How to Control GIF Speed (FPS vs Frame Delay)
Sourabh Choraria7 min readGIF speed is just timing. But GIF timing is also where people accidentally break things: jittery playback, weird pauses, or a loop that suddenly feels “off.”
This guide shows how to control GIF speed the clean way — and how to think about FPS vs frame delay so your edits make sense.
GIF speed helper (FPS vs frame delay)
Two ways to control GIF speed: set an FPS (frames per second) or set a per-frame delay (milliseconds). Same idea, different units. Use this to sanity-check your numbers, then apply them in Edit GIF.
Input mode
Speed multiplier
Result
Delay per frame
83ms → 56ms
FPS
12 → 17.9
FPS and delay are basically the same knob:FPS ≈ 1000 ÷ delay(ms).
Rules of thumb:
- 8–12 FPS feels “normal” for most GIFs
- 5–8 FPS = smaller file, more “stop motion”
- 15–24 FPS = smoother, but usually huge
FPS vs frame delay (the only math you need)
FPS is “frames per second.” Frame delay is “milliseconds per frame.” They're the same knob in different units:
Conversion cheat sheet
- Delay → FPS: FPS ≈ 1000 ÷ delay(ms)
- FPS → delay: delay(ms) ≈ 1000 ÷ FPS
- 100ms ≈ 10 FPS
- 83ms ≈ 12 FPS
- 66ms ≈ 15 FPS
How to speed up a GIF
- Lower frame delay (e.g. 100ms → 66ms), or
- Increase speed multiplier (e.g. 1× → 1.5× / 2×)
If the GIF has tiny UI text, don't push speed too hard. Faster loops can be harder to read.
How to slow down a GIF
- Increase frame delay (e.g. 66ms → 100ms / 125ms), or
- Decrease speed multiplier (e.g. 1× → 0.75× / 0.5×)
Slowing down is usually the best move for tutorials and UI clips — it makes the GIF easier to follow without changing the content.
Edit your GIF speed now
Drop your GIF below. We'll take you straight into Edit GIF with your file loaded, so you can change speed immediately.
Drop your GIF here
Or click to browse
GIF files only — Any size
After changing speed: compress if needed
If your edited GIF is still too big, run it through Compress GIF to reduce file size without wrecking quality.
Frequently asked questions
Pretty much. FPS is “frames per second.” Frame delay is “milliseconds per frame.” The rough conversion is FPS ≈ 1000 ÷ delay(ms). For example, 100ms per frame ≈ 10 FPS.
Some GIFs have mixed per-frame delays. If you only change a global FPS-like control, frames with custom delays can still “feel” uneven. A clean fix is to normalize delays, then adjust speed.
Sometimes. Speed changes can impact how many frames you keep and how much changes between frames. If you need smaller files, resizing and compression typically matter more than speed alone.
10–15 FPS is a great default. For screen recordings, 8–12 FPS is often more readable and smaller.
No. Export creates a new GIF. Your original file stays untouched.