--- title: Moving away from @expo/vector-icons authors: Vojtech Novak published: June 9, 2026 categories: Product, React Native, Development tags: vector icons, SDK 56 --- If you've used Expo, chances are you've relied on `@expo/vector-icons`. It's time to move on. We recommend switching from `@expo/vector-icons` to a better alternative: the latest versions of icon-pack-specific [`@react-native-vector-icons` packages](https://www.npmjs.com/org/react-native-vector-icons) that fully support Expo apps, including Expo Go. This change simplifies the ecosystem, reduces confusion, and can shrink your app bundle size. In this post, we'll explain why we're making this recommendation, what it means for your app, and how to migrate smoothly. ## Why `@expo/vector-icons` is no longer the recommended solution **Historical context** When we first created `@expo/vector-icons`, we built it as a convenience wrapper around `react-native-vector-icons`, designed to work seamlessly with Expo projects. It uses `expo-font` to dynamically load icon fonts, enabling functionality in development builds, OTA updates, and Expo Go—even when fonts weren't bundled natively. Expo has evolved immensely since `@expo/vector-icons` was created. **Aliasing complexity** To support third-party libraries that import and use `react-native-vector-icons`, we aliased it to `@expo/vector-icons` using Babel (or now Metro). This creates unnecessary complexity and maintenance burden. **Not a core Expo concern** Maintaining a package that wraps third-party icon fonts doesn't align with Expo's focus on platform-level capabilities. We want to empower the ecosystem, not duplicate it. ## The better path: Use packages from [`@react-native-vector-icons`](https://www.npmjs.com/org/react-native-vector-icons) directly The latest versions of packages in `@react-native-vector-icons` (not to be confused with the [deprecated `react-native-vector-icons` package](https://www.npmjs.com/package/react-native-vector-icons)) now integrate directly with `expo-font` and call its native font loading API when needed. These new packages work in all important contexts—Expo Go, dev builds, and across all platforms. Therefore, there's no longer any need for a wrapper and we will be deprecating `@expo/vector-icons` in a future release of Expo SDK. ## Benefits of the migration - New features - Access to latest icon set versions, including icon sets that weren't available in `@expo/vector-icons`, such as [Lucide](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@react-native-vector-icons/lucide). - Easier to create your own icon sets using the [generator](https://github.com/oblador/react-native-vector-icons/blob/master/docs/CREATE_FONT_PACKAGE.md). - Ability to type-check icon names when using `createIconSetFromFontello` or `createIconSetFromIcoMoon` - **Smaller app bundle size** - Apps may accidentally bundle _all_ icon fonts, even if they only use one or two. Moving away from `@expo/vector-icons` helps reduce this bloat. In our [repro app](https://github.com/vonovak/expo-vector-icons-migration) we cut the shipped bundle and asset payload size by around 4 MB just by changing an import statement and a package.json dependency. - **Cleaner project setup** - No more aliasing configuration - One source of truth for icon packages - Less risk of version drift or unexpected behavior ## How to migrate your app We've built a codemod that automatically updates your imports from `@expo/vector-icons` to `@react-native-vector-icons`: - Run `npx @react-native-vector-icons/codemod` in your project and verify the output. - Run `npx expo doctor` to verify that `@expo/vector-icons` or `react-native-vector-icons` have not remained in your project. - Ensure `expo-font` is installed and properly configured. Do not add the paths to fonts from **`node_modules/@react-native-vector-icons/`** to `expo-font` config plugin. This will result in a build error. - **Verify your custom icons (if any)** - Double-check any custom fonts or icons you're using—especially if you previously relied on `createIconSetFromIcoMoon` or similar helpers. ## Potential issues to watch for - **Icon font conflicts** If your project or its dependency uses different vector icon packages (such as `@expo/vector-icons`, `react-native-vector-icons` and `@react-native-vector-icons/some-font`) or several versions of the same package, you might encounter unexpected behavior when you try to render an icon from the same font across different packages. For example, rendering the same font across different packages may result in icons rendering as `?` or as empty squares. To prevent these issues from happening, we have added a doctor warning that checks for mixing of the new packages from `@react-native-vector-icons` scope with `@expo/vector-icons` or `react-native-vector-icons`. - **Widespread usage** Currently, around 60% of apps on EAS Build include `@expo/vector-icons`. We recognize this change affects many projects, which is why we're providing a codemod to make migration as smooth as possible. Additionally, we will still maintain `@expo/vector-icons` to give users time to migrate. Please open an issue or let us know when you hit a problem during the migration! ## Final thoughts While this change requires some effort, it simplifies your codebase and leads to more predictable builds and potentially smaller binaries. It's another incremental step toward making Expo the best, most modern way to build and ship mobile apps. In a future release of Expo SDK we will deprecate `@expo/vector-icons` and rely solely on the community packages.