SF Pro vs Helvetica
SF Pro is San Francisco, the sans serif Apple drew for its own screens and its system font since 2015; before it, iPhones used Helvetica and then Helvetica Neue. San Francisco was inspired by Helvetica and DIN, but it changes with size: a Text design below 20 points, with open apertures and looser spacing, and a Display design above. Neither is free to use elsewhere: Apple licenses SF Pro only for designing apps for its platforms, and Monotype sells Helvetica.1,2,3,4
On this deviceSF Pro: looking…Helvetica: looking…Helvetica Neue: looking…
01 / In your words
SF Pro vs Helvetica, side by side
SF Pro · looking on this device
Looking for SF Pro on this device…
Helvetica · looking on this device
Looking for Helvetica on this device…
Helvetica Neue · looking on this device
Looking for Helvetica Neue on this device…
Free · Inter · A grotesque made for screens, picked on our Apple font page
Find the font. Find its kind.Free · Geist · Crisp and compact, picked on our Apple font page
Find the font. Find its kind.Free · Arimo · Drawn to Arial’s widths, which are Helvetica’s
Find the font. Find its kind.
02 / Compared
What is the difference between SF Pro and Helvetica?
| What differs | SF Pro | Helvetica |
|---|---|---|
| Made by1,2 | SF ProApple, in house; first released to developers in November 2014 | HelveticaMax Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas Type Foundry, 1957 |
| Style1,3,2,5 | SF ProNeo-grotesque, inspired by Helvetica and DIN, with open apertures in its text sizes | HelveticaNeo-grotesque with narrow apertures and horizontal stroke ends |
| On Apple devices1,2 | SF ProThe system font since iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan, 2015 | HelveticaThe iPhone’s system font from 2007; Helvetica Neue from the iPhone 4 in 2010, and on the Mac in OS X Yosemite |
| Optical sizes1,4,2 | SF ProText below 20 points, Display above; now one variable font | HelveticaHelvetica Now, Monotype’s 2019 update, has three: Micro, Text and Display |
| Licence4,6 | SF ProLicensed only for mock-ups of apps for Apple’s platforms | HelveticaPaid: Monotype sells it style by style |
| Comes with1,7,8 | SF ProApple devices, as the system font | HelveticamacOS and iOS |
| Free alternative9,10 | SF ProInter, Geist and more on our Apple font page | HelveticaArimo, with Helvetica’s widths by way of Arial |
Not measured. FontKind measures fonts from their own files: the free fonts of the catalogue and the 27 fonts that come with Windows. SF Pro and Helvetica are not among them, so this page measures nothing of them and guesses nothing either.
03 / Letter by letter
How to tell SF Pro from Helvetica
Apertures3,5,2
SF Pro
Looking…Open in the text sizes, drawn for small screens
Helvetica
Looking…Narrow, with horizontally cut ends that blur on screen at small sizes
Text and display sizes3,1,2
SF Pro
Looking…Below 20 points SF lengthens the r’s arm, widens the crossbars of f and t, lifts the i’s dot clear of its stem and opens its spacing
Helvetica
Looking…Helvetica Now, Monotype’s 2019 update of Helvetica, brought sizes of its own: Micro, Text and Display
Figures5
SF Pro
Looking…Compare their height with the H beside them
Helvetica
Looking…In Helvetica Neue, slightly shorter than the capitals
The capital i and the small L3,11
SF Pro
Looking…Hard to tell apart
Helvetica
Looking…Hard to tell apart too
04 / Which to use
SF Pro or Helvetica: which should you use?
- An app for iPhone, iPad or Mac
SF Pro: it is the system font, and Apple licenses it for designing these apps.4
- A brand, a poster or print
Helvetica, licensed from Monotype. SF Pro’s licence does not cover it.4,6
- A website
Neither file may be served.
font-family: system-uishows SF on Apple devices and each other system’s own font elsewhere; or serve a free font such as Inter.12
05 / Free instead
Free fonts instead of SF Pro and Helvetica
Instead of SF Pro
Instead of Helvetica
- PickedArimo
Drawn to Arial’s widths, which are Helvetica’s
SF Pro and Helvetica are not measured here, so our data ranks no font against them: the fonts named for them are picks, for the reasons given.
06 / Questions
SF Pro vs Helvetica: questions people ask
Is SF Pro the same as Helvetica?
No. Apple drew San Francisco in house, inspired by Helvetica and DIN, and it replaced Helvetica Neue as the system font in 2015. Its design changes with the size it is set at: below 20 points its apertures open and its spacing loosens.1,5,3
Can I use SF Pro for free?
Only to design apps for Apple’s platforms: Apple licenses it for mock-ups of interfaces for software running on its systems. For a website, a logo or print, use a free font such as Inter or Geist instead.4
Why did Apple stop using Helvetica?
San Francisco was drawn for legibility on Apple’s screens at small sizes, where Helvetica Neue’s narrow apertures blur, as a designer who compared the two showed in 2015. It also comes in four widths and in optical sizes.5,4
What font does Apple use?
San Francisco: SF Pro on iPhone, iPad and Mac, SF Compact on Apple Watch and SF Mono for code, with New York, a serif, beside them. Our Apple font page shows free fonts like it.1
Sources
- 1Wikipedia: San Francisco
- 2Wikipedia: Helvetica
- 3MartianCraft: Arriving at San Francisco (2015)
- 4Apple Developer: Fonts (not linked: the page sells or hands out the font)
- 5MartianCraft: Why San Francisco (2015)
- 6MyFonts: Helvetica (not linked: the page sells or hands out the font)
- 7Apple: Fonts included with macOS Sequoia
- 8Apple Developer: System fonts
- 9Google Fonts: Arimo
- 10Wikipedia: Arial
- 11Wikipedia: Calibri
- 12MDN: font-family, system-ui
- 13Microsoft: Windows 11 font list
- 14Chromium source: alternate font family names
Updated 1 October 2026. SF Pro and Helvetica are trademarks of their owners, named here only to say which fonts the page compares. FontKind is not affiliated with them: this is an independent comparison.