Bootstrap Icons is a solid choice — 2,090 icons, MIT licensed. But it is not the only one, and it is not the best fit for every project. Below are 8 open-source alternatives ranked by how directly they answer the reasons people look for a replacement: more coverage, more visual range, or a simpler license.
| Library | Icons | Variants | License | React package | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feather Icons | 286 | outline only | MIT | react-feather |
vs Bootstrap |
| Lucide Icons | 1,979 | outline only | ISC | lucide-react |
vs Bootstrap |
| Boxicons | 3,389 | regular, solid and logos | MIT | boxicons |
vs Bootstrap |
| Tabler Icons | 6,324 | outline only | MIT | @tabler/icons-react |
vs Bootstrap |
| Heroicons | 1,297 | outline and solid | MIT | @heroicons/react |
vs Bootstrap |
| Phosphor Icons | 9,198 | thin, light, regular, bold, fill and duotone | MIT | phosphor-react |
vs Bootstrap |
| Material Design Icons | 14,001 | outlined, rounded, sharp, two-tone and filled | Apache 2.0 | @mui/icons-material |
vs Bootstrap |
| Material Symbols | 18,547 | variable weight, fill, grade and optical size axes | Apache 2.0 | @material-symbols/svg-400 |
vs Bootstrap |
Bootstrap-based projects, admin templates, and compact interfaces where icons sit next to 14px text and need to hold their own at 16px.
If you need strict visual consistency, the mixed fill and stroke treatment can look uneven next to Lucide or Feather. For a larger set with similar small-size optimisation, compare Octicons.
Start from the constraint that actually binds your project. If it is coverage, sort by icon count — the difference between a 286-icon set and a 20,000-icon set is whether you ever have to design a glyph yourself. If it is visual range, look at variants per concept: a library with six weights lets you build hierarchy without a second dependency. If it is legal simplicity, avoid CC BY sets where attribution is impractical.
All of these libraries are indexed on IconStash, so you can search one concept and compare how every set drew it before committing.
The usual reasons are coverage, style range and licensing. Bootstrap Icons ships 2,090 icons in outline, filled and more. If you need concepts it does not cover, or several visual weights from one set, or a license without attribution, one of the alternatives below will fit better.
Every library listed here is open source and free for commercial use. Most are MIT, ISC or Apache 2.0, none of which require attribution. The exception in this list is any CC BY 4.0 set, which does require a visible credit — check the license column in the table above before committing.
Technically yes, but mixing sets usually looks inconsistent because each one draws to its own grid and stroke weight. If you need to fill a gap, prefer pulling a single icon and redrawing it to match your primary set.