Icons are an essential part of any website or app design. They allow you to convey meaning and actions quickly without using text. Vector icons are especially popular because they look great at any size, unlike raster images which can become pixelated when enlarged. Buying icon packs can get expensive, so finding free options is ideal for designers on a budget.
What are vector icons?
Vector icons are images created using mathematical formulas rather than pixels. This allows the icon to be scaled to any size without losing quality. Vector icons will look crisp and clear on high resolution displays and can be printed at any size.
In contrast, raster images like JPEGs and PNGs are made up of a fixed number of pixels. If you enlarge a raster image too much it will become pixelated and blurry. Raster images are fine for photos but not ideal for graphics like icons that need to be versatile.
Vector icon files are usually saved in the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format. This open standard XML-based format supports vectors, allowing the icon to be resized without loss of quality.
Benefits of using vector icons
Here are some of the main benefits of using vector icons:
- Scale to any size – Vector icons look smooth at any dimension which makes them extremely flexible.
- Better quality – Vectors don’t lose quality when resized so the icons will always look their best.
- Small file sizes – SVG files are usually only a few KB in size, much smaller than raster formats for comparable quality.
- Customization – Vectors allow you to change colors and shapes with editing software.
- Animation – Objects in a vector can be animated as they are defined mathematically.
Where to find free vector icon packs
Fortunately there are many sources for free vector icons so you don’t have to go hunt down icons one by one. Here are some great sites to find free vector icon packs:
Iconfinder
Iconfinder has over 1 million free icons in a wide variety of styles. Simply browse the icon sets or search for specific icons you need. All icons are available in SVG format and can be used for commercial projects.
Freepik
This popular site offers thousands of free vector icons. Browse the categories or use the search bar to find icons for business, finance, technology, social media, and more. Icons are in SVG format.
Flaticon
Flaticon has a massive selection of vector icons available as SVG, PSD, PNG, EPS and more. Over 1.9 million icons are available for free download, no attribution required.
Icons8
Icons8 provides beautiful icons in a variety of styles. They offer over 93,000 free vector icons in SVG, PNG, EPS, PSD and Webfont formats. Icons are available in different themes such as business, healthcare, weather, etc.
IconArchive
This site curates free icons from various sources. Icons are sorted into categories which makes browsing easy. Over 360,000 free icons are available in PNG, ICO and ICNS format for Mac and Windows users.
Iconmonstr
Iconmonstr has simple icons in over 40 styles. All icons are 300 x 300 pixels and available in PNG, SVG and EPS formats. New icons are added weekly.
Ionicons
Ionicons offers over 1000 free outline SVG icons for web, iOS, Android, and desktop use. The icons have a minimalist, line-art style. New icons are added monthly.
Feather
This set from Cole Bemis provides over 200 simple vector icons as SVG and web font. The lightweight icons are great for web and mobile apps.
Material Design Icons
Material Design Icons offers over 3700 material icon symbols as SVG, web font and Microsoft Office icons. The crisp, print-like icons follow Google’s Material Design principles.
Octicons
Octicons provides over 180 free SVG icons that GitHub uses for their GitHub.com website and in their desktop and web apps. The simple icon set includes icons for git, pull requests, issues, and more.
Bootstrap Icons
The open source Bootstrap framework provides over 1000 free MIT-licensed SVG icon svg files. The icon set contains icons for common actions and items in a variety of styles.
Heroicons
Heroicons offers over 440 hand-crafted SVG icons by Steve Schoger in outline and solid styles. The icons are designed for enterprise applications and come in three sizes (24px, 48px and 96px).
Iconfinder
| Link | # of Icons | Formats |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.iconfinder.com | 1 million+ | SVG |
| https://www.freepik.com | Thousands | SVG |
| https://www.flaticon.com | 1.9 million+ | SVG, PNG, EPS |
| https://icons8.com | 93,000+ | SVG, PNG, EPS |
| https://iconarchive.com | 360,000+ | PNG, ICO, ICNS |
Tips for choosing vector icons
When selecting free vector icon packs, keep these tips in mind:
- Relevant icons – Pick icon packs that have the specific icons you need rather than generic sets.
- Consistent style – Choose icon packs that have a consistent look and feel rather than disparate styles.
- Design quality – Prioritize icon packs that offer thoughtfully designed icons vs quantity.
- File formats – Opt for commonly used formats like SVG that will meet your needs.
- Licensing – Verify the icons can be used commercially if needed.
- Accessibility – Icons should have titles/labels for accessibility.
Using vector icons
Once you’ve downloaded free vector icon packs, how do you use them in projects? Here are some tips:
Web and mobile apps
For web and mobile apps, the SVG format is ideal. SVGs can be coded directly into HTML and styled with CSS. For React, Vue, and other frameworks, there are SVG component libraries. SVGs also work well in mobile apps as they are small files that render well on high-res screens.
Desktop apps and software
Vector formats like SVG, EPS, and PDF work for desktop apps. Convert the vectors to raster formats like PNG if needed. Software like Sketch has libraries to import icon kits. For Office apps, use icons in the eot, ttf, otf web font formats.
Print projects
For print projects, SVG, EPS, and PDF formats will provide the best quality. Vectors won’t lose quality when scaled up for large format printing. You can also convert vectors to high-res raster formats.
Animation
For animated icons, SVG is the standard format. SVGs can be animated in CSS or JavaScript using the SVG Animations spec. Libraries like GSAP provide tools to animate stroke dashes, sizes, rotation, and more.
Editing and customizing vectors
One of the benefits of vector icons is that they can be edited and customized. This allows you to tweak icon designs to match your brand or needs. Here are some ways to edit vectors:
- Recolor – Change the fill color of shapes using illustration software.
- Resize – Scale icons proportionally to larger or smaller sizes.
- Combine shapes – Merge shapes or layer icons to make new designs.
- Converting to shapes – Convert strokes to filled objects to alter shapes.
- Vector editing tools – Use tools like the pen, nodes, and handles in apps like Sketch, Figma, Illustrator to manipulate paths and alter shapes.
Finding icon management tools
As your icon collection grows managing thousands of SVG files can get tricky. Here are some tools to help organize icon assets:
- IconJar – Import icons and access them from a customizable interface
- Iconfinder – Save icons to collections that sync across devices
- Nucleo – Browse thousands of icons and manage collections
- SVGest – Manage SVG icons and spritesheets
- IcoMoon – Icon manager and SVG icon converter
Conclusion
Vector icons are extremely versatile design assets that can enhance any project when used effectively. Luckily there are plenty of sources to get free vector icon packs online. Just be sure to choose icons that match your style needs and download them in web-friendly formats like SVG. With the right sets of icons at your disposal, you can create more engaging and user-friendly designs.