Remix Icon vs Material Icons (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 Remix Icon against Material Icons 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. Remix Icon boasts an impressive 3,229 icons (licensed under Apache 2.0), while Material Icons counters with 2,100 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 Remix Icon and Material Icons, 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 Apache 2.0 license used by Remix Icon and the MIT license used by Material Icons will ensure your project remains risk-free.
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.
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.
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 Remix Icon and Material Icons.
- Remix Icon Performance: Note that Remix Icon does not natively support tree-shaking out of the box in all environments. This means you must be careful with your import syntax to avoid accidentally bundling all 3,229 icons.
- Material Icons Performance: Similarly, Material Icons 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 'remixicon/fonts/remixicon.css'
export default function App() {
return <i className='ri-home-line'></i>
}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>
)
}FINAL VERDICT: WHICH SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Still undecided? Here is our definitive breakdown of when to use Remix Icon versus when to opt for Material Icons.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which is better: Remix Icon or Material Icons?
Choosing between Remix Icon and Material Icons depends entirely on your project's technical requirements and design aesthetic. Remix Icon provides 3,229 icons and is notable for 2800+ icons, 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 Remix Icon and Material Icons completely free to use?
Yes. Both libraries are highly permissive open-source projects. Remix Icon is licensed under Apache 2.0, 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?
No, Remix Icon does not natively provide TypeScript typings out of the box. Similarly, Material Icons offers robust native TypeScript support for an improved developer experience.
NPM INSTALLATION COMMANDS
npm install remixicon
npm install @mui/icons-material @mui/material @emotion/styled @emotion/react