Simple Icons is the best free source of social media icons: it has over 3,400 brand logos as SVG files under CC0, so you can recolour and use them without credit. Tabler Icons adds 6,250+ open source icons, including a Brand category, under the MIT licence, but no icon licence covers the brand itself, so you still follow each network's own rules, such as Pinterest's badge guidelines.
Social icons look like the easiest part of a website. Download a set, drop it in the footer, done. The catch is that two different things are going on. There's the drawing, which an icon library can license to you, and there's the brand, which belongs to the platform. Getting both right takes five minutes, and it saves you from a logo that looks off or a badge that breaks the platform's rules.
Four free icon libraries and what their licences ask
| Library | Size, as of October 2026 | Licence | What it asks of you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Icons | Over 3,400 brand SVG icons | CC0 1.0 | Nothing for the files, but it asks you to read its legal disclaimer first |
| Tabler Icons | 6,250+ icons, with a Brand category | MIT | Keep the copyright and licence notice with copies of the software |
| Bootstrap Icons | Over 2,078 icons | MIT | Keep the copyright notice |
| Font Awesome Free | Icons, fonts and code | Icons CC BY 4.0, fonts SIL OFL, code MIT | Credit for the icons, because CC BY means attribution |
Simple Icons: one file per brand
Simple Icons is built for exactly this job. It's a collection of SVG icons for popular brands, and you download each one from its site by clicking the icon's download button. Developers can pull icons from a CDN, and the Simple Icons CDN lets you add a colour. Leave the colour out and you get the brand's own colour; add one and you can make every icon match your site. There's also a viewbox setting that sizes icons consistently, which fixes the common problem of one logo looking bigger than the rest.
Here's the detail most people never read. The CC0 licence that covers the files says, in its own text, that no trademark rights are waived. So the drawing is free, but the brand still belongs to the company. Simple Icons even keeps a guidelines link for icons where it has one, and asks every user to read its legal disclaimer before using an icon.
Tabler, Bootstrap and Font Awesome for the rest of your site
Tabler Icons is the one to pick if you want your social icons and your other icons to match. Every icon is drawn on a 24x24 grid with a 2px stroke, and you can change the size, stroke and colour. You can use them as HTML images, inline SVG, an SVG sprite or React components, and in Sketch, Illustrator, XD and Figma, where there's a Tabler plugin. It's free, with an optional payment if you'd like to support the project.
Bootstrap Icons is a free, open source library you can use as SVGs, an SVG sprite or a web font, with or without Bootstrap itself. Font Awesome Free says you can use it for commercial projects or almost anything you want, but its icons are under CC BY 4.0, which asks for credit, its fonts are under the SIL OFL and its code is under MIT. If you want a set that asks for nothing, Simple Icons and its CC0 licence is the simpler choice.
The brand rules that come with the logos
The platforms publish their own rules, and those apply whichever library you got the icon from. LinkedIn offers its 'in' logo and its full LinkedIn logo as downloads, and says that by downloading them you agree to its Brand and User Agreements.
Pinterest's brand guidelines are the most detailed I've seen, and they apply to all media, from in-store signs to packaging, digital and broadcast. As of October 2026 they say:
- Only use the Pinterest badge, not the Pinterest wordmark.
- Always include a call to action with the badge.
- Always show your Pinterest account when you use the badge somewhere that isn't clickable, like print.
- Don't add filters or effects to the logo, a white script P in a red circle that can also be black or white.
- Don't suggest Pinterest endorses your promotion or is formally affiliated with you. A badge with no link to your own account wrongly implies a partnership.
- For video, TV or film, send a written request to your Pinterest partner manager at least 10 business days ahead.
The simple rule across every network: use a brand icon to point to your own profile, never to suggest the platform backs you.
Adding social icons to your site, step by step
- Download the SVG for each network you're on from Simple Icons, or use Tabler's Brand set if you want them to match your other icons.
- Decide on colour: each brand's own colour, or one colour for all of them to match your site.
- Size them consistently, so no single logo shouts louder than the others.
- Link every icon to your own profile, not the platform's home page.
- Add the call to action and account name where a brand's rules ask for it, as Pinterest's do.
- If you use an MIT set like Tabler or Bootstrap Icons in software you share, keep the licence notice with it.
For an email signature, you'll usually want a small PNG rather than an SVG, and these libraries give you SVG files, so export a PNG from your design tool first. For non-brand icons, my list of free icons for commercial use has more options, there's more on free SVG files if you work with cutting machines or print, and if you want something original, see my guide to making your own icon.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
My pick for social icons
I'd use Simple Icons if you only need the social logos, because CC0 asks nothing and the colour option makes them easy to match. I'd use Tabler if you want the social icons and every other icon on your site drawn in one style. Skip Font Awesome Free if you don't want to add a credit line. And whichever you choose, follow the platform's own rules, because the icon licence never covers the brand.
Featured spots and reviews on this page are paid partnerships, never free listings. Do you make icons or design tools? Tool makers can ask about a featured place here.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I get free social media icons?
Simple Icons has over 3,400 brand logos as SVG files under CC0. Tabler Icons has 6,250+ open source icons, including a Brand category, under the MIT licence.
Are social media icons free for commercial use?
The icon files can be. Simple Icons is CC0 and Tabler is MIT. But the brands are trademarks, so follow each platform's rules and only use their logos to point to your own profile.
Do I need to credit Font Awesome icons?
Yes for Font Awesome Free icons, which are under CC BY 4.0, an attribution licence. Simple Icons, under CC0, doesn't ask for credit.
Can I use the Pinterest logo on my website?
Yes to promote your Pinterest account, using the badge rather than the wordmark, with a call to action and a link to your own account, and without suggesting Pinterest endorses you.
What format should social icons be for an email signature?
Usually a small PNG image. The libraries here give you SVG files, so export a PNG from your design tool before adding it to your signature.
