Iconify vs Remix Icon (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 Remix Icon 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 Remix Icon counters with 3,229 highly-polished icons (licensed under Apache 2.0).
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 Remix Icon, 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 Apache 2.0 license used by Remix Icon 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.
Remix Icon uses the Apache 2.0 License, which allows free commercial use, modification, and distribution. It also includes an express patent grant. You must include a copy of the license and provide attribution when redistributing original files.
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 Remix Icon.
- 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.
- Remix Icon Performance: Conversely, Remix Icon lacks complete tree-shaking support. To maintain high performance, consider importing individual SVG files directly rather than using the main package export.
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 'remixicon/fonts/remixicon.css'
export default function App() {
return <i className='ri-home-line'></i>
}FINAL VERDICT: WHICH SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Still undecided? Here is our definitive breakdown of when to use Iconify versus when to opt for Remix Icon.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which is better: Iconify or Remix Icon?
Choosing between Iconify and Remix Icon 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 Remix Icon offers 3,229 icons and is best known for 2800+ icons.
Are Iconify and Remix Icon 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 Remix Icon is licensed under Apache 2.0. 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. Meanwhile, Remix Icon also lacks strict built-in TypeScript support.
NPM INSTALLATION COMMANDS
npm install @iconify/react
npm install remixicon