Add to ChromeBraveFree alternatives toHelvetica Neue
Set in Open Sauce One, its closest free match
The closest free alternative to Helvetica Neue is Open Sauce One, 88% alike by measurement, free from its open-source project. Inter and Roboto Flex come next.
The six closest.
- 01
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Typography is what language looks like.
Open Sauce One
88%Near twinOpen source · SIL Open Font License
- 7% taller x-height
- Sets 9% wider
- Same weight
- Same stroke contrast
- 02
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Typography is what language looks like.
Inter
86%Near twinGoogle Fonts · SIL Open Font License
- 6% taller x-height
- Sets 6% wider
- Same weight
- Same stroke contrast
- 03
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Typography is what language looks like.
Roboto Flex
86%Near twinGoogle Fonts · SIL Open Font License
- Same x-height
- Same width
- Same weight
- Same stroke contrast
- 04
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Typography is what language looks like.
Funnel Sans
85%Near twinGoogle Fonts · SIL Open Font License
- 3% shorter x-height
- Same width
- Same weight
- Same stroke contrast
- 05
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Typography is what language looks like.
Strichpunkt Sans
85%Near twinGoogle Fonts · SIL Open Font License
- Same x-height
- Same width
- Same weight
- Same stroke contrast
- 06
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Typography is what language looks like.
Google Sans
84%Close matchGoogle Fonts · SIL Open Font License
- Same x-height
- Same width
- Same weight
- Same stroke contrast
Measured, side by side.
Helvetica Neue against Open Sauce One, from the letters themselves. These numbers are why Open Sauce One comes first, and what the CSS below corrects for.
Helvetica Neue Open Sauce One
Keep your line breaks.
Swap Helvetica Neue for Open Sauce One and nothing reflows. This sets Open Sauce One at Helvetica Neue’s x-height and line length, so headings, buttons and paragraphs break where they did.
font-family: "Open Sauce One", sans-serif;
font-size: 0.935em; /* down to Helvetica Neue’s x-height */
letter-spacing: -0.01em; /* to Helvetica Neue’s line length */About Helvetica Neue
Stempel’s 1983 redrawing of Helvetica, which made the scattered weights and widths one family with numbered styles. It was Apple’s interface font in the years before San Francisco.
Questions, answered.
What is the best free alternative to Helvetica Neue?
Open Sauce One. Measured letter by letter, it’s 88% alike: 7% taller x-height, sets 9% wider, same weight, same stroke contrast. Inter, Roboto Flex, Funnel Sans, Strichpunkt Sans and Google Sans are also close.
Is there a free version of Helvetica Neue?
No. Helvetica Neue is a paid sans serif from Linotype. Every alternative on this page is free for commercial use, under the SIL Open Font License.
How were these alternatives chosen?
By measuring the letters, not by comparing names or tags. Helvetica Neue was measured from a licensed copy: its proportions, the width of every letter and figure, its weight, its stroke contrast and the shapes of telling letters like a, g, R and Q. The same measurements were taken of 1,506 free fonts, and these came closest. Each match was then checked by eye.
Will Open Sauce One change my layout?
Not if you use the CSS on this page. It sets Open Sauce One 6.5% smaller with a touch less letter-spacing, so text written for Helvetica Neue keeps its x-height and its line lengths, and lines break in the same places.
Spot Helvetica Neue in the wild?
Point Fontsight at any text on any website. It names the font, and offers a free look-alike you can try on the page, line breaks intact.
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