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Head-to-head · Icon Libraries

Font Awesome vs Material Symbols

  • Updated Sep 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Font Awesome #4 in Icon Libraries —/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Font Awesome
Material Symbols #7 in Icon Libraries —/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Material

Font Awesome leads on 1 check, Material Symbols on 1, and 3 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Free planboth

Our editors rank Font Awesome at #4 and Material Symbols at #7 for icon libraries; Font Awesome and Material Symbols have no rubric score yet (facts researched, not yet scored), so the checks below decide.

On style coverage, Material Symbols gives you Customizable where Font Awesome offers Multiple. Material Symbols offers commercial use; Font Awesome doesn't publish it. Font Awesome offers figma plugin; Material Symbols doesn't publish it.

Font Awesome is the better fit for product teams needing mature cross-platform tooling. Material Symbols is the better fit for teams using Google Fonts and native platforms.

  • Font Awesome fits best

    Product teams needing mature cross-platform tooling

  • Material Symbols fits best

    Teams using Google Fonts and native platforms

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Side by side

Feature Font Awesome —/10 Visit ↗ Material Symbols —/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score — —
Ranking #4 in Icon Libraries #7 in Icon Libraries
Best for Product teams needing mature cross-platform tooling Teams using Google Fonts and native platforms
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free
Starting price Not published Not published
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted, Desktop Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms Web, Windows, macOS, Linux Web, Android, iOS
Support Docs Docs, Community
Integrations 12 integrations 1 integrations
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Font Awesome 3/4 · Material Symbols 3/4
Commercial use Not published ✓ (best)
Figma plugin ✓ (best) Not published
API access ✓ ✓
Icon font ✓ ✓
Specs
Icons included Not published Not published
Icon formats SVG, CSS, SCSS, Sass, JavaScript, web fonts, SVG sprites SVG, PNG, web font, Vector Drawable, Apple Symbols
Style coverage Multiple Customizable
Our review
Pros
  • Free and paid collections cover multiple icon families and visual styles.
  • Hosted or downloadable kits support SVG, CSS, Sass, SCSS, and web fonts.
  • React, Vue, Angular, CMS, package, Figma, and API integrations are supported.
  • SVG, PNG, web font, Vector Drawable, and Apple Symbols formats
  • Adjustable fill, weight, grade, and optical-size axes
  • Free, open-source collection with commercial use support
Cons
  • Some collections and capabilities are reserved for paid plans or Pro kits.
  • Its wide feature set may exceed the needs of teams seeking a narrow icon set.
  • Custom icon uploads are available only through Pro kits.
  • Its documented ecosystem integration centers on Google Fonts CSS API.
  • The collection focuses on icons rather than broader design assets.
  • Multiple styles and visual axes add configuration decisions.
Our verdict

Font Awesome is an icon library and styling toolkit for designers and developers working across web, desktop, and design workflows. It offers free and paid icon collections, multiple visual families, SVG and web-font assets, JavaScript…

Read the review →

Material Symbols is Google's open-source icon collection for designers and developers building web, Android, and iOS interfaces. It offers more than 2,500 glyphs across Outlined, Rounded, and Sharp styles, with commercial use supported…

Read the review →
  1. Font AwesomeIcon Libraries —Free plan
  2. Material SymbolsIcon Libraries —Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Font Awesome — where it wins

    • Free and paid collections cover multiple icon families and visual styles.
    • Hosted or downloadable kits support SVG, CSS, Sass, SCSS, and web fonts.
    • React, Vue, Angular, CMS, package, Figma, and API integrations are supported.

    Where it doesn't

    • Some collections and capabilities are reserved for paid plans or Pro kits.
    • Its wide feature set may exceed the needs of teams seeking a narrow icon set.
    • Custom icon uploads are available only through Pro kits.

  • Material Symbols — where it wins

    • SVG, PNG, web font, Vector Drawable, and Apple Symbols formats
    • Adjustable fill, weight, grade, and optical-size axes
    • Free, open-source collection with commercial use support

    Where it doesn't

    • Its documented ecosystem integration centers on Google Fonts CSS API.
    • The collection focuses on icons rather than broader design assets.
    • Multiple styles and visual axes add configuration decisions.

More comparisons

All icon libraries comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Sep 2026