Behind great graphics, lie greater fonts. Fonts are not just a set of letters on a page, they express personality and say a lot about what your brand is about. Although, getting really good fonts can be pricey to obtain as well as going through the licensing to avoid any legal messes.
To help with this, we did some research and was surprised to find some great site to find free fonts to download and use!
IMPORTANT: Before we begin though, we must discuss the different types of free fonts due to the aforementioned licensing matters.
Public Domain – This means that the font is not subject to copyright meaning that is open to be copied freely copied, shared, altered, and republished by anyone.
Free for commercial use – Often called “100% Free”, This means that the font is owned by someone, but you can use it for commercial purposes like using it for merchandise or have it be your brand font for a business.
Free for personal use – Functions just like commercial use, with the exception being that you cannot use the font for monetary purposes. You can still use it for things like social media posts and other personal uses for the font.
Donationware – Grants you unrestricted access to the font with the request of optional donation be paid to the programmer or a third-party beneficiary (usually a non-profit).
Shareware – The font is distributed for “free” on a trial basis with the understanding that the user may need or want to pay for it later.
Depending on what you plan to do with the font will determine what font you will be using. What’s really helpful is that when you download a font file, a text file is attached with it detailing what the programmer’s terms are for using their font.
With that out of the way, here are 5 sites we found with FREE fonts!
Dafont is a personal favorite for this writer! This site offers thousands of fonts, and they update new fonts daily! There is also a feature where you can demo the
To make sure that you are getting the license type you want, look at the far-right side of the font to see the license.
There is a button below the download button if you would like to donate to the author of the font.
Not only do you have access to a crazy amount of fonts, but with this site, you can change the color of the fonts before you download them!
Note: At the time the article was published, we found that there are over 60,000 fonts to choose from!
Ever seen a good font from a movie or a tv show and want to use it for a design? This is where FontMeme comes in with its constantly updating of new fonts.
You can alter the color of the fonts, but also alter the pattern and the effects on the fonts to make them your own.
For the most part, they are free for personal and commercial use, but for more big-name fonts you will be unable to use them. However, FontMeme does offer font suggestions similar to that font that are usable
Along with having free fonts, FontSquirrel offers a “Font Identifier” feature where you can upload a file with a text, and it can identify the specific font used.
There is also a “Blog” where you can get the latest insights on typography, so you are always kept in the know about any new fonts being made.
For our font enthusiasts, there is a “Font Chat” where you can discuss your interests with others like you!
Another personal favorite for this writer! For one, the layout of the website is astounding with the space theme, but also the features this website has!
Fonts - Here are where the free fonts will be! FontSpace boasts of having 86,000 fonts to choose from. You can look at the new fonts, see what’s popular, get random fonts, etc. There is even a filter just for commercial use to save time on combing through what you can and can’t use for business purposes!
Styles – If you are unsure what kind of font you want, the “Styles” tabs give you categories on what kind of font you are looking for; whether it’s something decorative or something simple
Collections – These are like mood boards for fonts! “Collections” offer a group of fonts surrounding a theme which cuts the hassle when you have an idea for a project centered on a theme but don’t want to search hours for compatible fonts to suit that theme. You can also make your own collection if you see fonts you like.
Font Generator – Planning to use a font just once? No problem! FontSpace has a free copy-and-paste font generator where you can just type out the text you want and then that text goes through a myriad of different fonts for you to copy and paste wherever you want it to go!
Designers – Here you can interact with the font space community by meeting the font designers and discovering new fonts that might be your new favorite!
There is a lot to love with FontSpace! Highly recommend checking this one out!
Those were 5 great fonts sites that turned our heads when finding free fonts! Of course, with the internet being so vast there are probably a lot more sites that we did not mention, and maybe we might make another part of this!
Of course, please look at the licensing type for the font before you download it and read the text file designers attach to them, so you understand their terms of use!
If you have a font site you use, let us know in the comments below. While you are at it, tell us what your favorite font is. We would love to hear them!