MP4 vs GIF
| Property | MP4 | GIF |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | MPEG-4 Part 14 | Graphics Interchange Format |
| File extensions | .mp4, .m4v | .gif |
| Created by | MPEG (ISO/IEC 14496-14) | CompuServe |
| Introduced | 2003 | 1987 |
| Compression | Depends on the codec inside; usually lossy | Lossless, but limited to 256 colours per frame |
| Transparency | — | On or off per pixel only (no soft edges) |
| Animation | — | Yes, its main use today |
| Codecs inside | Usually H.264 or H.265 video with AAC audio | — |
| Typical size | — | Large for its quality: a few seconds of video can be several MB |
| Opens on | Every phone, computer, TV, browser, editor and social network | Every browser, phone, chat app and social network |
| Best for | Sharing, uploading and playing video anywhere | Short looping animations and reactions |
Why convert MP4 to GIF?
GIFs are still the easiest way to put a short moving clip somewhere a video player is not welcome: a Slack or Teams message, a GitHub README, a slide deck, an email or a forum post. Converting the right few seconds of an MP4 is the usual way to make one.
The secret to a good GIF is keeping it small. GIF stores every frame with only 256 colours and simple compression, so size grows quickly with width, frame rate and length. As a guide, 3–5 seconds at 480 pixels wide and 10–15 fps lands in the 1–5 MB range that most apps accept. Wider or longer clips may be better left as MP4, which the same apps often autoplay anyway.
The tool picks a shared colour palette for the whole clip and applies light dithering, which reduces banding in skies and skin. For screen recordings with flat colours, turning dithering off can make the file smaller. To make a GIF from photos instead, use the GIF Maker.