12 Best GIF Recorders for Mac in 2025

If you're looking for speed and precision in your GIF recorder, then Gifox is a superb option. The program offers some of the most accurate capturing tools of any GIF recorder for a Mac. It's possible to select pixel-perfect custom regions or capture GIFs from a specific window – even when covered by other windows.

For speed, Gifox features a range of hotkeys to help you control everything in the program with ease. But the real highlight is the menu bar icon that allows you to access everything you need from a dropdown menu. The May 2025 version 2.7.0 update brought a refreshed settings window – after this update, I noticed the editor previews opened much faster.

Outside of those features, it includes a lot of standard editing features you'll see elsewhere on the list – fps settings, cutting, trimming, etc. But it really shines with its compression options that allow you to manipulate file sizes to accommodate your needs.

Key features

• Quick access icon in your menu bar
• Has hotkeys programmed for even faster usage
• Offers advanced compression options

Kap is an open-source recorder that exports recordings as GIF, MP4, WebM, or APNG depending on project needs.

The interface doesn't overwhelm beginners, but includes enough settings to customize when deeper control is needed. You can grab your entire screen, specific windows, or draw custom areas. I found the recording quality stays sharp even when dialing down settings to shrink file size. The built-in trim and crop tools mean there's no need to use another app for basic edits.

Key features

• Record screen and export to GIF, MP4, WebM, or APNG
• Open-source and completely free
• Customizable keyboard shortcuts
• Built-in editor for trimming and cropping
• Plugin support for extended functionality
• Updated April 2025 to version 3.6

Most users know GIPHY as the go-to search engine for GIFs. It offers a seemingly endless collection of GIFs uploaded by users from all over the world. But the website also offers a GIF creation feature called GIPHY Create that allows users to upload and create their own animated GIFs.

The online platform is easy to use and lets you both create and share your GIFs all from the same platform. You just select a source material – URL or upload – and then choose a point in the video to create GIF. From there, you can also add stickers, captions, and filters and then share the file with ease.

Worth noting: GIPHY has a Mac desktop app called GIPHY Capture, but it hasn't seen an update since April 2017. The browser-based GIPHY Create gets maintained and works well for creating GIFs online.

Key features

• Integrates with GIPHY CAM for smartphone uploads
• Option to add stickers, filters, and captions
• Create GIFs from URLs directly from YouTube or Vimeo
• Custom background tool

If you only want to do a GIF capture on a Mac, then LICEcap is a viable option. The program allows you to capture your desktop activity quickly and save it as a .gif or .lcf file. The program is only 670KB and captures desktop straight to .gif or .lcf format.

The most recent update, version 1.32 in June 2022, prevented the window from positioning offscreen and signed the installer/executable for Windows users. Outside of the base features, you can pause recordings, insert text, adjust the framerate, display the elapsed recording time, and record mouse clicks. I've found the framerate adjustment particularly useful for keeping file sizes manageable.

LICEcap is a simple, free program that can be used on macOS to record GIFs, and that's all. It has no frills, so choose another program if you need additional editing and sharing tools. When I need a quick screen-to-GIF recording without any extras, this gets the job done.

Key features

• Can move your screen capture frame while recording
• Elapsed time display
• Records in both .gif and .lcf

I use Gyazo when I need a fast way to capture and share GIFs without saving files locally. The program handles screenshots, screen videos, and animated GIFs. When you capture something, it automatically uploads to Gyazo's cloud and copies a shareable link to your clipboard. You can immediately paste that link into Slack, email, or any chat application.

For GIF recording specifically, you click the GIF icon and select your screen area. Gyazo records for up to 7 seconds, which works well for quick demonstrations. The automatic cloud upload eliminates local file management – when I need to drop a GIF into a conversation quickly, this saves me from managing local files.

Key features

• Instant upload to cloud with automatic link generation
• Record GIFs up to 7 seconds
• Screenshots and screen videos with HD quality
• Automatic metadata capture for easy search
• Cross-platform support (Mac, Windows, iOS, web browsers)
• Updated to version 3.5 in September 2025

When you need to convert videos to GIFs without losing quality, Gifski is a solid tool. This free and open-source converter consistently produces better-looking GIFs than most other converters.

Gifski uses advanced features for efficient cross-frame palettes and temporal dithering, which lets it create GIFs with thousands of colors per frame instead of the typical 256-color limit. You drag and drop a video file, then adjust settings like dimensions, frame rate, and quality. You can generate GIFs up to 50 FPS. When I tested Gifski against other converters, the color quality was noticeably superior. Plus, the app is completely free and open-source.

Key features

• Converts videos to high-quality GIFs with thousands of colors per frame
• Video trimming and precise dimension control
• Generate up to 50 FPS GIFs
• Bouncing (yo-yo) GIF playback option
• System service integration for quick access
• Free and open-source
• Updated February 2025

Apple Keynote is one of the original applications that Apple created for their iWork suite – their answer to Microsoft Office. The program is a slideshow creator that includes a lot of additional features.

Specific to the list, the program allows you to export slideshows as an animated GIF. You go to File > Export To > Animated GIF to handle the conversion. You can select specific slides, adjust resolution and frame rate, and control the auto-advance timing. When I tested this with presentations that had complex animations, Keynote preserved the transitions and effects in the exported GIF. And since the program also allows you to play YouTube and Vimeo videos directly in the interface, you can convert anything you want into a GIF with ease. The program updates with every macOS release.

Key features

• Offers over thirty themes for presentations
• Lots of effects and transitions
• Integrates other Apple applications for ease-of-use

If you're looking for a free file converter to turn an image into a GIF, then Zamzar could be a solid option. The program works completely online – though they offer a desktop download for subscribers – and converts files into GIFs with ease.

The program is a simple three-step drag-and-drop process, so it's perfect for users of all skill levels. You drag and drop your file, select GIF as the output format, and click convert. The free version limits files to 50 MB, which works for smaller projects. However, just know that the server can be a little slow if they have high traffic. When I've used it during peak times, conversions took longer than expected. Zamzar supports over 1,200 file formats and offers unlimited daily conversions on free accounts. Files are automatically deleted from their servers within 24 hours.

Key features

• Offers compression features too
• Convert images, documents, sound, and video
• No software to download; deletes files within seven days from their server

Ezgif is an easy online solution for anyone who needs to create a GIF quickly. The online tool has been updated as recently as September 2025, adding a new "add image" tool that lets you place an image on top of a GIF animation and fine-tune its position frame by frame. The program has basic editing features – cut, crop, resize, reverse – and allows you to convert and cut a video into a GIF or create a GIF from a string of images.

You can upload a video or multiple images, adjust basic settings like frame rate and dimensions, and then just click convert. If you want to make your GIF pop, you can also insert from a small selection of effects and filters. Overall, it's a perfect choice for anyone that's new to creating GIFs and wants to test out the process. The free platform supports files up to 100 MB. When I've used Ezgif for quick conversions, the results came back fast and the interface never felt confusing.

Key features

• Completely online
• Basic editing features
• Healthy amount of filters for free

CloudСonvert GIF Converter is a straightforward online program that converts files of all types into GIFs – along with many other formats. This isn't a free program, so it may not be ideal if you only want to convert files to GIFs.

But if you need a comprehensive solution to convert all types of files, then this is a viable option. The platform converts over 200 file formats, and when you upload a file for GIF conversion, you can customize parameters like frame size, frame rate, and resolution. The conversions maintain quality.

CloudConvert offers integration options. You can import files directly from Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, and export converted GIFs back to those services. Plus, it allows custom app integration and works completely in the cloud on a highly secure server. The free plan offers 25 conversions per day. CloudConvert is ISO 27001 certified. When I needed to convert files with guaranteed security, the ISO certification gave me confidence in the platform.

Key features

• Supports over 200 formats
• Offers custom app integration
• High-quality conversions