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Icon Fonts vs SVG Icons: Complete Comparison for Modern Web Development

Choosing between icon fonts and SVG icons involves trade-offs in accessibility, performance, styling flexibility, and animation. This guide covers every dimension to help you make the right decision for your project.

TL;DR

In Simple Terms

SVG is the modern standard. Over 78% of major websites now use SVG icons, up from 34% five years ago. SVG wins on accessibility, styling, and tree-shaking.Icon fonts are simpler to set up initially but have accessibility issues (screen readers announce characters), limited styling (single color), and force users to download all icons.For new projects, use SVG. For existing icon font implementations, migrate gradually using libraries like react-icons or heroicons.

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Icon fonts and SVG icons are the two dominant approaches for adding scalable, resolution-independent icons to websites. For most of the 2010s, icon fonts ruled the web. Libraries like Font Awesome made it trivially easy to add hundreds of icons by loading a single CSS file and sprinkling classes throughout your HTML. But the web has changed, and SVG has emerged as the technically superior approach for nearly every use case.

Understanding the differences between these two approaches goes beyond a simple performance benchmark. The choice affects how accessible your site is to users with disabilities, how much styling control your CSS has, how your icons animate, and how well your build tools can optimize your bundle. Each dimension tells a different story, and the right answer depends on your project's constraints.

This guide works through each dimension in detail: how both approaches work under the hood, their respective accessibility profiles, the performance trade-offs, styling and animation capabilities, framework integration, and a practical migration path for teams moving from icon fonts to SVG.

How Each Approach Works

How Icon Fonts Work

Icon fonts work by mapping Unicode Private Use Area (PUA) characters to icon glyphs inside a font file. When a browser renders a character in that range using the icon font, it displays the corresponding glyph rather than a text character.

Typical HTML usage with Font Awesome:

<!-- Link stylesheet in <head> -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="font-awesome.css">

<!-- Use icon via class -->
<i class="fa fa-star" aria-hidden="true"></i>

/* The CSS does this behind the scenes: */
.fa-star::before {
  content: "\f005"; /* Unicode PUA character */
  font-family: "FontAwesome";
}

What happens at load time:

  • • Browser downloads the full icon font file (WOFF2 + WOFF + TTF typically bundled)
  • • All icons are available the moment the font loads, regardless of how many you use
  • • CSS classes act as aliases for specific Unicode characters within the font
  • • Icons scale with font-size and inherit color from the cascade
  • • The browser treats icons as text, which has significant accessibility implications

How SVG Icons Work

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is an XML-based format that describes vector shapes using mathematical coordinates. Icons can be embedded directly in HTML as inline SVG, referenced via an SVG sprite sheet, or used as external image files.

Three common SVG delivery patterns:

<!-- 1. Inline SVG (most control) -->
<svg role="img" aria-label="Star icon"
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
     width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24"
     fill="none" stroke="currentColor">
  <path d="M12 2l3.09 6.26L22 9.27l-5 4.87..." />
</svg>

<!-- 2. SVG sprite (one request, many icons) -->
<!-- In HTML body, hidden sprite sheet: -->
<svg style="display:none">
  <symbol id="icon-star" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
    <path d="M12 2l3.09 6.26L22 9.27..." />
  </symbol>
</svg>

<!-- Usage: -->
<svg><use href="#icon-star" /></svg>

<!-- 3. External SVG (simplest but least flexible) -->
<img src="/icons/star.svg" alt="Star icon" />

What happens at load time:

  • • Inline SVG: zero additional HTTP requests, parsed as part of the HTML document
  • • Sprite: one HTTP request for the sprite file, icons referenced by ID
  • • External: one request per icon (avoided in most production setups)
  • • Modern bundlers (webpack, Vite) can inline SVGs at build time with zero runtime cost
  • • Tree-shaking eliminates unused icons from the final bundle
CharacteristicIcon FontsSVG Icons
FormatFont file (WOFF2/TTF)XML markup or external file
Browser renderingText/glyph rendering engineGraphics rendering engine
HTTP requests1 font file (all icons)0 (inline) or 1 (sprite)
Typical bundle size~100-500 KB (all icons)1-5 KB per icon (only used icons)
Colors per iconSingle color onlyUnlimited, per-path control
DOM accessibilityCharacters (text node)Semantic element (role/aria)

Accessibility Comparison

Accessibility is the dimension where the gap between icon fonts and SVG is widest. This is not a minor difference in implementation detail — it reflects a fundamental architectural difference in how each approach is perceived by assistive technologies.

Icon Font Accessibility Problems

Icon fonts rely on Unicode PUA characters rendered through CSS content property. Screen readers treat these as text characters and may attempt to announce them, producing meaningless output or silent confusion.

Common issues:

  • Screen reader announcements: NVDA and JAWS may announce the raw Unicode character (e.g., "private use area character") or the word "star" if the glyph is mapped to a named character. Behavior varies across screen reader and browser combinations.
  • Custom font loading failures: When icon fonts fail to load (slow connection, ad blockers, corporate firewalls), browsers render the fallback Unicode character as a square or question mark, leaving sighted users without any icon.
  • No semantic meaning: An icon font element carries no inherent semantic meaning. It is a styled text node — there is no way for a browser to understand it represents a visual concept.
  • High Contrast Mode: On Windows High Contrast Mode, icon fonts may become invisible because text rendering is overridden by the OS color scheme.

The manual workaround (still imperfect):

<!-- You must manually add aria-hidden AND a visually-hidden label -->
<i class="fa fa-shopping-cart" aria-hidden="true"></i>
<span class="sr-only">Shopping cart</span>

<!-- Or wrap in a button with aria-label -->
<button aria-label="Add to cart">
  <i class="fa fa-shopping-cart" aria-hidden="true"></i>
</button>

Even with these workarounds, the solution is brittle — it requires discipline from every developer and breaks in High Contrast Mode.

SVG Accessibility Advantages

Inline SVG is part of the DOM and supports the full ARIA specification. You can assign semantic roles, labels, and descriptions that browsers and screen readers understand natively.

Properly accessible SVG icon:

<!-- Decorative icon (no meaning to convey) -->
<svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"
     width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
  <path d="..." />
</svg>

<!-- Meaningful icon with accessible label -->
<svg role="img" aria-labelledby="cart-title"
     width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
  <title id="cart-title">Shopping cart</title>
  <path d="..." />
</svg>

<!-- Icon button (let the button carry semantics) -->
<button aria-label="Add to cart">
  <svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"
       width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
    <path d="..." />
  </svg>
</button>

SVG accessibility advantages:

  • • role="img" tells screen readers this is a graphic, not text
  • • <title> element provides a short accessible name
  • • <desc> element provides a longer accessible description
  • • aria-hidden="true" hides purely decorative icons cleanly
  • • Works correctly in Windows High Contrast Mode (uses CSS fill/stroke colors)
  • • Consistent behavior across screen readers and browsers

WCAG Compliance

WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content) requires that all non-text content that conveys information has a text alternative. Icon fonts make this difficult by design — they require manual workarounds that are easy to miss. SVG makes compliance the default because you can bake accessible attributes directly into your icon component definition.

For any project subject to accessibility requirements (public sector, US ADA, EU Web Accessibility Directive), SVG is the significantly safer choice.

Performance Analysis

The performance story is nuanced. Icon fonts have one advantage — a single HTTP request loads all icons at once. SVG's advantage is that you only pay for the icons you actually use. Which approach wins depends on how many icons your project needs.

Icon Font Performance Profile

File sizes for common icon font libraries:

  • • Font Awesome 6 Free (WOFF2): ~112 KB for the solid set alone
  • • Font Awesome 6 All Styles (WOFF2): ~400+ KB total
  • • Material Icons (WOFF2): ~130 KB
  • • Bootstrap Icons font: ~45 KB

Additional performance costs:

  • • Font loading blocks rendering: browsers may show invisible text (FOIT) while the font loads
  • • CSS file adds an additional request (~25-70 KB for Font Awesome CSS)
  • • All glyphs are downloaded regardless of how many you use
  • • Font subsetting requires a build step and custom tooling
  • • Multiple font-face declarations (solid, regular, brands) each require separate font files

SVG Performance Profile

Typical SVG icon sizes:

  • • Simple icon (chevron, close): 200-500 bytes
  • • Medium complexity icon (shopping cart, user): 500 bytes - 2 KB
  • • Complex icon (detailed logo, illustration): 2-8 KB
  • • With SVGO optimization: typically 30-60% smaller than raw SVG

SVG performance advantages:

  • • Tree-shaking: bundlers remove unused icons at build time
  • • Inline SVG has zero HTTP requests — markup is part of the HTML document
  • • No render-blocking: inline SVG renders with the page, no FOIT/FOUT
  • • Gzip/Brotli compresses SVG XML extremely well (repetitive paths)
  • • Can be lazy-loaded when icons are below the fold

The Break-Even Point

For projects using fewer than 50 icons, inline SVG will almost always produce a smaller total payload than a full icon font library. The calculation:

  • 20 icons via Font Awesome: ~112 KB font + ~30 KB CSS = ~142 KB total (regardless of which 20 you use)
  • 20 icons via inline SVG: ~20 icons x 1 KB average = ~20 KB total (compressed to ~8-10 KB)
  • 100 icons via Font Awesome: Still ~142 KB (same font file)
  • 100 icons via inline SVG: ~100 KB uncompressed, ~35-40 KB compressed

The crossover point shifts if you use Font Awesome's subsetting service or a custom icon font containing only your icons. But this requires additional tooling and ongoing maintenance.

MetricIcon FontsSVG Icons
HTTP requests2+ (font + CSS)0 (inline) / 1 (sprite)
Render blockingYes (FOIT possible)No (inline SVG)
Tree-shakeableNo (manual subsetting)Yes (with bundlers)
Core Web Vitals impactNegative (LCP, CLS risk)Minimal
Scales with icon countConstant (all icons always)Linear (only used icons)

Styling and Customization

Styling is one of the most practically important differences. Icon fonts inherit from the CSS text rendering model, which means they behave like text. SVG elements behave like graphics, giving you direct control over individual paths, groups, and shapes.

Icon Font Styling Constraints

What you can style:

  • • color — changes the icon color (single color only)
  • • font-size — scales the icon
  • • opacity — fades the icon
  • • text-shadow — adds a shadow effect
  • • CSS transforms (rotate, scale, skew via transform)

What you cannot do:

  • • Apply two or more colors to the same icon
  • • Style individual parts of an icon differently
  • • Use gradient fills on icons
  • • Apply different stroke widths to different parts
  • • Target sub-elements with CSS selectors

SVG Styling Capabilities

Inline SVG is part of the document and fully styleable with CSS. Every path, circle, rect, and g element can be targeted with CSS selectors and given unique styles.

Multi-color icon example:

<!-- Two-tone icon: different fills per path -->
<svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="32" height="32">
  <path class="icon-bg"
        fill="#E8F0FE"
        d="M12 2a10 10 0..." />
  <path class="icon-fg"
        fill="#1A73E8"
        d="M12 6l4 4H8l4-4z" />
</svg>

/* CSS control over individual paths */
.icon-bg { fill: var(--icon-background, #E8F0FE); }
.icon-fg { fill: var(--icon-foreground, #1A73E8); }

/* Themed variants */
.dark-mode .icon-bg { fill: #2D3748; }
.dark-mode .icon-fg { fill: #63B3ED; }

SVG styling capabilities:

  • • fill and stroke properties on individual elements
  • • CSS custom properties (variables) for dynamic theming
  • • Linear and radial gradients via SVG <linearGradient>
  • • SVG filters (blur, glow, shadow) for visual effects
  • • Stroke-dasharray and stroke-dashoffset for line drawing effects
  • • CSS currentColor keyword inherits parent text color seamlessly
  • • CSS selectors can target any child element by class, tag, or attribute

CSS Custom Properties for Icon Theming

SVG icons integrate naturally with CSS custom properties (CSS variables), making theming systems straightforward to implement:

:root {
  --icon-primary: #1A73E8;
  --icon-secondary: #E8F0FE;
}

[data-theme="dark"] {
  --icon-primary: #63B3ED;
  --icon-secondary: #2D3748;
}

/* All icons update automatically on theme change */
.icon path.primary { fill: var(--icon-primary); }
.icon path.secondary { fill: var(--icon-secondary); }

This kind of design token integration is impossible with icon fonts, which only expose a single color property.

Animation Capabilities

Animation is another area where the architectural difference between icon fonts and SVG produces dramatically different outcomes. Icon fonts can be animated with CSS, but only the properties that apply to text. SVG elements expose their full internal structure to animation engines.

Icon Font Animation Limitations

Animations possible with icon fonts:

/* Rotate (Font Awesome uses this for spinners) */
@keyframes fa-spin {
  0%  { transform: rotate(0deg); }
  100% { transform: rotate(360deg); }
}
.fa-spin { animation: fa-spin 2s infinite linear; }

/* Pulse (opacity-based) */
@keyframes pulse {
  0%, 100% { opacity: 1; }
  50% { opacity: 0.3; }
}

/* Color change */
@keyframes color-shift {
  from { color: #red; }
  to { color: blue; }
}

What you cannot animate with icon fonts:

  • • Individual paths or shapes within the icon
  • • Stroke drawing effects (revealing icon along its path)
  • • Shape morphing between icon states
  • • Complex motion paths for icon elements
  • • Different timing functions for different parts of the icon

SVG Animation Capabilities

SVG supports three animation techniques: CSS animations on individual SVG elements, SMIL (SVG native animation), and JavaScript-driven animation via libraries like GSAP or Framer Motion.

Line drawing (stroke reveal) animation:

/* Animate a checkmark being drawn */
.checkmark-path {
  stroke-dasharray: 100;
  stroke-dashoffset: 100;
  animation: draw 0.6s ease-out forwards;
}

@keyframes draw {
  to { stroke-dashoffset: 0; }
}

/* SVG markup */
<svg viewBox="0 0 52 52">
  <path class="checkmark-path"
        stroke="#4CAF50" stroke-width="4"
        fill="none"
        d="M14 27l9 9 16-16" />
</svg>

Path morphing (shape transformation):

/* Morph play icon into pause icon */
/* Requires equal number of path points */
@keyframes play-to-pause {
  0%   { d: path("M8 5v14l11-7z"); }
  100% { d: path("M6 19h4V5H6v14zm8-14v14h4V5h-4z"); }
}

.icon-toggle {
  animation: play-to-pause 0.3s ease-in-out;
}

Additional SVG animation techniques:

  • • Animate individual path segments independently with different delays
  • • SVG <animateTransform> for complex coordinate-space transformations
  • • GSAP integration for timeline-based sequences and morphing
  • • Framer Motion for React-based declarative SVG animation
  • • CSS Houdini worklets for advanced custom animation effects
  • • Lottie for complex After Effects animations exported as JSON

Framework Support

Modern JavaScript frameworks have excellent SVG tooling that makes working with SVG icons as convenient as icon font classes — without the accessibility and performance trade-offs.

React

react-icons — the most popular approach:

npm install react-icons

import { FiStar, FiShoppingCart, FiUser } from 'react-icons/fi';
import { MdHome, MdSettings } from 'react-icons/md';

// Usage — icons are SVG components, fully tree-shaken
function MyComponent() {
  return (
    <button aria-label="Add to cart">
      <FiShoppingCart size={24} color="currentColor" />
    </button>
  );
}

heroicons — Tailwind CSS official icon set:

npm install @heroicons/react

import { ShoppingCartIcon } from '@heroicons/react/24/outline';
import { StarIcon } from '@heroicons/react/24/solid';

function MyComponent() {
  return (
    <ShoppingCartIcon className="w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 hover:text-blue-500" />
  );
}

@svgr/webpack — convert SVG files to React components at build time:

// webpack.config.js
{
  test: /.svg$/,
  use: ['@svgr/webpack'],
}

// Usage — any SVG file becomes a React component
import StarIcon from './icons/star.svg';

<StarIcon width={24} height={24} fill="currentColor" />

Vue

unplugin-icons — universal icon solution with on-demand loading:

npm install -D unplugin-icons

// vite.config.ts
import Icons from 'unplugin-icons/vite';
export default { plugins: [Icons({ compiler: 'vue3' })] };

// Usage in Vue SFC
<script setup>
import IconStar from '~icons/heroicons/star';
import IconHome from '~icons/material-symbols/home';
</script>

<template>
  <IconStar class="w-6 h-6 text-yellow-400" />
</template>

vue-fontawesome (icon font approach for comparison):

import { library } from '@fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core';
import { faStar } from '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons';
import { FontAwesomeIcon } from '@fortawesome/vue-fontawesome';

// Note: Font Awesome v6 now renders SVG internally,
// not actual font glyphs — they've migrated too.
library.add(faStar);

Font Awesome v6 itself now renders SVG internally rather than font glyphs, confirming the industry direction.

Angular

angular-fontawesome (SVG-based Font Awesome for Angular):

npm install @fortawesome/angular-fontawesome

// app.module.ts
import { FontAwesomeModule } from '@fortawesome/angular-fontawesome';

@NgModule({
  imports: [FontAwesomeModule]
})

// component.ts
import { faStar } from '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons';
faStar = faStar;

// template
<fa-icon [icon]="faStar"></fa-icon>

ng-svg-icon-sprite — sprite-based approach:

npm install ng-svg-icon-sprite

// Generates sprite at build time, loads with one HTTP request
<svg-icon-sprite
  [src]="'assets/icons/sprite.svg#star'"
  [width]="'24px'"
  [height]="'24px'">
</svg-icon-sprite>

Key observation: Font Awesome itself moved to SVG

Font Awesome v5 and v6 (when used via their JavaScript API) render SVG elements in the DOM, not actual font glyphs. The library intercepts <i> tags and replaces them with inline SVG at runtime. Even the original icon font library recognized that SVG is the better delivery mechanism, though this approach adds JavaScript overhead. The purpose-built SVG libraries (react-icons, heroicons, unplugin-icons) skip the runtime substitution step entirely.

Migration Guide

Migrating from icon fonts to SVG is a straightforward process when done methodically. The migration can be done incrementally — you do not need to replace all icons at once.

Step 1: Audit Your Current Icons

Find all icon font usages in your codebase:

# Find all Font Awesome usages
grep -r "class="fa" src/ --include="*.html" --include="*.jsx" --include="*.tsx"

# Find all Material Icons usages
grep -r "material-icons" src/

# Create an inventory spreadsheet:
# Icon name | Usage count | Component location | Priority

Prioritize high-traffic pages and components first. Icons in headers, navigation, and calls-to-action will have the most impact.

Step 2: Choose Your SVG Library

Recommended libraries by use case:

  • General purpose (React): react-icons — 200+ icon sets, all tree-shaken, consistent API. Install once, import any icon from any library.
  • Tailwind CSS projects: heroicons — 288 icons, designed specifically for Tailwind utility class system, both outline and solid variants.
  • Replacing Font Awesome specifically: Phosphor Icons or Lucide — similar icon vocabulary to Font Awesome, open source, SVG-first.
  • Large design systems: Build a custom sprite from your design tool exports (Figma has export-to-SVG support). Use SVGO to optimize, then inline or serve as sprite.
  • Vue/Angular projects: unplugin-icons — framework-agnostic, works with any Iconify icon set, on-demand loading, automatically tree-shaken.

Step 3: Replace Classes with Components

Before (Font Awesome icon font):

<button class="btn btn-primary">
  <i class="fa fa-star" aria-hidden="true"></i>
  Add to favorites
</button>

<nav>
  <a href="/home"><i class="fa fa-home"></i> Home</a>
  <a href="/search"><i class="fa fa-search"></i> Search</a>
  <a href="/profile"><i class="fa fa-user"></i> Profile</a>
</nav>

After (react-icons SVG components):

import { FaStar } from 'react-icons/fa';
import { FiHome, FiSearch, FiUser } from 'react-icons/fi';

<button className="btn btn-primary">
  <FaStar aria-hidden="true" />
  Add to favorites
</button>

<nav>
  <a href="/home"><FiHome aria-hidden="true" /> Home</a>
  <a href="/search"><FiSearch aria-hidden="true" /> Search</a>
  <a href="/profile"><FiUser aria-hidden="true" /> Profile</a>
</nav>

Step 4: Set Up an SVG Sprite (for non-component projects)

Build-time sprite generation with svg-sprite:

npm install svg-sprite --save-dev

// svg-sprite.config.js
module.exports = {
  mode: {
    symbol: {
      dest: 'public/icons',
      sprite: 'sprite.svg'
    }
  }
};

// Generated sprite usage in HTML:
<svg style="display:none" aria-hidden="true">
  <!-- sprite content inlined at build time -->
</svg>

<svg width="24" height="24" aria-hidden="true">
  <use href="/icons/sprite.svg#icon-star" />
</svg>

Step 5: Remove Icon Font Dependencies

Final cleanup:

  • • Remove font stylesheet links from <head> or layout components
  • • Uninstall font packages: npm uninstall @fortawesome/fontawesome-free
  • • Remove font files from public/ or assets/ directories
  • • Delete icon font CSS imports from global stylesheets
  • • Run a search for remaining fa-, material-icons, or similar classes to confirm cleanup
  • • Verify with Lighthouse that the font is no longer requested

Migration Timeline Estimate

  • Small project (under 20 icons, single template): 1-2 hours. Install library, do a find-and-replace pass, remove font imports.
  • Medium project (20-80 icons, component library): 1-3 days. Create icon component abstractions, update all usages, audit accessibility attributes.
  • Large project (80+ icons, multiple apps): 1-2 weeks. Plan incrementally by section, set up sprite system or icon component library, coordinate across teams.

The Verdict

SVG is the clear winner for virtually all new web development projects. The accessibility, performance, styling, and animation advantages are not marginal — they are fundamental to how browsers, screen readers, and build tools work. The industry has converged on this conclusion: Font Awesome themselves now ship SVG, Google's Material Symbols are available as SVG components, and every major front-end framework has first-class SVG tooling.

Use SVG When:

  • Starting a new project. There is no reason to choose icon fonts for a greenfield project. The SVG ecosystem is mature, well-documented, and supported across all modern browsers and frameworks.
  • Accessibility is a requirement. If your project must comply with WCAG 2.1 AA or higher, SVG is the only approach that gives you reliable, consistent accessibility without brittle workarounds.
  • You need multi-color or complex icons. Brand icons, product illustrations, data visualization icons — these require SVG because icon fonts physically cannot support multiple colors.
  • You are using a component-based framework. React, Vue, Angular, and Svelte all have excellent SVG component libraries that make SVG as easy to use as icon font classes.
  • You care about Core Web Vitals. SVG eliminates render-blocking font requests, reducing LCP and preventing layout shift from icon font load failures.
  • You want animations beyond rotation and color change. Line drawing, morphing, path-based animation, and complex sequences all require SVG.

Icon Fonts May Be Acceptable When:

  • You have a working legacy implementation. If an existing site uses icon fonts without accessibility complaints, migration cost may not justify the benefit in the short term. A planned, incremental migration is better than leaving the site unmaintained.
  • Your CMS or platform does not support SVG injection. Some older CMS platforms or email clients limit what HTML can be embedded. In these constrained environments, icon fonts may be the only viable option.
  • You need to support very old browsers. SVG inline in HTML has been supported since IE 9. For even older browser targets (rare today), icon fonts may be necessary.
DimensionIcon FontsSVG IconsWinner
AccessibilityRequires manual workaroundsNative ARIA supportSVG
Performance (<50 icons)~142 KB total~8-15 KBSVG
Initial setup simplicityOne CSS link tagLibrary install + importsIcon Fonts
Multi-color iconsNot possibleFull supportSVG
AnimationCSS only (rotate, color)Full (paths, morphing, sequences)SVG
Tree-shakingNoYesSVG
CSS custom propertiesLimited (single color)Full (per-element)SVG
High Contrast ModeMay become invisibleWorks correctlySVG

Recommendation by Project Type

  • New React/Vue/Angular project: Use react-icons, heroicons, or unplugin-icons. Install today and have full SVG icon access in minutes.
  • New static HTML site: Download individual SVG files from Heroicons, Phosphor, or Lucide. Inline critical icons, use a sprite for repeated icons.
  • Existing Font Awesome project: Migrate incrementally. Start with the highest-traffic pages and work down. Full migration for a medium site typically takes 1-3 days.
  • Legacy project with no planned refactor: Add aria-hidden="true" to all icon elements as a minimum accessibility fix. Plan a migration in the next major release cycle.
  • Email templates: Icon fonts remain common in email. Many email clients (Outlook on Windows) do not support inline SVG. Use <img> tags with external SVG or PNG fallbacks.

SVG Is the Standard. Icon Fonts Are Legacy.

The web development industry has moved decisively toward SVG icons, and for good reason. SVG is more accessible, more performant for typical icon counts, more flexible to style, and more capable to animate. The setup overhead that once made icon fonts attractive has been eliminated by modern tooling. Libraries like react-icons and heroicons make SVG as easy to use as adding a CSS class.

If you are starting a new project, use SVG. If you have an existing icon font implementation, plan a migration. If migration is not immediately feasible, add accessibility attributes as a minimum improvement. The gap between icon fonts and SVG will only grow wider as browser accessibility standards and Core Web Vitals requirements continue to evolve.

Developer & Verifier

Marcus Rodriguez

Developed by

Marcus Rodriguez

Lead Developer

Sarah Mitchell

Verified by

Sarah Mitchell

Product Designer, Font Specialist

ICON-FONT vs SVG FAQs

Common questions answered about this font format comparison

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