Open-source UI icon sets (use freely, including commercially)
- Lucide: clean 24px outline icons, consistent stroke, hundreds of glyphs, packages for React and every framework. Our default for web interfaces, including this site.
- Heroicons: by the Tailwind team, outline and solid variants, MIT licence. Fits Tailwind projects naturally.
- Phosphor: six weights from thin to duotone, thousands of icons, great for products that need an expressive range.
- Tabler Icons: over five thousand outline icons, very consistent, MIT licence.
- Google Material Symbols: variable font with adjustable weight, fill and optical size; the standard for Android-style interfaces.
Large libraries (check attribution terms)
- Font Awesome Free: the widest recognition, free tier under a permissive licence with attribution in the CSS.
- Flaticon: millions of icons in many styles; free with attribution, paid to remove it. Good for illustrative and coloured icons.
- Icons8: broad styles including 3D and animated; free with a link back, paid otherwise.
- Freepik: icons plus vectors and mockups; free with attribution, premium without.
Aggregator
- Iconify: one search across more than a hundred open icon sets, with a Figma plugin and a web component. When you need one icon from a set you do not otherwise use.
Using icons well
- 01One set per project. Mixing sets is the most common icon mistake and always shows.
- 02Match stroke weight to your type weight.
- 03Size on your spacing scale (16, 20, 24) and align to the pixel grid.
- 04Label icons that carry meaning; an icon alone is not accessible.
- 05For brand icons, draw your own or commission them, following the icon design rules.
| Source | Style | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Lucide | 24px outline | ISC (free, commercial OK) |
| Heroicons | Outline, solid | MIT |
| Phosphor | Six weights | MIT |
| Tabler | Outline | MIT |
| Material Symbols | Variable | Apache 2.0 |
| Font Awesome Free | Solid, regular | CC BY 4.0 + MIT |
| Flaticon | Many | Free with attribution |
| Icons8 | Many | Free with link |
| Freepik | Many | Free with attribution |
| Iconify | Aggregator | Per set |
Sources
- Licence terms as published by each project in September 2026. Check the current licence before shipping; terms change.
Common questions
- Can I use free icons in a commercial website?
- Open-source sets such as Lucide, Heroicons, Phosphor and Tabler, yes, without attribution. Flaticon, Icons8 and Freepik free tiers require visible attribution; their paid plans remove it. Read the licence for the exact set.
- Which icon set is best for a website?
- Lucide or Heroicons for most sites: consistent, light, well maintained and easy to use in code. Phosphor if you need multiple weights.
- Should I use icon fonts or SVG?
- SVG. It renders crisply, can be styled per icon, and does not fail when a font does not load. Icon fonts made sense a decade ago; inline or sprite SVG is the standard now.
