How do GIF and AVIFcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
Graphics Interchange Format
GIF is a widely recognized format best known for animated images and short loops. While limited to 256 colors, GIF's animation support and universal compatibility make it a staple of web culture.
AV1 Image File Format
AVIF is a next-generation image format based on the AV1 video codec. It offers the best compression ratios available today — significantly better than WebP and JPG — while being royalty-free and open source.
| Specification | GIF | AVIF |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graphics Interchange Format | AV1 Image File Format |
| Extension | .gif | .avif |
| MIME type | image/gif | image/avif |
| Category | Image | Image |
| Developer | CompuServe | Alliance for Open Media |
| Year introduced | 1987 | 2019 |
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy |
Both GIF and AVIF have their strengths. GIF excels at animated images and memes, while AVIF is better for cutting-edge web performance optimization.
Need to switch formats? Convert for free with SquishConvert.