What licenses are available for icons on Iconer?

Updated

Iconer hosts icon libraries under several open-source licenses, and the license is shown on each library's card. According to the site's library listing, the licenses in use are MIT, Apache 2.0, CC BY 4.0, ISC, and Unlicense. The license is set per library, not per icon, so the same site can contain libraries with different terms. Before you use an icon, check the license label on the library you took it from.

Licenses seen on Iconer

License What it generally means Libraries listed with it on Iconer
MIT Permissive; allows commercial use, modification, and redistribution with attribution/license notice Feather, Ionic, Heroicons, Tabler, Cssgg, Eva, Bootstrap, Bytesize, Ikonate, Iconoir, Boxicons, Teeny, Phosphor, Lineawesome, Radix, Mono icons, Basicons, Jam
Apache 2.0 Permissive, similar to MIT but with an explicit patent grant and notice requirements Iconpark, Material Icons, Remix Icons
CC BY 4.0 Allows sharing and adaptation, including commercially, with attribution Basil
ISC Permissive, functionally similar to MIT Lucide
Unlicense Public-domain-style dedication; no conditions Systemui

The library counts on Iconer range from small sets (Bytesize, 101 icons) to large ones (Material Icons, 2,946 icons), so license choice can matter depending on which library fits your design.

How to check the license for a specific icon

  1. Open the Iconer app and browse or search for an icon.
  2. Find the library card or library detail for the set the icon belongs to (for example, "Tabler Icons" or "Material Icons").
  3. Read the License field on that card. Iconer displays it alongside the icon count, category count, and source style.
  4. If you need the full legal text, follow the license name to its official page (for example, MIT, Apache 2.0, CC BY 4.0, ISC, or Unlicense).

The license is attached to the library, so switching from a MIT library to an Apache 2.0 or CC BY 4.0 library changes your obligations even though the icons are in the same app.

What this means for your project

  • MIT, ISC, and Unlicense libraries are the most permissive on Iconer. They are generally safe for commercial and closed-source projects, provided you keep the required notice where the license asks for it.
  • Apache 2.0 libraries (Iconpark, Material Icons, Remix Icons) are also permissive but include a patent grant and notice requirements, which some teams prefer for that reason.
  • CC BY 4.0 (Basil) requires attribution. If you cannot or do not want to credit the source, this library is a poorer fit than the MIT sets.
  • Attribution is not uniform. MIT and ISC typically require the copyright notice and license text to be included; CC BY 4.0 requires credit to the creator. Check the specific library rather than assuming all "free" icons work the same way.

Common pitfalls

  • Assuming one license covers the whole site. Iconer mixes MIT, Apache 2.0, CC BY 4.0, ISC, and Unlicense libraries, so a blanket assumption is wrong.
  • Treating "free" as "no conditions." CC BY 4.0 in particular carries an attribution condition that MIT-style licenses handle differently.
  • Losing track after export. Iconer lets you copy and export in SVG, PNG, HTML, JSX, and more. Once an icon leaves the app, the license label does not travel with it, so record the source library and license in your project notes.
  • Forgetting modified icons. If you remix or edit attributes, the original license still applies to the derivative in most cases.

If your project has strict licensing rules, start by filtering to MIT or Unlicense libraries, then confirm the license field on each library card before exporting.