Best iMessage Sticker Packs in 2026, by What You Want to Say

Why Most Sticker Pack Lists Are Out of Date

iMessage sticker packs launched with iOS 10 in September 2016, and nearly every "best sticker packs" roundup dates from that year or the few after. Many of the packs they name were tied to a movie or a promotion and are gone. Meanwhile your iPhone learned to make stickers itself: Memoji, Live Stickers from your own photos, and Genmoji on iPhones with Apple Intelligence. So a pack in 2026 has one job the built-in drawer cannot do: give you artwork somebody else drew.

The good news is that a sticker pack is mostly images, so a well-made one from 2016 still works fine on a current iPhone. Several picks below have not been updated in years and are still on sale, listed as compatible with current iPhones. If you want stickers of your own photos or a searchable library of saved reactions, that is a different tool, and our guide to the best sticker app for iMessage covers it.

How to Pick a Sticker Pack in Under a Minute

1. Decide what you want to say. A character reacting, a word, a mood, or an in-joke. Packs are narrow; pick by job, not by "most stickers."
2. Check the price line. "Get" alone means free. "In-App Purchases" beside it means the pack sells more inside. Our guide to whether iMessage sticker packs are free walks through reading a listing.
3. Look at the screenshots in dark mode. Black line art can vanish on a dark conversation background. Reviews will usually say so.
4. Check Compatibility and the age rating. Both are in the listing's Information section.

That is the whole method, and you can stop here with a pack you like. If you would rather try one that passes every check for free, here is ours.

The Best iMessage Sticker Packs, by Use Case

Pack	Best for	Cost	Watch for
Pusheen Animated Stickers	Animated characters	$0.99	33 stickers; last updated 2016
Classic Mac	A free pack from Apple	Free	Some say it is hard to see in dark mode
Daily Monster	Illustrated monsters	Free to start; $1.99 sets, $4.99 for all	Most stickers sit behind purchases
superlatives stickers	Saying it in words	$0.99	Needs iOS 16.3 or later
Supernatural Atomic Love	Free illustrated stickers, nothing to buy	Free	Rated 13+; one small set
Built in (Memoji, Live Stickers)	Stickers of you and your photos	Free	Not someone else's artwork

Best for animated characters: Pusheen Animated Stickers

Pusheen the cat is the closest thing iMessage has to a sticker classic. The official pack from Pusheen Corp has 33 animated stickers of Pusheen, for $0.99 with no in-app purchases listed. It holds a 4.5 rating from more than 700 ratings, which is a lot for a sticker pack. It has not been updated since 2016 and does not need to be. Not ideal if: you want more than 33 stickers, or you do not already love Pusheen.

Best free pack from Apple: Classic Mac

Apple's own pack turns the original Macintosh icons, drawn by Susan Kare, into stickers. "Say hello from 1984," says the listing. It is free, has no in-app purchases, and is rated 4.2 from more than 500 ratings. Not ideal if: you use dark mode; several reviewers say the black-and-white icons are hard to see on a dark background.

Best for illustrated monsters: Daily Monster

Illustrator Stefan G. Bucher drew a monster a day, and this pack collects 100 of them, some animated. It is rated 4.7. The catch is the pricing: it is free to download, and the sets are sold inside, from $1.99 for a set (happy, upset, or animated) to $4.99 for all of them. Not ideal if: you want a pack that is free all the way down; budget the $4.99.

Best for saying it in words: superlatives stickers

Sometimes the reaction is a phrase, not a face. This small pack from Sigma Sky does lettered superlatives such as "best day ever" and "saddest day" for $0.99 with no in-app purchases listed, and it was updated in November 2025. Not ideal if: your iPhone cannot run iOS 16.3, or you want a big set; the listing does not give a sticker count and it has too few ratings to show a score.

Best free illustrated pack with nothing to buy: Supernatural Atomic Love

This one is ours, so weigh it accordingly. Supernatural Atomic Love is the digital version of FPM Sticker Pack v1, a set of our illustrated stickers: bold, hand-drawn characters and lettering with names like Super / Natural, Atomic Glitter, Holographic Love, HELLO, I need..., Smooth Oshiri, Choppy Sheep and FullPanMan. The icon gives you the flavor: a tongue-out creature over a sunrise, captioned HELLO. It is for group chats that would rather send something strange and drawn than another stock emoji.

What it costs: free, with no in-app purchases listed, so every sticker in it is yours on install. It is 1.3 MB. What it does not do: it is an iMessage sticker pack only, for iPhone and iPad on iOS 12 or later, with no Android version. It is one set rather than a growing library, it is English only, and the App Store rates it 13+ (its listing cites infrequent sexual content or nudity), so it is not the pick for a kids' family chat. If you want a gentler free pack, our guide to free sticker packs features AsaGoTomo™ Pan, a pack starring a loaf of shokupan bread.

Best for stickers of you: the built-in drawer

Before you install anything, remember what is already there. Memoji stickers of your avatar, Live Stickers lifted from any photo (touch and hold the subject, then tap Add Sticker), and Genmoji on supported iPhones all cost nothing. They are the right answer when the sticker should be you, your dog, or your friend's face. Our walkthrough of sending memes in iMessage shows how to make and place one.

Which One Should You Pick?

• One pack, the one everyone recognizes: Pusheen Animated Stickers.
• Free, from Apple, a bit of nostalgia: Classic Mac, if you use light mode.
• You want to support an illustrator and do not mind paying: Daily Monster, all sets.
• You want words, not faces: superlatives stickers.
• Free, drawn, strange, and nothing locked: Supernatural Atomic Love.
• You want to be the sticker: the built-in drawer, no install.

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