Octicons vs Simple 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.

Simple Icons uses CC0 1.0 (Public Domain). All copyrights have been waived. You can copy, modify, distribute, and use the icons for any purpose — including commercial — without attribution.

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

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

import {
  SiGithub,
  SiVercel,
  SiStripe,
  SiReact,
  SiNextdotjs,
  SiTailwindcss,
} from '@icons-pack/react-simple-icons'
// All components use 'Si' prefix + PascalCase brand name

export function TechStack() {
  return (
    <div className="flex items-center gap-4">
      {/* Use currentColor — inherits from parent */}
      <SiGithub size={24} />
      <SiVercel size={24} />

      {/* Use official brand color */}
      <SiStripe size={24} color="#635BFF" />
      <SiReact size={24} color="#61DAFB" />

      {/* Social links row */}
      <a href="https://github.com" aria-label="GitHub">
        <SiGithub size={20} className="text-gray-600 hover:text-gray-900" />
      </a>
    </div>
  )
}

Which is better: Octicons or Simple Icons?

Choosing between Octicons and Simple 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 Simple Icons offers 3,200 icons and is best known for 3,109 brand icons — 6x more than font awesome brands (465) at zero cost.

Are Octicons and Simple Icons completely free to use?

Yes. Both libraries are highly permissive open-source projects. Octicons is licensed under MIT, and Simple Icons is licensed under CC0 1.0 (Public Domain). 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, Simple 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 3,200 icons and filled style options
• Want tree-shakable imports to keep bundles small
• Require first-class TypeScript support in your codebase
• Are building with react, nextjs

npm install @primer/octicons-react

npm install @icons-pack/react-simple-icons