@mui/icons-material vs react-icons vs ionicons vs font-awesome vs @material-ui/icons vs bootstrap-icons vs feather-icons vs material-design-icons vs heroicons vs react-fontawesome
Icon Libraries for Web Development Comparison
1 Year
@mui/icons-materialreact-iconsioniconsfont-awesome@material-ui/iconsbootstrap-iconsfeather-iconsmaterial-design-iconsheroiconsreact-fontawesomeSimilar 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
@mui/icons-material3,894,84795,29019.3 MB1,87110 days agoMIT
react-icons3,346,43511,99386.2 MB2052 months agoMIT
ionicons1,426,58717,7306.44 MB299a year agoMIT
font-awesome862,79574,897-4,1498 years ago(OFL-1.1 AND MIT)
@material-ui/icons775,79395,29010.2 MB1,869-MIT
bootstrap-icons464,9587,5782.93 MB452a year agoMIT
feather-icons112,59525,368625 kB489a year agoMIT
material-design-icons65,20151,342-3509 years agoApache-2.0
heroicons47,49722,225700 kB75 months agoMIT
react-fontawesome40,041667-95 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: @mui/icons-material vs react-icons vs ionicons vs font-awesome vs @material-ui/icons vs bootstrap-icons vs feather-icons vs material-design-icons vs heroicons vs react-fontawesome

Design Philosophy

  • @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.

  • react-icons:

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

  • ionicons:

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • react-fontawesome:

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

Customization Options

  • @mui/icons-material:

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

  • react-icons:

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

  • ionicons:

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • heroicons:

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

  • react-fontawesome:

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

Icon Variety

  • @mui/icons-material:

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

  • react-icons:

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

  • ionicons:

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • heroicons:

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

  • 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.

Integration Ease

  • @mui/icons-material:

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

  • react-icons:

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

  • ionicons:

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • heroicons:

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

  • react-fontawesome:

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

Community Support

  • @mui/icons-material:

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

  • react-icons:

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

  • ionicons:

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • heroicons:

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

  • react-fontawesome:

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

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

README for @mui/icons-material

@mui/icons-material

This package contains Google's Material Icons converted to Material UI SVG Icon components.

Google also offers Material Symbols as the successor of Material Icons. @mui/icons-material only covers Icons at this time, there are no support for Symbols yet.

Installation

The Material Icons package depends on Material UI—install both with the following command:

npm install @mui/icons-material @mui/material @emotion/styled @emotion/react

Documentation

Contributing

The Icons package is updated via a script that reads through Google's Material Icons set and extracts the SVG elements from there. Because of this, we don't accept new icons that diverge from the source.

To update the @mui/icons-material package with the latest Material Icons set, run the following commands:

  1. In the "mui-icons-material" directory, run pnpm src:download
  2. In the "mui-icons-material" directory, run pnpm src:icons
  3. In the root of the Material UI repo, run pnpm docs:mdicons:synonyms
  4. If the number of icons changes significantly, edit the icons/icons.md and material-icons/material-icons.md under docs/data/material/components and update the numbers.

This process is performed by the maintainers on a quarterly basis.