Why is my GIF grainy?

GIF is limited to 256 colors, so photos and gradients are dithered.

What's better than GIF for animations?

Animated WebP or a short MP4 video: much smaller with full color.

GIF vs PNG: Which Should You Use?

GIF and PNG are both lossless formats for graphics, but GIF is limited to 256 colors and on/off transparency. PNG was created to replace GIF for still images.

GIF vs PNG

Use PNG for still graphics, logos and screenshots. Use GIF only when you need a simple animation that plays everywhere (or use WebP for smaller animations).

Convert GIF to PNG Convert PNG to GIF

GIF vs PNG at a glance

Property	GIF	PNG
Compression	Lossless (exact pixels, larger files)	Lossless (exact pixels, larger files)
Transparency	Yes	Yes
Animation	Yes	No
Opens in	All browsers and devices	All browsers and devices
Best for	Simple animations and small graphics (256 colors max)	Logos, screenshots, graphics, images with text or transparency
Colors	Up to 256	Millions (plus smooth transparency)

Use GIF for

Simple animations and reactions
Tiny icons with few colors

Use PNG for

Logos and icons
Screenshots
Images with smooth, semi-transparent edges
Anything with gradients or photos

File size test

How big are the files?

We saved the same two images in both formats with our converter at default settings (quality 85 for lossy formats).

Test image	GIF	PNG	Difference
1600 × 1200 photo	878 KB	1.81 MB	GIF 51% smaller
1200 × 800 screenshot with text	87 KB	65 KB	PNG 25% smaller

Key differences

Colors

GIF can only use 256 colors, so photos and gradients get banding and dithering. PNG has full color.

Transparency

GIF pixels are either fully transparent or opaque, giving jagged edges. PNG supports smooth, semi-transparent edges.

File size

For our screenshot, GIF was larger than PNG (87 KB vs 65 KB). For the photo GIF was smaller (878 KB vs 1.8 MB), but only because it threw away most of the colors, so it looked visibly worse.

Animation

GIF supports animation; PNG doesn't (APNG exists but is less supported).

GIF

What is a GIF file?

The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is a bitmap image format developed by CompuServe in 1987, distinguished by its use of the Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) lossless data compression algorithm. It supports up to 8 bits per pixel, allowing a palette of 256 distinct colors selected from the 24-bit RGB color space. The GIF89a specification, introduced in 1989, added support for transparent backgrounds, animation delays, and application extensions, establishing it as a standard for simple web animations and low-color graphics.

How to open a GIF file

GIF files possess near-universal compatibility and can be opened natively by all modern web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) and default operating system viewers like Microsoft Photos and Apple Preview. No third-party software is typically required for viewing. For editing frame-by-frame animations or modifying color palettes, raster graphics editors such as GIMP, Adobe Photoshop, or online tools like Ezgif are required.

Full Name: Graphics Interchange Format
Developed By: CompuServe
Initial Release: 1987
MIME Type: image/gif

PNG

What is a PNG file?

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is a raster graphics file format that supports lossless data compression, created as a patent-free replacement for the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). Standardized as ISO/IEC 15948:2004, PNG utilizes the DEFLATE compression algorithm (a combination of LZ77 and Huffman coding) and supports palette-based images, grayscale, and full-color non-palette-based RGB/RGBA images. A defining feature is its alpha channel support, allowing for variable transparency levels, unlike the binary transparency of GIF. It does not support animation but offers gamma correction and interlacing via the Adam7 algorithm.

How to open a PNG file

PNG files possess near-universal compatibility across all major operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS) and web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari) without requiring additional software. Default image viewers such as Microsoft Photos, Apple Preview, and virtually all graphics editing software including GIMP, Adobe Photoshop, and Paint.NET natively handle the format.

Full Name: Portable Network Graphics
Developed By: PNG Development Group
Initial Release: 1996
MIME Type: image/png