geticon.dev vs
the alternatives

Google's favicon service was never intended for public use — it powers Chrome's address bar and bookmarks internally. It works, but returns low-resolution PNG/ICO files only, has no documentation, no SLA, and has been quietly broken or rate-limited in the past. There's no SVG support, no JSON response, and no JS integration. It's a useful hack, not a product.

DuckDuckGo's icon service powers their own search results. Like Google's, it was never designed as a public API. It returns ICO files only, has no documentation, no official support, and the URL format has changed without notice in the past. Building a product on top of it means you are one internal DuckDuckGo decision away from broken icons.

favicon.run is a simple favicon proxy — it fetches and returns the favicon for a domain. It's straightforward and officially supported as a service, but it's raster-only (no SVG logos), has no JSON API, no JS integration, and no fallback avatar. It's a fine quick solution but lacks the features needed for a polished product.

favicon.im is the closest competitor — it's a proper product, handles 30M+ monthly requests, and does support SVG when available. The URL format is clean and simple. Where it falls short: there's no JSON API for metadata, no JS client library, and rate limits are enforced but undocumented (you need to contact them for high-volume usage). It's a solid service, but geticon.dev adds the developer tooling that favicon.im is missing.