The limitation is the canvas encoder, not the format. Animated WebP exists and is excellent; producing it needs a dedicated tool such as gif2webp or ffmpeg, not a browser canvas.
GIF to WebP converter
A single GIF frame as a WebP — dramatically smaller than the GIF, and still able to carry the transparency.
- Free, no signup
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing uploaded
- Animated GIFs are captured as a single still frame. Canvas cannot write animated WebP — use gif2webp or ffmpeg for that.
- Transparency is preserved as-is; GIF's on-or-off alpha does not become soft just because WebP could store it.
Convert to
Why this conversion
When GIF to WebP is the right move
For a still image, WebP beats GIF by an enormous margin. GIF's compression dates from 1987 and works on a 256-colour palette; WebP's is modern, handles full colour, and can be lossy where GIF cannot. A still frame that costs a GIF several hundred kilobytes routinely lands in the tens as a WebP.
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One thing needs saying plainly, because WebP is often recommended as the replacement for animated GIFs. WebP does support animation — but a browser canvas cannot write it. Canvas encoding produces exactly one still frame, so this page converts one frame of your GIF, not the sequence. If you came here to turn an animated GIF into an animated WebP, no browser tool built on canvas can do that, whatever it claims.
Reach for it when
- You are replacing a still GIF on a page and want the smallest sensible file.
- The frame has transparency you need to keep.
- The image has more colour range than GIF's palette flatters.
The trade-off
What you gain and lose going GIF to WebP
GIF is the least efficient format still in common use. Converting a still frame to WebP frequently cuts the file by an order of magnitude with no visible change.
WebP has a full alpha channel, so nothing is filled in. The source only has on-or-off transparency though, so the edges come across exactly as jagged as they were.
How it works
Converting GIF to WebP, step by step
1Choose your GIF file
Browse or drop it onto the panel. Up to 25 MB. The file is decoded by your browser and is never uploaded anywhere.
2WebP is already selected
The target is preset to WebP for this conversion. Only formats your browser can genuinely encode are offered, so nothing hands you a renamed PNG.
3Set the quality
WebP is lossy here. Around 80 percent is the usual sweet spot — most of the size saving, none of the visible mush.
4Compare, then download
Original size, converted size and the percentage difference are all shown before you commit — including the cases where converting makes the file bigger.
GIF to WebP questions
Pick a question to see the answer.
No. This tool encodes through a browser canvas, which holds a single still frame, so you get one static WebP. Animated WebP is a real and very good format — producing it needs gif2webp or ffmpeg, which read the whole frame sequence.
Typically an order of magnitude for a single frame. GIF's palette-based compression is more than three decades old and loses badly to a modern encoder on essentially any content.
Yes, exactly as it was. WebP stores 8-bit alpha, but GIF only ever recorded fully-on or fully-off transparency, so the edges stay as hard as the source made them.
Related conversions
Other formats, same converter
GIF to PNG
Pull a still frame out of a GIF into a format without a 256-colour ceiling.
GIF to JPEGGet a compact, universally accepted still out of a GIF.
PNG to WebPCut a screenshot or logo down to a fraction of its size without losing the alpha channel.
Every format in one toolThe general image converter, with all the formats your browser can write and the same size comparison before you download.
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