react-svg vs SVGR

Build-Time Compilation vs Runtime Loading

SVGR transforms SVG files into React components during the build process, producing fully typed, tree-shakeable components with no runtime file-fetching overhead, while react-svg fetches and injects raw SVG content into the DOM dynamically at runtime, which adds a small runtime cost but allows loading SVGs from URLs not known until the app actually runs.

• SVGR compiles SVGs into components at build time with no runtime fetch cost
• react-svg fetches and injects SVG content dynamically while the app is running
• react-svg suits dynamic URLs unknown until runtime; SVGR suits static assets

Choosing Based on Project Needs

For a typical icon library where all SVG files are known ahead of time, SVGR's build-time approach is generally the better default, producing smaller runtime bundles and full TypeScript typing, while react-svg remains useful specifically for cases like user-uploaded SVGs or CMS-driven content where the SVG source isn't known until the application is actually running.

• SVGR is the stronger default for known, static icon libraries
• react-svg fits user-uploaded or CMS-driven SVG content better
• SVGR produces smaller bundles and full TypeScript support for static assets

Frequently Asked Questions

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