How to export a screen recording as a GIF (that isn't huge)

Short answer: use GIF when the video has to play inline where videos can't. GitHub READMEs and PRs, docs sites, Notion pages, email. Keep it under ~10 seconds, cap dimensions around 1280px, accept 15fps, and it'll embed anywhere. For everything else, MP4 is smaller and sharper.

Where GIF still wins in 2026

• GitHub. READMEs and pull requests autoplay GIFs; video files become download links.
• Docs and wikis, a 5-second GIF next to the steps beats a linked video nobody clicks.
• Email, most clients animate GIFs; almost none play embedded video.
• Chat previews, a looping repro in the message itself, no player.

Why GIFs balloon (and what actually controls size)

GIF is a 1989 format: 256 colours per frame and no real inter-frame compression. File size scales brutally with dimensions × frame rate × duration. The levers, in order of impact: shorter clip, smaller dimensions, lower frame rate. Colour-heavy gradients also cost more than flat UI, another reason screen recordings suit GIF better than camera footage.

The export in Girato

1. Edit the clip normally, zooms, trim, blur all apply to GIF exports too.
2. In Export, pick GIF (it's on the free tier).
3. Export. Girato automatically caps GIFs at 15fps and a 1280px long edge, the settings that keep a short clip in the low-megabyte range instead of the tens.

Rule of thumb: ~8 seconds at 1280×720/15fps lands well under GitHub's 10MB README comfort zone. If you need 30 seconds of footage, that's an MP4 story, link it, or cut the GIF down to the single money moment.

GIF vs MP4 in one line each

GIF: autoplays absolutely everywhere, silent, chunky files, 256 colours. MP4: 10–20× smaller for the same clip, full colour and sound, but needs a video player. Full breakdown in MP4 vs WebM.

The nice part of having both in one tool: record once, export the MP4 for the launch post and a 6-second GIF of the best moment for the README, same timeline, two clicks.