Building maps is harder than it looks - especially when you need icons...
Building maps is harder than it looks - especially when you need icons. Not just any icons, but consistent, legible, and freely-licensed ones that work at every zoom level. If you've been hunting for the perfect icon solution, you've probably heard of Pinhead and FontGIS. Let's break down what makes each special and why you might want both.
Pinhead Map Icons: The Specialist
Pinhead by Wayside Mapping is purpose-built for one thing: putting legible icons on the head of a pin. And it does this brilliantly.
Quincy created Pinhead while working on themap.is and quickly realized that finding visually consistent, vector-based public domain icons was nearly impossible. So he built a library instead. What started as a personal solution has grown into something remarkable: 1,882 icons and counting—adding roughly 15 new ones every single day.
What makes Pinhead stand out:
- Guaranteed legibility at tiny sizes—your icon looks good whether it's displayed at 24×24 pixels or smaller
- Zero AI - everything is hand-crafted and standardized
- Public domain - truly free, with no licensing headaches
- Standardized cartographic sets - includes normalized versions of popular icon sets like Maki, Temaki, OSM Carto, and NPMap, so you get consistency across ecosystems
- Active and growing - the collaborative project is thriving
If you're building a map and need icons that work at every scale without compromise, Pinhead is your answer.
FontGIS: The Flexible Framework
FontGIS by Viglino takes a different approach. Rather than optimizing for pin-head legibility, it's designed as a comprehensive icon system for GIS applications and web mapping tools. It's a font-based solution that also works as SVG—flexible deployment for whatever your tech stack demands.
What makes FontGIS shine:
- Dual format delivery - use it as a web font or grab SVG files directly
- GIS-focused - icons specifically designed for GIS workflows and spatial analysis
- GPL-friendly open source - permissive licensing for both commercial and open-source use
- Lightweight and scalable - as a font, it's tiny and scales perfectly
FontGIS is the utility player - it fits into your project architecture cleanly, whether you're building a heavyweight GIS application or a lightweight web map.
Pinhead vs FontGIS: Which One?
The honest answer? They're not really in competition - they're complementary.
- Choose Pinhead if you're making a map where icons appear on or near markers, especially if you need extreme legibility at small sizes
- Choose FontGIS if you're building a GIS application with UI chrome, controls, and thematic icons beyond just location markers
- Use both if you want the best of both worlds - Pinhead for your map markers, FontGIS for your interface icons
Consider your use case:
- Web maps and location-based applications? Start with Pinhead for your markers.
- Desktop or heavy GIS applications? FontGIS covers your icon needs more comprehensively.
- Both? Layer them. Pinhead handles the map layer; FontGIS handles the toolbar and legend icons.
The Licensing Win
Both are genuinely free and open:
- Pinhead is public domain - no strings attached
- FontGIS is GPL-friendly - excellent for both commercial and open-source projects
No vendor lock-in, no mysterious licensing terms, no surprise bills. That's increasingly rare in the icon world.
Why This Matters
The design and licensing of your icons matter more than you'd think. Inconsistent icons make maps look amateur. Brittle licensing creates legal risk. Limited selection forces you to compromise your design. Both Pinhead and FontGIS solve real problems that developers and designers hit daily.
And the fact that these tools exist - maintained by passionate developers, offered freely, and actively used in real projects - is a quiet victory for the geospatial community.
Getting Started
- Pinhead: Head to pinhead.ink, explore the 1,800+ icons, and grab what you need
- FontGIS: Check out the GitHub repo for installation and integration guides
Both are battle-tested. Both are free. Both are worth your time.
Happy mapping.