react-icons vs @mui/icons-material vs font-awesome vs @material-ui/icons vs bootstrap-icons vs ionicons vs feather-icons vs material-design-icons vs react-fontawesome vs heroicons
Icon Libraries for Web Development Comparison
3 Years
react-icons@mui/icons-materialfont-awesome@material-ui/iconsbootstrap-iconsioniconsfeather-iconsmaterial-design-iconsreact-fontawesomeheroiconsSimilar Packages:
What's Icon Libraries for Web Development?

Icon libraries provide a collection of scalable vector icons that can be easily integrated into web applications. They enhance the user interface by offering visual cues, improving usability, and adding aesthetic value to applications. Each library has its own design philosophy, icon styles, and usage scenarios, catering to different needs and preferences in web development.

Package Weekly Downloads Trend
Github Stars Ranking
Stat Detail
Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
Issues
Publish
License
react-icons4,604,067
12,24086.2 MB2186 months agoMIT
@mui/icons-material4,377,969
96,30519.3 MB1,7474 hours agoMIT
font-awesome859,946
75,538-3,8719 years ago(OFL-1.1 AND MIT)
@material-ui/icons810,048
96,30510.2 MB1,749-MIT
bootstrap-icons470,295
7,7072.99 MB4383 months agoMIT
ionicons351,974
17,8576.22 MB50a month agoMIT
feather-icons100,030
25,577625 kB492a year agoMIT
material-design-icons63,434
51,919-3709 years agoApache-2.0
react-fontawesome43,057
668-96 years agoMIT
heroicons42,717
22,748700 kB49 months agoMIT
Feature Comparison: react-icons vs @mui/icons-material vs font-awesome vs @material-ui/icons vs bootstrap-icons vs ionicons vs feather-icons vs material-design-icons vs react-fontawesome vs heroicons

Design Philosophy

  • react-icons:

    Provides a flexible solution for using multiple icon libraries in React, allowing developers to choose icons that best fit their design needs.

  • @mui/icons-material:

    Continues the Material Design philosophy with a modern twist, ensuring that icons are updated to reflect current design trends while maintaining usability.

  • font-awesome:

    Offers a diverse range of icons and social media logos, catering to a wide audience with various design needs, from simple to complex applications.

  • @material-ui/icons:

    Follows Google's Material Design principles, focusing on depth, motion, and visual hierarchy. Icons are designed to be intuitive and easy to recognize, enhancing user experience.

  • bootstrap-icons:

    Aligns with Bootstrap's design aesthetics, providing icons that are simple and functional, suitable for web applications that prioritize a clean layout.

  • ionicons:

    Designed specifically for mobile and web applications, providing high-quality icons that are suitable for touch interfaces and responsive designs.

  • feather-icons:

    Emphasizes a minimalist design approach, offering icons that are lightweight and easily customizable, perfect for modern, flat UI designs.

  • material-design-icons:

    Strictly adheres to Material Design guidelines, ensuring consistency and usability across applications that utilize Material Design principles.

  • react-fontawesome:

    Integrates Font Awesome's extensive icon library into React applications, allowing for easy customization and responsive design.

  • heroicons:

    Crafted with a focus on modern UI design, providing both outline and solid styles to fit different design contexts, particularly for Tailwind CSS users.

Customization Options

  • react-icons:

    Provides a flexible API for customizing icons, enabling developers to easily adjust size, color, and other properties.

  • @mui/icons-material:

    Offers enhanced customization options with the latest MUI features, enabling developers to leverage the full power of the MUI styling system.

  • font-awesome:

    Provides a wide range of customization options through CSS and JavaScript, allowing for dynamic icon manipulation and styling.

  • @material-ui/icons:

    Icons can be easily customized using Material-UI's styling solutions, allowing developers to change colors, sizes, and other properties seamlessly.

  • bootstrap-icons:

    Icons can be styled using Bootstrap's utility classes, making it easy to adjust sizes, colors, and positioning within the Bootstrap framework.

  • ionicons:

    Allows customization through CSS variables, making it easy to adapt icons to different themes and styles in applications.

  • feather-icons:

    Highly customizable through CSS, allowing developers to change stroke width, color, and size to fit their design requirements.

  • material-design-icons:

    Customization is possible through CSS and inline styles, ensuring that icons can match the overall design of Material Design applications.

  • react-fontawesome:

    Offers a range of customization options through React props, allowing for dynamic changes to size, color, and styles directly in components.

  • heroicons:

    Icons can be easily styled with Tailwind CSS classes, providing a straightforward way to customize their appearance in a modern web application.

Icon Variety

  • react-icons:

    Supports multiple icon libraries, providing a diverse selection of icons from various sources, making it flexible for different design needs.

  • @mui/icons-material:

    Offers an updated and expanded set of icons compared to its predecessor, catering to modern design needs and trends.

  • font-awesome:

    One of the largest icon libraries available, offering thousands of icons across various categories, making it a go-to choice for many developers.

  • @material-ui/icons:

    Includes a comprehensive set of icons that cover most use cases in web applications, ensuring that developers have the icons they need.

  • bootstrap-icons:

    Provides a wide variety of icons that align with Bootstrap components, ensuring that developers have access to relevant icons for their projects.

  • ionicons:

    Offers a rich set of icons specifically designed for mobile and web applications, ensuring high-quality visuals for touch interfaces.

  • feather-icons:

    Features a curated set of icons that focus on simplicity and clarity, making it suitable for modern web applications.

  • material-design-icons:

    Provides a vast collection of icons that strictly follow Material Design guidelines, ensuring consistency and usability across applications.

  • react-fontawesome:

    Gives access to the entire Font Awesome library, ensuring that developers have a wide range of icons to choose from in their React applications.

  • heroicons:

    Includes a well-designed set of icons that cater to modern web applications, with both outline and solid styles available.

Integration Ease

  • react-icons:

    Provides a simple API for integration into React projects, allowing developers to use icons from various libraries with ease.

  • @mui/icons-material:

    Built for easy integration with the latest MUI framework, ensuring that developers can quickly implement icons in their projects.

  • font-awesome:

    Widely supported and easy to integrate into any web project, whether through CDN or npm, making it a popular choice among developers.

  • @material-ui/icons:

    Designed for seamless integration with Material-UI components, making it easy to use in React applications that follow Material Design principles.

  • bootstrap-icons:

    Integrates smoothly with Bootstrap, allowing developers to easily incorporate icons into their Bootstrap-based applications without additional setup.

  • ionicons:

    Can be easily added to any web or mobile project, with support for both SVG and web fonts, ensuring flexibility in integration.

  • feather-icons:

    Simple to integrate into any project, as it can be used as SVGs or through a CDN, making it versatile for various development environments.

  • material-design-icons:

    Straightforward to integrate into projects that follow Material Design, ensuring that developers can easily access and use the icons.

  • react-fontawesome:

    Designed for easy use in React applications, allowing developers to quickly implement icons with minimal configuration.

  • heroicons:

    Easily integrates with Tailwind CSS projects, allowing for quick setup and use in modern web applications.

Community Support

  • react-icons:

    Has a growing community of users, providing support and resources for developers looking to utilize multiple icon libraries in their React projects.

  • @mui/icons-material:

    Supported by the growing MUI community, with regular updates and improvements based on user feedback and contributions.

  • font-awesome:

    One of the most popular icon libraries, with a vast community and extensive documentation, making it easy to find help and resources.

  • @material-ui/icons:

    Backed by a strong community and extensive documentation, ensuring that developers have access to resources and support when needed.

  • bootstrap-icons:

    Part of the Bootstrap ecosystem, benefiting from a large user base and extensive community support for troubleshooting and enhancements.

  • ionicons:

    Part of the Ionic framework community, providing support and resources for developers building mobile and web applications.

  • feather-icons:

    Open-source with a growing community, providing resources and support for developers looking to implement minimalist icons in their projects.

  • material-design-icons:

    Widely used in the development community, with extensive documentation and resources available for developers implementing Material Design.

  • react-fontawesome:

    Supported by the Font Awesome community, offering extensive documentation and resources for React developers.

  • heroicons:

    Supported by the Tailwind CSS community, ensuring that developers have access to resources and support for using the icons effectively.

How to Choose: react-icons vs @mui/icons-material vs font-awesome vs @material-ui/icons vs bootstrap-icons vs ionicons vs feather-icons vs material-design-icons vs react-fontawesome vs heroicons
  • react-icons:

    Choose React Icons for a lightweight solution that supports multiple icon libraries. This package allows you to use icons from various sources (including Font Awesome, Material Icons, etc.) in a React-friendly way, making it flexible for diverse projects.

  • @mui/icons-material:

    Opt for this package if you are using the latest version of Material-UI (MUI) and want to access the updated icons that follow the Material Design principles. It offers a more modern and streamlined approach compared to the older @material-ui/icons package.

  • font-awesome:

    Use Font Awesome if you need a vast collection of icons and social media logos. It is one of the most popular icon libraries, offering both free and premium icons, and is widely supported across various frameworks and platforms.

  • @material-ui/icons:

    Choose this package if you are using Material-UI for your React application and want to maintain a consistent design language with Google's Material Design guidelines. It provides a wide range of icons that are easy to integrate and customize.

  • bootstrap-icons:

    Select Bootstrap Icons if you are already using Bootstrap for your project and want a cohesive look with the Bootstrap framework. This package provides a comprehensive set of icons that align with Bootstrap's design aesthetics.

  • ionicons:

    Choose Ionicons for applications that require a set of high-quality icons specifically designed for mobile and web apps. It is particularly useful for Ionic framework projects but can be used independently as well.

  • feather-icons:

    Choose Feather Icons for a minimalist and clean design. This library offers a set of open-source icons that are simple, customizable, and suitable for modern web applications that prioritize a lightweight and elegant UI.

  • material-design-icons:

    Select Material Design Icons if you want a comprehensive set of icons that adhere strictly to Google's Material Design guidelines. It is suitable for applications that prioritize consistency and adherence to Material Design principles.

  • react-fontawesome:

    Use React Font Awesome if you are working with React and want to leverage the extensive Font Awesome icon library with React components. It provides a seamless integration experience and allows for easy customization.

  • heroicons:

    Opt for Heroicons if you are building a Tailwind CSS application or want a set of beautifully crafted icons that fit well with modern UI design. It provides both outline and solid styles, making it versatile for different design needs.

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.