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What is Iconify Design?

Iconify Design is a unified framework for using open-source icon sets. Instead of installing and managing each icon library separately, it lets you pull icons from many collections through one consistent system. The project itself is open source, mainly under the MIT license, though some older packages use Apache 2.0 or GPL 2.0. Importantly, that project license does not cover the icons themselves — each icon set carries its own open-source license, so you need to check the specific set you use.

What it actually does

• One interface, many sets: You get access to a broad range of popular icon collections without juggling separate packages or naming conventions.
• Framework-friendly: It is designed to fit into common front-end workflows, so developers can reference icons by a consistent naming pattern rather than memorizing each library's structure.
• Icon-level licensing transparency: Because icon sets vary in license, Iconify points you to each set's terms, which matters if you are building something commercial or need to comply with attribution requirements.

Who it is for

Front-end developers and designers who want flexibility — for example, a team building a dashboard that mixes outline and filled icons from different libraries. Rather than committing to one icon vendor, they can browse and swap sets while keeping the same integration.

A practical next step

Before adding icons to a project, pick one or two sets you like and read their individual licenses. A quick test: choose an icon, confirm its set's license permits your use case, then integrate it through Iconify's framework. If your project has strict licensing needs, that check is the deciding factor.

For official details, see Iconify Design.

How do I integrate Iconify into a web project?

Integrate Iconify by treating it as an icon-delivery layer rather than a single icon library. It bundles many open source icon sets behind one interface, so you can search across sets and render icons consistently in a web project. The project itself is open source, but the individual icon sets carry their own licenses, so license review happens per set, not once for the whole framework.

Common integration paths

• Framework components: Iconify maintains components for React, Vue, Svelte and similar frameworks. You install the component package, then reference an icon by name such as mdi:home or ph:gear. This is the most ergonomic option if your project already uses a component framework.
• Web component / plain HTML: Use the Iconify web component or a script that scans the page for icon placeholders and swaps in SVG. This suits static sites, server-rendered pages or CMS templates where you cannot add a build step.
• Direct API or SVG data: For full control, fetch icon data from the Iconify API or import icon data at build time and render the SVG yourself. Useful when you need custom caching, offline builds or a strict content security policy.

Choosing between runtime and build-time

A practical next step

Start by listing every icon your interface needs, then map each to a set and check that set's license. If the list is small and stable, bundle only those icons. If it is large or changes often, use the API or web component so you are not shipping hundreds of unused SVGs. For a first test, add one framework component and render two or three icons in a scratch page before rolling it out across the codebase.

Official references: Iconify Design for the project and API, and GitHub for the component repositories and per-set license files.

Which icon sets are available on Iconify?

Iconify is a unified framework that aggregates many open-source icon sets, so you can browse and use them through one interface instead of installing each set separately. According to the site, it hosts "all popular icon sets," and each set carries its own open-source license—Iconify's own MIT/Apache/GPL licensing does not cover the icons themselves.

What you can expect

• A large catalog of icon sets from different projects, all searchable in one place.
• Individual licensing per set, so check the specific set before commercial use.
• Consistent usage across sets once you adopt the Iconify tooling.

Practical next step

Use the site's search to filter by style (outline, filled, brand logos) or by set name, then confirm the license listed on each set's page before shipping.

For related icon resources, see Iconify Design.

What license applies to the icons on Iconify?

Iconify's own code and tooling are open source, but that license does not cover the icons. Each icon set carries its own license, and you have to check the set you're using.

What that means in practice

• Iconify the project (site, API, components) is mostly MIT, with some older packages under Apache 2.0 and/or GPL 2.0.
• Icon sets are separate works with separate terms — some permissive, some requiring attribution, some copyleft.
• Attribution requirements differ per set, so a single blanket credit line for "Iconify" may not satisfy them.

How to check a set before you ship

1. Open the icon set's page on Iconify Design.
2. Read the license listed for that set, not the site-wide license.
3. If you mix sets in one product, keep a short internal list mapping each set to its license and required credit.
4. For copyleft or attribution sets, decide early whether you can meet the terms in your distribution model — it's harder to swap icons after release.

Quick comparison

Next step: if you're building a commercial product, shortlist two or three sets with permissive licenses and confirm each set's page before design work starts — that avoids a late redesign if a set turns out to be copyleft.

Can I use Iconify with React, Vue, or other frameworks?

Yes. Iconify is designed to work across front-end frameworks, not just one. The project describes itself as a single framework for all popular icon sets, and its page evidence notes that Iconify itself is open source, with most parts under the MIT license. That matters for React, Vue, Svelte, and similar projects because you can adopt the tooling without changing your app's framework.

How it typically fits

• React, Vue, and Svelte: You use the framework-specific Iconify component or package, then reference icons by name rather than importing individual SVG files.
• Plain HTML or server-rendered pages: Iconify can also be used without a component framework, which helps when part of a site is static.
• Mixed stacks: You can use the same icon names across different parts of a project, which reduces inconsistency if your front end is split across frameworks.

A practical example: a Vue dashboard and a React admin panel can both render the same icon set through Iconify, so the visual language stays consistent even though the codebases differ.

What to check before choosing

The main trade-off is not framework compatibility but icon licensing. The Iconify project's own license does not automatically apply to the icons. Each icon set carries its own open source license, and some may have attribution or redistribution requirements. If you are building a commercial product, verify the license for each set you use rather than assuming all sets are interchangeable.

A useful next step is to pick one icon set, confirm its license, and test it in a small component before rolling it out across the app. For the project itself, see Iconify Design.

How do I add custom icons to Iconify?

Iconify's own site is the home of open source icon sets, but adding custom icons isn't a feature of the website itself — it's something you do in the Iconify tooling in your project. The site's role is to let you browse and search existing sets; custom icons are handled by the developer-facing packages.

The general approach

In practice, people add their own SVGs to Iconify in one of two ways:

• Import via the Iconify tooling. The Iconify ecosystem includes utilities for loading icon data from JSON files or from your own icon collections, so you can register a custom set and then reference icons with the same naming pattern you use for public sets.
• Author your own icon set file. You create a JSON file in Iconify's icon-set format (icons plus metadata such as dimensions and license) and load it at build time or runtime, depending on your framework integration.

Because Iconify intentionally separates the icon data from the framework, the exact steps depend on which package you use — React, Vue, Svelte, or plain JavaScript — and whether you want icons bundled at build time or fetched on demand.

A concrete scenario

Say your team has a handful of brand marks that aren't in any public set. You'd export them as SVGs, convert them into an Iconify-format JSON collection (often with a helper script or the Iconify CLI), then register that collection under a prefix like mycompany:. From then on, <Icon icon="mycompany:logo" /> works alongside mdi:home or lucide:search.

What to watch out for

• Licensing is per set. Iconify's project code is MIT (with some older packages under Apache 2.0 or GPL 2.0), but that license explicitly does not cover the icons themselves. Your own custom icons are yours to license, so state it in your set metadata.
• Naming collisions. Pick a unique prefix so your set doesn't clash with public ones.
• Bundle size. Bundling a large custom set defeats the purpose of on-demand loading; consider only including the icons you actually use.

For the current, exact import syntax and available packages, check the official documentation at Iconify Design and its linked docs, since the API surface differs by framework version.