What is a serif font?

A font that finishes the main strokes of its letters with serifs, the small strokes at their ends, as Times New Roman, Georgia and Garamond do. Serifs go back to Roman capitals cut in stone, and most printed books are still set in serif type. Fonts without them are sans serifs.

What is the difference between serif and sans serif fonts?

Serif fonts finish their strokes with serifs and usually vary thick and thin more; sans serifs end their strokes plainly, with more even lines. Neither is reliably easier to read: size, x-height and spacing matter more. Serif vs sans serif sets one word in both and measures the difference.

Are these serif fonts free for commercial use?

Yes, books, logos and client work included. All 354 serifs are free, under licences that allow commercial use: 334 under the SIL Open Font License, 3 under the Apache License, 1 under the MIT License and 1 in the public domain (CC0). The other 15 serifs come under Fontshare’s own licence, ITF’s: commercial use as well, but no changing the files, and anyone outside your organisation gets their own copy from Fontshare. Every licence here also lets you embed the font in a PDF or an e-book you publish.

Which serif fonts can I use in Google Docs and Word?

Google Docs adds Google Fonts families under More fonts in its font menu, so 270 of these 354 serifs are most likely there, among them Lora, Crimson Text and Libre Baskerville, our picks for print. Of these serifs, one is a colour font, which Google says Docs likely does not support yet. The 79 serifs from Fontsource, Fontshare and their makers’ own releases are not in Docs. None of these serifs is one of Microsoft 365’s cloud fonts: install one from its source to use it in Word. Windows 11 comes with Cambria, Constantia, Georgia, Palatino Linotype, Sitka and Times New Roman, each linked to the free fonts most like it.

What free font looks like Times New Roman?

Tinos is drawn to Times New Roman’s metrics, so a document keeps its line breaks when you swap one for the other. By the look of the letters, Sneaky Times, STIX Two Text and Jomolhari come close as well. See every free alternative to Times New Roman. For Georgia, Gelasio has the same metrics.

What are the most popular serif fonts?

On Google Fonts, the most used serif families are Playfair Display, Roboto Slab, Merriweather, Trocchi and Instrument Serif, in that order: the list of all 354 on this page starts with them in its Most used order.

Which serif font is easiest to read?

None reads best for everyone: studies find that size, x-height and spacing matter more than the style of the letters. For long text, look for a large x-height and moderate contrast, as in Merriweather, Bitter, Noto Serif and IBM Plex Serif, our picks for reading on screens.

Serif fonts

Serif fonts finish the ends of their strokes with small feet, the serifs. They set most books and newspapers and give text a classic, bookish voice. Here are 354 free ones in four styles, with the best for screens, print, headlines and logos.

01 / Styles

Four styles of serif

Two styles by Google Fonts’ tags, one by our contrast measure, one by Google’s slab category. Each shows its most used fonts.

Old style

The oldest roman type, from Renaissance Venice and France: the slanted stress of a broad pen, gentle contrast, serifs that curve into the stem. Garamond and Caslon are the classics.

How we tellTagged old style by Google Fonts; contrast from 1.5 : 1 to under 4 : 1 by our measure.

Transitional

Eighteenth-century type between old style and modern: a more upright stress, sharper contrast and crisper serifs. Baskerville and Times New Roman are transitional.

How we tellTagged transitional by Google Fonts; contrast from 1.5 : 1 to under 4 : 1 by our measure.

Didone and high contrast

The look of Bodoni and Didot around 1800: an upright stress, hairline serifs, and thin strokes a fraction of the thick ones. Fashion mastheads, perfume labels, elegant headlines.

How we tellContrast of 4 : 1 or more by our measure: the o’s sides at least four times as thick as its top and foot.

Slab serif

Serifs as heavy as the strokes, in square blocks, with little contrast. Born on nineteenth-century posters; sturdy on screens, labels and signs.

How we tellGoogle Fonts’ slab serif category.

02 / Best for

The best serif fonts

By use, picked by our measurements, most used first. The rule is under each job.

Long reading on screens

x-height of 50% of the em or more, contrast of 2.2 : 1 or less, an italic and 4 weights or more: large, sturdy letters that hold up small on a screen.

Books and print

Contrast from 2.2 : 1 to under 4 : 1, an italic and a second weight: the classic book page, whose thin strokes paper keeps sharp.

Headlines

An optical size axis: the letters redraw themselves finer and tighter as they grow, so a headline is not just the text made bigger.

Logos

The fifth of serifs least like any other, with no family or copy of their own: their closest match here scores 79 of 100 or less. A wordmark set in one stands apart from the familiar book faces.

03 / All fonts

All 354 serif fonts

354 serifs on FontKind: filter them by name or by look, and pick their order.

Filter by name

By look, measured

Order

354 of 354 fonts

04 / Questions

Serif fonts, answered

What is a serif font?: A font that finishes the main strokes of its letters with serifs, the small strokes at their ends, as Times New Roman, Georgia and Garamond do. Serifs go back to Roman capitals cut in stone, and most printed books are still set in serif type. Fonts without them are sans serifs.
What is the difference between serif and sans serif fonts?: Serif fonts finish their strokes with serifs and usually vary thick and thin more; sans serifs end their strokes plainly, with more even lines. Neither is reliably easier to read: size, x-height and spacing matter more. Serif vs sans serif sets one word in both and measures the difference.
Are these serif fonts free for commercial use?: Yes, books, logos and client work included. All 354 serifs are free, under licences that allow commercial use: 334 under the SIL Open Font License, 3 under the Apache License, 1 under the MIT License and 1 in the public domain (CC0). The other 15 serifs come under Fontshare’s own licence, ITF’s: commercial use as well, but no changing the files, and anyone outside your organisation gets their own copy from Fontshare. Every licence here also lets you embed the font in a PDF or an e-book you publish.
Which serif fonts can I use in Google Docs and Word?: Google Docs adds Google Fonts families under More fonts in its font menu, so 270 of these 354 serifs are most likely there, among them Lora, Crimson Text and Libre Baskerville, our picks for print. Of these serifs, one is a colour font, which Google says Docs likely does not support yet. The 79 serifs from Fontsource, Fontshare and their makers’ own releases are not in Docs. None of these serifs is one of Microsoft 365’s cloud fonts: install one from its source to use it in Word. Windows 11 comes with Cambria, Constantia, Georgia, Palatino Linotype, Sitka and Times New Roman, each linked to the free fonts most like it.
What free font looks like Times New Roman?: Tinos is drawn to Times New Roman’s metrics, so a document keeps its line breaks when you swap one for the other. By the look of the letters, Sneaky Times, STIX Two Text and Jomolhari come close as well. See every free alternative to Times New Roman. For Georgia, Gelasio has the same metrics.
What are the most popular serif fonts?: On Google Fonts, the most used serif families are Playfair Display, Roboto Slab, Merriweather, Trocchi and Instrument Serif, in that order: the list of all 354 on this page starts with them in its Most used order.
Which serif font is easiest to read?: None reads best for everyone: studies find that size, x-height and spacing matter more than the style of the letters. For long text, look for a large x-height and moderate contrast, as in Merriweather, Bitter, Noto Serif and IBM Plex Serif, our picks for reading on screens.

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