JetBrains Mono
Philipp Nurullin, Konstantin BulenkovSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · Variable · 8 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Free humanist fonts
Proportions taken from written letterforms, so the skeleton underneath is a pen stroke rather than a compass.
About humanist typefaces
How to recognise it
- Stroke weight that swells and thins the way a broad-nib pen does, even in a sans.
- Terminals cut on an angle rather than straight across.
- Open apertures: the c and the s curl away from themselves rather than closing up.
- A double-storey a and, usually, a lowercase g with a proper ear.
Humanist or grotesque?
Both are sans-serifs, and the tell is the letter e. A humanist draws it as though written; a grotesque draws it as though engineered, with a horizontal bar and a closed curve. Set “rages” in both at 80px and the difference is obvious.
Grotesque fonts →Where it works
Long reading on screen, interfaces that should feel human, signage and anything set in several languages — humanist proportions survive accents better than geometric ones.
Where it does not
Work where neutrality is the point. The same warmth that makes a humanist readable also gives a page a voice, which is not always wanted.
Source Code Pro
Paul D. HuntSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · Variable · 8 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Fira Code
The Mozilla Foundation, Telefonica S.A., Nikita ProkopovSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · Variable · 5 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Assistant
Adobe Systems Inc., Ben NathanSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 7 weights · OFL
Open Sans
Steve MattesonSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 6 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Lato
Łukasz DziedzicSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Inconsolata
Raph LevienSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · Variable · 8 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Mukta
Girish Dalvi, Yashodeep GholapSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 7 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Hind
Indian Type FoundrySphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 5 weights · OFL · Türkçe
PT Sans
ParaTypeSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 2 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Ubuntu
Dalton MaagSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 4 weights · UFL · Türkçe
Sarabun
Suppakit ChalermlarpSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 8 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Source Sans 3
Paul D. HuntSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 8 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Fira Sans
Carrois ApostropheSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Recursive
Stephen NixonSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 8 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Anonymous Pro
Mark SimonsonSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · 2 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Carlito
Łukasz DziedzicSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 2 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Nunito Sans
Vernon Adams, Jacques Le Bailly, Manvel Shmavonyan, Alexei VanyashinSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Noto Sans
GoogleSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Cabin
Impallari Type, Rodrigo FuenzalidaSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 4 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Titillium Web
Accademia di Belle Arti di UrbinoSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 6 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Ubuntu Mono
Dalton MaagSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · 2 weights · UFL · Türkçe
Alegreya Sans
Juan Pablo del Peral, HT FontsSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 7 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Catamaran
Pria RavichandranSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 9 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Questions
- What is a humanist font?
- Proportions taken from written letterforms, so the skeleton underneath is a pen stroke rather than a compass. Stroke weight that swells and thins the way a broad-nib pen does, even in a sans.
- When should I use a humanist typeface?
- Long reading on screen, interfaces that should feel human, signage and anything set in several languages — humanist proportions survive accents better than geometric ones. Where it does not work: work where neutrality is the point. The same warmth that makes a humanist readable also gives a page a voice, which is not always wanted.
- What is the difference between humanist and grotesque fonts?
- Both are sans-serifs, and the tell is the letter e. A humanist draws it as though written; a grotesque draws it as though engineered, with a horizontal bar and a closed curve. Set “rages” in both at 80px and the difference is obvious.
- Are these humanist fonts free for commercial use?
- Yes. All 43 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.