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Convert GIF to WebP

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GIF was designed in 1987 with a strict limit of 256 colours per frame. Any photograph or gradient must be dithered down to that palette, producing the speckled, banded look typical of photo-style GIFs. WebP imposes no colour-depth ceiling and uses lossy compression to balance file size and quality. GIF's binary (on/off) transparency is carried over and upgraded to full per-pixel alpha in the WebP output. This conversion also captures only the first frame of an animated GIF — animation is not preserved in the output.

When you’d want this conversion

  • Getting a full-colour, true-colour image from a GIF that is limited to 256 colours
  • Extracting a static image from the first frame of an animated GIF
  • Upgrading GIF's binary transparency to full per-pixel alpha
  • Publishing GIF content to a modern web page at a fraction of the original file size

What to watch for

Animation is not preserved — only the first frame of the GIF is captured. If you need a specific frame or the full animation, use a dedicated GIF tool first.
Both formats are lossy — re-encoding applies compression twice. Start from the highest-quality source you have and keep the quality slider at 80%+ to minimise compounding artifacts.
From.gif

GIF

Graphics Interchange Format

  • Lossy compression
  • Supports transparency
  • Best for: simple animations, memes, web graphics with limited color
To.webp

WebP

Web Picture format

  • Lossy compression
  • Supports transparency
  • Best for: web images, CMS uploads, app assets

More GIF Conversions

Convert GIF to PNG Convert GIF to JPEG Convert GIF to AVIF

Convert Other Formats to WebP

Convert PNG to WebP Convert JPEG to WebP Convert BMP to WebP Convert AVIF to WebP Convert HEIC to WebP Convert SVG to WebP

Related Tools

Image to PDF Compress GIF Image Converter

Related Guide

PNG vs JPG vs WebP vs AVIF

How to Use

  1. 1

    Drop your GIF file or click to browse — the output format is already set to WebP.

  2. 2

    Adjust the quality slider. 85–90% is a good starting point; lower values produce smaller files with more visible compression.

  3. 3

    Click "Convert to WebP" — conversion runs entirely in your browser.

  4. 4

    Download the WebP. Note: animated GIFs convert only the first frame.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much smaller will the WebP be compared to the GIF?

Typically 50–90% smaller at equivalent visual quality. Exact savings depend on image content; natural scenes compress more than high-frequency graphic detail.

What happens to GIF animation during conversion?

Only the first frame is captured. The browser canvas renders the first frame and encodes it as a static image. If you need to work with a different frame, extract it first in a dedicated GIF editor before converting.

Will converting remove the 256-colour limitation?

The first frame's existing palette-reduced pixel data is what gets encoded. The converter cannot restore colours that were discarded during GIF quantisation — but the output format imposes no colour ceiling of its own, and future saves will not further degrade the colour range.

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Browse every supported format pair — pre-configured and ready to go.

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