Iconify vs Heroicons (2026)
When building modern web applications, choosing the right icon library can significantly impact both your application's aesthetic and its performance. In this comprehensive comparison, we pit Iconify against Heroicons to help you make an informed decision for your React, Next.js, Vue, or Svelte project.
Together, these libraries represent some of the most popular open-source UI assets available today. Iconify boasts an impressive 350,000 icons (licensed under MIT (framework) — icon sets retain their original licenses), while Heroicons counters with 324 highly-polished icons (licensed under MIT).
Below, we dive into the technical details: bundle size impacts, tree-shaking capabilities, TypeScript support, explicit commercial licensing rules, and real-world implementation examples.
TECHNICAL FEATURE COMPARISON
When comparing Iconify and Heroicons, developer experience features like TypeScript definitions and tree-shaking support are just as important as the icon count. Review the matrix below to see how they stack up.
LICENSING & COMMERCIAL USE DEEP-DIVE
Legal compliance is critical when selecting assets for a commercial software project. Understanding the nuances between the MIT (framework) — icon sets retain their original licenses license used by Iconify and the MIT license used by Heroicons will ensure your project remains risk-free.
Iconify uses the MIT (framework) — icon sets retain their original licenses license, a permissive open-source license that allows free commercial use in web and mobile applications.
Heroicons uses the MIT License — one of the most permissive open-source licenses. You can use it in any commercial project, modify the icons, and redistribute them freely. The only requirement is preserving the copyright notice in copies of the software.
PERFORMANCE & BUNDLE SIZE
Modern front-end frameworks like React and Next.js heavily penalize large JavaScript bundles. This makes tree-shaking—the ability of a bundler to remove unused code—a crucial factor when choosing between Iconify and Heroicons.
- Iconify Performance: Because Iconify supports tree-shaking, importing a single icon will only add a tiny fraction of a kilobyte to your final bundle. You can safely install the entire package without performance concerns.
- Heroicons Performance: Similarly, Heroicons is fully tree-shakable. Your Webpack or Turbopack build step will strip out any unused icons, ensuring your First Contentful Paint (FCP) metrics remain exceptional.
REACT IMPORT SYNTAX & INTEGRATION
Here is how you actually write the code to import and use each library in a React or Next.js component. Both libraries offer distinct APIs and integration patterns.
import { Icon } from '@iconify/react'
// Access 350,000+ icons with one component
// Format: prefix:icon-name
export default function App() {
return (
<div>
{/* Lucide Icons */}
<Icon icon="lucide:home" width={24} height={24} />
{/* Material Design Icons */}
<Icon icon="mdi:account-circle" width={24} />
{/* Font Awesome Solid */}
<Icon icon="fa6-solid:house" width={20} />
{/* Simple Icons (brand logos) */}
<Icon icon="simple-icons:github" width={24} />
{/* With color and className */}
<Icon icon="lucide:bell" className="h-5 w-5 text-gray-500" />
<Icon icon="mdi:check-circle" color="#4ade80" width={20} />
</div>
)
}import { HomeIcon } from '@heroicons/react/24/outline'
export default function App() {
return <HomeIcon className='h-6 w-6' />
}FINAL VERDICT: WHICH SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Still undecided? Here is our definitive breakdown of when to use Iconify versus when to opt for Heroicons.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which is better: Iconify or Heroicons?
Choosing between Iconify and Heroicons depends entirely on your project's technical requirements and design aesthetic. Iconify provides 350,000 icons and is notable for 350,000+ icons from 211 sets through one component — lucide, mdi, font awesome, tabler and more, while Heroicons offers 324 icons and is best known for made by tailwind team.
Are Iconify and Heroicons completely free to use?
Yes. Both libraries are highly permissive open-source projects. Iconify is licensed under MIT (framework) — icon sets retain their original licenses, and Heroicons is licensed under MIT. Both licenses permit free commercial usage, modification, and redistribution in both personal and enterprise projects.
Do these libraries support TypeScript natively?
Yes, Iconify includes excellent built-in TypeScript definitions. Similarly, Heroicons offers robust native TypeScript support for an improved developer experience.
NPM INSTALLATION COMMANDS
npm install @iconify/react
npm install @heroicons/react