Skip the fluff. This is a practitioner’s review of Icons8 as a working icon source for product teams, content teams, classrooms, and small companies that need predictable output. You will see what the platform does well, how it plugs into real workflows, and how to set it up so the work moves faster.
Scope and structure of the library
Icons8 maintains a very large catalog that covers multiple visual families. Think platform specific glyphs for iOS and Windows, crisp outline sets, filled glyph sets, multicolor pictograms, and motion ready variants. The value is not only volume. The families stay consistent in stroke, corner treatment, perspective, and color logic, so large screens do not look like a collage. A designer can build a settings flow on Monday and an analytics dashboard on Friday and still get the same rhythm of line weight and shape grammar.
Common use in product work: pick one family for the core application, a second for marketing pages if you want richer color, and a tiny set of motion icons for empty states and key confirmations. With a single source, spacing and optical balance remain stable, which reduces QA edits and visual drift during late sprints.
File formats that cover real use cases
PNG solves quick content production. SVG is the workhorse for UI components and themeable design systems. Lottie JSON and After Effects files handle motion without a video round trip. Teams that version icons as part of a component library can store source SVG, compile React or Vue components during build, and still keep a clean mapping between design tokens and code. Marketing can export PNG at multiple sizes from the same master without asking for new art.
A simple rule that holds up in practice: SVG for product, PNG for editorial, Lottie for subtle product motion, AE for motion design teams that want timing control.
Figma integration that saves attention
Icons inside Figma matter more than any clever catalog site. The official plugin surfaces the full library in the editor, supports search by name and keyword, and pastes clean vectors onto the canvas. That removes the browser shuffle, prevents copy paste artifacts, and lets designers swap variants without leaving the file. Steez, the update helper, scans for outdated assets and proposes replacements that match the chosen family. It turns a painful cleanup pass into a controlled sweep.
Two quick workflow wins. First, create a Figma page called Icons and park a small set of components there. Second, map those to tokens so developers can reference ids rather than file names. Everyone speaks the same language when something changes.
Desktop access when the network is not your friend
Many companies block random downloads or throttle unknown domains. Pichon, the desktop app, lets you browse, filter, and drag icons without relying on a constant connection. Designers who present from hotel Wi Fi can still pull an asset, adjust color, and keep going. For teams with locked down laptops, local access means less time asking IT for exceptions.
Developer path with an API
Product teams can wire Icons8 into internal tools. The API exposes search and retrieval by id and by style. A developer can build a small picker inside a documentation site, let writers choose icons from approved families, and store the chosen ids in front matter or design tokens. Build scripts then fetch the exact SVGs during deployment. No manual downloads, no mystery art in the repository, and a clean audit trail when a family changes.
A typical integration looks like this. Tokens list icon ids per component. The build step pulls those ids, sanitizes the SVG, wraps it as a framework component, and hashes the output for caching. The same ids appear in Figma component descriptions for reference. When a family changes from line to filled, the ids remain, so only the style mapping updates.
Licensing without guesswork
There are two clear paths. Free with attribution or paid without attribution. If you use the free route, place a visible link to icons8.com on the page where icons appear. Many teams put it in the footer for site wide use or on an About page for products with strict layouts. If you do not want to display links, buy the commercial license and move on. The rule is simple, easy to document, and easy to enforce in a checklist for editors.
For academic use and class projects, the free plan with credit is a good fit. For funded companies and clients under brand guidelines, budget for the commercial plan from the start and avoid relitigating the question later.
Roles and use cases
Product designers
Designers benefit from uniform families. Set up one primary family, declare sizing rules for 16, 20, 24, and 32, and keep those sizes in the component library. Annotate when to use color and when to stick to monochrome. Motion icons fill key gaps in onboarding and confirmation patterns without custom animation work.
Developers
Engineers keep the repository clean by storing ids instead of raw files. Use a script to pull only the used icons and strip unsafe attributes. Share a small preview site for QA with code generated examples of every icon in the build, which helps catch contrast or pixel fit issues before release.
Design students
Students learn faster by rebuilding the same screen in multiple visual languages. Build a weather app with a line family, then rebuild it with a filled family and a multicolor family. Compare legibility at small sizes and observe how different corner radii change the perceived tone of the interface.
Marketers and content managers
Editorial teams do not have time for bespoke art on every post. A single source that covers charts, UI callouts, and product feature spots keeps the calendar moving. Store a few brand approved color variants as reusable snippets, and your writers can drop assets into blog posts and social images without waiting on design.
Startups
New companies need speed and coherence. A single family prevents visual noise in the first version of the product and in the first wave of landing pages. When the design system matures, keep the family but swap a few icons for custom art that reflects specific domain concepts.
Teachers and educational projects
Teachers can build repeatable exercises that show how icons communicate ideas and affordances. One week focuses on style contrast. Another week focuses on internationalization and how metaphors travel across cultures. Because the catalog is broad, you do not hit dead ends where a concept is missing.
Search that fixes legacy files
Icon names drift over time. Visual search and strong keyword coverage help you locate a near match from a screenshot and map it to the current family. Steez then finishes the sweep inside the file so the screen reads like it was designed yesterday, not two design leads ago.
Motion where it adds value
Animation earns its spot by smoothing micro moments. A subtle upload loop, a calm success check, a quiet empty state. Lottie keeps the asset weight low and performance steady. After Effects source files unlock timing changes for teams that care about motion craft. You get small delights without inventing a motion system from scratch.
Brand and social icons without the weekly redraw
Brand assets change, and teams often chase minor updates. Icons8 maintains current versions in multiple visual families so you can match a footer, a call to action bar, and a compact mobile header without editing vectors by hand. If you need a facebook logo that fits monochrome and color contexts, you pull both from the same family and keep the visual rhythm intact. One source, fewer variants to babysit.
Handoff and governance that scale
Centralize icon decisions. Document the chosen families, sizes, and color logic in your design system. In code, reference ids in tokens and generate components during builds. During review, point QA to a story that renders every used icon at target sizes and on both light and dark backgrounds. Once this pipeline is in place, new hires learn it in a day and the team stops debating basic choices.
Practical setup checklist
- Choose one primary family for product UI and a secondary family for marketing or docs. Record stroke weight, corner radius logic, and approved sizes in the design system.
- Install the Figma plugin for the entire team and create a small library page with mapped components and usage notes.
- Store icon ids in design tokens. Pull SVGs during build, sanitize, and wrap as framework components with predictable names.
- Deploy Pichon on laptops that travel or sit behind strict network rules so work does not stall when the connection drops.
- Decide license mode on day one. Free with clear credit for student work and experiments. Commercial for shipped products and client projects.
A quick test that reveals the gain
Take one old screen in your product. Replace the mixed icons with one family. Swap a static status for a small motion icon in the key moment. Review the result on a mid range phone and a 4K monitor. The difference is not a subtle tweak. The interface reads as one voice. That is the real value here, and it repeats across every screen once you adopt the pipeline.