Looking for a “free font” is like looking for someone to date – you have so many choices, but somehow the one you pick is already taken. So I’ll do the “swiping right” for you. Here are some legit font resources online with no suspicious licenses and no malware. These resources have beautiful typography and they’re just waiting for you to use them for your website, brand, or your next project.
1. Google Fonts
This is probably the go-to site for web and print. It has 1,500+ fonts. According to their FAQ, all fonts here are open source and free. You can also use them commercially. You can use them for logos, print, websites, apps, teaching materials, e-books, store fronts, jewelry – basically anything you want to put fonts on. It’s also integrated into WordPress, which I use for this website.
💡 When a font is open source:
✅ You can use it for personal or commercial projects
✅ You can modify or change it (change letters, adjust spacing, etc.)
✅ You can share it with others
❌ You cannot sell or rebrand it and claim it as your own
2. Font Squirrel
As far as they know, all their fonts are free for commercial use and come with a desktop license, meaning you can use them in commercial graphics and images for free. Just check the license included when you download a font to be sure. They also have a Font Identifier where you can upload an image and it will identify what font was used.
Each font has a row of symbols to show where it can be used:
Commercial Desktop Use – Create commercial graphics and documents.
@font-face Embedding – Embed the font in your websites with CSS.
Ebooks and PDFs – Embed font in eBooks and portable documents.
Applications – Embed font in applications and software.
3. DaFont Free
Similar to DaFont, but all fonts here are free. Although I noticed that most of the fonts here are for personal use only. As they say, they are a free demo font collection website. Their demo fonts are distributed for personal projects only.
4. 1001 Fonts
All their fonts are free, but not all are for commercial use. They have a filter button so you can show only fonts that are allowed for commercial use. The link I gave is already filtered for that.
💡 When a font is for personal use, you CANNOT use it commercially. But when a font is for commercial use, you can automatically use it for personal use too. Just sharing. Maybe someone doesn’t know but is shy to ask.
5. The League of Moveable Type
The original and first open-source font foundry. Their entire catalog of selected fonts is free for personal and commercial use, as long as you give credit to the original creators.
6. Fontshare
All fonts here are 100% free for personal and commercial use. They have two types of free fonts: “open source” and “closed source.” Closed source fonts are designed, produced, and owned by Fontshare’s parent company, the Indian Type Foundry. These are exclusive to Fontshare, meaning you can only find them on their site.
7. Velvetyne
All fonts here are also free and open source, which means you can use them, modify them, redistribute them, and even redistribute modified versions. You can use them for personal and commercial works like posters, logos, magazines, websites, apps, t-shirts, music videos, bike trailers – basically anything your imagination can reach. Just remember to credit the type designer and the foundry when you use them.
8. Collletttivo
Like other resources, all fonts here are also free. You can use them for personal and commercial projects in any printed or digital media, as long as you give credit to the original designer and foundry when you release your work. They currently have 15 open source typefaces. I just had a bit of difficulty using their site because it’s in dark mode and the font is also dark.
💡 A typeface is a particular design of type. Do you understand? Me neither. Let’s just go with examples. Times New Roman and Georgia are Serif typefaces, while Arial and Helvetica are Sans-Serif. There are also other typefaces like Display, Script, Slab Serif, Monospaced, and more.
9. Open Foundry
This is a free platform for open source typefaces. According to rumors, Open Foundry 2.0 is coming. Abangan (Stay tuned).
10. Fontesk
All fonts here are also free to download. They have labels and filters to show which fonts are for personal use and which are for commercial use.
There you go. That’s already a lot of fonts you can get from these sites. But if that’s still not enough, just leave a comment. If you also have other sources of free fonts you want to share, comment them too.
Font Licenses 101
By the way, most of the time when you download a font, it comes with a license. Make it a habit to read the font license so you know what you’re allowed to do with it. If you don’t fully understand the license, here’s a list of common font licenses.
- Free for Personal Use – You can use it for your own stuff like school projects, personal blog headers, mockups, etc. You CANNOT use it for client work, merch, or monetized content. For example, you can design a poster for your wall, but not for a paying client.
- Free for Commercial Use – You can use it for any project, whether personal or for profit. The creator gives you freedom to use the font in any way, but sometimes you still need to give credit, so read carefully.
- Open Source / Open Font License (OFL) – 100% free to use, modify, and share. You can use it for logos, apps, or websites. You just cannot sell it or rename it and claim it as your own.
- Commercial License / Premium Font – You may need to pay once or subscribe to use it commercially. Check the license for specific usage rules. Sometimes there are tiered licenses depending on use (logo, app, website, etc.).
- Desktop License – You can use the font for static designs like posters, logos, print materials, and social media images.
- Webfont License – You can embed the font on a website via CSS or @font-face. Often comes with limits on monthly page views or number of domains.
- App / eBook License – You can embed the font in apps, games, or e-books.
- Attribution License (CC-BY, atbp.) – You can use it freely but must credit the creator. Usually part of Creative Commons. Just add a note like: “Font used: <Creator’s Name> (free under CC-BY license).”
- Donationware – Free, but the creator encourages donations, especially if used commercially.
- Trial or Demo Fonts – For testing and preview only. Not allowed for real-world projects. These are usually previews of paid fonts.