Limits and targets
- Discord: 10 MB free upload cap
- WhatsApp: ~16 MB media, larger as document
- Slack: 10 MB per file on free plans
- Twitter/X: GIFs post as short videos, ~15 MB
- Email: keep under 2 MB total message
- Web/banners: under 1 MB, ideally under 500 KB
One pass per target
Compress with the size readout in view: start 75% + 128 colors; if still over, 50% + 64 + skip 2. Two passes always land under the target for chat-sized GIFs.
When to give up on GIF
Over ~30 seconds or heavily photographic content, GIF is the wrong format — convert to MP4/WebM, which compresses 10–50× better. Everything under that compresses fine here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do limits change often?
Occasionally — Nitro tiers, server boosts and premium mail plans move the caps. The targets above are safe under every current tier.
What resolution should chat GIFs be?
480–800 px wide covers chat windows; full-HD is wasted bytes in every messenger.