Free fonts. A clear way forward.
There’s a font for that. And you can use it.
Find the closest free alternative, see your words in it, and check what its licence allows.
27paid fonts
425free fonts
648measured pairs
Instead of Times New Roman
Sneaky Times
Loading the actual font…
Compare the same text with Times New Roman
Times New Roman
Against Times New Roman: x-height 3.7% taller, 5.4% wider, 4.9% lighter, and 5.8% less stroke contrast.
Styles: 1 weight, no italics.
- ✓Web
- ✓Logo
- ✓Selling
- OFL 1.1
Try another starting font
What are you making?
Start with a font you know, a project you’re making, or a lettering style you love.
- 01 / 27 fontsInstead of Times New RomanAgSneaky Times · lab score96
Free alternatives to paid fonts
27 paid fonts from Arial to Verdana, each with its closest free fonts by our measurements
- 02 / 15 jobsYou’re invitedTangerine · wedding invitations
Fonts for a job
Free fonts picked by rule for jobs such as Logos, Resume, and Wedding invitations, each licence checked for that use
- 03 / 22 brandsOnce upon a type.Satisfy · from the Disney selection
Fonts like a brand
Free fonts in the lettering style of Disney, Minecraft, and Stranger Things and more
- 04 / ToolTimes New RomanSneaky TimesClosest measured · score 96
Free alternative finder
Type the name of a paid font or a brand and the closest free fonts come back, with scores for the 27 fonts our lab measured
- 05 / ToolYes, you can print it.Tangerine · OFL-1.1 · print
Font license checker
Pick a free font and a use, such as a logo, an app or products you sell, and get yes, no or yes with a condition, with the clause behind it
How we measure
27 paid fonts measured against 425 free fonts, letter by letter. Try the five examples above, or search for a font.
Sneaky Times: +5.4% average letter width against Times New Roman. The score also compares the letter shapes.
01
The lab sets each of 27 paid fonts beside 24 free fonts of its kind and compares them letter by letter: 648 pairs, 425 free fonts in all.
02
A pair’s score runs from 0, an ordinary pair of one kind, to 100, closer than nine fonts in ten; Sneaky Times scores 96 against Times New Roman. A score, never a percentage.
03
Every free font’s licence is read for websites, apps, logos, print and products you sell. The scores were computed on October 6, 2026.
FontForThat: questions
What does FontForThat do?
It measures how close free fonts come to paid ones, letter by letter, shows your own words in the closest and checks each licence for the job you have in mind. So far that is 27 paid fonts against 425 free fonts.
Which paid fonts have free alternatives on FontForThat?
The 27 that come with Windows, because those are the ones our lab has measured: Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, Georgia, and Verdana and 22 more. A paid font without a measured score gets no page. See every paid font measured.
Which free fonts reach the top of the scale?
3 pairs reach 100: Drama Sans against Comic Sans MS, Cutive Mono against Courier New, and Alte DIN 1451 Mittelschrift against Bahnschrift.
Is the score a percentage?
No. It places a pair on the lab’s scale, where 0 is what two ordinary fonts of one kind get and 100 is closer than nine fonts in ten find; Sneaky Times scores 96 against Times New Roman on that scale.
Can I use the free alternatives commercially?
All 425 free fonts measured here allow commercial work under their licences, 406 of them under open licences such as the SIL Open Font License. Each alternative page has a table of verdicts for websites, apps, logos, print and products you sell, with any condition written out.
Does FontForThat show the paid fonts themselves?
Never as font files. A paid font appears as a picture of its name and a phrase where its maker allows that, and in your own words only when it is installed on your device.