Fonts ⮞ Free Proportional Fonts
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This lists some free high quality proportional fonts.
See Also: Fonts ⮞ Classics for free fonts similar to the classic fonts.
See Also: Fonts ⮞ Free Monospace Fonts.
NB: you might be interested in this list of 35 free fonts.
Caution: there is no guarantee that the sources cited below offer the most recent versions of the fonts.
Free Font Quandaries
There are serious concerns in using embedded free fonts in websites.
First, many supposedly free fonts are actually pirated: you must carefully check prospective fonts to confirm that they are truly free.
Second, many fonts are free for personal use, but not commercial use: again you must carefully check any font you want to embed in a site to confirm that it’s free for commercial use.
Third, many free fonts are not up-to-date, and it can be hard to find the latest version: sites offering free fonts may not ensure that their copies are up-to-date, and font version numbers are very often not updated when fonts are updated.
Fourth, many free fonts are updated very frequently, costing time to update sites.
Finally, many free fonts prove to be unsuitable: e.g. 1 they may not be embeddable; 2 they may be inflexible, lacking a good range of weights, widths, or styles; 3 they may lack essential glyphs; 4they may be so small or pale that they are harder to read; 5 or they may so unsightly — especially at small font sizes — that they make a site look unpleasant.
Sources of Free Fonts
This lists sources of free fonts. Some fonts have limited licenses, e.g. may be used for personal use, but not commercial use: check the font source for details.
Two extremely rich sources of free fonts are Font Library and Google Fonts. NB: the Font Library website is often inaccessible.
Other sources are Abstract Fonts ✦ A–Z Fonts ✦ Babelstone Fonts ✦ Bēhance ✦ Cufon Fonts ✦ dafont ✦ Design Writing Research ✦ EastFarthing Luculent Fonts ✦ Font Awesome ✦ FontBureau Input Mono, Input Serif, & Input Sans Fonts ✦ FontFabric ✦ FontFreak ✦ Fontsc ✦ Fonts Geek ✦ FontSpace Fonts ✦ Font Squirrel ✦ Fontstorage ✦ FontStruct ✦ Fontsup ✦ Font Zone ✦ Freebiesbug Fonts ✦ Free Design Resources ✦ Free Fonts ✦ GitHub DejaVu Sans Mono, DejaVu Serif, & DejaVu Sans Fonts ✦ GitHub Impallari ✦ GitHub The League of Movable Type ✦ Google Material Design Icons ✦ GitHub Meslo LG S, Meslo LS M, & Meslo LS L Fonts ✦ GitHub Office Code Pro & Office Code Pro D Fonts ✦ Google Fonts ✦ GNU FreeMono, FreeSans, & FreeSerif Fonts ✦ The HungryJPEG Fonts ✦ iFonts ✦ Łukasz Dziedzic’s Lato Fonts ✦ Mais Fontes ✦ NeoGrey Fonts (includes chromatic fonts) ✦ ShareFonts.net ✦ SIL Fonts ✦ StockiO Fonts ✦ UrbanFonts
Some font sources let you learn about newly posted fonts and newly posted font updates:
NB: though all the above sites offer free fonts, some may offer only a few free fonts, or also offer for-pay fonts, or also solicit donations.
Recommended Free Fonts
for Designers
This author recommends that all designers get these fonts for creating website icons: Material Design Icons
This author recommends that all designers consider these fonts for coding: Cascadia Code or IBM Plex Mono.
Recommended Free Fonts
for Users
This author recommends that everyone get these particularily good free fonts, as they make up especially rich font families. Most of these fonts are available on Google Fonts and therefore can be embedded.
Pan-European Supplemental Fonts
- Those with Windows 10 should get the Pan-European Supplemental Fonts, with 6 font families: Arial Nova & Arial Nova Condensed, Georgia Pro & Georgia Pro Cond, Gill Sans Nova & Gill Sans Nova Cond, Neue Haas Grotesk Text Pro, Rockwell Nova & Rockwell Nova Condensed, Verdana Pro & Verdana Pro Cond. To install, do Settings, Apps&Features, Manage optional features, Add a feature, Pan-European Supplemental Fonts.
Alternatives to User Interface Fonts
- Inter: an alternative user interface font, with 9 rich weights.
Alternatives to Arial & Helvetica
- Fira Sans: 32 font files, comprising an especially rich set of weights which works well with the companion Fira Sans Condensed. This author deems Fira Sans better than Arial & Helvetica because the Fira Sans family is more flexible, with a large number of weights and widths.
- Fira Sans Condensed: 32 font files, comprising an especially rich set of weights which works well with the companion Fira Sans.
- IBM Plex Sans: a very readable font with a good set of 7 weights, which works well with the companion IBM Plex Sans Condensed and IBM Plex Serif fonts.
- Encode Sans, Encode Sans Semi Condensed, Encode Sans Condensed, Encode Sans Semi Expanded, Encode Sans Expanded: a possible alternative to Fira Sans and Fira Sans Condensed; Encode Sans comes in 5 widths, and 9 weights per width.
Alternatives to Times & Times New Roman
- Linux Libertine: 16 font files comprising an especially rich set of font weights.
- IBM Plex Serif: a very readable font with 7 weights, which works well with the companion IBM Plex Sans and IBM Plex Sans Condensed fonts.
- Trirong: 18 font files, comprising a very rich set of weights, good either as header or body text; it works well with Open Sans. Its wide character widths and largish x-heights make it an unusually legible serif font.
- Noto Serif and Noto Serif Display, each with 9 weights, each in 4 widths; this comprises a very rich set of weights which work well with the companion Noto Sans and Noto Sans Display.
Alternatives to Verdana
- Noto Sans and Noto Sans Display, each with 9 weights, each in 4 widths; this comprises an especially rich set of font weights which work well with the companion Noto Serif and Noto Serif Display, && with the companion Noto Sans Cond and Noto Sans Display Cond families.
- Noto Sans Cond and Noto Sans Display Cond, each with 9 weights, each in 4 widths, comprising an very rich set of font weights which work well with the companion Noto Sans and Noto Sans Display.
Alternatives to Book Antiqua, Palatino, & Palatino Linotype
- Palatino LT Std: 10 font files in set, not as many weights as one would want, however this appears to be the best free Palatino-like font.
Other Fonts
- Dubai: you should get Dubai, a sans-serif family with 4 basic weights.
The free fonts listed here are organized in three groups:
- Superfamily Fonts, which include fonts in a good variety of font weights, widths, and styles;
- Rich Fonts, which include fonts in a good variety of weights, but not widths and styles;
- Notable Fonts, which include fonts which are notable in some way, but which do not come in a good range of weights, widths, or styles.
Superfamily Fonts
These free superfamily fonts come in a good variety of font weights, widths, and styles.
The most flexible & legible superfamily fonts I have found are:
Avrile Sans, Avrile Sans Condensed, Avrile Sans UI, & Avrile Serif
Sans-serif and serif fonts, a bit darker darker, in a rich range of font weights and 2 sans-serif widths. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
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An extremely rich family of sans-serif fonts, a bit darker, in five widths. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
Fira Sans, Fira Sans Condensed, Fira Sans Code, & Fira Mono
Excellent sans serif fonts, somewhat darker, in a rich range of font weights and 2 sans-serif widths, and — as lagniappe — two basic monospace fonts, one for coders. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
Other superfamily fonts are:
Air, Typold Condensed, Air Compressed
Sans-serif fonts, in a rich range of weights, 3 widths, and both italic and oblique styles. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
Barlow, Barlow Semi Condensed, & Barlow Condensed
Sans serif fonts, in a rich range of font weights and widths, but rather pale. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
Exo2, Exo2 Condensed, & Exo2 Expanded
Sans serif fonts, in a rich range of font weights and widths, but rather pale. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
IBM Plex Sans, IBM Plex Sans Condensed, IBM Plex Serif, & IBM Plex Mono
Excellent sans-serif, serif, and monospace fonts, in a great range of font weights, 2 sans-serif widths, and a monospace font suitable for coders. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
Noto Sans, Noto Sans Display, Noto Serif, Noto Serif Display, Noto Mono, & Emoji Fonts
Sans serif, serif, emoji, and monospace fonts, with sans-serif and serif fonts in a very rich range of slightly darker font weights and widths: excellent for sites which must be localized in diverse languages. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
Saira, Saira Semi Condensed, Saira Condensed, & Saira Extra Condensed
Sans-serif fonts, in a great range of font weights and narrower widths. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
Typold, Typold Condensed, Typold Extended
Sans-serif fonts, in a rich range of weights and 3 widths, slightly paler. Sample⮞ Sample⮞ Sample⮞
Rich Fonts
These free fonts come in a good variety of font weights, but not in a good variety of widths and styles:
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Serif and serif small-cap fonts, in a good range of font weights, but rather pale, and sadly lacking semibold. Sample⮞ Sample⮞
Alegreya Sans & Alegreya Sans SC
Sans-serif and sans-serif small-cap fonts, in a good range of font weights, but rather pale, and sadly lacking semibold. Sample⮞ Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights, rather wide and quite dark. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights, rather wide and quite dark. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights, somewhat squarish, rather narrow and pale. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights, rather small, and quite dark. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Serif font, in a rich range of font weights, with tiny glyphs best used at larger font sizes. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font family in a rich range of font weights, designed as a user interface font. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font family in a rich range of font weights, somewhat small. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font family in a rich range of font weights, a bit darker. Sample⮞
Lato.
Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights, especially legible. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights, quite pale. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights, quite pale. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font family in a rich range of font weights, rather rounded. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Squarish sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
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Sans-serif font, in a rich range of font weights. Sample⮞
Notable Fonts
These free fonts are notable in some way, but do not come in a rich variety of weights, widths, or styles:
Archivo, Archivo Black, & Archivo Narrow
Family of sans serif fonts, suitable as an alternative to Arial.
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Sans-serif font family suitable as an alternative for Arial.
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Sans-serif Linux Gnome Humanist font family suitable as a display font, but not as good as a print font.
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Serif and sans-serif font families.
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Sans-serif, and serif font families.
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Serif and sans-serif font families — free for private use only. Both families comprise a good variety of widths and weights, but their usefulness in web pages is reduced because the characters are far too wide.
Liberation Serif & Liberation Sans, and Liberation Sans Narrow
Serif, sans-serif, and sans-serif condensed Linux font families, sponsored by Red Hat, designed as alternatives to Courier New, Times New Roman, and Arial, respectively.
Linux Biolinum O & Linux Libertine, Linux Libertine Display, Linux Libertine Display Capitals, and Linux Libertine Initials
Sans and serif font families, common Linux fonts.
Nimbus Roman No9 L and Nimbus Sans L
Sans-serif and sans-serif font families, common Linux fonts, designed as alternatives to Courier New, Times New Roman, and Arial, respectively.
Nunito and Nunito Sans, the first with rounded stems, the latter with square-cut stems.
Rich sans-serif font families suitable as alternatives for Arial.
Open Sans and Open Sans Condensed
Sans-serif font families; the Condensed fonts are crippled by lacking a font with a regular weight.
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Sans-serif Linux KDE font family.
Roboto and Roboto Slab
Sans-serif and serif Android font families.
Source Serif Pro & Source Sans Pro
Serif and sans-serif font families.
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Rich serif font family suitable as an alternative for Times New Roman. There is also a small-cap font, Spectral SC.
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Serif font family suitable as an alternative for Times New Roman.
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Rich serif font family suitable as either header or body text.
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Sans-serif Linux Ubuntu font families.
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Good serif font family suitable as alternative for Times New Roman.
