Icon Library Comparison — Which One Should You Use?

Q: What is the best free icon library in 2026?

Phosphor (7,500 icons) and Tabler (5,000) for variety. Lucide for a balanced all-rounder. Heroicons for Tailwind projects.

Q: Which library has the most icons?

Phosphor Icons with ~7,500 icons (1,250 unique x 6 weights).

Q: Font Awesome vs Bootstrap Icons?

Both have ~2,000 icons. Bootstrap Icons are MIT licensed. Font Awesome has brand icons. Choose based on your framework.

Compare 11 popular icon libraries side by side. See icon counts, styles, licenses, and features to pick the best library for your project.

Full Comparison Table

Library	Icons	Style	License	Best For
Font Awesome	~2,000	Solid, Regular, Brands	CC BY 4.0 / MIT	General web projects, brand logos
Material Design	~2,500	Filled, Outlined, Rounded, Sharp, Two-tone	Apache 2.0	Android apps, Material UI projects
Heroicons	~450	Outline, Solid, Mini	MIT	Tailwind CSS projects, clean UI
Lucide	~1,500	Outline (consistent stroke)	ISC	Modern web apps, Feather replacement
Feather Icons	~287	Outline (24x24 grid)	MIT	Minimal designs, small projects
Bootstrap Icons	~2,000	Filled, Outlined	MIT	Bootstrap projects, enterprise apps
Remix Icon	~2,800	Line, Fill	Apache 2.0	Chinese tech ecosystem, versatile
Tabler Icons	~5,000	Outline (consistent 2px stroke)	MIT	Dashboards, admin panels, large variety
Phosphor Icons	~7,500	6 weights (Thin to Fill)	MIT	Flexible weight system, large collection
Simple Icons	~3,000	Brand logos	CC0 1.0	Brand/company logos, tech stacks
Ionicons	~1,300	Outline, Filled, Sharp	MIT	Ionic/mobile apps, cross-platform

Detailed Comparisons

Font Awesome vs Material Design Icons

Font Awesome is the most widely used icon library on the web, with strong brand recognition and a large ecosystem. Material Design Icons are Google's official icon set, designed for consistency with Material Design guidelines.

	Font Awesome	Material Design
Icon count	~2,000 (free)	~2,500
Styles	Solid, Regular, Brands	Filled, Outlined, Rounded, Sharp, Two-tone
Grid size	Variable	24x24
License	CC BY 4.0 / MIT	Apache 2.0
Brand icons	Yes (450+)	No
Framework support	React, Vue, Angular, SVG	React, Vue, Angular, Web Components
Best for	General web, brand logos	Android/Material UI apps

Verdict: Choose Font Awesome if you need brand logos and wide community support. Choose Material Design for Google-style apps or Android development.

Lucide vs Heroicons vs Feather Icons

These three libraries share a similar aesthetic: clean, outline-style icons with consistent stroke widths. Lucide is a fork of Feather with 5x more icons. Heroicons is built by the Tailwind CSS team.

	Lucide	Heroicons	Feather
Icon count	~1,500	~450	~287
Maintained	Active (community)	Active (Tailwind Labs)	Slow updates
Grid size	24x24	24x24, 20x20	24x24
Styles	Outline only	Outline + Solid + Mini	Outline only
Tree-shakeable	Yes	Yes	Partial
License	ISC	MIT	MIT

Verdict: Lucide is the best Feather replacement with the largest collection. Heroicons is ideal if you use Tailwind CSS. Feather is legacy — migrate to Lucide for new projects.

Tabler vs Phosphor Icons — Largest Free Libraries

Both offer massive collections of high-quality icons. Tabler focuses on consistent 2px strokes. Phosphor offers 6 weight variants per icon (Thin, Light, Regular, Bold, Fill, Duotone).

	Tabler Icons	Phosphor Icons
Icon count	~5,000	~7,500 (1,250 unique x 6 weights)
Weights	1 (2px stroke)	6 (Thin, Light, Regular, Bold, Fill, Duotone)
Grid size	24x24	256x256
License	MIT	MIT
Framework packages	React, Vue, Svelte, Angular	React, Vue, Svelte, Elm, Flutter
Best for	Dashboards, admin panels	Flexible designs needing multiple weights

Verdict: Choose Phosphor if you need weight flexibility (thin to bold to fill). Choose Tabler for the most variety with a consistent look.

How to Choose an Icon Library

Match your framework — Using Tailwind? Heroicons integrates best. Material UI? Use Material Design Icons. Bootstrap? Use Bootstrap Icons.
Check the icon count — If you need niche icons (medical, finance, sports), larger libraries like Phosphor (7,500) or Tabler (5,000) are less likely to leave gaps.
Consider style consistency — Mixing icons from different libraries looks messy. Pick one library and stick with it. If you need multiple weights, Phosphor is your best bet.
Verify the license — All libraries on IconFontToPNG are open source. MIT and Apache 2.0 are the most permissive. CC BY 4.0 (Font Awesome) requires attribution. CC0 (Simple Icons) has no restrictions.
Think about bundle size — Tree-shakeable libraries (Lucide, Heroicons, Phosphor) only ship icons you actually use. Font Awesome's CSS approach loads everything.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best free icon library in 2026?

It depends on your needs. For the largest collection, Phosphor Icons (7,500) or Tabler Icons (5,000) offer the most variety. For Tailwind projects, Heroicons is the natural choice. For general web development, Lucide is an excellent all-rounder with 1,500+ icons and active maintenance.

Can I mix icons from different libraries?

Technically yes, but it's not recommended. Different libraries have different stroke widths, fill styles, and visual weights, which makes your UI look inconsistent. If you must mix, stick to libraries with similar aesthetics (e.g., Lucide + Heroicons).

Which icon library is best for React?

Lucide, Heroicons, and Phosphor all have excellent React packages with tree-shaking. Font Awesome also has an official React component. For the best developer experience, Lucide React and Phosphor React are top choices.

Are Font Awesome icons really free?

Font Awesome has a free tier (~2,000 icons) and a paid Pro tier (~30,000 icons). The free icons are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (icons) and MIT (code). Attribution is required for the free icons.

What happened to Feather Icons?

Feather Icons is still available but rarely updated. Most projects have migrated to Lucide, which is a maintained fork of Feather with 5x more icons and the same visual style. Lucide is the recommended replacement.

Which library has the most icons?

Phosphor Icons leads with ~7,500 icons (1,250 unique icons x 6 weights), followed by Tabler Icons (~5,000), Simple Icons (~3,000 brand logos), and Remix Icon (~2,800).

Font Awesome vs Bootstrap Icons — which is better?

Both have ~2,000 icons. Bootstrap Icons are MIT licensed (more permissive) and designed for Bootstrap. Font Awesome has brand icons and wider adoption. If you use Bootstrap, go with Bootstrap Icons. Otherwise, Font Awesome's brand icons give it an edge.

Do I need to pay for Material Design Icons?

No. Google's Material Design Icons are 100% free under the Apache 2.0 license. You can use them in any project, commercial or personal, without attribution (though attribution is appreciated).