Iconify API
Free Iconify API with no key: fetch any icon from 200,000+ across 150 open-source sets as SVG, sized and recoloured from the URL. Tested example included.
Endpoint tested and returned HTTP 200 on 21 Aug 2026
What is the Iconify API?
The Iconify API is a free, key-free API serving over 200,000 icons from more than 150 open-source icon sets — Material Design Icons, Font Awesome, Bootstrap Icons, Phosphor, Lucide and many others — as SVG, addressed by a simple prefix and name.
Iconify solves icon-set lock-in. Normally, choosing an icon library means installing it, bundling it and living with its coverage; mixing two means two dependencies and two naming conventions. Iconify unifies 150-plus sets behind one addressing scheme — `/{prefix}/{name}.svg` — so `mdi/home`, `fa6-solid/house` and `lucide/house` are all one request away with nothing installed.
The returned SVG is designed to be styled rather than fixed. It uses `fill="currentColor"` and `1em` dimensions, which means the icon inherits its colour from CSS `color` and its size from `font-size` — the same behaviour as an icon font, but as real SVG with no font file. That single detail is why Iconify drops cleanly into an existing design system.
Quick facts
- Base URL
https://api.iconify.design- Authentication
- No API key or account. The public API is free for both personal and commercial use; individual icon sets keep their own open-source licences (mostly MIT, Apache 2.0 or CC BY).
- Rate limit
- No hard limit on the public instance. Heavy production use is encouraged to self-host, which is a documented Docker deployment.
- Pricing
- Free and open source. The hosted API is community infrastructure.
- CORS
- Enabled — callable directly from browser JavaScript
- Official docs
- Read the docs
How to use the Iconify API
Every request below was executed against the live API on 21 Aug 2026, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.
1. Fetch the Material Design Icons home icon as SVG
GET https://api.iconify.design/mdi/home.svg
curl 'https://api.iconify.design/mdi/home.svg'const res = await fetch("https://api.iconify.design/mdi/home.svg");
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);import requests
res = requests.get("https://api.iconify.design/mdi/home.svg", timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json())<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="1em" height="1em" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path fill="currentColor" d="M10 20v-6h4v6h5v-8h3L12 3L2 12h3v8z"/></svg>Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
prefix | path segment | Required | The icon set, such as `mdi`, `fa6-solid`, `bi`, `lucide`, `ph` or `tabler`. mdi |
name | path segment | Required | The icon name within that set, with `.svg` appended. home.svg |
color | query | Optional | Replaces `currentColor` with a fixed colour, which you need when embedding the SVG as an image rather than inline. %23ff0000 |
width / height | query | Optional | Fixed pixel dimensions instead of the default `1em`. 24 |
rotate / flip | query | Optional | Rotate by 90, 180 or 270 degrees, or flip `horizontal` / `vertical`. 90deg |
(bulk) | query | Optional | The `/{prefix}.json?icons=a,b,c` endpoint returns many icons in one JSON response. |
Response fields
(body)image/svg+xml- The icon as SVG markup, ready to inline into the DOM or reference from an `img` tag.
fill="currentColor"attribute- Makes the icon inherit the surrounding CSS `color`, so it themes automatically — but only when inlined, not when loaded via `img`.
width / height = "1em"attribute- Makes the icon scale with `font-size`, matching icon-font behaviour without a font file.
viewBoxattribute- The icon set's native coordinate system, usually 24x24 but varying by set.
What you can build with the Iconify API
- Use icons from several libraries without installing or bundling any of them
- Let a CMS or user configuration choose an icon by name at runtime
- Build an icon picker with search across every open-source set
- Fetch icons server-side for emails or PDFs where a font would not load
Common errors and how to fix them
404
Unknown prefix or icon name.
Fix: Names use hyphens, not spaces or camel case. Search on icones.js.org or the Iconify site to get the exact `prefix:name` pair.
Icon renders black when it should inherit colour
`currentColor` only works on inlined SVG.
Fix: When loading via an `img` tag, pass the `color` query parameter instead — remembering to percent-encode the `#` as `%23`.
Empty or malformed SVG
The `.svg` extension was omitted.
Fix: The path needs it: `/mdi/home.svg`. Without the extension you hit a different endpoint shape.
Iconify API — frequently asked questions
Is the Iconify API free?
Yes, free with no API key for personal and commercial use. Each icon set keeps its own open-source licence — mostly MIT, Apache 2.0 or CC BY — so check the specific set if you are redistributing the icons themselves.
How many icons does Iconify have?
Over 200,000 across more than 150 open-source sets, including Material Design Icons, Font Awesome, Bootstrap Icons, Lucide, Phosphor, Tabler and Simple Icons. They all share one addressing scheme, so switching sets is a one-token change.
How do I change an Iconify icon's colour?
If you inline the SVG, set CSS `color` — the markup uses `fill="currentColor"` so it inherits automatically. If you load it through an `img` tag, CSS cannot reach inside it, so use the `color` query parameter and percent-encode the hash as `%23`.
Can I use Iconify without hitting their servers?
Yes. The API is open source with a documented Docker deployment, and there are framework components that bundle icons at build time. Self-hosting is recommended for high-volume production use.
Tools that pair with this API
SVG to PNG Converter
Convert SVG vector files to PNG at any resolution you choose. Render crisp raster images from SVG in your browser — free, instant and private.
Image to Base64 Converter
Convert an image to a Base64 data URL online. Get copy-ready HTML img tags and CSS background-image snippets. Free, instant and fully private.
PNG to SVG Converter
Convert PNG to SVG online by tracing raster pixels into scalable vector shapes. Free browser-based vectorizer for logos, icons and pixel art.
Alternatives to Iconify API
If Iconify does not fit, these photography & design apis cover similar ground. Every one was called before publishing, and each links to its own reference page with a working curl command and the response it returned.
| API | What it does | Auth | CORS | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | Free Metropolitan Museum of Art API with no key: 470,000+ artworks with high-resolution public-domain images, artist data and full object metadata. Tested. | No key | No | 19 Aug 2026 |
| Art Institute of Chicago | Free Art Institute of Chicago API with no key: 130,000+ artworks with IIIF images, colour data, artist info and rich metadata. Well documented. Tested example. | No key | Yes | 19 Aug 2026 |
| Cleveland Museum of Art | Free Cleveland Museum of Art API with no key: 60,000+ artworks with open-access images, provenance, exhibition history and full metadata. Tested curl example. | No key | No | 19 Aug 2026 |
| DiceBear Avatars | Free avatar generator API with no key: deterministic SVG or PNG avatars from any seed, in 30+ styles with customisable colours. Tested curl example. | No key | Yes | 19 Aug 2026 |
| Icons8 Image URLs | Free icon delivery by URL with no key: choose a style, size and icon name in the path and get a rendered PNG or SVG straight back. Tested example included. | No key | Yes | 21 Aug 2026 |
| LoremFlickr | Free placeholder photo service with no key: put dimensions and a keyword in the URL and get a matching real photograph from Flickr. Tested example included. | No key | Yes | 21 Aug 2026 |
Iconify is an independent third-party service and is not affiliated with ByteTools or ByteVancer. Details on this page were verified on 21 Aug 2026; always check the official documentation before relying on this API in production, as terms and limits can change.