the GIF maker, which takes MP4, MOV and WEBM clips and lets you choose the part to use.
Related tools
GIF Compressor
Reduce GIF file size, or fit a GIF under an exact size like 256 KB or 5 MB.
GIF Maker
Make an animated GIF from pictures or a video clip. Set the order, speed, size and loop.
GIF Speed Changer
Speed up or slow down a GIF, or set one delay for every frame, without losing quality.
GIF Splitter
Split a GIF into frames and download them as PNG or JPG images, or as a sprite sheet.
GIF Background Remover
Remove the background from an animated GIF, keep it moving, and download a transparent GIF or add a new color.
Compress Image
Cut file size for faster pages and lighter uploads, without visible quality loss.