What is the best free online GIF maker?

Convert Media is a fully free GIF maker that runs entirely in your browser. Unlike cloud-based tools, your files never leave your device, so there are no privacy concerns. There are no watermarks, no file size limits, no daily conversion caps, and no account required. The converter uses FFmpeg WebAssembly for professional-grade output with advanced palette optimization and dithering.

How do I make a GIF from a video on my computer?

Open Convert Media in any modern web browser and drag your video file onto the converter. Select the portion you want with the trim controls, adjust size and quality settings, then click Convert to GIF. The entire process happens locally on your computer. You can use MP4, WebM, AVI, MOV, MKV, or any other common video format as your source.

What is the ideal GIF size for social media?

For Twitter/X, keep GIFs under 15MB at 480px width. For Discord, under 25MB at 400px width. For Slack, 480px width with no strict size limit. For email newsletters, keep GIFs under 1-2MB at 320-400px width for reliable delivery. As a general rule, 480px width, 10-12fps, and under 5 seconds of duration will produce GIFs that work well on most platforms.

How do I reduce GIF file size without losing too much quality?

The three most effective techniques are: 1) Reduce duration by trimming to only the essential moment. 2) Lower the frame rate to 10-12fps instead of 24fps. 3) Reduce the output width to 320-480px. Each of these can cut file size by 40-60%. You can also try the Medium quality preset, which uses 128 colors instead of 256 and is often visually indistinguishable from High quality for most content.

Can I make a GIF from a screen recording?

Yes, and screen recordings actually make excellent GIFs. Record your screen using your OS's built-in tool (Windows: Win+G, macOS: Shift+Cmd+5) or OBS Studio, then convert the recording with Convert Media. Screen recordings typically have flat colors and sharp edges that compress very well in GIF format, producing smaller files than live-action video content.

How do I make a GIF loop smoothly?

For smooth looping, choose a start and end point where the visual content is similar. Avoid cutting in the middle of fast motion. Convert Media sets infinite looping by default. If you want the GIF to play only once or a specific number of times, use the Loop setting in the converter. For a ping-pong (boomerang) effect, use the reverse feature to play the clip forward then backward.

Free GIF Maker Online

Create perfect GIFs from any video. Trim the best moment, customize settings, and download — all in your browser with zero uploads.

Upload Video

Drop a video file here, or click to browse

Supports MP4, WebM, AVI, MOV, MKV and more

Max file size: 2GB (recommended: under 200MB)

The Art and Science of Making GIFs

From choosing the perfect moment to optimizing for any platform, here is everything you need to create professional GIFs.

Why GIFs Still Matter in 2026

Despite the rise of short-form video platforms, GIFs remain one of the most versatile content formats on the internet. They load instantly, play automatically, loop seamlessly, and work in places where video cannot reach. Email newsletters, Slack messages, GitHub comments, documentation sites, and support tickets all benefit from animated GIFs where video embeds would fail.

GIFs have evolved beyond reaction images and memes. Product teams use them in changelogs to demonstrate new features. Designers share UI interaction prototypes as GIFs. Developers include them in pull request descriptions to show before-and-after comparisons. Marketers embed them in emails where autoplay video is blocked. The format's simplicity is its greatest strength: no codec negotiations, no player requirements, no autoplay restrictions. A GIF just works.

Creating the Perfect GIF: A Step-by-Step Approach

Step 1: Choose Your Source Material

The best GIFs start with the right source. Screen recordings, product demos, tutorial walkthroughs, and short video clips all work well. Record your screen using your OS's built-in recorder (Windows: Win+G, macOS: Shift+Cmd+5) or tools like OBS Studio. For existing videos, have the file ready in MP4, WebM, AVI, MOV, or MKV format. Higher resolution sources give you more flexibility to crop and resize during conversion.

Step 2: Identify the Key Moment

Before you even open the converter, decide exactly which 2-5 second window captures the essence of what you want to communicate. Great GIFs are ruthlessly focused on a single action or transition. A feature demo should show one interaction. A reaction GIF should capture one expression. Trim everything else away. The discipline of selecting the right moment is what separates forgettable GIFs from ones that get shared.

Step 3: Upload and Trim in Convert Media

Drop your video file onto the converter. Use the timeline scrubber to set your start and end points precisely. Preview the selected range to make sure the loop point feels natural. For smooth looping, try to find moments where the start and end frames are visually similar, so the loop transition is not jarring.

Step 4: Dial In Your Settings

Set the output width based on where the GIF will be used. For Slack and Discord, 400-480px is ideal. For documentation and blog posts, 640px provides crisp detail. For email, keep it under 400px to avoid layout issues. Choose 10-12 fps for most content; bump to 15-20 fps only for fast motion that needs to look smooth. Select your quality preset based on content type: Medium for screen recordings, High for photo/video content.

Step 5: Convert, Review, and Iterate

Click convert and review the result. Check the file size. If it is too large for your platform (most limit GIFs to 10-20MB), go back and reduce resolution, frame rate, or duration. If the quality is not right, try a higher quality preset or adjust the trim to exclude problematic frames. The convert cycle is fast enough in Convert Media to iterate multiple times until the GIF is exactly right.

GIF Specs by Platform

Different platforms have different requirements. Here are the recommended settings for each:

Platform	Max Size	Ideal Width	Notes
Slack	No hard limit	480px	Auto-converts large GIFs to video
Discord	25MB (Nitro: 50MB)	400px	Displays inline in chat
Twitter/X	15MB	480px	Converts to MP4 on upload, but still use GIF input
GitHub	10MB	640px	Great for PR descriptions and README files
Email	1-5MB ideal	320-400px	Keep small for deliverability
LinkedIn	5MB recommended	480px	Supports GIF in posts and messages

Advanced GIF Optimization Techniques

When file size matters, these techniques give you the most control over your output:

Color Palette Strategy

GIF supports a maximum of 256 colors per frame. Convert Media generates an optimal palette by analyzing your entire clip and selecting the 256 colors that best represent the content. For content with limited colors (UI demos, text, graphics), even 128 colors (Medium quality) produces indistinguishable results from 256. The fewer colors used, the better GIF's LZW compression works, resulting in smaller files.

Frame Rate vs Perceived Smoothness

There is a diminishing return on frame rate for GIFs. At 10fps, motion looks slightly choppy but is acceptable for most content. At 12fps, most viewers cannot tell it from 24fps unless looking closely. At 15fps, motion appears smooth to nearly everyone. Going above 15fps adds significant file size with almost no perceptible improvement. The exception is fast horizontal motion (scrolling, panning), where 15-20fps looks noticeably smoother.

The Speed Multiplier Trick

If your source video is slow-paced, try increasing the playback speed to 1.5x or 2x. This effectively reduces the duration (and therefore file size) while making the content feel more dynamic. Convert Media's speed control lets you preview the accelerated version before converting. This works especially well for tutorial walkthroughs and process demonstrations.

Reverse for Impact

Convert Media's reverse feature creates clips that play backwards, which is great for boomerang-style effects. Combine forward and reverse in your source material for a ping-pong loop that emphasizes a moment. Note that reverse doubles the memory requirement, so keep clips short when using this feature.

Popular GIF Use Cases

Product Demos

Show a feature in action without requiring users to click play. Product hunt listings, landing pages, and SaaS marketing emails all benefit from inline GIF demos. Record a 5-second interaction at 480px, 12fps.

Bug Reports

A GIF showing the bug in action communicates more than paragraphs of text. Record your screen, trim to the moment the bug occurs, and attach the GIF to your issue tracker. Developers will love you for it.

Documentation

Step-by-step tutorials in documentation are vastly improved with GIFs. Show the user exactly where to click and what to expect. GitHub README files with GIF demos get significantly more engagement than text-only docs.

Social Media Content

GIFs stand out in social media feeds because they autoplay and loop. Create eye-catching moments from longer videos for Twitter, LinkedIn, or Reddit. Keep them under 5 seconds and highly focused for maximum shareability.

Format-Specific Converters

Have a specific file format? Jump directly to the right converter:

Video to GIF

All video formats supported

MP4 to GIF

Most common video format

WebM to GIF

Open web video format

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about Convert Media.