Free Icons for Commercial Use: A Plain-English Licensing Guide
“Free for commercial use” is one of the most misread phrases in design. Some free icons can go into a paid product with zero strings attached; others are free only if you credit the author visibly, and a few — like brand logos — come with caveats that have nothing to do with the icon’s license at all. Getting this wrong can mean a takedown request, an awkward attribution scramble before launch, or worse. This guide explains the licenses you’ll actually encounter, in plain English, and tells you exactly when you’re safe to ship.
Every license below applies to icons you can browse and download on DownloadIcons, and the full matrix lives on the licenses page. This article is practical guidance, not legal advice — when real money or risk is involved, have counsel review your specific case.
What “commercial use” actually means
Commercial use simply means using the icons in something connected to making money — a SaaS product, a client website, a paid app, marketing material, a product you sell. The key question is almost never “can I use this commercially?” (for open-source icon sets, the answer is yes). The real questions are:
- Do I have to credit the author, and if so, where?
- Can I modify the icon (recolor, restyle, combine)?
- Can I redistribute it, for example inside an open-source repo or a template I sell?
The license answers all three. Here are the ones that cover the vast majority of free icons.
The permissive licenses: MIT, ISC, Apache 2.0
These are the easiest to live with and cover most modern sets. You can use the icons commercially, modify them, and redistribute them. There’s no requirement to visibly credit the author in your UI — the only obligation is to keep the license text alongside the source code if you redistribute the source (not your compiled app or website).
| License | Commercial | Modify | Visible credit needed? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIT | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Keep license text with redistributed source |
| ISC | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Functionally identical to MIT |
| Apache 2.0 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Adds an explicit patent grant |
Libraries under these terms include Heroicons, Phosphor, and Tabler (MIT), Lucide (ISC), and Material Design Icons and Carbon (Apache 2.0). For a product you ship to customers, these are the lowest-friction choice — drop them in and move on.
The public-domain option: CC0
CC0 is as permissive as it gets: the author has waived essentially all rights, placing the work in the public domain. Use it commercially, modify it, redistribute it — no attribution required, ever. Simple Icons releases its code under CC0, which is why it’s the go-to for “Sign in with…” rows and brand grids (with one important caveat below about the marks themselves).
The one that trips people up: CC BY 4.0
This is where most accidental violations happen. CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) permits commercial use and modification — but visible attribution is legally required. You must credit the creator wherever the icons appear, typically a line like “Icons by [Author] (CC BY 4.0)” in a footer, an about page, or app credits.
Sets under CC BY include Solar and IconaMoon. They’re excellent, and free to use commercially — you just can’t skip the credit. If your project genuinely can’t display attribution (some clients forbid it), choose an MIT/ISC/Apache/CC0 set instead.
Rule of thumb: if a license name contains “BY”, you owe a visible credit. If it’s MIT, ISC, Apache, or CC0, you don’t (just retain license text with redistributed source).
Brand logos are a special case
Here’s a subtlety that catches teams off guard: the license on a brand-logo set covers the SVG code, not the trademark. Simple Icons is CC0, so the code is public domain — but the logos themselves remain the trademarks and property of their owners. That means:
- ✅ Using a company’s logo for accurate, factual reference (“Connect your GitHub account”, “As seen in…”) is generally fine.
- ⚠️ Implying endorsement, partnership, or sponsorship you don’t have is a trademark problem regardless of the icon license.
- ⚠️ Altering a brand’s logo can violate its brand guidelines.
When in doubt with logos, check the brand’s own usage guidelines, not just the icon set’s license.
Protected symbols you can’t repurpose
A few symbols carry legal protection independent of any icon license. The Red Cross emblem is protected under the Geneva Conventions and is not a generic medical symbol — using it commercially can be unlawful in many jurisdictions. Use a plain medical cross (a neutral plus), heart, or other generic glyph instead. We cover this in depth in choosing icons for a healthcare app.
A pre-launch compliance checklist
Before you ship a commercial product, run through this:
- Identify every icon source. Know which library each glyph came from.
- Check each license on its icon page or the licenses page.
- Add attribution for any CC BY (and any other “BY”) set — footer, about, or credits.
- Retain license text for any source you redistribute (templates, open-source repos).
- Treat brand logos as trademarks, not just licensed art — no implied endorsement, no logo edits.
- Avoid protected emblems like the Red Cross.
To make this painless, when you assemble a pack on DownloadIcons, the export includes a ready-made attribution file listing every source and its license — so the credit line is written for you.
Frequently asked questions
Are the icons on DownloadIcons free for commercial use? Yes — every library in the directory is open source and free for commercial use. The only variable is whether visible attribution is required (CC BY sets) or not (MIT/ISC/Apache/CC0).
Do I have to credit MIT or Apache icons in my app’s UI? No visible UI credit is required. You only need to keep the license text alongside the source if you redistribute the source code.
Which license is safest if I want zero obligations? CC0 (public domain) or MIT/ISC for icon code with no visible-credit requirement. Pick one of these when attribution isn’t an option for your project.
Can I modify the icons — recolor, restyle, combine? Under all the licenses above, yes. The icons are SVGs that respond to currentColor and stroke changes; you can customize them on any icon page before downloading.
The bottom line
Most free icons are genuinely free for commercial use — the real homework is attribution. MIT, ISC, Apache 2.0, and CC0 ask for no visible credit; CC BY 4.0 legally requires it; and brand logos answer to trademark law on top of their license. Identify your sources, honor the “BY” sets, and treat logos with care. Then browse 21 libraries, check each license on the licenses page, and ship with confidence.
