Octicons vs Material Icons (2026)

Octicons 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.

Material Icons 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.

import { RepoIcon } from '@primer/octicons-react'

export default function App() {
  return <RepoIcon size={16} />
}

import HomeIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Home'
import HomeOutlinedIcon from '@mui/icons-material/HomeOutlined'
import SearchIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Search'
import DeleteIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Delete'

// ✅ Path imports — up to 6x faster in dev than barrel imports
// ❌ Avoid: import { HomeIcon } from '@mui/icons-material'

export default function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      {/* Filled — bold, solid, for primary actions */}
      <HomeIcon />

      {/* Outlined — minimal stroke-style, for supporting UI */}
      <HomeOutlinedIcon />

      {/* Sizing via fontSize prop */}
      <SearchIcon fontSize="small" />   {/* 20px */}
      <SearchIcon fontSize="medium" />  {/* 24px default */}
      <SearchIcon fontSize="large" />   {/* 35px */}
      <SearchIcon sx={{ fontSize: 48 }} />

      {/* Color via MUI theme tokens or custom hex */}
      <DeleteIcon color="error" />
      <DeleteIcon sx={{ color: '#6366f1' }} />
    </div>
  )
}

Which is better: Octicons or Material Icons?

Choosing between Octicons and Material Icons depends entirely on your project's technical requirements and design aesthetic. Octicons provides 280 icons and is notable for designed on strict 16px and 24px grid systems to prevent rendering blurriness, while Material Icons offers 2,100 icons and is best known for 5 style variants per icon — filled, outlined, rounded, sharp, twotone from one package.

Are Octicons and Material Icons completely free to use?

Yes. Both libraries are highly permissive open-source projects. Octicons is licensed under MIT, and Material Icons 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, Octicons includes excellent built-in TypeScript definitions. Similarly, Material Icons offers robust native TypeScript support for an improved developer experience.

• Need a library with 280 icons and outline style options
• Want tree-shakable imports to keep bundles small
• Require first-class TypeScript support in your codebase
• Are building with react, vue, nextjs, jekyll

• Need a library with 2,100 icons and filled/outlined/rounded/sharp/twotone style options
• Want tree-shakable imports to keep bundles small
• Require first-class TypeScript support in your codebase
• Are building with react, nextjs
• Need a Figma plugin for designer-developer handoff

npm install @primer/octicons-react

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