Websites using Fontello

Okay, let s break down Fontello, covering its overview, revenue model (since it s a bit unique), alternatives, pricing, and available information about customer care.

Fontello: Overview

• What it is: Fontello is a web service that allows you to create custom icon fonts. Instead of using a single, large icon font library (like Font Awesome), you can pick and choose only the icons you need. This results in smaller file sizes and faster website loading times. It is also possible to upload your own icons.
• Key Features:
  • Icon Selection: Choose icons from a variety of open-source icon sets (e.g., Font Awesome, Entypo, Elusive Icons, Meteocons, Iconic, and many more).
  • Customization: Rename icons, change their code points (Unicode values), resize them, and adjust their vertical alignment.
  • Icon Upload: You can upload your own SVG icons to include in your font.
  • Font Generation: Creates a downloadable package with the font files (TTF, WOFF, EOT, SVG), CSS stylesheet, and a configuration file.
  • Open Source Focus: It primarily uses open-source icon sets.
  • Drag and Drop: Upload your icons or drag existing icons around for easy sorting.

Revenue Model

• Free (Open Source): Fontello is, for the most part, a free service. It s supported by donations and the contributions of its community. There is no subscription or paid tier for using the core functionality of the service.
• Donations: The primary way Fontello is supported. Users who find the service valuable are encouraged to donate to help maintain and improve it.

Alternatives to Fontello

Here s a list of alternatives, broadly categorized:

• Similar Icon Font Generators:

  • IcoMoon: A popular alternative with a more comprehensive feature set, including a commercial (paid) option. It offers a larger icon library and more advanced customization features.
  • Glyphter: Another online icon font generator with a focus on simplicity.
  • Fontastic: Another option for creating custom icon fonts.

• Icon Libraries (Used directly, but can be larger):

  • Font Awesome: The most well-known icon font library. It offers a free version and a Pro (paid) version with more icons and features. You can often use tools to subset Font Awesome if you only need a few icons.
  • Material Icons: Icons designed according to Google s Material Design principles.
  • Ionicons: Open source icons designed for use with the Ionic framework, but usable in any web project.
  • Feather: A set of simple, beautiful open source icons.
  • Simple Icons: SVG icons of popular brands.

• SVG Sprites:

  • Instead of using a font, you can create a single SVG file containing all your icons and then use CSS to display the specific icon you want. This can be more efficient than icon fonts in some cases. Tools for generating SVG sprites include:
    • SVGito: An open-source SVG sprite and icon system.

• Individual SVG Icons:

  • Using individual SVG files directly in your HTML. This gives you the most flexibility but can be more complex to manage for larger projects.

Pricing

• Free: Fontello is a free, open-source service. You can use all of its core features without paying anything.
• Donations: They accept donations to support the project.

Customer Care / Support

• Limited Formal Support: Because it s a free, open-source project, Fontello doesn t offer dedicated customer support in the same way that a commercial service would.
• GitHub Repository: The Fontello project is hosted on GitHub. You can:
  • Report Bugs: If you find a bug, you can report it as an issue on the GitHub repository.
  • Request Features: You can suggest new features by creating an issue.
  • Contribute Code: If you re a developer, you can contribute code to the project.
• Community Forums/Discussions: There isn t a dedicated Fontello forum. However, questions are frequently asked and discussed on Stack Overflow and other web development communities.

Key Considerations When Choosing

• Project Size: For small projects with just a few icons, Fontello is ideal for creating a minimal font. For larger projects or those requiring a vast library of icons, Font Awesome or a similar library might be more convenient (though you should still subset it).
• Customization Needs: IcoMoon provides more advanced customization options than Fontello.
• Performance: Creating a custom icon font with only the necessary icons is generally more performant than using a large, generic font library. SVG sprites can also be very performant.
• Ease of Use: Fontello is known for its user-friendly interface.
• Commercial vs. Open Source: Consider whether you need commercial support and licensing.

In summary, Fontello is an excellent free tool for creating custom icon fonts when you need a small, optimized set of icons. Remember to support the project with a donation if you find it valuable!