GIF.new

Hey folks 👋

A few weeks ago I had this silly thought — “What if your onboarding email could literally wave at your users?”

So I built GIF.new: a weird little tool that lets you record a short webcam video (like you waving or saying hi), add dynamic text placeholders (like Hey {{name}}), and turn it into a personalised GIF you can send in welcome emails or post on socials.

Kind of like sending a mini-you into someone’s inbox. Weird? Yes. But also kinda delightful.

Right now:

• You can record from your browser

• Trim the video, overlay text

• Add placeholders like {{name}} or {{handle}}

• Generate unique GIFs via dashboard or API

• (I also broke ffmpeg like 6 times while building this)

I’m looking for early testers — especially:

• Indie hackers who send welcome emails

• Folks building communities

• Anyone who wants to say thanks to their users in a fun way

You’ll get free credits, my eternal gratitude, and probably a buggy edge case or two to enjoy 😅

Would love your thoughts, feature ideas, or just general “lol this is cool/weird” reactions.

Hi IH 👋

A few weeks ago, I had a random thought:

“Why are welcome emails still so... dry? What if they came with a GIF of me actually waving at the user?”

So naturally, I spiraled into a weekend project that turned into a full-on side thing:
🎉 GIF.new: a tool that lets you record a short webcam video, add text placeholders like Hey {{name}}, and generate personalised GIFs for welcome emails, shoutouts, or whatever else.

A few things I learned while building this:

• ffmpeg.wasm is magical and evil. It works in the browser but WILL destroy your soul if you forget to wrap it in a web worker 🙃

• Trimming a video in the browser sounds simple. It’s not. You end up needing to mess with MediaRecorder, blobs, and timestamps like a video surgeon.

• Getting text overlays to dynamically update for things like names or Twitter handles? Also a rabbit hole.

• Creating an API for it all sounds like a nice-to-have… until you realise it unlocks some seriously cool use cases (more on that below 👇)

Where I landed:

• Homepage: record + convert to GIF (everything happens locally)

• Logged-in dashboard: upload to cloud, trim, generate, repeat

• API: pass a templateId + a { name: "Rob" } object → get back a custom GIF

• Free tier: 100 GIFs, Paid tier: 3,000 GIFs/month for $3.99

Why this exists:

I just wanted to make user comms feel more like a wave from a human and less like an automated shrug.
If it helps even one person’s user experience feel more personal, that’s a win.

If you send welcome emails, shout out your users, or just like weird/fun ways to connect with your audience — I’d love for you to try it. Feedback, bug reports, “this broke my camera” warnings, all welcome 😅

Try it: GIF.new

Happy to answer any build or tech questions too!

You know that moment when a user signs up for your app, and you send them the usual “Hey there 👋 Welcome to [Product]!” email?
I kept feeling like… it could be more human. Less “email template,” more “real person waving at you.”

So I built GIF.new — a tool that lets you record a short webcam video (like you waving or saying hi 👋), add dynamic text placeholders like Hey {{name}}, and generate personalised GIFs you can send to your users.

Use case?

• Welcome emails that actually feel like a welcome

• Social media shoutouts that name-drop users or fans

• Thank-you GIFs for early adopters or beta testers

• Or honestly, just a fun way to be a little less boring online

Who it’s for:

• Startup founders

• Indie hackers

• No-code builders

• Anyone with an app and an email list

What you can do:

• Record from your browser

• Trim the video, overlay text

• Add placeholders like {{name}}, {{handle}}, {{company}}

• Generate GIFs from the dashboard or via API