Question: What's the Difference Between an Animated GIF and an Animated PNG?
On the surface, an animated GIF and an animated PNG can look the same. So what's the difference?
Answer: Primarily, image quality and versatility. Both animated GIFs and PNGs store raster image information for individual frames of an animation, and show them in sequence by flashing through the frames one at a time at a standard rate. Animated GIFs usually have lower image quality because of a limited palette and compression standard; PNGs have a larger color palette and better compression, and so can create smoother, cleaner animations.
Both can use transparency to allow a non-rectangular shape to overlay a background, but PNGs can also use varying levels of opacity to allow the background to show through. GIFs can't. Nor can GIFs use layers, which PNGs can.
In short, a PNG is basically a more advanced version of a GIF.