Icons are an art in themselves. They should usually represent something big, very small and be understandable at a glance. Pretty difficult and that’s why many icon packs cost a lot of money. Others are free, but there is usually not much work involved in these.
Vector graphics are very similar. With just a few elements and colors, they should make coherent statements while remaining completely scalable. However, this only works if the creator is really familiar with this area.
Here I would like to introduce you to seven sources where you can get very beautiful and high-quality icons and vector graphics for free. I’ll tell you what they are using a small list.
7 sources of free icons and vector graphics
A legal note in advance: As always when it comes to creative products such as images, videos or pieces of music, it also applies here that these are usually published under certain licenses. So pay attention to whether and how a name must be given and which license the respective icon uses.
1. SvgOcean
The number one for me for years and my personal source when it comes to purchasing files svg and downloading it for free . But Iconfinder not only sells icons, there are also a lot of free icons for direct download and even as SVG.
This is probably due to the fact that on the one hand open source icons are published, and on the other hand various designers also advertise their paid icon packages.
The icons usually have different licenses, which are clearly visible. It’s not for nothing that I shop regularly at Iconfinder, because I think there’s a large and extremely successful selection here. My first choice and recommendation when it comes to pure icons.
2. Stockio
Stockio ‘s service also does a lot of things right. In addition to icons and vector graphics, videos, fonts and images are also waiting for you here. Below the download button it is clearly stated what the icons can be used for so that this is clearly visible.
I like the clean design of the service, since the superfluous is left out and the selection is a joy. Anyway, no harm in browsing.
3. Free Vector
With Free Vector , the name says it all. A large database of free vector graphics is waiting to be used and presented by you.
In addition to the free graphics and icons, there are also numerous premium graphics that only paying users receive. They have to pay around $10 a month for an extended license and over 152,500 graphics.
Free license is somewhat reduced and selection is limited to just 92,500 graphics and 5 downloads per day. Fair deal and fair selection I think.
4. Freepik
Many of you will certainly already know Freepik , but the offer definitely belongs in the list for free icons and vector graphics. The service is also one of the largest of its kind and the range is correspondingly enormous.
Basically, there is a suitable vector graphic for everything and every purpose. Many of them are completely free of charge, while others are subject to a fee. All in all, the selection wins here, because the database of graphics does indeed seem to be huge.
It is also extremely diverse, so that different types and styles can also be found.
5. Noun Project
Ever heard of the Noun Project ? The curated project already offers more than a million icons that are created and uploaded by graphic designers around the world in the form of a community. The icons are all of an extremely high quality and they generally stand out clearly from other offers of this type.
In my opinion, the website is simply perfect, minimalistic and very fast, just as I would like it to be. Of course there is also a Pro version of the Noun Project, but it only differs in one thing. Anyone who uses the icons free of charge must refer to the author. If you pay, you get the royalty-free license, so you don’t have to name the author separately.
This makes things particularly easy on the one hand, but also fairly fair on the other.
6. Vecteezy
If you’re not just looking for icons, but also really good vector graphics, you can’t really avoid Vecteezy . The service has been around for a very long time, I myself have stumbled across it again and again over the years. As with all services of this type, there are plenty of free vector graphics here, but also paid ones with a suitably extended license.
So that nothing goes wrong, licenses and reference obligations can be found under the download button. There is no room for error, so even insecure people can download relatively safely here. I like the service.
7. Flat Icon
Flat Icon is also one of the larger providers when it comes to icons. You can find well over a million icons there, all of which are of very high quality.
The icons are always included free of charge with a note, only those who pay get the official license and can do without such references. For many projects, however, it is not a problem to include a note on the license, because a footnote does not harm and does not bother anyone. If you want it for free, you have to make compromises.
Free icons and the legal
As you have probably noticed by now, there are countless offers that promise you free icons and vector graphics. Just like with free images, the legal aspect is also important here. The more strictly controlled and curated a platform is, the more certain you can usually be that the use of the graphics will not entail any legal problems.
Even if a paid license is offered in addition to the free license, this indicates that the provider knows exactly what he is doing. I would refrain from platforms that only collect and refer. Here it would be too uncertain for me whether the author has agreed to the whole thing. For example, there are many blogs that list free graphics, but they just point to another site as the source, and so on.
Since the legal issue of such things is to be taken very seriously, please always check very carefully which obligations and licenses you are entering into. If not, a breach is a classic copyright infringement that can result in a warning.