Turn GIF files into WebM
Turn your GIF into a WebM that plays smoothly and takes a fraction of the space. GIF is the short looping animation that plays anywhere: any browser, any chat, any email, with nothing to install. The usual reason to do it is size, because WebM is far smaller for this sort of thing. Your file never leaves your computer.
Need the other direction? Convert WebM to GIF
How to convert GIF to WebM
- 1 Drop your GIF .gif file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Pick how smooth and how sharp you want it. The defaults suit a short looping clip.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the WebM, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert GIF to WebM
- The same animation as a WebM is routinely a tenth of the size, plays smoothly and stops stuttering on a slow connection.
- WebM files come out much smaller, which is the difference between a page that loads straight away and one that keeps people waiting.
- Completely royalty free.
- Noticeably smaller than MP4 at the same visual quality.
- Video that needs a transparent background on a web page.
GIF compared with WebM
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | GIF | WebM |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .gif | .webm |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy |
| Animation | Yes | No |
| Typical file size | Larger | Smaller |
| Browser support | Every browser | All current browsers |
| Introduced | 1987 | 2010 |
| Developed by | CompuServe |
Quality and what changes
This is the step where information is discarded, and it cannot be undone by converting back later. WebM throws away detail the eye is least likely to notice, which is invisible at sensible settings and shows as blocking around sharp edges and text when pushed hard. Keep the GIF as your master and treat the WebM as a delivery copy.
- Only the first frame of an animated GIF is kept.
- One WebM limitation to keep in mind: slower to produce than an MP4 of the same clip.
Questions about GIF to WebM
What happens to an animated GIF?
WebM holds a single image, so only one frame survives, normally the first. If you need the motion, convert to a format that keeps it such as MP4, WebM or WebP rather than to WebM.
Is my GIF file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your GIF is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a WebM. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several GIF files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate WebM downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.