react-icons vs @mdi/font vs @fortawesome/vue-fontawesome vs material-design-icons
Icon Libraries for Web Development Comparison
1 Year
react-icons@mdi/font@fortawesome/vue-fontawesomematerial-design-iconsSimilar Packages:
What's Icon Libraries for Web Development?

Icon libraries are collections of scalable vector icons that can be easily integrated into web applications. They provide developers with a wide range of icons to enhance user interfaces, improve user experience, and convey information visually. These libraries often come with various styles, sizes, and customization options, making it easier for developers to maintain design consistency across their applications. Using icon libraries can significantly speed up development time by providing pre-designed assets that are ready to use, thus allowing developers to focus on functionality and user experience.

Package Weekly Downloads Trend
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Stat Detail
Package
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react-icons3,207,82311,90186.2 MB20012 days agoMIT
@mdi/font407,6834105.92 MB6a year agoApache-2.0
@fortawesome/vue-fontawesome285,3582,39668.8 kB459 months agoMIT
material-design-icons71,28351,176-3449 years agoApache-2.0
Feature Comparison: react-icons vs @mdi/font vs @fortawesome/vue-fontawesome vs material-design-icons

Integration

  • react-icons:

    This package offers a simple way to integrate icons into React applications. It allows you to import icons directly as React components, making it easy to use and customize them within your JSX.

  • @mdi/font:

    This package can be integrated into any web project easily, as it provides CSS and SVG options. It is versatile and can be used with various frameworks, making it a good choice for projects that may not be limited to a specific technology stack.

  • @fortawesome/vue-fontawesome:

    This package is specifically designed for Vue.js applications, allowing developers to easily import and use Font Awesome icons as Vue components. It supports tree-shaking, which helps reduce bundle size by only including the icons that are actually used in the application.

  • material-design-icons:

    This package is straightforward to integrate as it provides a simple CSS file that can be included in any HTML document. It is lightweight and does not require any additional setup, making it ideal for quick projects or prototypes.

Icon Variety

  • react-icons:

    React Icons aggregates icons from various popular libraries, including Font Awesome, Material Design, and others. This means developers can choose from a diverse selection of icons without needing to switch between multiple libraries.

  • @mdi/font:

    Material Design Icons offers a comprehensive set of over 900 icons that follow Material Design principles. This variety allows developers to find suitable icons for nearly any application, especially those that aim for a modern and cohesive look.

  • @fortawesome/vue-fontawesome:

    Font Awesome provides a vast collection of icons, including solid, regular, and brands. This extensive library ensures that developers have access to a wide range of icons for various use cases, from social media to user interface elements.

  • material-design-icons:

    This package includes a set of essential Material Design icons, focusing on simplicity and clarity. While it may not have as extensive a collection as others, it covers the most commonly used icons effectively.

Customization

  • react-icons:

    Icons from React Icons can be customized like any other React component, allowing for easy manipulation of size, color, and other properties through props, providing a high degree of flexibility.

  • @mdi/font:

    This package supports customization through CSS, enabling developers to change the size and color of icons easily. It also allows for the use of SVGs, which can be styled directly in the markup.

  • @fortawesome/vue-fontawesome:

    Font Awesome icons can be easily customized in terms of size, color, and style using CSS or inline styles. This flexibility allows developers to match icons to their application's design effortlessly.

  • material-design-icons:

    Customization options are somewhat limited compared to others, but you can still change the size and color using CSS. The focus is on maintaining the integrity of Material Design aesthetics.

Performance

  • react-icons:

    React Icons allows for selective imports, meaning you can import only the icons you need, which helps keep the bundle size small and improves performance.

  • @mdi/font:

    The package is lightweight and does not include unnecessary features, making it a good choice for performance-sensitive applications. It can be used with minimal overhead, ensuring quick loading times.

  • @fortawesome/vue-fontawesome:

    This package supports tree-shaking, which helps reduce the final bundle size by only including the icons that are used in the application. This can lead to improved performance and faster load times.

  • material-design-icons:

    Being a simple CSS-based implementation, this package is lightweight and does not add significant overhead to the application. It is suitable for projects where performance is a priority.

Community and Support

  • react-icons:

    This package has a growing community and is well-documented, making it easier for developers to find help and examples. Its integration with various icon libraries also means that support is available across those communities.

  • @mdi/font:

    Material Design Icons is backed by a strong community and adheres to Google's guidelines, ensuring reliable updates and support. The documentation is clear and helps developers implement the icons effectively.

  • @fortawesome/vue-fontawesome:

    Font Awesome has a large community and extensive documentation, providing ample resources for developers. This support can be beneficial for troubleshooting and finding best practices.

  • material-design-icons:

    As an official Google product, it has solid support and documentation. However, the community may not be as large as others, which could limit the availability of third-party resources.

How to Choose: react-icons vs @mdi/font vs @fortawesome/vue-fontawesome vs material-design-icons
  • react-icons:

    Choose this package if you are developing with React and need a flexible solution that allows you to use icons from various icon libraries. It provides a unified interface for different icon sets, making it easy to switch between them as needed.

  • @mdi/font:

    Opt for this package if you prefer Material Design icons and are looking for a wide variety of icons that adhere to Google's Material Design guidelines. It is suitable for projects that aim for a clean and modern aesthetic, especially in web and mobile applications.

  • @fortawesome/vue-fontawesome:

    Choose this package if you are working with Vue.js and need a comprehensive set of Font Awesome icons. It offers a seamless integration with Vue components, allowing for easy customization and usage of icons in your Vue applications.

  • material-design-icons:

    Select this package if you want to use the original Material Design icons provided by Google. It is ideal for projects that require a straightforward implementation of Material icons without additional dependencies, making it lightweight and easy to use.

README for react-icons
React Icons

React Icons

npm

Include popular icons in your React projects easily with react-icons, which utilizes ES6 imports that allows you to include only the icons that your project is using.

Installation (for standard modern project)

yarn add react-icons
# or
npm install react-icons --save

example usage

import { FaBeer } from "react-icons/fa";

function Question() {
  return (
    <h3>
      Lets go for a <FaBeer />?
    </h3>
  );
}

View the documentation for further usage examples and how to use icons from other packages. NOTE: each Icon package has it's own subfolder under react-icons you import from.

For example, to use an icon from Material Design, your import would be: import { ICON_NAME } from 'react-icons/md';

Installation (for meteorjs, gatsbyjs, etc)

Note This option has not had a new release for some time. More info https://github.com/react-icons/react-icons/issues/593

If your project grows in size, this option is available. This method has the trade-off that it takes a long time to install the package.

yarn add @react-icons/all-files
# or
npm install @react-icons/all-files --save

example usage

import { FaBeer } from "@react-icons/all-files/fa/FaBeer";

function Question() {
  return (
    <h3>
      Lets go for a <FaBeer />?
    </h3>
  );
}

Icons

| Icon Library | License | Version | Count | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ----: | | Circum Icons | MPL-2.0 license | 1.0.0 | 288 | | Font Awesome 5 | CC BY 4.0 License | 5.15.4-3-gafecf2a | 1612 | | Font Awesome 6 | CC BY 4.0 License | 6.5.2 | 2045 | | Ionicons 4 | MIT | 4.6.3 | 696 | | Ionicons 5 | MIT | 5.5.4 | 1332 | | Material Design icons | Apache License Version 2.0 | 4.0.0-98-g9beae745bb | 4341 | | Typicons | CC BY-SA 3.0 | 2.1.2 | 336 | | Github Octicons icons | MIT | 18.3.0 | 264 | | Feather | MIT | 4.29.1 | 287 | | Lucide | ISC | v5.1.0-6-g438f572e | 1215 | | Game Icons | CC BY 3.0 | 12920d6565588f0512542a3cb0cdfd36a497f910 | 4040 | | Weather Icons | SIL OFL 1.1 | 2.0.12 | 219 | | Devicons | MIT | 1.8.0 | 192 | | Ant Design Icons | MIT | 4.4.2 | 831 | | Bootstrap Icons | MIT | 1.11.3 | 2716 | | Remix Icon | Apache License Version 2.0 | 4.2.0 | 2860 | | Flat Color Icons | MIT | 1.0.2 | 329 | | Grommet-Icons | Apache License Version 2.0 | 4.12.1 | 635 | | Heroicons | MIT | 1.0.6 | 460 | | Heroicons 2 | MIT | 2.1.3 | 888 | | Simple Icons | CC0 1.0 Universal | 12.14.0 | 3209 | | Simple Line Icons | MIT | 2.5.5 | 189 | | IcoMoon Free | CC BY 4.0 License | d006795ede82361e1bac1ee76f215cf1dc51e4ca | 491 | | BoxIcons | MIT | 2.1.4 | 1634 | | css.gg | MIT | 2.1.1 | 704 | | VS Code Icons | CC BY 4.0 | 0.0.35 | 461 | | Tabler Icons | MIT | 3.2.0 | 5237 | | Themify Icons | MIT | v0.1.2-2-g9600186 | 352 | | Radix Icons | MIT | @radix-ui/react-icons@1.3.0-1-g94b3fcf | 318 | | Phosphor Icons | MIT | 2.1.1 | 9072 | | Icons8 Line Awesome | MIT | 1.3.1 | 1544 |

You can add more icons by submitting pull requests or creating issues.

Configuration

You can configure react-icons props using React Context API.

Requires React 16.3 or higher.

import { IconContext } from "react-icons";

<IconContext.Provider value={{ color: "blue", className: "global-class-name" }}>
  <div>
    <FaFolder />
  </div>
</IconContext.Provider>;

| Key | Default | Notes | | ----------- | --------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | color | undefined (inherit) | | | size | 1em | | | className | undefined | | | style | undefined | Can overwrite size and color | | attr | undefined | Overwritten by other attributes | | title | undefined | Icon description for accessibility |

Migrating from version 2 -> 3

Change import style

Import path has changed. You need to rewrite from the old style.

// OLD IMPORT STYLE
import FaBeer from "react-icons/lib/fa/beer";

function Question() {
  return (
    <h3>
      Lets go for a <FaBeer />?
    </h3>
  );
}
// NEW IMPORT STYLE
import { FaBeer } from "react-icons/fa";

function Question() {
  return (
    <h3>
      Lets go for a <FaBeer />?
    </h3>
  );
}

Ending up with a large JS bundle? Check out this issue.

Adjustment CSS

From version 3, vertical-align: middle is not automatically given. Please use IconContext to specify className or specify an inline style.

Global Inline Styling

<IconContext.Provider value={{ style: { verticalAlign: 'middle' } }}>

Global className Styling

Component

<IconContext.Provider value={{ className: 'react-icons' }}>

CSS

.react-icons {
  vertical-align: middle;
}

TypeScript native support

Dependencies on @types/react-icons can be deleted.

Yarn

yarn remove @types/react-icons

NPM

npm remove @types/react-icons

Contributing

./build-script.sh will build the whole project. See also CI scripts for more information.

Development

yarn
cd packages/react-icons
yarn fetch  # fetch icon sources
yarn build

Add/Update icon set

First, check the discussion to see if anyone would like to add an icon set.

https://github.com/react-icons/react-icons/discussions/categories/new-icon-set

The SVG files to be fetched are managed in this file. Edit this file and run yarn fetch && yarn check && yarn build.

https://github.com/react-icons/react-icons/blob/master/packages/react-icons/src/icons/index.ts

Preview

Note The project is not actively accepting PR for the preview site at this time.

The preview site is the react-icons website, built in Astro+React.

cd packages/react-icons
yarn fetch
yarn build

cd ../preview-astro
yarn start

Demo

The demo is a Create React App boilerplate with react-icons added as a dependency for easy testing.

cd packages/react-icons
yarn fetch
yarn build

cd ../demo
yarn start

Why React SVG components instead of fonts?

SVG is supported by all major browsers. With react-icons, you can serve only the needed icons instead of one big font file to the users, helping you to recognize which icons are used in your project.

Related Projects

Licence

MIT

  • Icons are taken from the other projects so please check each project licences accordingly.