What is the maximum size I can upscale?

GIFs up to 25 MB and 500 frames, enlarged up to 4x, with a limit of 4000 px on any side. Very long GIFs at high scales may need to be shortened first.

GIF Upscaler - Upscale Animated GIFs up to 4x in High Quality, Free

Drop your GIF here or click to browse Animated GIFTransparentup to 25 MB500 frames

Try a sample: Random file names, deleted within 4 hours

image.gif 0 x 0 px

Upscale method

Original pixels

Enlarged (approx.)

A quick in-browser look at one corner of frame 1. The real result uses the full server pipeline.

Size

0 x 0 px

Custom scale x or width px

2x is the sweet spot for most GIFs.

Enhance

Clean up before upscaling Removes GIF dither dots and compression noise so they are not enlarged too. Best for video clips.

Sharpen

Light is usually enough - strong sharpening makes noise more visible.

Output

Format

Works everywhere. Limited to 256 colours per frame.

Quality

Great colour with a sensible file size.

2x - 0 x 0 pxPhoto and video, GIF, Balanced

How to upscale a GIF

Upload your GIF. Drop an animated or still GIF up to 25 MB, or try one of the samples. The tool reads its size and frames and recommends a method.

Pick the method. Photo and video for clips, AI upscale for the sharpest result, Smooth pixel art for emoji and sprites, Crisp pixels for real pixel art.

Choose the size. Pick 1.5x, 2x, 3x or 4x, type your own, or enter a target width such as 1080 px.

Tune the quality. Keep Clean up on for video clips, add light sharpening if needed, and choose GIF, WebP or MP4 with Best, Balanced or Smaller file.

Upscale and compare. Drag the before / after slider to check the result, then download it - or try other settings on the same GIF.

Want brighter colours or more contrast too? Run the result through the GIF Enhancer after upscaling.

Which upscaling method should you use?

The method decides how new pixels are filled in. The tool recommends one for your GIF, but you can always switch.

Method	Best for	How it looks
Photo and video	Clips, reaction GIFs, photos, gradients	Smooth and natural, like a larger video
Smooth pixel art	Emoji, stickers, sprites, small low-resolution GIFs	Blocky edges redrawn as clean curves
Crisp pixels	Real pixel art and retro game graphics	Every pixel becomes a sharp square - exactly the original look

Crisp pixels uses whole-number scales (2x, 3x, 4x), so every original pixel grows by the same amount. For a single still image, the Image Upscaler works the same way.

Get the best quality

Start big. Upscaling cannot add detail that is not in the GIF, so use the largest version you can find.

Clean up first. Most GIFs are full of dither dots. Removing them before enlarging gave a clearly cleaner result in our tests.

Sharpen gently. Light sharpening helps soft clips. Stronger settings mostly make noise more visible.

Pick Best or WebP. Best gives every frame its own colour palette. WebP skips the 256-colour limit completely.

2x is the sweet spot. Beyond 3x, the result looks soft unless the GIF is pixel art.

GIF, WebP or MP4?

All three keep the animation. They differ in colours, transparency and file size.

Format	Colours	Transparency	Use it for
GIF	256 per frame	Yes (on / off)	Anywhere GIFs are expected - chats, forums, email
WebP	Full colour	Yes (smooth)	Websites, Telegram and WhatsApp stickers - usually far smaller
MP4	Full colour	No	Instagram, TikTok, X and presentations - the smallest file

Frequently Asked Questions

Start from the largest version of the GIF you have. Keep Clean up before upscaling on for video clips and photos, pick the method that matches the content, and choose Best quality - or WebP, which keeps full colour.

2x is the sweet spot for most GIFs. Light sharpening helps soft clips; strong sharpening mostly makes noise more visible.

Photo and video (Lanczos) for clips, photos and anything with gradients. Smooth pixel art (xBR / hqx) for small emoji, sprites and low-resolution graphics you want to look less blocky. Crisp pixels (nearest neighbour) for real pixel art that should keep its hard square pixels.

The tool looks at your GIF and recommends one automatically.

GIF works everywhere but is limited to 256 colours per frame. Animated WebP keeps full colour and transparency and is usually much smaller - in our tests a 2x WebP was less than a third of the size of the GIF while keeping more detail.

MP4 is the smallest and best for social media, but has no transparency. You can also convert later with GIF to WebP or GIF to MP4.

It can be. Pick AI upscale and every frame is enlarged by Real-ESRGAN, an AI model that rebuilds sharp edges and texture - running in your browser, so the GIF is not uploaded.

The other methods (Lanczos, xBR, hqx, nearest neighbour) never invent detail and are much faster. For single pictures use the AI Image Upscaler.

It depends on your device and the GIF. With a modern graphics card (WebGPU) a short GIF takes seconds; on older computers each frame can take a few seconds.

The tool shows an estimate before you start, and frames that repeat are only upscaled once. Long GIFs are faster if you shorten them first with the GIF Cutter.

A 2x upscale has 4x the pixels in every frame, so GIF files grow quickly. Choose Smaller file for the most compression, or switch to WebP or MP4, which are usually several times smaller at better quality.

For more control afterwards, use the GIF compressor.

Yes. Transparent backgrounds stay transparent in GIF and WebP output, including after clean-up and sharpening. Frame delays and the loop setting - forever, a number of times or play once - are kept as in the original.

MP4 cannot store transparency, so those areas become white. To change the playback speed, use the GIF Speed Changer.

GIFs up to 25 MB and 500 frames, enlarged up to 4x, with a limit of 4000 px on any side. You can also type a target width, such as 1080 px, instead of a scale.

Very long GIFs at high scales may need to be shortened first with the GIF Cutter.

Only while they are processed. Uploads and results get random names and are deleted automatically within 4 hours. We never share them - see our Privacy Policy.

GIF Upscaler

Your upscaled GIF is ready