Helvetica® font
Helvetica is a neo-grotesque sans serif by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, first issued by the Haas Type Foundry in 1957. It comes with macOS; elsewhere it is a paid typeface, sold by Linotype. FontKind hasn’t measured it, so the free fonts below stand beside it by their own description and by class, not by measurement.
No picture of Helvetica here: only your own copy, if you have it
01 / Free fonts with a similar description or class
Your copy · Helvetica, from your device
Looking for Helvetica on this device…
01by description
Arimo
Drawn to Arial’s widths, which Arial shares with Helvetica · Google Fonts: Arimo · Wikipedia: Arial
Find the font. Find its kind.Free for commercial useOFL
Fonts like Arimo02by description
Questrial
Its description names Helvetica’s Swiss grotesk style · Google Fonts: Questrial
Find the font. Find its kind.Free for commercial useOFL
Fonts like Questrial03by class
Free for commercial useOFL
Fonts like Inter04by class
Free for commercial useOFL
Fonts like Roboto05by class
IBM Plex Sans
Google Fonts classes it with the neo-grotesque sans serifs
Find the font. Find its kind.Free for commercial useOFL
Fonts like IBM Plex Sans06by class
Bricolage Grotesque
Google Fonts classes it with the neo-grotesque sans serifs
Find the font. Find its kind.Free for commercial useOFL
Fonts like Bricolage Grotesque07by class
Free for commercial useOFL
Fonts like Manrope08by class
Free for commercial useUbuntu Font Licence
Fonts like Ubuntu
Not measured against Helvetica: FontKind has no licensed copy of it. “By description” means the free font’s own description names Helvetica or its model; “by class”, that Google Fonts gives it the same class. Every one is free for commercial use.
About Helvetica
- Designed by
- Max Miedinger and Eduard HoffmannSource: Wikipedia: Helvetica
- First issued
- Haas Type Foundry, 1957Source: Wikipedia: Helvetica
- Class
- Neo-grotesque sans serifSource: Wikipedia: Helvetica
- Comes with
- macOS Tahoe: HelveticaSource: Apple: fonts included with macOS Tahoe
- Sold by
- Linotype
- Trademark
- Helvetica is a trademark of Monotype Imaging Inc. registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain other jurisdictions.Source: Monotype: trademarks
- Also
- Its first name was Neue Haas Grotesk; it was renamed Helvetica, after the Latin name of Switzerland, in 1960.Source: Wikipedia: Helvetica
Read by hand on 1 October 2026 from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), Microsoft’s and Apple’s lists of their fonts, Monotype’s list of its trademarks and the foundries’ and shops’ own pages. The references are linked beside each fact; a page that sells or hands out the font is not, so a fact read only there shows no link.
Helvetica® is a trademark of Monotype Imaging Inc. FontKind is not affiliated with Monotype Imaging Inc., and this page is an independent reference.
Hold rights in Helvetica? Write to rights@fontkind.com: we answer within two working days, and take down what is disputed while we look into it.
Questions about Helvetica
Is Helvetica free?
Not to use anywhere you like. It comes with macOS, so a Mac already has it. Anywhere else it needs a licence, sold by Linotype. The free fonts on this page are free for commercial use too, under open licences.
Who designed Helvetica?
Helvetica was designed by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, and first issued by the Haas Type Foundry in 1957.
Can I use Helvetica in Word, Google Docs or Canva?
In Word on a Mac, yes, as macOS comes with Helvetica; on Windows, only after you install a licensed copy. Google Docs adds fonts from Google Fonts, and Helvetica isn’t one of them; of the free fonts on this page, Questrial, Inter and Roboto are there, under More fonts. Canva publishes no list of its fonts: search its font menu, or, with Canva Pro, upload a font whose licence allows it.
What is the closest free alternative to Helvetica?
FontKind hasn’t measured Helvetica: it has no licensed copy of it, so this page doesn’t rank free fonts by how close they come. The free fonts whose own descriptions name it, or its model, are Arimo and Questrial. Beside them, Inter, Roboto and IBM Plex Sans are neo-grotesque sans serifs in Google Fonts’ own classification, the class FontKind matches to Helvetica.