Free GIF to APNG Converter
APNG (Animated PNG) stores 24-bit full color and true per-pixel alpha transparency — no 256-color ceiling, no jagged edges. Convert your GIF instantly in your browser, with no upload and no account.
Drop GIF here or click to browse
Converts in your browser — nothing uploaded
How It Works
Select or drop your GIF file
Click the upload area or drag your .gif file onto it. The file is processed entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to any server. GIF files up to 50 MB are supported.
FFmpeg extracts and re-encodes every frame
FFmpeg WebAssembly reads the GIF's frame sequence, decodes each frame to a raw RGBA pixel buffer, and re-encodes them as deflate-compressed PNG frames with full 24-bit color and 8-bit alpha. The frames are assembled into an APNG container using the original frame timing from the source GIF.
Download your .apng file
The output file has an .apng extension and is a valid Animated PNG. Drop it into a standard HTML img tag — no JavaScript, no special attributes required. Modern browsers detect and animate APNG automatically.
Embed it on your site or use it in your app
Use <img src="animation.apng" alt="description of the animation"> in any HTML page. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge all animate APNG natively. You can also reference it as a CSS background-image and it will animate in all supported browsers.
Why APNG Is Better Than GIF
GIF encodes each animation frame as an 8-bit indexed image — a palette of at most 256 colors chosen to approximate the frame's actual pixel values. On any frame with more than 256 distinct colors, the encoder must substitute the closest available palette entry, producing the blocky color banding that makes GIF look dated on any rich visual content. This 256-color ceiling is baked into the GIF specification and cannot be worked around. The format has carried this constraint since 1989 with no revision.
APNG (Animated Portable Network Graphics) removes that ceiling entirely. Proposed as a PNG extension in 2004 and now supported natively by Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, APNG stores each animation frame as a complete PNG image — meaning each frame carries 24-bit RGB color (16.7 million values) and an independent 8-bit alpha channel (256 transparency levels per pixel). The color data is exact. No palette is constructed. No substitution occurs. The pixel values in the output match the source.
The alpha channel difference is equally significant for modern design work. GIF transparency is binary: a pixel is either fully opaque or fully transparent, with nothing in between. That is why GIF animations always have hard, jagged edges — anti-aliasing requires intermediate transparency values that GIF cannot store. APNG's 8-bit alpha channel supports every transparency level from 0 (fully transparent) to 255 (fully opaque), enabling smooth semi-transparent edges, soft drop shadows, glowing halos, and correctly anti-aliased rounded corners against any background color.
UI animations and loading states: Skeleton loaders, progress spinners, badge pulse effects, and transition animations all benefit from APNG's full alpha channel. A spinner with a soft fade-out glow looks polished in APNG and looks rough in GIF — the difference is visible at a glance.
Stickers and messaging app content: APNG is the native format for Apple iMessage animated stickers. The full alpha channel lets sticker outlines blend smoothly against any chat background without the white or black fringe that GIF transparency produces on anti-aliased edges.
Branded motion graphics on white or light backgrounds: Logo animations, icon transitions, and brand micro-animations with gradients or glows lose their polish when quantized to GIF's 256 colors. APNG preserves exact color values from the design source.
When not to use APNG: APNG does not animate in most email clients — Gmail, Outlook on Windows, and corporate mail systems show only the first frame as a static image. It is not accepted by social video platforms (use MP4 for those). For sharing in messaging apps and developer tools, GIF remains the format with the widest inline auto-play support. APNG is the right choice for web pages, web apps, and native app interfaces where you control the display environment.
Key Features
24-Bit Full Color Per Frame
16.7 million colors with no palette construction and no color substitution. Exact pixel fidelity.
True Per-Pixel Alpha Transparency
256 transparency levels per pixel for smooth edges, drop shadows, and anti-aliased outlines on any background.
100% Private — Zero Uploads
Your GIF is never sent to any server. FFmpeg WebAssembly runs the conversion entirely inside your browser tab.
Standard img Tag Embed
Use APNG exactly like a GIF in HTML. No JavaScript, no special CSS, no embed wrapper needed.
iMessage Sticker Compatible
APNG is the native animated sticker format for Apple iMessage — smooth edges on every chat background.
All Modern Browsers
Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge have animated APNG natively since 2017. No plugin or polyfill needed.
Format Comparison
| Feature | GIF | APNG |
|---|---|---|
| Color depth | 256 colors (8-bit indexed) | 16.7 million colors (24-bit RGB) |
| Transparency | Binary (fully on or fully off) | Full 8-bit alpha (0–255 levels per pixel) |
| Compression | LZW (lossless, per-frame) | DEFLATE (lossless, per-frame) |
| Browser support | All browsers including old IE | All modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) |
| Email client support | Broad — best for email animation | Limited — most clients show only first frame |
| Embed method | <img> tag | <img> tag (identical usage) |
| Typical file size | Smaller for simple flat graphics | Larger — full color data stored per frame |
| Best for | Messaging, email, GitHub, Slack | UI animations, stickers, web design, app interfaces |
Technical Details
APNG extends the PNG binary format with three additional chunk types. The acTL chunk (Animation Control) appears before the first image frame and specifies the total frame count and loop count for the animation. Each frame is preceded by an fcTL chunk (Frame Control) that stores the frame's pixel dimensions, position offset on the canvas, display duration in numerator/denominator fractions of a second, and the disposal and blend mode flags. The actual compressed pixel data for each frame beyond the first is stored in fdAT chunks (Frame Data). Critically, the very first frame's pixel data is stored in a standard IDAT chunk, which means PNG decoders that do not understand APNG — including many image editing applications — will display the first frame as a normal static PNG rather than showing an error.
FFmpeg's apng muxer handles the APNG assembly. Each GIF frame is decoded to a raw RGBA pixel buffer and then encoded as a deflate-compressed PNG frame. The blend mode applied is APNG_BLEND_OP_SOURCE, which replaces the canvas entirely with each frame's pixel data, matching the behavior of the source GIF. This converter preserves the original GIF frame timings stored in the Graphics Control Extension of each GIF frame, so the output APNG plays at exactly the same speed as the source. Frame durations as short as 10 ms (100 FPS) and as long as several seconds are supported.