What is the best font for YouTube thumbnails?

A narrow, heavy one, so a few words can be set big: Barlow Condensed, Roboto Condensed and Oswald are the most used fonts that pass our rule. For more character, the display picks, Bangers first.

Can I use these fonts on a monetised channel?

Yes. A thumbnail for a channel that earns money is commercial use, and every licence here allows it: 14 come under the SIL Open Font License and 1 under the Apache License.

Is there a free font like Impact?

Impact comes with Windows; for a free font to use anywhere, our free alternatives to Impact are the ones that look most like it, Anton, BBH Bogle and Fjalla One first. By our measures Impact’s letters average 46.2% of the em, inside this page’s rule.

Why use a narrow font on a thumbnail?

A narrow font fits more letters into the same width at the same height: League Gothic’s letters average 29.3% of the em, Catamaran’s 46.1%, so a word in League Gothic takes about 64% of the room.

How do I put text on a thumbnail?

Set the words in any editor that has the font, or make them in the font generator: it writes your words in a font and saves a PNG with a transparent background, to lay over the picture.

Best fonts for YouTube thumbnails

A thumbnail shows a few words on a small picture, so they must be big, heavy and narrow enough to fit. These fonts are in the narrowest third of all we measured and have an Extra Bold or heavier, or are as dark already: Barlow Condensed, Roboto Condensed and Oswald lead.

Pass the rule: 158 of 2,035; of all the fonts we measured
Shown: 15; the most used first, one of a family
Commercial use: 15 of 15; every licence here allows it
In Google Docs: 15 of 15; most likely, under More fonts; Slides too

01 / The picks

15 fonts for thumbnails

The narrowest third of all fonts, 46.3% of the em a letter or less, with an 800 weight or heavier, or ink in the darkest fifth already.

Sans serifs

82 pass · 9 shown

Set the first 6 in your own words

Display faces

76 pass · 6 shown

Set these 6 in your own words

02 / Questions

Thumbnail fonts, answered

What is the best font for YouTube thumbnails?: A narrow, heavy one, so a few words can be set big: Barlow Condensed, Roboto Condensed and Oswald are the most used fonts that pass our rule. For more character, the display picks, Bangers first.
Can I use these fonts on a monetised channel?: Yes. A thumbnail for a channel that earns money is commercial use, and every licence here allows it: 14 come under the SIL Open Font License and 1 under the Apache License.
Is there a free font like Impact?: Impact comes with Windows; for a free font to use anywhere, our free alternatives to Impact are the ones that look most like it, Anton, BBH Bogle and Fjalla One first. By our measures Impact’s letters average 46.2% of the em, inside this page’s rule.
Why use a narrow font on a thumbnail?: A narrow font fits more letters into the same width at the same height: League Gothic’s letters average 29.3% of the em, Catamaran’s 46.1%, so a word in League Gothic takes about 64% of the room.
How do I put text on a thumbnail?: Set the words in any editor that has the font, or make them in the font generator: it writes your words in a font and saves a PNG with a transparent background, to lay over the picture.