The cheapest but most valuable thing to acquire, is the knowledge of how GIF compression works, and how to design the best GIFs possible, thanks to that knowledge. And Photoshop is a good tool to produce them.

Start with these three Q&;As to understand how GIF works:

1. Why do people use GIFs?
2. How to get a high-quality animated GIF in a small file size?
3. How do I make super high quality GIF's like this one?

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst op Quora: Is it worth is to get Adobe Photoshop to make Gifs? Is there something better and/or cheaper that I should try?"