WebP vs GIF vs APNG vs MP4: Which Animation Format to Use
There are now five common ways to put a short animation on the web: GIF, animated WebP, APNG, animated AVIF and video (MP4 or WebM). They differ a lot in file size, color, transparency and where they're accepted. Here's how to choose.
At a glance
| Format | Colors | Transparency | Typical size vs GIF | Works in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GIF | 256 per frame | On/off (no soft edges) | Baseline | Everywhere: browsers, email, chat apps |
| Animated WebP | Full color | Full alpha | Often 30–60% smaller | All modern browsers, some apps |
| APNG | Full color | Full alpha | Often larger | All modern browsers |
| Animated AVIF | Full color | Full alpha | Smallest image format | Recent Chrome, Firefox and Safari |
| MP4 (H.264) | Full color | None | 5–10× smaller | All browsers via <video> |
Sizes depend heavily on the content. A flat cartoon compresses very differently from camera footage, so test with your own files.
GIF: the format that works everywhere
GIF's limits are real: 256 colors per frame, hard-edged transparency and weak compression. But nothing beats its compatibility. Email clients, chat apps, forums, CMSs and social networks all accept GIF. When you don't control the player, GIF is still the safe choice. Just compress it with the GIF compressor.
Animated WebP: smaller GIFs for the web
WebP supports full color and soft transparency, and its animated files are usually much smaller than the same GIF. Every current browser displays it. Outside browsers, support is mixed: some apps and email clients still refuse WebP or show only the first frame.
Use WebP on your own website when you want an image (not a video) with transparency. To make one, use the GIF to WebP converter. If you downloaded a WebP and need something that works in more places, the WebP to GIF converter goes the other way.
APNG: quality over size
APNG is PNG with frames added. It keeps full color and smooth transparency, and since it's lossless, it's usually bigger than GIF. It's a good fit for short UI animations or stickers where quality matters more than bytes. Most people won't need it.
Animated AVIF: smallest, least supported
AVIF uses a modern video codec inside an image file, so it compresses better than WebP. Browser support arrived recently, and tooling and app support are still catching up. Consider it for high-traffic sites where every kilobyte counts, with a fallback.
Video: best for anything longer than a few seconds
For a clip of real footage or anything over a few seconds, video wins by a wide margin. A looping, muted MP4 behaves like a GIF and is usually 5–10× smaller:
<video src="clip.mp4" autoplay loop muted playsinline></video>
The catch is transparency: standard H.264 MP4 has none. See GIF vs MP4 for the details, and convert with the GIF to MP4 converter.
Serving the best format with a fallback
On a web page, the <picture> element lets the browser pick the first format it supports:
<picture>
<source srcset="anim.avif" type="image/avif" />
<source srcset="anim.webp" type="image/webp" />
<img src="anim.gif" alt="Short description of the animation" />
</picture>
Older browsers fall back to the GIF, and modern ones download the much smaller file.
Which one should you use?
- Email, chat, forums, anywhere you don't control: GIF.
- Your website, short loop with transparency: WebP (or AVIF with a WebP fallback).
- Your website, real footage or longer than a few seconds: MP4.
- Lossless UI animation: APNG.
All the converters linked here run in your browser, so you can try each format on your own files without uploading them.