.png)
In any design project, it can be difficult to find the perfect font(s). Whether you’re a DIY'er or a design professional, having a solid collection and source of high-quality fonts is vital to a smooth design process. Here’s a list of free & paid font sources that Design Brooklyn recommends when you’re looking for the perfect font(s) for your next project:
Jump to: Premium Fonts
Open Source / Free
Google Fonts
Considered as one of the top web font directories, Google Fonts is a collection of open source & web ready fonts. Because all fonts are web ready, Google Fonts makes it quick and easy to incorporate custom fonts to your website. In addition, Google Fonts provides a free API service so you don’t have to host your own font files - making it even easier to use their web fonts. Google Fonts is home to the famous Open Sans, a font commissioned by Google and designed by Steve Matteson.Pricing/Licensing: Open source
Custom preview fonts: Yes
Web fonts: Yes
Number of fonts: ~629+
Font Squirrel
Another great resource for free & web ready fonts, Font Squirrel provides 2000+ fonts all of which are open source and many of which have webfont kits allowing for easy website integration. Font Squirrel’s most unique feature is a Webfont Generator tool - the tool allows you to upload fonts that don’t yet have a webfont kit and generates one (as long as they’re legally eligible for web embedding).Pricing/Licensing: Free for commercial use.
Custom preview fonts: Yes.
Web fonts: Yes.
Number of fonts: ~2000+
Dafont
Dafont carries an impressive collection of 20,000+ freeware, shareware, demo or public domain fonts (remember to check each individual font for licensing terms). Dafonts is a great resource when you’re looking for specific categories of fonts, for example: “Medieval” or “Christmas” fonts.Pricing/Licensing: Freewares, sharewares, demos or public domain fonts.
Custom preview fonts: Yes.
Web fonts: No.
Number of fonts: ~20,889+
Fontspace
An impressive collection of 20,000+ fonts, Fontspace provides freeware, shareware, or under an open source license fonts (remember to check each individual font for licensing terms). Fontspace is also another great resource for fonts that fall under specific categories like “Typewriter” or “Graffiti” fonts.Pricing/Licensing: Freewares, sharewares, or under an open source license fonts.
Custom preview fonts: Yes.
Web fonts: No.
Number of fonts: ~21,022+
The League of Moveable Type
Started in 2009, The League of Moveable Type is a movement to provide a collection of handpicked high-quality open source & web ready fonts for designers. They even have a manifesto! All fonts are submitted by contributors/members of the site and then hand picked by the founders of The League of Moveable Type.Pricing/Licensing: Open source.
Custom preview fonts: No.
Web fonts: Yes.
Number of fonts: Unknown.
1001Fonts.com
Don’t let their name fool you, 1001fonts offers well over 1001 fonts. 1001fonts.com is a great resource for free fonts for personal use (for commercial licensing please check each individual font for licensing terms) with more than 4748 fonts available for download.Pricing/Licensing: Free for personal use.
Custom preview fonts: Yes.
Web fonts: No.
Number of fonts: ~4748+
fontfabric
Started in 2008 by designer Svetoslav Simov, Fontfabric provides a selection of unique high-quality fonts that are released weekly. Fontfabric offers many beautiful in-house designed fonts like Nexa and Hagin (for FREE!).Pricing/Licensing: Paid & Free.
Custom preview fonts: No.
Web fonts: Yes.
Number of fonts: ~74+
LostType.com
Based on a pay-what-you-want model, losttype.com offers a nice selection of high-quality fonts contributed by designers. 100% of the funds from sales goes directly to the designers themselves. losttype.com features many exclusive fonts like Duke and Lavanderia. Check them out and support the design community!Pricing/Licensing: Pay-what-you-want.
Custom preview fonts: No.
Web fonts: Availability per font.
Number of fonts: ~52+
Premium
Fonts.com
When free fonts just aren’t cutting it there are resources like Fonts.com. Fonts.com provides an impressive collection of 150,000+ web and desktop fonts (yes, 150,000+ fonts!). Fonts.com is also home to the “largest collection of Web fonts available,” including many exclusive web licenses including the Helvetica®, Frutiger®, Univers®, Trade Gothic®, ITC Avant Garde® Gothic families.Pricing/Licensing: Paid.
Custom preview fonts: Yes.
Web fonts: Yes (via subscription service).
Number of fonts: ~150,000+
myfonts.com
myFonts.com is another great resource when free fonts just won’t do. myFonts offers over 108,000 desktop fonts and 83,381 webfonts. myFont also provides a unique and extremely useful tool, WhatTheFont, WhatTheFont uses a unique piece of software that helps identify fonts on images uploaded by users. Check out some of the interesting fonts myFonts have to offer, like Didot™ and Brand.Pricing/Licensing: Paid.
Custom preview fonts: Yes.
Web fonts: Yes.
Number of fonts: ~108,000+
linotype.com
Long trusted for their iconic typeface design, Monotype (formerly Linotype) is one of the few font manufacturers to maintain their own exclusive e-commerce presence for the vast majority of their fonts licensing. They have also partnered with fonts.com to distribute several of their web font families. Linotype is the perfect destination when you’re looking for a genuine Linotype font. Linotype is home to many sought after font families like Optima®, Proxima Nova®, and Akzidenz-Grotesk®.Pricing/Licensing: Paid.
Custom preview fonts: Yes.
Web fonts: Yes.
Number of fonts: ~10,500+
For more information or help with fonts & fonts licensing please contact us, we'll be glad to answer any questions.
