Paying for emoji sets is a thing that exists. It shouldn't be.
Every platform—Discord, Slack, Teams, Twitch—lets you upload custom emojis. But most people don't know where to start. So they end up using the same bland default set as everyone else. Or worse, they fall for a "premium emoji pack" that costs actual money for static PNGs.
You don't need to pay. You need to know where the good free ones are.
Here's the complete guide to building your emoji library without spending anything.
For Pure Hype: Party Parrot
357 variants. Animated. Party parrot in every conceivable context and emotion. This single pack covers more ground than most emoji sets twice its size. Headbanging parrots, dancing parrots, parrots in synth wave aesthetic, parrots that look like they're having an existential crisis.
Why it works: unlimited parrot energy. There is no scenario where party parrot doesn't apply. You're shipping a feature? Party parrot. Someone made a typo? Party parrot. Existential dread about code quality? Party parrot solves it.
For Emotional Range: Blob Cat
654 variants. This is the emoji library that understands every human emotion. Blob cat happy, sad, panicked, confused, in love, making terrible decisions, contemplative, chaotic, judging you, supporting you. Whatever mood you're in, blob cat has a face for it.
Blob cat is the emotional foundation. You build outward from here.
For Internet Culture: Pepe Emojis + Memes Pack
Pepe: 1000+ variants exist on the internet. EmojiCreator has the canonical ones. SadPepe, PepeClap, PepeDance, PepeWhy, PepeMoneyRain. These are the reaction emojis that internet culture literally built itself around.
The Memes Pack: Elmo on fire, Travolta, nodding Kermit, office dance. The essentials that aren't Pepe but should be in every set. These are meme emojis that transcended their original context and became universal signals.
Together, they give you coverage for sarcasm, chaos, hype, sadness, and existential confusion.
For Animation Lovers: Dancing Bananas
Everything dances. Dancing banana aliens, dancing banana angels, dancing banana Batman. There are 100+ dancing banana variants, and the entire pack operates on one principle: if a banana dances, the vibe automatically improves.
Use when you need pure absurdism. Use when something is genuinely funny. Use when you can't articulate a response so you just send a dancing banana.
For Gaming Servers: Among Us, Pokemon, Super Mario, Star Wars
Among Us — Impostors dancing, ejection animations, chaos. Perfect for gaming-focused communities.
Pokemon — Charmander, Pikachu, Mewtwo. If you're hosting a gaming community, Pokemon hits different than meme emojis. It's culturally adjacent to gaming without being about a specific game.
Super Mario — Coins, power-ups, mushrooms, the classics. Works for retro gaming communities or if your server just vibes with the Mario aesthetic.
Star Wars — Baby Yoda (the obvious pick), lightsabers, X-Wings. If your community is even tangentially into sci-fi, you have at least two Star Wars emojis that will get used daily.
For Twitch Channels: Twitch Global Emotes
Kappa, FrankerZ, DansGame, KomodoHype. The global emotes that every Twitch streamer knows. Study these if you're designing custom channel emotes. They're the benchmark.
For Slack/Teams: Essentials + Kirby + Approval Packs
Essentials — Elmo on fire, Travolta, office dance. The animation-forward core that Slack was made for.
Kirby — Cute, round, doesn't feel meme-adjacent. Excellent for mixed company channels or if your organization has a "we're professional but not corporate" vibe.
Approval — Dedicated approvals, disapprovals, and variations. Sometimes you need an emoji that says "I agree" without irony. This pack has it.
Platform Compatibility
All of these packs are available as PNG and GIF versions. They work on:
- Discord (both animated and static)
- Slack (animated GIFs native, no Nitro required)
- Microsoft Teams
- Twitch (requires resizing to platform specs, but the source files work)
The Strategic Approach: You Don't Need All of Them
You need three types of packs:
One hype pack (Party Parrot covers this alone, but Dancing Bananas is a good second)
One emotional range pack (Blob Cat is definitive here)
One culture pack (Pepe, Memes, or gaming variants depending on your community)
That combination covers 90% of your use cases. You're not lost for reactions. You're not spamming people with 500 unused emojis. You've built a functional emoji language.
Want the essentials for async communication? Essentials pack + one hype pack + one emotional range. Done.
Want a gaming server with personality? Gaming pack (Pokemon, Among Us, whatever your game is) + Party Parrot + Blob Cat.
Want maximum chaos? Pepe + Dancing Bananas + Memes + everything else.
The platform shifts, the communities change, but good emoji design is eternal. These packs are built to last because they solve communication problems, not chase trends.
Browse all free emoji packs → /packs