Compress GIF
Reduce the file size of animated GIFs with fewer colours, lossy compression, fewer frames or a smaller size, and see the before and after.
- 100% free
- Runs in your browser
- No uploads
- Runs on your deviceEvery tool works directly in your browser. No files are uploaded.
- Your privacy mattersYour files never leave your device, so there's nothing for us to store.
- No limitsUse any tool as much as you need. No daily caps, no waiting.
- Completely freeNo signup and no trial to cancel. Ads keep the tools free.
How to compress a GIF
- Add your GIFs. Drop one or more GIF files, or click to choose them. Compression starts straight away with the Balanced setting.
- Pick how hard to compress. Light, Balanced or Strong set the colours and lossy level together. Fine-tune either one if you like.
- Go further if you need to. Remove frames or make the GIF smaller for the biggest savings. Every change re-runs automatically.
- Check and download. Preview shows the original and the compressed GIF side by side. Download each one, or all of them as a zip.
What each setting does
| Setting | What it changes | Side effect |
|---|---|---|
| Colours | The palette: up to 256 colours shared by every frame | Banding in gradients and skin tones below 64 |
| Lossy | Ignores tiny changes between frames, so less is stored | Faint trails or speckle at high values |
| Remove frames | Drops every 2nd, 3rd or 4th frame | Motion gets choppier |
| Size | Scales width and height; 50% stores a quarter of the pixels | Less detail |
How GIF compression works
Every frame is decoded in full, then written back with three tricks. First, one palette is built for the whole animation instead of one per frame. Second, each pixel that looks the same as in the previous frame is stored as see-through, so a frame only keeps what moved; the Lossy slider decides how close counts as the same. Third, runs of identical values compress very well with GIF's built-in LZW compression, so those see-through areas cost almost nothing.
Frames where nothing changes are merged into the frame before. Frame timing, the loop setting (forever, once or a set number of times) and transparency are kept. If the result would be bigger than your file, which can happen with GIFs that are already optimised, the original is kept instead.
Tips for smaller GIFs
- Crop and trim first. Every pixel and every frame costs space. Cutting a clip to the moment that matters saves more than any setting.
- Screen recordings shrink best. Flat colours and still backgrounds compress very well; camera footage compresses least.
- Consider a video. Many sites and chat apps play MP4 like a GIF. The GIF to MP4 converter usually makes a far smaller file.
- Making a GIF from a video? Set a lower frame rate and width in video to GIF, then fine-tune here.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my GIF still big after compressing?
GIF stores every pixel that changes, so animations where the whole picture moves (camera footage, pans, film clips) stay big whatever you do. Removing frames and making it smaller help most there, because both cut the number of pixels stored. If the site accepts video, an MP4 of the same clip is usually far smaller.
Does removing frames change the speed?
No. The time of each removed frame is added to the frame before it, so the animation plays for the same length and at the same pace, just a little less smoothly. Removing every 2nd frame halves the frame count.
Is transparency kept?
Yes. See-through areas stay see-through, including in animations where a shape moves over a transparent background. GIF transparency is all-or-nothing per pixel, so soft edges were already hard edges in the original.
How do I get a GIF under a size limit, like Discord's 256 KB for emoji?
Start with Strong, then lower the size to 50% or less; emoji are shown small anyway. If it's still over, remove every 2nd frame. The new size appears beside each file as soon as it's done, so you can try settings until it fits.
Are my GIFs uploaded?
No. Decoding, compressing and re-encoding all happen in this browser tab, in a background thread so the page stays responsive. The files never leave your device.
Is there a limit on file size?
The tool handles GIFs up to 4096 pixels on each side and 3,000 frames. Very long, large animations can take a while and need a lot of memory; on a phone, close other tabs first.