Arimo
Steve MattesonSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · Variable · 4 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Free metric compatible fonts
Character widths match a named commercial face exactly, so a document swapped to it keeps its line breaks and page count.
About metric compatible typefaces
How to recognise it
- It is a claim about measurements rather than a shape you can see.
- Character widths identical to a named commercial face, so a document swapped to it keeps its line breaks and page count.
- Usually stated by the designer in the font’s own documentation.
- The letterforms themselves are a different design — often noticeably so.
Where it works
Replacing Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri or Cambria in documents that have to repaginate exactly: contracts, forms, templates somebody else will open.
Where it does not
Assuming it looks the same. Metric compatibility guarantees the spacing, never the drawing, and on a website — where text reflows anyway — it buys nothing at all.
Cousine
Steve MattesonSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Monospace · 2 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Gelasio
Eben SorkinSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Serif · Variable · 4 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Carlito
Łukasz DziedzicSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Sans-serif · 2 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Caladea
Carolina Giovagnoli, Andrés TorresiSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Serif · 2 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Questions
- What is a metric compatible font?
- Character widths match a named commercial face exactly, so a document swapped to it keeps its line breaks and page count. It is a claim about measurements rather than a shape you can see.
- When should I use a metric compatible typeface?
- Replacing Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri or Cambria in documents that have to repaginate exactly: contracts, forms, templates somebody else will open. Where it does not work: assuming it looks the same. Metric compatibility guarantees the spacing, never the drawing, and on a website — where text reflows anyway — it buys nothing at all.
- Are these metric compatible fonts free for commercial use?
- Yes. All 5 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.