Free · no signup · never uploaded
MP4 to GIF Converter
Turn a video clip into an animated GIF — in your browser, no watermark.
Drop an MP4 here or choose a file
or drop your file here.
MP4 · MOV — converted in your browser, never uploaded
Runs in your browser — your file is never uploaded.
Short answer
To convert MP4 to GIF, drop your clip below, pick a frame rate and width, and download the GIF. It runs entirely in your browser. The tool generates a custom colour palette from your clip, which is what separates a clean GIF from a blotchy one.
Guides
Why GIFs get huge, and how to keep yours small
GIF has no motion compression — every frame is stored almost in full, so file size scales with frames × pixels. Two settings control essentially all of it. Halving the width cuts size by roughly four times, since it removes pixels in both directions. Halving the frame rate roughly halves it again. A 480px, 12 fps GIF of a few seconds is usually a sensible target; 10–15 fps still reads as smooth motion to the eye.
Why the colours look better here
A GIF can only hold 256 colours. The naive approach picks a generic palette and the result bands and blotches badly, especially on gradients and skin tones. This tool runs a two-pass conversion: first it analyses your clip to build a palette from the colours actually in it (palettegen), then it renders the GIF against that custom palette (paletteuse). Same 256 colours — but the right 256.
Video formats to MP4 — what happens to your file
| Input format | Usual codecs inside | Conversion | Max file size |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOV (QuickTime) | H.264 + AAC | Rewrap (lossless) | 500 MB |
| MKV (Matroska) | H.264 + AAC | Rewrap (lossless) | 500 MB |
| WebM | VP8/VP9 + Opus | Re-encode to H.264 | 100 MB |
| AVI | MPEG-4/DivX | Re-encode to H.264 | 100 MB |
| GIF | Animated GIF | Re-encode to H.264 | 200 MB |
A rewrap copies the existing video and audio streams into an MP4 container untouched — it is lossless and finishes in seconds. A re-encode decodes and re-compresses, so it takes longer and loses a little quality. Size caps differ because everything runs on one thread in your browser.
How the GIF is made
Everything happens locally in your browser with ffmpeg — here is exactly how:
- Load the engine. ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly loads once from this site — your file is never uploaded.
- Sample and scale. frames are sampled down to your chosen frame rate and scaled to your chosen width with the lanczos filter, which keeps edges crisp.
- Build a palette. palettegen analyses the sampled frames and derives the best 256-colour palette for this specific clip.
- Render the GIF. paletteuse renders the frames against that custom palette, avoiding the banding a generic palette produces, and returns the GIF.
Assumptions
- Everything runs client-side; speed depends on your device and the clip length.
- GIF is limited to 256 colours per frame and cannot store audio.
- File size grows with frames × pixels, so width and frame rate dominate the result.
Last reviewed: July 19, 2026
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert an MP4 to a GIF?+
Drop your MP4 in above, choose a frame rate and width, and download the GIF. Everything runs in your browser with ffmpeg, so your video is never uploaded.
Are my videos uploaded to a server?+
No. Everything runs 100% in your browser using ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly, so your file never leaves your device. Nothing is uploaded, stored, or sent anywhere — and once the converter has loaded it even works offline.
Why is my GIF so large?+
GIF stores each frame almost in full, so size grows with frames and pixels. Reduce the width first — halving it cuts size roughly fourfold — then lower the frame rate. Keeping the clip to a few seconds matters more than anything else.
What frame rate should I use?+
10–15 fps looks smooth for most content and keeps the file manageable. Below about 8 fps motion starts to look choppy; above 20 fps you’re mostly adding size rather than smoothness.
Why is the first conversion slower?+
The first time, your browser downloads the ffmpeg engine (about 31 MB) and starts it up. That happens once — later conversions reuse the loaded engine and are much faster.
Does the GIF keep the audio?+
No — the GIF format cannot store audio at all. The result is silent by definition. If you need sound, keep it as an MP4.
Related tools
Video is processed entirely in your browser with ffmpeg and never uploaded.