APNG (Animated PNG) was born as a Mozilla project in 2004 and today has universal browser support. It's a strict upgrade over GIF for content with more than 256 colors or with semi-transparent edges — chat stickers, product renders, UI animations. Files are typically 20% smaller than the GIF equivalent at higher visual quality. This tool uses APNG encoder in-browser (WebAssembly) with tunable per-frame optimization.
APNG vs. GIF vs. WebP — pick the right target
All three animate. GIF: 8-bit palette, universal support, largest files. APNG: 24-bit + alpha, universal browser support, ~20% smaller than GIF. WebP: 24-bit + alpha + inter-frame compression, 50–90% smaller than GIF, needs 2020+ browsers. APNG is the sweet spot when you need better colors than GIF but universal support.
Per-frame optimization
APNG supports dispose modes (how a frame clears before the next draws) and delta compression (only store the region that changed). The encoder computes deltas automatically — for animations where much of the frame stays static (like a talking head), this cuts size by 40–60%.
Fallback strategy
APNG degrades gracefully in ancient browsers: they show the first frame as a static PNG. You can even embed an APNG with a specific 'default image' that's different from the first animation frame — useful for a hero image that stays static until interacted with.