But there are times when you might have to DIY some designs. Or even tweak your existing designs a little. Icons and stickers come in handy during such times. And in this blog, we are going to talk about a popular online database of free and paid icons and stickers, Flaticon. 

If you have browsed through the Flaticon site by now you must have known that like most other online design resources Flaticon offers both paid and free accounts. And each comes with its share of benefits. So, what do these plans offer? Is it worth paying for the Premium option on Flaticon? We’ll answer all these questions in this Flaticon review by Kimp. 

Kimp’s Flaticon Review – An Overview 

Icons are widely used in graphic design. When you have to communicate a message non-verbally, there are some universal representations that speak beyond language barriers. We at Kimp also use various kinds of icons to add visual depth to our designs and also to simplify the message. In fact, with Kimp you can even have custom icons created for your brand. And this way you will have consistent-looking icons to use across all your marketing collateral. 

However, if you wish to add a quick icon to some of your designs say an Instagram Story, or a social media post, or even your emails, then you might find resources like Flaticon to be useful. And since you get the source files for all your designs by Kimp, you can easily tweak them to your liking. 

What is Flaticon? 

Flaticon, part of the Freepik Company, is one of the most popular online libraries for icons, animated icons, stickers, and other digital assets. With 8.2M+ vector icons & stickers, it has been popular among designers, marketers, and entrepreneurs looking to add universally recognizable icons to their designs. 

So, if you are looking for ways to enhance your UX Design, this is a resource that’s hard to miss. 

The designs come from hundreds of designers from across the globe. And Flaticon also has a contributor program where designers can contribute their icon and sticker designs and earn from them. 

The platform has recently added a logo creator interface to its pool. And another feature of Flaticon that’s particularly popular is the Interface Icon collection or the UIcons. Any UI designer who has been using Figma for UI design will appreciate the easy-to-customize UIcons on Flaticon that let designers choose from the library even without exiting Figma. We’ll talk more about this a little later in this review. But first, here are some of the digital assets that you can download from Flaticon. 

• Icons 
• Interface icons (UIcons)
• Stickers
• Animated icons 

And you can download these assets in PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD, and CSS formats. There are several categories to explore, and icon packs to make it easier to choose visually cohesive icons for your design. To understand Flaticon better, let’s first talk about the plans they offer.

Flaticon Review: Pricing 

The Flaticon site has a hassle-free pricing structure. You can use the platform for free or choose a Premium plan. And you can access the contents of Flaticon through a Premium plan on Freepik as well!  

The main areas of difference between these plans lie in the number of icons you can download per day, the number of collections you can create, and the use of editor tools on the platform. 

In addition to the standard plans, you can also use the platform as an unregistered user where you can download 10 icons per day, and create one collection. To actually explore the functionalities, we recommend creating an account first. It’s free and easy. 

What’s included with the free account on Flaticon?

• Users can download up to 100 icons per day in PNG format. 
• You can create up to 3 collections to organize your icons 

If you are curious about what Flaticon offers and wondering how and where to use the extensive collection of icons, you can conveniently start with the free plan. This helps you get an overview of the platform’s interface and how you can create collections and use them to segregate your favorite icons. 

Limitations of the free account 

• With the free account, you have to attribute the author everywhere you use the icons. Keeping track of all the use cases and attributing the respective creator might sometimes be tedious. This applies to use in digital designs, print designs, as well as using the icons in videos, on website designs, and apps. 
• You can only have 3 collections in your account and within each collection, you can only save 50 icons. 

What’s included in the Premium plan? 

You can choose either the monthly pack or annual payment option for the Premium plan with the latter being the most cost-effective option. The Premium plan is a pretty good deal for UI designers and also for those who are looking to tweak their social media posts and website designs a little with additional icons that are customized to suit the brand identity. Some of the additional features that the Premium plan offers include: 

• Unlimited collections
• Unlimited use of the icon editor including the option to add custom color palettes for quick access. This way you can add your brand colors and easily use them in the chosen icons. 
• Up to 2000 downloads per day 
• Free usage of the icons without the need for attribution

Flaticon Review: Why Does Kimp Recommend Flaticon? 

As a design company that has worked with brands from various industries, we believe that designs should be simple, visually engaging, and on-brand. That’s why you’ll find icons being used actively on many designs created by Kimp including infographics, presentations, and even small designs like business cards. And finding the right icons that convey the message and also feel aligned with the brand’s visual identity can be a real challenge sometimes. If you have ever found yourself in such a situation, then Flaticon might be that quick solution for you. 

Here are a few reasons why we think you might like using Flaticon to download icons for your designs. 

Plenty of icon styles to explore 

Flaticon has an icon for every mood and every functionality you wish to represent. Searching for these icons and finding visually similar ones are both easy. There are dedicated categories based on the style to help you narrow down your options. 

• Flat 
• Lineal color 
• Gradient 
• Hand drawn 
• Black outline 
• Black filled 

This way, you can always go back to the respective style if you need to browse through more icon packs that look connected. 

Kimp Tip: If you are a designer, you might understand how difficult it can be to find flat styles in icons and other stock assets. Most of the color variants of icons available online are available as skeuomorphic styles. But when you are creating designs for a brand that adopts flat designs everywhere else, what can you do? After all, visual consistency can be that one little detail that makes your designs look more professional. And for this, the large collection of flat icons from Flaticon comes in handy. 

Extensive interface icon collection 

The UIcons library on Flaticon is one of the most attractive aspects of choosing this platform. For smooth navigation and to create a clutter-free UI design, icons are indispensable. But one challenge that many UI designers face is that they will have to navigate out of the UI design tool to access most icon libraries. However, Flaticon simplifies this process by letting you directly choose from the UIcons collections on Figma. 

The UIcons from Flaticon are good to go in a low-fidelity wireframe at the blueprint stage. And they can be optimized for the prototype later on without any trouble. And these icons are available as editable files. So, you can optimize individual design elements of these icons to maintain visual consistency throughout the UI. 

The Figma community file for the icons on Flaticon comes with the respective CSS ID. So, adding them to the stylesheet in the final coding stage will be easy. On the whole, if you need a fully-customizable set of icons to create an interactive UI design, then the UIcons collection on Flaticon will not disappoint you. 

Easy-to-use icon editor 

One feature that sets Flaticon apart from most other icon libraries is the option to edit your icons. In other words, you can personalize them to suit your brand before downloading them. So, if you like an existing icon and would like to use your brand colors in it, you can easily do so. 

Here are a few things that you can do with the icon editor:

• Select specific colors and replace them 
• Rotate/flip the icons 
• Change the alignment or scale of the icon within the frame 
• Place the icon within a standard shape 

Kimp Tip: Flaticon Premium lets you define custom palettes. Use this option to add your brand’s primary and secondary colors. This way you can be sure that you do not deviate from your brand’s visual style anywhere on your graphic designs or web interfaces. 

Having brand guidelines makes it easier to stick with your brand’s visual style at different stages of branding and marketing. Your brand guidelines will define the color codes and their applications. This way you do not have to worry if your icon colors appear darker or lighter than they are in other places. 

If you need help creating your brand guidelines, the Kimp team is here to help. 

Collections to conveniently organize your favorite icons 

If you find that icons from different packs will look good for a particular project, you can add them all in Collections. 

This way you can gather all the essential icons or the icons used in a particular project in one place. So if you want to go back and replace them or use the same icons somewhere else, you can find them easily. 

Once you have a Collection created, you can also edit them in batches, like changing the colors. You can then download them in bulk. And with the Premium plan, you get to create unlimited collections. So managing all your favorite icons becomes so much more practical. 

Unlimited Graphic Design Subscriptions Vs Premium Design Platforms 

Without a doubt, premium design tools like Flaticon can be valuable resources for marketers and entrepreneurs to fine-tune their designs and customize their social media posts. And you can download the icons in multiple formats with the Premium plan. So, you can use them to modify existing source files. Or even use them in a quick presentation you put together. And your web design team will love the UIcons from the Flaticon library. 

On the whole, the Premium plan is an affordable and productive investment for most businesses. 

In case you are worried that your competitors might also be using icons from the same resources you can always have custom icons designed for you by the Kimp team. Especially when it comes to creating icons for use in your logo and other branding designs, custom icons created from scratch might make things even simpler. 
Want to see how the subscription model would suit your brand? Sign up for Kimp’s free trial today.