Animated WebP
Also known as: webp animation, animated webp file, webp vs gif
Animated WebP stores a short animation in a single WebP file, supporting full color, alpha transparency, and both lossy and lossless compression. It typically produces much smaller files than an equivalent GIF or APNG at similar quality.
- Usually much smaller than the same GIF or APNG
- Supports alpha transparency and millions of colors
- Lossy and lossless modes available
Why it saves space
WebP was built by Google as a modern replacement for GIF, PNG, and JPEG. For animation it combines GIF-style frame storage with modern compression, so a clip can be a fraction of the size of the same GIF — a real win for storage and faster loading.
Unlike GIF, animated WebP supports a full alpha channel and millions of colors, so transparency and gradients look clean instead of banded.
Lossy vs lossless and compatibility
You can save animated WebP in lossy mode for the smallest files or lossless mode when you need pixel-perfect frames. Lossy is usually the right call for sharing and the web.
All current browsers play animated WebP, but some older apps and editors do not. For long or high-motion clips, a true video format such as MP4 still compresses better than any animated image.