Free Animated Icons That Are Popular Among Designers

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Free animated icons are a powerful tool in modern design. They add a touch of motion and personality to websites, apps, presentations, and marketing materials. 

Whether you’re a UI/UX designer, developer, or content creator, animated icons can elevate your work and make it more engaging. 

The best part? You don’t have to pay a fortune to use them. This Design Journal guide explores the most popular sources for free animated icons that designers love.

If you’re searching for an animated icon pack or need a free animated icons download, this curated list is for you.

List of free animated icons

Discover a collection of vibrant and engaging free animated icons that can elevate your projects. 

1. Lordicon

Lordicon has become a go-to resource for designers seeking versatile and stylish animated icons.

With a collection of thousands of Lottie and SVG-based icons, Lordicon allows easy integration into websites and apps. You can customize colors, stroke, and animation behavior directly from the platform.

Lordicon stands out with its seamless support for Lottie format, making it ideal for both developers and designers. They even provide animated icons that can function without JavaScript, utilizing pure CSS and SVG.

Best for: UI/UX interfaces, onboarding screens, and mobile apps.

Download free animated icons from Lordicon

2. useAnimations

useAnimations offers micro-interactions powered by Lottie. Each icon is built with care and designed to enhance UX through subtle animations.

These icons are especially useful for toggles, loaders, notifications, and menu elements.

The icons are open-source and easy to customize using JSON files or through integration with tools like Framer or Figma. Their simplicity and smooth animation make them a great fit for minimalistic designs.

Best for: Interactive UI components, mobile app interactions.

Explore useAnimations

3. Potlab Icons

Potlab Icons offers a rich collection of hand-crafted animated icons with a playful and lively aesthetic.

These icons are ideal for marketing, presentations, and websites aiming to stand out with a cheerful tone.

They’re available in JSON, SVG, and GIF formats, making them highly flexible. The icons cover multiple categories including tech, finance, ecommerce, and education.

Best for: Product marketing pages, pitch decks, and SaaS dashboards.

Check out Potlab

4. GetLoaf

Loaf is a platform created specifically to simplify the use of animated icons. It offers both free and paid icons in Lottie format.

What makes GetLoaf appealing is the intuitive UI and the ease of embedding icons into your project.

With categories like communication, social, and user actions, Loaf covers the basics while maintaining a clean visual style. It’s perfect for quickly prototyping and shipping projects.

Best for: Rapid prototyping, startup MVPs, and SaaS products.

Download free animated icons from GetLoaf

5. Outlane

Outlane is a creative studio that offers a range of design freebies, including a limited set of free animated icons.

These icons are quirky, vibrant, and full of character, which makes them unique in a sea of minimalistic options.

You can download them in multiple formats and use them in projects like explainer videos or product tours. While the free collection is smaller, the quality is top-tier.

Best for: Creative campaigns, explainer animations, and presentations.

Explore Outlane

6. Unicorn Icons

Unicorn Icons specializes in aesthetic and smooth animated icons with a soft, pastel theme. It’s a perfect match for startups that want to maintain a friendly and playful visual tone.

Their animations are crafted using Lottie and exported in JSON, compatible with After Effects and tools like Haiku Animator. The collection includes icons for actions, status, shopping, social media, and more.

Best for: Web dashboards, ecommerce apps, and youth-focused branding.

Download Unicorn Icons

7. Lottieflow

Lottieflow is a project by Flowbase that offers hundreds of free Lottie animations, many of which are icons. These are built specifically for Webflow but can be used on any platform that supports Lottie.

The icons are plug-and-play, lightweight, and open source. Designers love the organized library and the polished aesthetic. The search and filter options are super helpful for quick browsing.

Best for: Webflow projects, portfolios, and client websites.

Explore Lottieflow

8. UIBall

UIBall delivers beautiful animated loaders and minimal icon animations. Their loaders are particularly popular among developers for splash screens, waiting periods, and AJAX calls.

UIBall icons have been featured across design communities for their pixel-perfect animations. Though the library is limited, the attention to detail is impressive.

Best for: Loaders, progress bars, splash screens.

Visit UIBall

9. Flaticon Animated Icons

Flaticon, already a household name for static icons, now offers a collection of animated and free icon sets. These are available in various formats like GIF, MP4, and Lottie JSON.

Flaticon’s strength lies in its vast range of categories, which ensures you’ll find animated icons for nearly any niche. You can even customize them using Flaticon’s in-browser editor.

Best for: Branding, apps, digital products across different industries.

Download free animated icons from Flaticon

10. Iconscout Animated Icons

Iconscout features an extensive collection of animated icons created by global designers. The icons support SVG, JSON, and GIF formats. Many of them are available for free with attribution.

The interface is clean, and you can preview animations before downloading. With its integration options for Figma, Adobe XD, and Sketch, Iconscout is a designer’s delight.

Best for: Cross-platform projects, modern web interfaces.

Browse Iconscout

Conclusion

Incorporating animated icons into your digital design is no longer a luxury—it’s a must for brands and creators aiming for better interaction and storytelling.

The platforms listed above provide free animated icons that are not only trendy but also easy to integrate.

Whether you’re working on a mobile app, SaaS dashboard, or marketing website, there’s an animated icon pack out there for you.

Use the links above to start your free animated icons download journey today.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best sources for free animated icons?

Some of the best sources include Lordicon, useAnimations, Lottieflow, Flaticon, and Iconscout. These platforms offer a wide range of animated icons tailored for various design purposes, from user interfaces to marketing visuals.

Each of these platforms brings unique strengths in format compatibility, customization features, and ease of integration, making them highly dependable for both designers and developers.

Can I use animated icon packs for commercial projects?

Yes, many platforms like Lordicon and Lottieflow offer icons with commercial use licenses, especially in their free collections.

However, it’s crucial to carefully review the licensing terms on each platform before using the icons in client or monetized projects.

Checking for attribution requirements and commercial usage permissions ensures that you’re legally covered and ethically aligned when utilizing free animated icons in professional settings.

Which formats are commonly used for animated icons?

Lottie (JSON) is the most preferred format today due to its scalability and lightweight nature. It allows smooth animations that don’t compromise performance, especially for web and mobile applications.

Other popular formats include SVG, GIF, and sometimes MP4. These are useful depending on the platform or software you’re working with and whether interactivity or playback control is required.

How do I implement animated icons in my design?

To implement animated icons, you can use Lottie libraries in tools such as Webflow, React, or Flutter. These frameworks support direct integration of JSON-based animations with responsive performance.

For simpler needs or static platforms, embedding icons as SVG or GIF formats is equally effective. Choose the implementation method based on the desired interaction level and platform compatibility.