What it is
Online GIF Maker is a GIF maker. Start from a video, a set of pictures or a link, pick the moment, trim and crop it, add a caption if it needs one, and make a GIF. If you need something smaller, the same clip can be exported as WebP, MP4 or APNG. It runs in your browser with no account, no watermark and nothing to install.
It's built for the everyday jobs that come up constantly: a reaction for a chat, a bug you want to show instead of describe, a feature demo for your documentation, a loop for a newsletter.
Why we built it
Most online GIF makers share the same frustrations. You wait for a conversion, find the file is far too large for the place you wanted to post it, and have to start again without knowing which setting caused it. Others bury the download behind a sign-up or stamp a logo over your clip.
So we started from a different place: show the estimated file size while you edit, make the preview match the export, and keep the whole thing free of accounts and watermarks.
What we care about
- Privacy first. Your original is deleted the moment the conversion ends and the result is removed after an hour. We don't run advertising or analytics trackers. Read the privacy policy.
- Honest numbers. The size estimate is a range built from real measurements, not a promise, and it says so. After an export it corrects itself using your actual file.
- Quality that holds up. GIFs are created with a colour palette generated for your clip rather than a generic one, which keeps gradients and skin tones cleaner than the quick method.
- No dark patterns. No watermark, no forced sign-up, no countdown to a paid plan.
How it works behind the scenes
Your file is uploaded to our converter, which uses FFmpeg, the same open-source tool behind much of the web's video, to do the work. It runs inside resource-limited processes with strict limits on size, duration and time. A background queue means a busy moment doesn't stop the page responding, and the progress bar you see reflects real progress rather than a timer.
What it doesn't do
- It can't fetch videos from pages like YouTube or social networks. Import works only with direct links to a media file.
- GIF can't carry sound, so audio is always dropped. Exporting MP4 keeps a video format, but also without audio.
- Results are capped at 60 seconds and uploads at 100 MB by default, to keep the service quick for everyone.
- It isn't a full video editor. It's designed for short, focused clips.
Get in touch
Questions, bug reports, or an idea for something that would make this more useful? We read everything. Visit the contact page.