9 Sites for Fantastic Free Fonts
By Tim Jacobsen (from Cool Material) on December 7, 2011
The web is full of font sites, but not all of them are winners. Just searching for "free fonts" can be a nightmare filled with excessive ads, malware and fonts so bad that comic sans makes them look good. Your best bet when looking for high quality fonts is to ask a graphic designer... or you could just check out this list of the best sites for fantastic free fonts.
Dafont Home to more than 13,000 fonts (and counting), Dafont is the ultimate free font site. The site provides image previews of each font and allows you to create a custom preview that displays your text in any font. Finding the right typeface on such a massive site might normally get a bit hairy, but Dafont does an excellent job of categorizing their fonts.
Font Squirrel
If you're looking for fonts for commercial use, you're going to have to read a lot of licence agreements to make sure you're in the clear. Avoid legal headaches and head over to Font Squirrel instead. Font Squirrel features top quality fonts, all of which are 100% free for commercial use.
If you're looking for fonts for commercial use, you're going to have to read a lot of licence agreements to make sure you're in the clear. Avoid legal headaches and head over to Font Squirrel instead. Font Squirrel features top quality fonts, all of which are 100% free for commercial use.
Lost Type
Unlike large font sites, Lost Type only has a few fonts to choose from due to their emphasis on quality over quantity. Rather than sifting through thousands of fonts, you can browse their small selection of gorgeous fonts. The style of fonts found here tend to be a bit vintage and very iconic. Strictly speaking, Lost Type isn't a free font site--it's a pay-what-you-want site. You can enter zero to download fonts for free or choose a specific amount to send to the designer.
Unlike large font sites, Lost Type only has a few fonts to choose from due to their emphasis on quality over quantity. Rather than sifting through thousands of fonts, you can browse their small selection of gorgeous fonts. The style of fonts found here tend to be a bit vintage and very iconic. Strictly speaking, Lost Type isn't a free font site--it's a pay-what-you-want site. You can enter zero to download fonts for free or choose a specific amount to send to the designer.
MyFonts
MyFonts isn't strictly a free font site, but it's got some good freebies. Many of their professional quality fonts include at least one free option, meaning you won't get all of the different versions such as bold, extra light and bold italic for free. Easily filter out all of the free fonts by clicking on the .
MyFonts isn't strictly a free font site, but it's got some good freebies. Many of their professional quality fonts include at least one free option, meaning you won't get all of the different versions such as bold, extra light and bold italic for free. Easily filter out all of the free fonts by clicking on the .
Fontstruct
When you can't find the perfect font, make it. Fontstruct lets you design your own typeface using a simple font editor. The editor provides different shapes to help you build your font, or lets you draw it free-form. Of course if you're not quite creative enough to make an original font, you can browse Fontstruct to see what other uses have come up with. This site is a great resource for original fonts that you might not find anywhere else.
When you can't find the perfect font, make it. Fontstruct lets you design your own typeface using a simple font editor. The editor provides different shapes to help you build your font, or lets you draw it free-form. Of course if you're not quite creative enough to make an original font, you can browse Fontstruct to see what other uses have come up with. This site is a great resource for original fonts that you might not find anywhere else.
The League of Moveable Type
The League of Moveable Type features a small selection of hand-picked open-source fonts that rock. Their goal isn't to list as many fonts as possible, but to break away from over-used and over-done fonts with extraordinary typography. All of the contributors are designers who aspire to raise web design standards.
The League of Moveable Type features a small selection of hand-picked open-source fonts that rock. Their goal isn't to list as many fonts as possible, but to break away from over-used and over-done fonts with extraordinary typography. All of the contributors are designers who aspire to raise web design standards.
Fontspace
Similar to DaFont, Fontspace carries thousands of free fonts. With more than 15,000 fonts to choose from, they cover a lot of ground. So whether you're looking for serif, sans-serif, art deco, cursive, or dingbats, chances are Fontspace has something that will work for you.
Similar to DaFont, Fontspace carries thousands of free fonts. With more than 15,000 fonts to choose from, they cover a lot of ground. So whether you're looking for serif, sans-serif, art deco, cursive, or dingbats, chances are Fontspace has something that will work for you.
FontSpring
Similar to MyFonts, FontSpring mostly features paid fonts, but offers some free options as well. Different styles of the same font (bold, italic, etc) may cost anywhere from a few bucks to more than $100 depending on the font, but some styles are free. Just browse the free section to see what they've got to offer.
Similar to MyFonts, FontSpring mostly features paid fonts, but offers some free options as well. Different styles of the same font (bold, italic, etc) may cost anywhere from a few bucks to more than $100 depending on the font, but some styles are free. Just browse the free section to see what they've got to offer.
Font Reactor
Font Reactor is another free font site that features a ton of fonts, categorized by style. Browse by category or tag to find a specific style, or check out their top downloaded fonts to see what's hot.
Did we miss any great font sites? Let us know in the comments!
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Cool Material, is a hobby-turned-profession for online publisher, Tim Jacobsen. After starting a top 300 Internet retailer and holding a couple of SVP positions, his passion for social media, online marketing, and entrepreneurship drove him to branch out on his own. Started in 2008, the men's lifestyle blog covers everything from entertainment and technology, to art and style. Cool Material reaches out to over 600,000 readers each month, but the site's hip, of-the-moment content and honest reviews continues to grow that number daily. Outside of his Internet world, Tim enjoys bicycling, poker, and traveling with his family.
Font Reactor is another free font site that features a ton of fonts, categorized by style. Browse by category or tag to find a specific style, or check out their top downloaded fonts to see what's hot.
Did we miss any great font sites? Let us know in the comments!
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Cool Material, is a hobby-turned-profession for online publisher, Tim Jacobsen. After starting a top 300 Internet retailer and holding a couple of SVP positions, his passion for social media, online marketing, and entrepreneurship drove him to branch out on his own. Started in 2008, the men's lifestyle blog covers everything from entertainment and technology, to art and style. Cool Material reaches out to over 600,000 readers each month, but the site's hip, of-the-moment content and honest reviews continues to grow that number daily. Outside of his Internet world, Tim enjoys bicycling, poker, and traveling with his family.
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