GIF vs PNG
| Property | GIF | PNG |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graphics Interchange Format | Portable Network Graphics |
| File extensions | .gif | .png |
| Created by | CompuServe | PNG Development Group (W3C Recommendation) |
| Introduced | 1987 | 1996 |
| Compression | Lossless, but limited to 256 colours per frame | Lossless: every pixel is kept exactly |
| Transparency | On or off per pixel only (no soft edges) | Yes, full alpha channel with soft edges |
| Animation | Yes, its main use today | Only as APNG, which few apps play |
| Typical size | Large for its quality: a few seconds of video can be several MB | Often 3–10× larger than JPG for photos; small for flat graphics |
| Opens on | Every browser, phone, chat app and social network | Every browser, phone, computer and image editor |
| Best for | Short looping animations and reactions | Screenshots, logos, text and graphics with transparency |
Why convert GIF to PNG?
Plenty of older logos, icons and website graphics only exist as GIFs. PNG was designed as GIF's replacement, and it is better in every way for still images: more colours, smooth (not just on/off) transparency and usually smaller files. Converting keeps the picture pixel-for-pixel, because both formats are lossless.
Converted GIFs keep their transparent areas, so a logo on a see-through background stays that way in the PNG. Edges stay as sharp, or as jagged, as they were: GIF transparency is all-or-nothing, and converting does not invent soft edges.
Only the first frame of an animation is saved. If you need the motion in a modern format, upload sites generally prefer MP4, and our Video to GIF tool works the other way round. If the PNG is going on a website, you can make it smaller still with PNG to WebP.