Inter
Rasmus AnderssonSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Free grotesque fonts
The nineteenth and twentieth century sans tradition: closed apertures, an even rhythm, and as few opinions as the designer could manage.
About grotesque typefaces
How to recognise it
- Closed apertures — the ends of the c, s and a curl back towards the letter.
- Terminals cut horizontally or vertically, never on an angle.
- An even, regular rhythm with little modulation in the strokes.
- A capital R with a straight or barely curved leg, and a G that often keeps a spur.
Grotesque or humanist?
A grotesque comes out of nineteenth-century sign lettering and keeps its apertures tight; a humanist comes out of writing and opens them. The tighter the apertures, the more neutral — and the harder the face works at very small sizes.
Humanist fonts →Where it works
Interfaces, signage, branding that wants to sound plain, and any design where the typeface should not have an opinion.
Where it does not
Very small text on a poor screen, where closed apertures make similar letters harder to tell apart.
Space Grotesk
Florian KarstenSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 5 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Work Sans
Wei HuangSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Public Sans
Dan Williams, Pablo ImpallariSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Archivo Black
Omnibus-TypeSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Display · 1 weight · OFL · Türkçe
IBM Plex Mono
Mike Abbink, Bold MondaySphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · 7 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Karla
Jonny PinhornSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 7 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Arimo
Steve MattesonSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 4 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Oswald
Vernon Adams, Kalapi Gajjar, CyrealSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 6 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Libre Franklin
Impallari TypeSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Heebo
Oded EzerSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Roboto
Christian Robertson, ParaType, Font BureauSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Roboto Mono
Christian RobertsonSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · Variable · 7 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Archivo
Omnibus-TypeSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Instrument Sans
Rodrigo Fuenzalida, Jordan EgstadSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 4 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Schibsted Grotesk
Bakken & Bæck, Henrik KongsvollSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 6 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Barlow
Jeremy TribbySphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Onest
Dmitri Voloshin, Andrey KudryavtsevSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Geist
Andrés Briganti, Mateo Zaragoza, Guillermo Rauch, Evil Rabbit, José Rago, Facundo SantanaSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Bricolage Grotesque
Mathieu TriaySphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 7 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Spline Sans Mono
Eben Sorkin, Mirko VelimirovićSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · Variable · 5 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Kanit
Cadson DemakSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
IBM Plex Sans Thai
Mike Abbink, Bold MondaySphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 7 weights · OFL
Red Hat Mono
MCKLSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · Variable · 5 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Questions
- What is a grotesque font?
- The nineteenth and twentieth century sans tradition: closed apertures, an even rhythm, and as few opinions as the designer could manage. Closed apertures — the ends of the c, s and a curl back towards the letter.
- When should I use a grotesque typeface?
- Interfaces, signage, branding that wants to sound plain, and any design where the typeface should not have an opinion. Where it does not work: very small text on a poor screen, where closed apertures make similar letters harder to tell apart.
- What is the difference between grotesque and humanist fonts?
- A grotesque comes out of nineteenth-century sign lettering and keeps its apertures tight; a humanist comes out of writing and opens them. The tighter the apertures, the more neutral — and the harder the face works at very small sizes.
- Are these grotesque fonts free for commercial use?
- Yes. All 52 of them are published under licences that permit commercial use — the SIL Open Font License, the Apache License 2.0, the Ubuntu Font Licence or a release into the public domain — with no fee and no credit required. Every download on this site includes the licence file inside the zip.