Make a Twitter / X GIF from a Video — Free, No Upload
Twitter (X) accepts GIFs up to 15 MB and autoplays them in the feed. This guide makes a small, sharp GIF from any video clip.
Step-by-step
Trim to under 5 seconds
Twitter caps GIFs at 15 MB. A 5-second 480p GIF at 15 fps is around 8 MB — well under the limit.
Convert with custom palette
Open the Video to GIF tool, set 480p width and 15 fps. Custom palette extraction keeps colors vivid at small file sizes.
Verify under 15 MB
Check the output size before uploading. If too large, drop FPS to 12 or width to 360p.
Recommended settings
| Twitter GIF cap | 15 MB |
|---|---|
| Recommended FPS | 15 fps |
| Recommended width | 480 px (or 360 for tight budgets) |
| Best duration | 2–5 seconds |
Check before you publish
- Check the size against the 15 MB cap on the desktop uploader — the mobile app is stricter, and a GIF that is close to the line on one fails on the other.
- Look at the colours in any gradient or sky. GIF has 256 of them, and banding shows up there first.
- Confirm it reads at a glance with no sound. A GIF that needs the audio to make sense will not work as one.
Tools you may also need
FAQ
Why does my GIF look posterized?
GIF only supports 256 colors per frame. Custom palette extraction (used by this tool) picks the best 256 for your specific clip — much sharper than the default web palette.
Should I use MP4 instead of GIF?
For long clips, yes — Twitter converts uploaded GIFs to MP4 anyway. But the GIF format is still the easiest to download, save, and re-share from feeds.
Does this run in my browser?
Yes — every step in this guide uses an in-browser FFmpeg WebAssembly tool. Your video never uploads to a server and never leaves your device.