Sans serif · Arrow Type
Recursive
More axes (4)More axes (3)
Find the font. Find its kind.
CSSfont-family: 'Recursive', sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.1;
Recursive is a free sans serif by Arrow Type and Stephen Nixon, on Google Fonts since 2019. Among the 697 sans serifs on FontKind, Recursive has an x-height taller than 75%, is wider than 84% and, at its regular weight, is of average darkness. Its thickest strokes are 1.1 times its thinnest: nearly even strokes.
01 / Light table
Laid on top of Mozilla Headline
Recursive on one light table with its two closest fonts, Mozilla Headline (76 out of 100) and Monda (75). Mozilla Headline is 4% narrower, with more stroke contrast; Monda is 5% narrower, with more stroke contrast.
Recursive and Mozilla Headline laid on top of each other.
Ink shared with RecursiveMozilla Headline…
Most different letters first; the figure is the share of ink the fonts have in common. Where the fonts agree the letters cancel to black: every white sliver is a real difference.
02 / Letters
The Recursive alphabet
Capitals, lowercase, figures and signs · weight 400
Tap the letters you like, here and in other fonts, to find the fonts whose letters look most like them.
- &
- ?
- !
- @
- %
- (
- )
03 / Weights
Recursive in 8 weights
8 weights, 300–1000 · variable from 300 to 1000
Variable weight, 300 to 1000
- 300 Light
- 400 Regular
- 500 Medium
- 600 Semibold
- 700 Bold
- 800 Extra bold
- 900 Black
- 1000
04 / Facts
Who made Recursive, and can you use it?
- Designer
- Arrow Type, Stephen Nixon
- Kind
- Sans serif
- Styles
- 8 weights, 300–1000
- Variable axes
- CASL 0–1, CRSV 0–1, MONO 0–1, Slant -15–0, Weight 300–1000
- On Google Fonts since
- 2019
- Character sets
- cyrillic-ext, latin, latin-ext, vietnamese
- Licence
- SIL Open Font License 1.1
Can I use it?
- Commercial use
- Yes.
- Logos
- Yes.
- Websites and apps
- Yes. Self-hosted or loaded from Google Fonts.
- PDFs and documents
- Yes.
- Changes
- Yes.
- Sharing the files
- Yes, but not for sale. With the licence.
Recursive is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. This is a plain summary, not legal advice: the licence itself decides.
Already in your apps?
- Google Docs
- Most likely. Under More fonts, in Sheets and Slides too. Google’s guide
- Word, PowerPoint
- No. Install it from Google Fonts first. Microsoft’s list
- Figma
- Yes. Built in, nothing to install. Figma’s help
- Canva
- Not verified. Search its font menu for Recursive, or upload it with Canva Pro. Canva’s help
- Cricut
- Once installed. Design Space lists Recursive under System. Fonts for Cricut →
From each app’s own font list or help pages, read on 28 September 2026.
05 / Measurements
Recursive, measured
Taken from the font file's own outlines, regular style
- x-height
- 53.2% of the emlowercase x
- Cap height
- 70.0% of the emcapitals
- x / cap
- 0.76lowercase against capitals
- Width
- 56.4% of the emaverage lowercase
- Ink
- 42%letter box filled
- Contrast
- 1.09 : 1nearly even strokes
Where it stands among sans serifs
Ranked against all 697 sans serifs on FontKind
x-heightLarger than 75% of sans serifs
WidthWider than 84% of sans serifs
InkNear the middle of sans serifs
ContrastMore even than 77% of sans serifs
06 / Similar fonts
Fonts similar to Recursive
Matched letter by letter · its own family apart
- Mozilla Headline76more stroke contrast · 4% narrower
- Monda755% narrower · more stroke contrast
- Inria Sans7114% narrower · x-height 7% shorter
- Kanit71x-height 11% shorter · 19% heavier · 8% narrower
- Miriam Libre6914% lighter · x-height 6% taller · 3% narrower
- Sofia Sans6814% narrower · x-height 8% shorter
All 100 fonts similar to Recursive →Compare side by side →Get Recursive on Google Fonts
07 / Swap
Swap Recursive without a jump
Running text within 3% of the width, x-height within 5%
- Mozilla Text62text 2.9% narrower · same x-height
- Pathway Extreme58text 1.9% narrower · x-height 1.5% taller
- Allerta50same text width · x-height 3.6% taller
- DejaVu Sans50same text width · x-height 2.8% taller
- PT Sans Caption50text 1.6% narrower · x-height 1.3% shorter
- Amiko50text 2.0% narrower · x-height 1.8% shorter
Fallback while it loads
Until Recursive loads, this sets Arial in its place at 115.4% of its size, so running text keeps Recursive’s width and lines keep their height: nothing moves when it arrives.
@font-face {
font-family: 'Recursive Fallback';
src: local('Arial');
size-adjust: 115.36%;
ascent-override: 82.35%;
descent-override: 21.67%;
line-gap-override: 0.00%;
}
font-family: 'Recursive', 'Recursive Fallback', sans-serif;08 / Questions
Questions about Recursive
Answered from its licence, Google Fonts and each app’s own font list
Is Recursive free for commercial use?
Yes. Recursive is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 , which allows commercial use at any scale, logos, websites, apps and PDFs included.
How do I download and install Recursive?
FontKind doesn’t host Recursive’s files: it comes free from Google Fonts . On its page there, choose Get font, then Download all, and unzip the file. It holds one variable file for every style, and a static folder with a file per style: install one set or the other, not both. On Windows or a Mac, double-click each font file and choose Install, then restart any app that was open, Word included.
Is Recursive in Microsoft Word?
Not until you install it: Recursive isn’t one of Microsoft 365’s cloud fonts. Installed, it is in Word’s font menu and PowerPoint’s. On Windows, its weights beyond Regular and Bold show as fonts of their own, such as Recursive Light and Recursive Black. For someone who hasn’t installed it, turn on Embed fonts in the file in Word’s save options: its licence allows that.
Is Recursive in Google Docs?
Most likely. Search for Recursive under More fonts in the font menu of Docs; added there, it is in Sheets and Slides too.
Is Recursive in Figma?
Yes: Recursive is in Figma’s font menu with all eight weights, in the browser and the desktop app, with nothing to install.
How many weights does Recursive have?
Recursive comes in eight weights, from Light (300) to 1000. It is a variable font: it takes any weight from 300 to 1000 and a slant of up to 15°, plus three axes of its own.
Who designed Recursive?
Recursive was designed by Arrow Type and Stephen Nixon. It has been on Google Fonts since June 2019. Arrow Type also made Shantell Sans.
What fonts are similar to Recursive?
The closest in our letter-by-letter match are Mozilla Headline (76), Monda (75) and Inria Sans (71), out of 100. Next to Recursive, Mozilla Headline is 4% narrower, with more stroke contrast. See all 100 fonts like Recursive.