Icons8 vs Vexels Comparison 2026
Both cover design & graphics and stock footage & assets. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
At a glance
- Icons8 starts cheaper, at $6.50.
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
Icons8 | Vexels | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $6.50 | From $9.08 |
| Pricing model | Paid subscription | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | None |
| Runs on (they differ) | Web, macOS, Windows | Web |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Icons8
Icons, photos and AI generators on one plan
Icons8 sells one subscription across icons, illustrations, photos, music and a set of AI generators, which is a wider spread than an icon library usually covers. The cheapest plan is the AI tools on their own and buys credits rather than downloads. Hand-drawn graphics begin on the tier above that. There is an API, a desktop app and a design tool called Lunacy in the same account.
Our note
Read the credit costs before the plan prices, because a generated icon is 200 credits and that arithmetic decides which tier you actually need. Envato Elements is the better buy if you want video and audio in the same subscription.
Vexels
Print-ready merch designs by subscription
Vexels sells the artwork rather than the shirt: thousands of print-ready designs licensed for merchandise, plus an editor and a mockup generator for putting them on a product photo. A download limit per month is what separates the tiers. For a seller who can pick a niche but not draw, this replaces commissioning every design. The catalogue leans hard into slogan tees, and it shows.
Our note
Check the licence tier against how you sell before buying, since merchandise rights are the whole reason to be here and they are what differs between plans. Treat the lifetime offers with the caution any undated discount deserves, and note the monthly-billed price is not published at all.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.