The Noun Project
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersLos Angeles, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
The Noun Project firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Noun Project
- Legal name
- The Noun Project, Inc.
- Website
- https://thenounproject.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Noun Project industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Stock icon and photo platform
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621), Graphic Design Services (541430)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Content Retrieval, Distribution & Reuse Workflows (Interoperability/APIs) (MPAHAGAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Topic/Interest-Based Content Discovery Apps (MPACAKAB), Social, Community & Creator Platform Feeds (HDAAAGAD)
Keywords
Where The Noun Project is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Los Angeles
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
The Noun Project business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription Plans (Icon Pro and Creator Pro): Recurring subscription revenue from Icon Pro ($3.33/month billed annually) and Creator Pro ($9.99/month billed annually). Icon Pro provides unlimited icon downloads; Creator Pro adds unlimited standard photo downloads. Both tiers include royalty-free commercial licenses, no attribution required, and access to icon editor and plugins.
- Individual Icon and Photo Sales: One-time purchases of individual icons ($4.99 for PNG or SVG) and photos (standard photos at $10.99, premium photos at $34.99). Each purchase includes a royalty-free commercial license and directly supports the artist.
- Icon API Usage-Based Pricing: Pay-per-use API pricing with Free Trial (30 days, up to $5 in value), Pay-Per-Use ($0.0025/service call, $0.0095/icon call, $25 monthly minimum), and Custom enterprise plans with discounted rates and unlimited volume.
- Free Tier with Attribution: Free access to nearly 10 million icons and photos with attribution required to the artist. This freemium model drives user acquisition and brand awareness, converting users to paid tiers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free access with attribution required |
| Subscription | Annual | Unlimited icons only subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Unlimited icons and standard photos subscription |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | API Free Trial |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | API Pay-Per-Use |
| Usage-based | Monthly | API Custom Enterprise |
| Per seat | Annual | Team and Enterprise Plans |
| Subscription | Annual | EDU Discount Plan |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Single Icon Purchase |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Single Photo Purchase |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels7 records
The Noun Project product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Noun Project operates a platform aggregating nearly 10 million human-created vector icons and stock photos, contributed by designers in 120+ countries. The platform distributes these assets through a self-serve website, a REST API for software integration, native plugins for Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Office, and Google Workspace, and a Mac desktop app. It sells access via freemium downloads with attribution, paid individual asset purchases, recurring Pro subscriptions (Icon Pro, Creator Pro), and usage-based or custom enterprise API plans.
Product overview
Noun Project is a design asset marketplace offering nearly 10 million free vector icons and high-resolution photos, all crafted and curated by human creators from 120+ countries. The core product portfolio centers on the Noun Project Icons library and Noun Project Photos collection, available in SVG and PNG formats for icons and JPG for photos. Access is provided through multiple channels: a web-based marketplace, a REST API (Noun Project Icon API) for programmatic access, desktop apps (Mac app), and plugins for major design tools including Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Word), Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign), and Google Workspace (Slides, Docs). The subscription tiers include Icon Pro ($3.33/month) for unlimited icons and the icon editor, and Creator Pro ($9.99/month) which adds unlimited standard photos. The ecosystem also includes Lingo Brand Manager as a separate brand asset management tool.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Lingo: Digital asset manager that enables teams to visually organize and share brand assets.
Products and services
- Noun Project Icons A library of nearly 10 million vector icons available in SVG and PNG formats, crafted and curated by human designers from 120+ countries. Used by designers, developers, marketers, and educators for presentations, websites, user interfaces, apps, and creative projects.
- Noun Project Photos A professionally curated, art-quality collection of inclusive stock photos for projects of any kind, with high-resolution JPGs and model and property releases. Available via free downloads with attribution or paid one-time purchases.
- Noun Project Icon API REST API providing programmatic access to nearly 10 million PNG and SVG icons, built on AWS with OAuth security. Supports powerful search, autocomplete, style matching, thesaurus-based search, and built-in recoloring. Handles over 300 million requests per month at 99.99% uptime, targeting software companies and SaaS platforms.
- Noun Project for Figma Figma Community plugin providing access to nearly 10 million icons with one-click insertion or drag-and-drop into Figma Design, FigJam, Figma Buzz, and Figma Slides. Free access delivers PNG icons up to 512x512 pixels; Pro plan unlocks SVGs, high-resolution PNGs, and customization tools.
- Noun Project for Microsoft Office Plugin for Microsoft PowerPoint and Word (Office 365) that allows users to insert icons directly from the task pane without downloading. Supports changing icon color and size. Free version includes 100 starter icons; Pro subscription unlocks millions more. Works with Office 365 for PC, Mac, and Web.
- Noun Project for Adobe Adobe Creative Cloud add-on panel compatible with Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Allows inserting icons directly into Adobe apps with color and size controls. Requires Adobe Creative Cloud 2015+. Free access to 100 icons.
- Noun Project for Mac Native macOS app for accessing icons with drag-and-drop of SVG, PNG, and PDF formats into other applications including Adobe apps, Sketch, Figma, Keynote, PowerPoint, and Google Workspace. Requires macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or higher. Includes 100 starter icons; upgrade to Icon Pro for millions more.
- Noun Project for Google Plugins for Google Slides and Google Docs enabling direct icon insertion into Google Workspace applications.
- Lingo Brand Manager Digital asset manager that enables teams to visually organize and share brand assets. Operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Noun Project, led by Edward Boatman as CEO.
Quantifiable outcome
- 99.99% API uptime
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use The Noun Project
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
The Noun Project technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration21 records
AI capability5 records
Feature4 records
The Noun Project partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- LingocoreDigital asset manager launched by Noun Project that enables teams to visually organize and share brand assets. Lingo is a subsidiary/spin-off that extends Noun Project's visual language mission to brand asset management.
- AdobecoreAdobe integrates Noun Project's icon API into Adobe Express and other Creative Cloud applications, enabling users to access millions of icons directly within Adobe design tools. Partnership active since 2013, with Adobe empowering users with Noun Project icons.
- MuralcoreMural integrates Noun Project icons into their visual collaboration platform, allowing users to instantly search for and insert relevant icons into collaborative workspaces in real time.
- WixcoreWix website builder integrates Noun Project icons for user design tools, providing access to the icon library within the Wix platform.
- TypeformcoreTypeform uses Noun Project API images to create dynamic questionnaires with images that increase engagement. Icons are integrated into survey design workflows.
- SquarespacecoreSquarespace website and commerce platform uses Noun Project icons for design elements within the platform.
- ZazzlecoreZazzle custom product and print-on-demand platform integrates Noun Project icons for their design tools.
- FigmacoreFigma distributes Noun Project's icon library through the Figma Community plugin marketplace. The plugin is available in Figma Design, FigJam, Figma Buzz, and Figma Slides, with free access to PNG icons up to 512x512 and Pro access for SVGs.
- MicrosoftcoreMicrosoft integrates Noun Project icons through Office add-ins for PowerPoint and Word, available on the Office Store. Works with Office 365 for PC, Mac, and Web.
- GooglecoreGoogle integrates Noun Project icons through plugins for Google Slides and Google Docs, available for Google Workspace users.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
The Noun Project competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Flaticon: Flaticon is one of the largest icon marketplaces globally, offering millions of free and premium icons in SVG/PNG. Direct competitor to Noun Project's core icon library and subscription model, owned by Freepik.
- Iconfinder: Iconfinder is an icon marketplace serving individual designers and developers with paid and free icons. Closely comparable to Noun Project in offering curated icon downloads, individual and subscription pricing, and similar target audience.
- Iconscout: Iconscout is an icon and illustration marketplace with millions of assets and a similar freemium plus subscription model. It serves both individual designers and enterprise developers with an icon API, comparable to Noun Project's offering.
Broad incumbents
- Freepik: Freepik operates a broader design-asset marketplace including icons, vectors, photos, and PSD files. It competes with Noun Project through its Flaticon subsidiary and is a much larger, well-funded player with overlapping creator economy.
- Shutterstock: Shutterstock is a major stock media platform offering photos, vectors, illustrations, and editorial content, with an API for enterprise customers. It overlaps with Noun Project's photo and vector offering but at much broader scale and different price points.
- Adobe Stock: Adobe Stock is a stock photo, video, and asset marketplace tightly integrated with Creative Cloud. As a current customer of Noun Project, it represents both a partner and a potential incumbent competitor if Adobe deepens native icon/asset capabilities.
- Storyblocks: Storyblocks operates an unlimited subscription model for stock video, audio, and images. It is comparable as a subscription-based stock asset business targeting creators, though focused more on video than icons.
- Unsplash: Unsplash is a large free stock photography platform owned by Getty Images. It competes with Noun Project Photos on the high-quality, free stock photo side and serves a similar designer/creative audience.
- Getty Images: Getty Images is a premium stock photography and visual content provider with enterprise licensing. Comparable to Noun Project Photos for commercial imagery, though at a different price tier and scale.
Others
- Lingo (Subsidiary): Lingo is Noun Project's own subsidiary for brand asset management, but adjacent digital asset management players like Bynder, Brandfolder, and Frontify represent comparable peers for that part of the business.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
The Noun Project social profiles
Digital presenceThe Noun Project financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Noun Project leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
The Noun Project subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
The Noun Project funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors9 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Noun Project M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Noun Project
What does The Noun Project do?
The Noun Project operates a platform aggregating nearly 10 million human-created vector icons and stock photos, contributed by designers in 120+ countries. The platform distributes these assets through a self-serve website, a REST API for software integration, native plugins for Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Office, and Google Workspace, and a Mac desktop app. It sells access via freemium downloads with attribution, paid individual asset purchases, recurring Pro subscriptions (Icon Pro, Creator Pro), and usage-based or custom enterprise API plans.
Is The Noun Project a public or private company?
The Noun Project is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was The Noun Project founded?
The Noun Project was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is The Noun Project based?
The Noun Project is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States, in the North America region.
How does The Noun Project make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription Plans (Icon Pro and Creator Pro) is the primary driver. The others are individual Icon and Photo Sales, icon API Usage-Based Pricing and free Tier with Attribution.
Who are The Noun Project's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Flaticon, Iconfinder and Iconscout. Broad incumbents are Freepik, Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Storyblocks, Unsplash and Getty Images. Lingo (Subsidiary) is listed as an others.
Does The Noun Project have an API?
Yes. The Noun Project Icon API provides REST API access to nearly 10 million PNG and SVG icons. Built on AWS with OAuth security, it supports powerful search including autocomplete, style matching, and thesaurus-based search. All plans include PNG icons from 20-1,200 px and SVG images scalable to any size. Features built-in recoloring to any hexadecimal value. Free 30-day trial available with up to 3 million calls per month. Pay-Per-Use pricing at $0.0025 per service call and $0.0095 per icon call ($25 monthly minimum). Handles over 300 million requests per month at 99.99% uptime. Developer documentation is at thenounproject.com/developers/api-documentation.
What industry is The Noun Project in?
The Noun Project's product category is Stock icon and photo platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAHAGAK, Content Retrieval, Distribution & Reuse Workflows (Interoperability/APIs), with a secondary code of MPACAKAB, Topic/Interest-Based Content Discovery Apps. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7330.