Simple Icons vs Material Icons (2026)

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.

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 {
  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>
  )
}

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: Simple Icons or Material Icons?

Choosing between Simple Icons and Material Icons depends entirely on your project's technical requirements and design aesthetic. Simple Icons provides 3,200 icons and is notable for 3,109 brand icons — 6x more than font awesome brands (465) at zero cost, 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 Simple Icons and Material Icons completely free to use?

Yes. Both libraries are highly permissive open-source projects. Simple Icons is licensed under CC0 1.0 (Public Domain), 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, Simple Icons includes excellent built-in TypeScript definitions. Similarly, Material Icons offers robust native TypeScript support for an improved developer experience.

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

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