Heroicons vs Tabler Icons
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
Free MIT-licensed SVG icon set for UI work, with React and Vue packages.
Open source · MIT
Over 6,000 free MIT-licensed SVG icons for web projects, in many formats and frameworks.
The short answer
Choose Heroicons if you need…
- Web developers building interfaces who want clean, consistent icons
- Teams already using Tailwind CSS, since icons are styled with utility classes like text-gray-500
- React or Vue developers who want icons as importable components
- Designers who want a simple, consistent icon set to pick from
Choose Tabler Icons if you need…
- Web developers who need a consistent set of icons for buttons, menus, and dashboards
- React, Vue, Svelte, or Astro developers who want ready-made icon components
- Projects that need many icon options without paying for a license
- Teams that want to swap icon stroke width or color with plain CSS
Side-by-side
| Heroicons | Tabler Icons | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | App |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 23.9k | 22.5k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last code update | 6 months ago | 8 days ago |
What each one is
Heroicons
Heroicons is a collection of hand-crafted SVG icons made by the team behind Tailwind CSS. You can copy an icon's SVG code straight into a web page, or install official React or Vue packages that let you import each icon as a component. The icons are free to use under the MIT license.
Tabler Icons
Tabler Icons is a large collection of simple line-style icons (with a smaller filled set) that you can add to websites and apps. The README says each icon is drawn on a 24x24 grid with a 2px stroke, and the set is released under the MIT license, so it is free to use. It is distributed as official packages for plain SVG, sprites, webfonts, and components for React, Vue, Svelte, and other frameworks.
Best for
Heroicons
- Web developers building interfaces who want clean, consistent icons
- Teams already using Tailwind CSS, since icons are styled with utility classes like text-gray-500
- React or Vue developers who want icons as importable components
- Designers who want a simple, consistent icon set to pick from
Tabler Icons
- Web developers who need a consistent set of icons for buttons, menus, and dashboards
- React, Vue, Svelte, or Astro developers who want ready-made icon components
- Projects that need many icon options without paying for a license
- Teams that want to swap icon stroke width or color with plain CSS
Strengths
Heroicons
- Free and MIT-licensed, so it can be used in commercial projects
- Icons are styled with the CSS color property, which fits well with Tailwind CSS
- Official React and Vue packages offer several sizes and styles (24px outline, 24px solid, 20px solid, 16px solid)
Tabler Icons
- Large set of over 6,000 icons (the README lists 6257 total, 5203 outline, 1054 filled)
- MIT license and free to use, as stated in the README
- Many packages cover common frameworks and formats, with one shared version number
Not ideal for
Heroicons
- People who need a very large or specialized icon library, since the README does not describe its icon count and the project is not accepting new icon contributions
- Contributors hoping to add new icons or framework support, because the README says only bug-fix contributions are accepted
- Developers using frameworks other than React or Vue who want a ready-made package, since the README mentions no official package for them
Tabler Icons
- People who need a unique brand icon style, since this is a general-purpose set (the README does not discuss customization beyond CSS and props)
- Projects that need icons in a non-web format only; the README covers SVG, PNG, PDF, and EPS, but its usage examples focus on web use
Trade-offs
Heroicons
- The README says only bug-fix contributions are accepted, so requests for new icons or new framework support will not be merged
- Only React and Vue packages are provided officially; other frameworks need your own wrapper
Tabler Icons
- The README is a summary; the full documentation is hosted on tabler.io, so some details are not covered here
- Icon names and sets change with releases, so pinning a version may be needed for stability
Getting started
Heroicons
Install the React package
npm install @heroicons/reactInstall the Vue package
npm install @heroicons/vueTabler Icons
Install the SVG package with npm
npm install @tabler/iconsInstall with yarn
yarn add @tabler/iconsFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Heroicons and Tabler Icons?
Heroicons: Free MIT-licensed SVG icon set for UI work, with React and Vue packages. Tabler Icons: Over 6,000 free MIT-licensed SVG icons for web projects, in many formats and frameworks. Heroicons suits web developers building interfaces who want clean, consistent icons, while Tabler Icons suits web developers who need a consistent set of icons for buttons, menus, and dashboards.
Are Heroicons and Tabler Icons free?
Heroicons: Free and open source. Tabler Icons: Free and open source.
Is Heroicons or Tabler Icons more popular?
Heroicons has more GitHub stars (23.9k) than Tabler Icons (22.5k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.