freeaudio.tools

GIF Compressor

Drop in a GIF and get a smaller one. Pick a preset or tune it yourself.
Your file. Your browser. Nothing uploaded.

Drop a GIF here or click to pick one
animated or still .gif

How GIF compression works

What this tool does

The GIF Compressor opens your GIF frame by frame, rebuilds it with the settings you pick, and shows the new file size next to the old one. You can flip between the Original and Compressed preview to check the quality before you save.

Step by step

  1. Drop a GIF in the box.
  2. Tap a preset, or set Colors, Size and Frames yourself and press Compress GIF.
  3. Compare the Original and Compressed previews.
  4. Press Export GIF to save the smaller file.

What each setting does

Colors: a GIF can hold up to 256 colors. Fewer colors means smaller codes for every pixel. Cartoons, logos and pixel art often look the same at 32 or 64 colors; photos and skin tones need 128 or more.

Size: scales the width and height. This is the biggest saver, because the file grows with the number of pixels.

Frames: keeps every 2nd, 3rd or 4th frame. Motion gets a little choppier, but the GIF plays at the same speed.

Lossy: leaves a pixel alone when it barely changed from the last frame. Only the parts that really move get saved again, which removes flicker and shrinks the file a lot on videos turned into GIFs.

Dither: mixes colors in a fine pattern so gradients look smooth. It costs some size, so turn it off for flat cartoons and text.

Size limits to know

Each preset aims for one of these limits and keeps trying smaller settings until the GIF fits.

  1. Discord upload: 10 MB on free accounts.
  2. Discord emoji: 256 KB, shown at 128 × 128 px or smaller. Animated emoji need Nitro to use, but anyone can see them.
  3. Discord sticker: 512 KB at 320 × 320 px.
  4. Slack emoji: 128 KB, shown at 128 px.
  5. X / Twitter: 15 MB for GIFs posted from the web.
  6. Email: no fixed rule, but under 1 MB loads fast on phones. Use Small.

Making a good emoji

Emoji show tiny, so simple shapes and bold outlines read best. Crop the GIF square before you start, keep the loop short (one to two seconds), and use a see-through background so it sits cleanly in light and dark mode. Fewer frames matter more than colors at this size.

Questions

How do I get a GIF under 10 MB for Discord?

Drop it in and tap Discord 10 MB. The tool compresses it, checks the size, and if it is still too big it lowers the size, then the frame count, until it fits. Most GIFs fit in one or two tries.

Can I make a Discord emoji or sticker from a GIF?

Yes. Tap Discord emoji (under 256 KB) or Discord sticker (under 512 KB) in the presets. The tool scales the GIF to 128 px for emoji or 320 px for stickers, then drops frames and colors until it fits. Slack emoji (under 128 KB) works the same way. Square GIFs look best, since emoji and stickers show in a square.

Which setting shrinks a GIF the most?

Size. Halving the width and height cuts the pixels to a quarter, so the file often drops by 60 to 75%. Next comes Frames (every 2nd frame is about half the data), then Lossy, then Colors.

Will it keep my transparent background?

Yes. See-through pixels stay see-through. Transparent GIFs compress a bit less, because every frame is saved whole so the clear parts stay clean.

Why is my result bigger than the original?

Some GIFs are already squeezed hard by the app that made them. When that happens the tool tells you, and Export saves your original file instead, so you never end up with a bigger one. To try for smaller, make sure Dither is off, raise Lossy, or lower Colors and Size.

Does the GIF still loop and keep its speed?

Yes. It loops forever, and when frames are dropped their time is added to the frames that stay, so the animation runs at the same overall speed.

Help support freeaudio.tools to stay free! Donate

Related tools