This is a 256 colour (8 bit) image format, they offer pretty good compression and being an old format they can be viewed / edited on almost everything. They are still good for icons and other low colour uses but in general a PNG is better. They also offer transparency and an animated version. GIF animations are probably the main reason they are still used.
✔️ Good for icons / buttons.
✔️ Well supported.
✔️ Transparency.
➖ Animations are supported but usually where an MP4 would make more sense...
❌ Not good for photographs as only 256 colour.
❌ Compression is generally beaten by PNG which is also well supported.
Bonus tip: Sometimes you can reduce an image to 256 colours without any real difference. Saving as a GIF or 256 colour PNG can then result in a much smaller file than a 24bit PNG.
Other image formats:
GIF |
JPEG |
JPEG XL |
PNG |
QOI |
WEBP
Comparison
Updated (20/06/2026)