Filewhisk

Convert GIF to MP4

Drop a GIF here

or click to choose — animated GIFs of any size

Drop an animated GIF and get an H.264 MP4 for places that take video but not GIFs, or where a GIF is too big. Every frame keeps its own timing, including the very short delays browsers slow down, transparent parts get the background you choose, and the animation can repeat inside the video because MP4 has no loop setting. The result tells you how much smaller the MP4 really is, which depends a lot on the GIF. Nothing is uploaded.

When an MP4 is better than a GIF

GIF is from 1987. It stores every frame as an indexed picture of at most 256 colours and has no idea of motion, so a few seconds of footage can run to megabytes. An H.264 MP4 stores the change from one frame to the next and can use millions of colours. That is why many sites quietly turn uploaded GIFs into videos, and why some places, such as Instagram posts, presentation software and many upload forms, take MP4 but not GIF.

Converting is not always a win, though, and the usual promise that an MP4 is “5 to 10 times smaller” depends entirely on what the GIF shows. This tool prints the real figure for your file, and tells you plainly when the MP4 comes out bigger.

What we measured

We converted test GIFs in Chrome on a Windows PC on 11 October 2026 and read every MP4 back with a separate decoder (FFmpeg, through PyAV), frame by frame, against the GIF drawn on a white background:

GIFGIF sizeMP4 sizeSmaller by
Video clip, 400 × 300, 40 frames, dithered2.21 MB69 KB32 ×
Photo animation, 400 × 300, 30 frames102 KB12 KB8.3 ×
App interface recording, 480 × 270, 40 frames74 KB23 KB3.3 ×
Flat-colour screen recording, 480 × 270, 60 frames14.3 KB13.8 KB3% (about the same)
Emoji with a transparent background, 128 × 128, 24 frames10.5 KB7.0 KB1.5 ×
Small animation, 120 × 120, 70 frames14.2 KB16.2 KB14% bigger

The pattern is simple. The more a GIF looks like real footage, with gradients, noise and photos, the more an MP4 saves, because GIF is at its worst there. Flat colours, small sizes and many tiny frames are what GIF does well, and the MP4 saves little or nothing. Each conversion took well under two seconds, the largest one included.

Frame timing: the speed you see in the browser

Every GIF frame carries its own delay, in hundredths of a second. Some GIFs set it to 0 or 0.01 seconds, and browsers do not play those as written: Chrome, Firefox and Safari show such frames for 0.1 seconds. The browser's image decoder still reports the stored value, so a converter that copies it makes a video that runs faster than the GIF ever did on screen. Our test GIF mixed delays of 0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1 and 2 seconds; the MP4's frames start at exactly the times the browser shows them, and the result says how many frames were adjusted. Long pauses, like the 2-second hold in that GIF, are kept as they are.

Transparency, size and looping

  • Transparency. H.264 MP4 cannot be transparent. The tool checks the GIF and, if it finds transparent pixels, asks for a background: white, black or any colour, ideally the colour of the page or chat where the video will play.
  • Odd sizes. H.264 needs an even width and height. A GIF of 301 × 201 gets a one-pixel strip of the background colour on the right and bottom instead of being stretched, so pixel art stays sharp.
  • Looping. A GIF can say “loop forever”; an MP4 cannot, and whether it loops is up to the player. If a platform needs a longer clip, choose 2, 3 or 5 plays and the animation is written into the video that many times.

For Instagram: 30 fps and at least 3 seconds

Instagram's publishing rules for Reels and Stories, in Meta's developer documentation, ask for an H.264 (or HEVC) MP4 or MOV at 23 to 60 frames per second, at least 3 seconds long, with no edit lists and the index at the front of the file. GIFs rarely meet the first two: our eight test GIFs ran at 3 to 20 frames per second, and five of them were shorter than 3 seconds. Choose Constant 30 fps and Enough for 3 seconds: every GIF frame is held for as long as it shows, on a steady 30 fps grid, and the animation is repeated until the video passes 3 seconds. The repeated frames cost little; our 60-frame screen recording GIF went from 13.8 KB to 16.4 KB at 30 fps. The MP4s this tool writes have no edit list and the index first, and the result card says whether the video meets those rules. Our guide on how to post a GIF on Instagram covers feed posts, Stories, Reels and comments.

Where an MP4 loses detail

H.264 stores colour at half the resolution of brightness, as almost every video does. On footage you cannot tell. On a small GIF with sharp coloured edges, such as an emoji or text on a coloured box, the colours bleed by about a pixel: our emoji and text tests measured 28 to 30 dB against the GIF, where the interface recording reached 46 dB. The dithered video clip measured 28 dB for a different reason: the MP4 smooths out the GIF's dither noise, which is a change but not a loss you would notice. If your GIF is small, sharp-edged and transparent, the GIF itself is often the better file. To make it smaller instead, try Compress GIF.

Everything on this page runs in your browser, using its own image decoder and video encoder. The GIF is never uploaded.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert a GIF to MP4?

Drop the GIF on this page, choose a background if it has transparent parts, and press Convert to MP4. Each frame is encoded as H.264 with its own timing, and the MP4 appears on the page to check before you download it. It runs in your browser, with no sign-up and no watermark.

Is an MP4 really 5 to 10 times smaller than a GIF?

Only for some GIFs. In our tests a GIF made from video footage became 32 times smaller (2.21 MB to 69 KB) and a photo animation 8 times smaller, but a flat-colour screen recording only shrank by 3%, and a small 70-frame animation came out 14% bigger as an MP4. GIF stores flat colours and small sizes very efficiently. The result shows the real figure for your file.

Why does my MP4 play at a different speed than the GIF?

GIFs can set a frame's delay to 0 or 0.01 seconds, and browsers play those frames at 0.1 seconds instead. A converter that copies the stored delay makes the video run faster than the GIF ever did in a browser. This tool uses the browser's timing and says how many frames it affected.

Can an MP4 be transparent?

No. H.264 MP4 has no transparency, so transparent pixels get a solid background. Choose white, black or any colour, such as the background of the page or chat where the video will play. For transparent animation, keep the GIF.

Will the MP4 loop like the GIF?

MP4 has no loop setting; whether it loops is up to the player. Most social apps loop short videos themselves. If you need a longer clip, for example because a platform asks for at least a few seconds, choose 2, 3 or 5 plays and the animation is written into the video that many times.

Will the MP4 work on Instagram?

Choose Constant 30 fps and Enough for 3 seconds. Meta's rules for Reels and Stories ask for H.264 MP4 at 23 to 60 frames per second and at least 3 seconds, and GIFs are often slower and shorter than that: our eight test GIFs ran at 3 to 20 fps. With those two settings the result card confirms the MP4 meets the rules. It has no edit list and its index at the start of the file, as Instagram asks.

Does the MP4 have sound?

No. GIFs never contain sound, so the MP4 has a video track only.

Is my GIF uploaded?

No. The GIF is decoded and the MP4 encoded in your browser, using its own image decoder and video encoder. Nothing leaves your device.

Merge MP3 Files Join MP3s without losing quality, and get a file that shows its real length. MP4 WebM to MP4 Converter A screen recording that plays, shows its length and skips ahead anywhere. Rotate Video Turned without re-encoding, and checked frame by frame. WAV MP3 to WAV 16-bit or 24-bit WAV, exactly as long as the original recording. Compress MP3 Smaller MP3s, without making any file worse than it needs to be. MP3 WebM to MP3 The sound from a WebM, with a length players can seek.