Compress an Animated GIF
Compress GIF Settings
ReadyHow this tool shrinks a GIF's file size
Compress an animated GIF with a quality control to balance the output size and visual detail. Start with a moderate setting and compare moving edges, text and gradients in the result. A lower quality setting can reduce the file size but may introduce artifacts. Use GIF Optimizer when you also want direct control over the color palette, scaling and duplicate frames.
Cost: Free to use. File size and usage limits apply.
How to compress a GIF
Add your GIF
Click Choose file or drop a GIF onto the preview. One GIF of up to 200 MB is compressed per job. GIFs you uploaded or created in other tools on this site in the same browser are listed under Uploads.
Pick a percentage
Drag the slider below the preview or click 40%, 60%, 75% or 90%. The default is 75%.
Click Compress GIF
The GIF is processed on our server. When it's done, the preview switches to the compressed GIF and the result card shows its file size.
Check it, then download
Look at skies, skin tones and gradients, where colour reduction shows first. Click Adjust to try another percentage or Download to save the result. The original stays in Uploads, where you can compare both file sizes.
What the percentage actually changes
The percentage is not a JPEG-style quality setting. It sets how many colours the whole animation may use; every frame is then redrawn with that one palette, and one entry is always kept free for transparency. The suggestions below are rules of thumb.
- Slider (1–100%)
- 1% allows up to 33 colours, 100% up to 255. Each percentage point adds about 2 colours. The label above the slider reads Small file below 60%, Balanced from 60% to 84% and High quality from 85%.
- 90%: up to 233 colours
- A starting point for photos or clips converted from video when scenes share similar colours. Compare gradients and fine details; the visual change and file-size saving depend on the source.
- 75% (default): up to 199 colours
- A safe first try. If the file barely shrinks, go lower instead of running the same setting again.
- 60%: up to 165 colours
- Try this for screen recordings, UI demos and flat-colour illustrations. Check text edges and shading in the result.
- 40%: up to 121 colours
- Expect banding in skies and skin tones and a faint, regular dot pattern in gradients. Works for stickers and simple graphics.
- Below 40%
- Goes down to 33 colours. Suitable for logos, line drawings and pixel art with few colours; photographic content breaks up into visible bands.
How palette size affects a GIF
A GIF stores each pixel as an index into a palette of at most 256 colours. LZW compresses repeated sequences of those indices. Reducing colours can create more repetition, but re-encoding with a new palette and dithering can also produce a larger file.
To hide the missing colours, the tool uses ordered (Bayer) dithering: a fixed, fine pattern that mixes neighbouring palette colours. A regular pattern compresses better than the random-looking noise of error-diffusion dithering, but in smooth gradients it can show as faint crosshatching or bands.
The palette is built once for the entire animation. A GIF that cuts between very different scenes, such as a sunset and a green field, must share one palette between them and loses detail sooner than a GIF with a consistent colour scheme.
Colours are the only thing this tool reduces: width, height and frame count stay the same. As a rule of thumb, pixel count and frame count affect GIF size more than the palette does, so if the file must shrink a lot, reduce the dimensions with Resize GIF as well.
Formats and limits
- Input format
- GIF, animated or single-frame. Convert WebP, APNG or video files to GIF first.
- Output format
- GIF with the same dimensions, frame count and frame delays.
- Maximum file size
- 200 MB per GIF
- Files per job
- 1
- Processing
- On our servers with FFmpeg. A job can run for up to 15 minutes.
- Transparency
- Kept. GIF transparency is either on or off per pixel, and one palette entry is reserved for it.
- Looping and comments
- The loop setting of the original is kept, whether it plays once, a fixed number of times or endlessly. Text comments stored in the GIF are not copied.
- Watermark
- None
- Storage
- Uploads and results are deleted automatically after 48 hours for guests and after 30 days for free accounts. Paid plans can keep files longer.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the compressed GIF larger than the original?
Every frame is re-encoded with a new palette and new dithering. If the original already has a tuned palette or lossy GIF compression, the result can come out larger. Try 60% or 40% and compare the actual sizes, or reduce the dimensions.
How can I shrink a GIF's file size further?
Lower the percentage first. If that is not enough, reduce the pixel count with Resize GIF: at half the width and half the height, only a quarter of the pixels remain. If the place you are posting to accepts video, try GIF to MP4. Video codecs can use similarities between frames to produce a smaller file; compare the actual sizes, since the result depends on the source.
Will the animation still play the same way?
Yes. Every frame and every frame delay is kept, including a longer pause on the last frame, and so is the loop setting. Only the colour palette changes.
What is the difference from Optimize GIF?
Optimize GIF uses the same colour reduction, but you enter the exact number of colours instead of a percentage. That helps when you know what your GIF needs, for example 16 or 32 colours for a flat logo animation.
Is my GIF sent anywhere else?
No. Your GIF is uploaded to our servers and processed there with FFmpeg; it is not passed to any AI or other outside service. Uploads and results are deleted automatically after 48 hours for guests and after 30 days for free accounts.