Icon is an important element in design. App developers also need it for an app they are developing. However, not all designers and app developers have the capability of creating icons or hiring someone to create ones. Lucky for us. We are living in the internet era where everything is available on the internet. If you need some free icons for your commercial projects, I have put together some websites you can head to.
Some websites offer icons in a pack, while some require you to download the icons individually. One thing, before using certain icons, be sure to read the usage rules. Some websites might require you to give a credit the associated author, or the website itself.
Following is the list of websites you can visit every time you need to download new icons, whatever your purpose.
1. Flaticon
Flaticon is one of the best places to look for free icons for commercial use. At the time of writing, there are about 861,500 vectors available on this site. They are grouped in 16,817 packs. The icon collections in Flaticon are available in several formats from PNG, PSD, SVG and ESP. Before being able to download an icon pack, you are required to create an account. Afterwards, you will be able to download as many icon packs as you want. Flaticon allows you to use the icons you downloaded for commercial use, but attribution is required. Flaticon also offers premium version. The premium version allows you to use the icons you have downloaded for commercial without needing to give any credit to Flaticon. In addition, there are also additional premium icon collections you can download.
2. Icons8
Icons8 is also a great resource to grab free icons for commercial use. Icons8 adopts the similar business model to Flaticon. You are allowed to download the icons for free, but it’s illegal to use the icons you have downloaded for commercial use without giving a credit to Icons8. Or, you can upgrade your free account to premium if you want to use the icons for commercial use but unwilling to give any credit. What makes Icons8 different to Flaticon is that the free version of Icons8 only allows you to download the icons in PNG format, while premium version will be able to download the icons in other formats like ESP and SVG. Other difference, Icons8 provide individual icons instead of pack.
3. iconmonstr
iconmonstr is also a great website to download icons for free. You are allowed to use the icons you have downloaded from this site for any purpose, including commercial without needing to give any attribution. At the time of writing, there are over 4,237 free icons you can download from this site. They are grouped in 296 collections. Same as Icons8, iconmonstr also provides icon individually instead of pack. You can download the icons in several formats such as PNG, PSD, SVG and ESP. Account is not required to download icons from this site.
4. The Noun Project
The Noun Project has over a million curated icons, created by a global community. So, it is also one of the best websites you have to visit if you want to look for free icons. The Noun Project offers icons individually. Each icon is available in two formats: PNG and SVG. Just be sure to read the license of each icon you want to download since The Noun Project has several licences. Some licenses require you to give a credit to the associated creator if you want to use the icon for commercial use, some are not. Account is required before being able to download any icon. If you stick with free account, you will only be able to download the icon in black and white. Thankfully, the SVG version is available so you can change the icon color yourself
5. Freebiesbug
Freebiesbug doesn’t specifically offer free icon. Instead, it is a website dedicated to designers where you can download such things as mockups, website templates, UI kits and so on. There about 306 free icons you can download from this site. They are available in several formats. Freebiesbug provides the icons in packs instead of individually. No specific information regarding the usage rule, but if you want to use the icons for commercial you better give a credit to Freebiesbug.
6. Vecteezy
Vecteezy doesn’t also specifically offer icons. In addition to icons, this website also offers illustrations as well as clip arts. There are over 1,000 free icons available on Vecteezy. You can download and use them for free, but giving credit to Vecteezy is required if you stick with free account since Vecteezy is a freemium service. Vecteezy provides the icons in packs. The vast majority of icons themselves are available in AI as well as SVG formats. Vecteezy has a vector editor to allow you editing the vectors before you download them.