Display · John Vargas Beltrán
Salsa
Find the font. Find its kind.
CSSfont-family: 'Salsa', sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.1;
Salsa is a free display font by John Vargas Beltrán, on Google Fonts since 2011. Among the 554 display faces on FontKind, Salsa has an average x-height, is of average width and, at its regular weight, is darker than 66%. Its thickest strokes are 1.5 times its thinnest: moderate stroke contrast.
01 / Light table
Laid on top of Alkatra
Salsa on one light table with its two closest fonts, Alkatra (91 out of 100) and Aladin (88). Alkatra is 8% narrower; Aladin is 26% narrower and 8% heavier, with an x-height 9% shorter.
Salsa and Alkatra laid on top of each other.
Ink shared with SalsaAlkatra…
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 Salsa 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 / Sizes
Salsa at every size
1 weight (400) · six sizes, in your words
- 12 px
- 16 px
- 24 px
- 36 px
- 48 px
- 72 px
04 / Facts
Who made Salsa, and can you use it?
- Designer
- John Vargas Beltrán
- Kind
- Display
- Styles
- 1 weight (400)
- On Google Fonts since
- 2011
- Character sets
- latin
- 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, under another name. Not as “Salsa”: the licence reserves the name.
- Sharing the files
- Yes, but not for sale. With the licence.
Salsa 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 Salsa, or upload it with Canva Pro. Canva’s help
- Cricut
- Once installed. Design Space lists Salsa under System. Fonts for Cricut →
From each app’s own font list or help pages, read on 28 September 2026.
05 / Measurements
Salsa, measured
Taken from the font file's own outlines, regular style
- x-height
- 50.6% of the emlowercase x
- Cap height
- 71.6% of the emcapitals
- x / cap
- 0.71lowercase against capitals
- Width
- 51.1% of the emaverage lowercase
- Ink
- 56%letter box filled
- Contrast
- 1.46 : 1moderate stroke contrast
Where it stands among display faces
Ranked against all 554 display faces on FontKind
x-heightNear the middle of display faces
WidthNear the middle of display faces
InkDarker than 66% of display faces
ContrastMore contrast than 64% of display faces
06 / Similar fonts
Fonts similar to Salsa
Matched letter by letter · its own family apart
- Alkatra918% narrower
- Aladin8826% narrower · x-height 9% shorter · 8% heavier
- Akaya Kanadaka85x-height 20% shorter · 12% narrower · less stroke contrast
- Chicle8425% narrower · 37% heavier · less stroke contrast
- Paprika83x-height 32% taller · 15% wider · 29% lighter
- Poetsen One75x-height 10% taller · 16% heavier · 7% wider
All 100 fonts similar to Salsa →Compare side by side →Get Salsa on Google Fonts
07 / Swap
Swap Salsa without a jump
Running text within 3% of the width, x-height within 5%
- Agbalumo75same text width · x-height 0.6% taller
- Arima62text 1.7% narrower · x-height 2.9% taller
- Averia Libre61text 2.0% narrower · x-height 4.5% shorter
- Overlock SC56text 2.4% narrower · x-height 3.6% taller
- Langar55text 2.0% narrower · x-height 2.0% taller
- Original Surfer49text 1.1% wider · x-height 4.8% shorter
Fallback while it loads
Until Salsa loads, this sets Arial in its place at 103.4% of its size, so running text keeps Salsa’s width and lines keep their height: nothing moves when it arrives.
@font-face {
font-family: 'Salsa Fallback';
src: local('Arial');
size-adjust: 103.36%;
ascent-override: 94.24%;
descent-override: 24.38%;
line-gap-override: 0.00%;
}
font-family: 'Salsa', 'Salsa Fallback', sans-serif;08 / Questions
Questions about Salsa
Answered from its licence, Google Fonts and each app’s own font list
Is Salsa free for commercial use?
Yes. Salsa is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 , which allows commercial use at any scale, logos, websites, apps and PDFs included; a changed version may not be called “Salsa”.
How do I download and install Salsa?
FontKind doesn’t host Salsa’s files: it comes free from Google Fonts . On its page there, choose Get font, then Download all, and unzip the file. It holds a single font file. On Windows or a Mac, double-click each font file and choose Install, then restart any app that was open, Word included.
Is Salsa in Microsoft Word?
Not until you install it: Salsa isn’t one of Microsoft 365’s cloud fonts. Installed, it is in Word’s font menu and PowerPoint’s. For someone who hasn’t installed it, turn on Embed fonts in the file in Word’s save options: its licence allows that.
Is Salsa in Google Docs?
Most likely. Search for Salsa under More fonts in the font menu of Docs; added there, it is in Sheets and Slides too.
Is Salsa in Figma?
Yes: Salsa is in Figma’s font menu, in the browser and the desktop app, with nothing to install.
How many weights does Salsa have?
Salsa comes in one weight, Regular (400). Ask for bold and most apps thicken the letters themselves: a faux bold, not a drawn one.
Who designed Salsa?
Salsa was designed by John Vargas Beltrán. It has been on Google Fonts since October 2011. John Vargas Beltrán also made Germania One, Boogaloo, Macondo and two more on FontKind.
What fonts are similar to Salsa?
The closest in our letter-by-letter match are Alkatra (91), Aladin (88) and Akaya Kanadaka (85), out of 100. Next to Salsa, Alkatra is 8% narrower. See all 100 fonts like Salsa.