Just as a voice actor’s intonation can influence whether or not a listener enjoys a podcast or audiobook, typefaces affect how people feel about what they read. According to a 2021 study, typography choices can increase readers’ positive feelings by up to 13%.
As typefaces have evolved to suit the web, designers have many usability factors to consider beyond the way fonts can make people feel. When choosing web fonts, qualities like weight variability, how many languages a font comes in, and load time and availability across devices all matter.
To choose the best fonts for your website designs, find Framer’s best practices, as well as a roundup of the best web fonts, below.
How to select the best font for your website
Fonts like Open Sans and Lato are everywhere for a reason: They’re easy to read, comprehensive, and versatile. But you don’t have to stick to the most ubiquitous fonts to find the best fit for your current project. Here’s what to look for when choosing web fonts:
Solve for legibility first
It takes about 50 milliseconds for users to decide whether to stay on your site. If your site’s typography is difficult to read, visitors may not stick around.
Legibility is all about balance: A legible font will have lower-case letters that are tall enough to make out easily, but not so tall as to be confused with upper-case letters. Its strokes will vary in width but not so much that the eye can notice it.
Last, some fine details such as serifs can help the eye draw connections from one letter to the next, but too much connection and decoration can distract. Factors like space between letters can also play a role—once again, you’re looking to strike a balance.
Look for range
Downloading a luscious typeface only to discover it lacks the breadth of weights, glyphs, and languages needed for your project is a fast-track to frustration (and wasted time). When you’re browsing fonts, make sure the font family includes multiple weights. Ideally it is also variable, meaning the weight can change dynamically from its thinnest to thickest weight within the same font file. The more thorough your selection, the more flexible your site design will be over time.
Understand what you’re downloading
For any font you use, read the licensing rules carefully to ensure you or your client has the rights to use the typeface as you intend. While common, neutral fonts on services like Google Fonts are open source, meaning they are free to use commercially, many bespoke or unique typefaces are only available through a paid license or foundry subscription.
Whether securing licensed files from a font foundry or downloading open source fonts, make sure you get a WOFF/WOFF2 file, not a desktop-only file like OTF or TTF.
When building with Framer, you can use open source fonts from Framer’s own collection You can also upload your own custom fonts (though beware of how custom fonts can slow load times).
25 best fonts for websites
Inter
Satoshi
Manrope
Ribes
Aspekta
Domine
Ojuju
Instrument Serif
Barlow
Chakra Petch
Unbounded
Tanker
Public Sans
Ortica
Space Grotesk
Cabinet Grotesk
Pencerio
Stardom
Zodiak
Melodrama
Archivo
EB Garamond
Caprasimo
Gambarino
Epilogue
1. Inter
Font type: Variable; sans serif
Inter is a functional, clean sans serif typeface designed for easy readability. It was created in San Francisco by Rasmus Andersson, a Swedish engineer, in 2017. It’s been updated to be used by anyone, anywhere: it has over 2000 glyphs, 147 languages, and variable weights, making it a good choice for pretty much anything.
Best for:
Modern designs
Body and/or display text
Design-forward brands, ecommerce, portfolios
2. Satoshi
Font type: Variable; sans serif
Designed by Deni Anggara for the Indian Type Foundry, Satoshi is a geometric sans serif with an industrial feel. The tension between geometric playfulness and sans serif utilitarianism makes it an inviting font style. Satoshi could bring an approachable, design-centric brand to life in a variety of industries, whether it’s a design firm or a consumer packaged goods brand. While it has a relatively small glyph library, it’s variable and supports 10 weights and 135 languages.
Best for:
Modern designs
Body and/or display text
Design-forward brands, consumer packaged goods, ecommerce, portfolios
3. Manrope
Font type: Variable; sans serif
Manrope is a modern sans serif font designed with versatility in mind, making it suitable for both digital and print environments. With its balance of geometric structure and humanist details, Manrope feels approachable while retaining a sense of refinement. Its wide weight range supports everything from subtle body copy to bold headlines, ensuring readability and visual impact at any scale. Compared to more rigid sans serifs, Manrope’s smoother curves and open forms convey clarity and warmth, making it well-suited for contemporary, user-friendly design.
Best for:
Digital products and interfaces
Branding and editorial design
Tech, startups, and modern consumer brands
4. Ribes
Font type: sans serif
While traditional typefaces have thin horizontal strokes and thick vertical strokes, a reverse-stress typeface like Ribes has the opposite. The resulting look is a funky, unfamiliar look that stops you in your tracks. With its nostalgic feel and eye-catching geometry, this playful typeface is a good fit for brands with an offbeat and slightly retro identity. Ribes comes to Framer through the Collletttivo foundry, and was designed by Luigi Gorlero to include three weights.
Best for:
Modern designs with a retro twist
Display text
Food and beverage, entertainment, design-forward brands
5. Aspekta
Font type: Variable; sans serif
With its balanced shape and smooth curves, Aspekta is a typeface you can count on to support legibility and versatility. Like Inter, Pretendard, and Helvetica, Aspekta is neutral enough that with the right styling, it can feel intellectual and innovative or swaggy and on-trend. Variable and available in 20 static weights and 18 languages, Aspekta is a fit for a wide variety of branding, ecommerce, and marketing use cases.
Best for:
Functional and approachable designs
Body and/or display text
Outdoor gear, home goods, or fitness brands
6. Domine
Font type: Variable; serif
Designed specifically for long reads on the web, Domine brings the tradition of print newspapers and magazines into the internet era. By shortening the serifs, designer Pablo Impallari of Impallari Type made Domine easy to render on-screen even at tiny sizes. The nostalgic reader longing for the days of poring over a magazine feature at the breakfast table will feel at ease with Domine.
Best for:
Intellectual, warm designs
Body and/or display text
News media and blogs, stationery brands, publishing companies
7. Ojuju
Font type: Variable; sans serif
Another reverse-stress typeface, Ojuju’s designers Chisaokwu Joboson and Mirko Velimirović took inspiration from traditional African dance costumes as well as 1970s African movie posters. Available in variable and seven fixed weights, Ojuju is as versatile as it is show-stopping.
Best for:
African-inspired designs
Display text
Entertainment, food and beverage, home goods
8. Instrument Serif
Font type: Serif
Designed for the eponymous branding agency Instrument, this typeface updates vintage serif typefaces for the internet age. Since its condensed style makes it less legible at smaller sizes, it’s recommended for display type that feels just a little irreverent, just as any good branding agency should be.
Best for:
Intellectual, opinionated brands
Display text
News media and blogs, stationery brands, agencies
9. Barlow
Font type: Sans serif
Designer Jeremy Tribby drew inspiration from California’s public infrastructure to create Barlow, a versatile san serif font that’s also available in semi condensed and condensed versions. The resulting range makes Barlow a typeface that can hold an entire brand on its own without needing a second font, from statement display moments to dense body copy. Barlow is a good fit for projects with a social good or civic engagement component.
Best for:
Modern, functional designs
Body and/or display text
Public-facing services, food and beverage, tech, fitness
10. Chakra Petch
Font type: Sans serif
Chakra Petch is a unique statement font out of the iconic Thai foundry Cadson Demak. Its tapered corners have a geometric effect that can make the font look either etched in glass or pixelated, giving designers a wide aesthetic range to play with. For all its playfulness, Chakra Petch is still highly legible, even in italics, making it a strong fit for a wide variety of sites.
Best for:
Funky or futuristic designs
Display text
Tech, design-forward brands
11. Unbounded
Font type: Variable; sans serif
With Chevron detailing and side-eye counters (meaning the interior of rounded letters form a sideways teardrop shape, rather than a circle), Unbounded is just unique enough to catch your eye without overwhelming it. Unbounded’s creators believe this typeface is the first funded on blockchain, making it an apt choice for tech and finance-focused brands.
Best for:
Playful, futuristic designs
Display text
Tech, finance, fitness, design-forward brands
12. Tanker
Font type: Sans serif
Best for:
Opinionated, active designs
Display
Political, news, or transportation brands
A condensed sans serif with rounded corners, Tanker feels like it belongs on a movie poster for a war documentary or a sign at a protest. It’s making a statement, but its rounded details give it a soft, inviting dimension.
13. Public Sans
Font type: Variable; Sans serif
Developed by the U.S. General Services Administration to modernize government websites, Public Sans is intentionally neutral. It prioritizes legibility and accessibility, making it a strong choice for professional websites in the public-facing, legal, or financial arenas.
Best for:
Modern, functional designs
Body and/or display text
Public-facing services, law, tech, finance
14. Ortica
Font type: Serif
Collletttivo calls Ortica a “calligraphic serif” because of its round curves and sharp serifs. Its Angular version recalls a cut gemstone, making the reader think of tableware or stained glass windows. Used as a big, splashy display font, Ortica has a dazzling energy.
Best for:
Elegant, modern designs
Display
Food and beverage, hospitality, luxury brands
15. Space Grotesk
Font type: Variable; Sans serif
Based on a fixed-width font but updated to improve legibility, Space Grotesk will feel immediately familiar to software engineers and designers. Interesting at any weight and inclusive of a wide range of glyphs, Space Grotesk is a good fit for any tech-forward modern project.
Best for:
Futuristic, friendly designs
Body and/or display text
Tech, science, or automotive brands
16. Cabinet Grotesk
Font type: Variable; Sans serif
Cabinet Grotesk’s pinched stroke connections and curvy terminals make it feel more playful than your average sans serif, while still being easy to read. With a huge range of glyphs and ligatures, its designers at Indian Type Foundry intended it for use in editorial design. Cabinet is the perfect choice for a brand looking to bridge its modern web presence with the long tradition of sharp editorial print design.
Best for:
Sophisticated designs
Body and/or display text
Editorial, fashion, and lifestyle brands
17. Pencerio
Font type: Cursive
It’s hard to find a cursive font that doesn’t feel dated, cheesy, or completely illegible, but Pencerio fits the bill. With a large glyph library and even stroke weight, this font can hold its own on all things elegant, from invitations to editorials.
Best for:
Elegant, modern designs with a hint of vintage
Display text
Food and beverage, hospitality, lifestyle
18. Stardom
Font type: Serif
Designed by Indian Type Foundry to be used at extremely large sizes, Stardom is the headline typeface of a magazine designer’s dreams. It recalls the print glory days of magazines like Vogue and Elle, while its edgy descenders make it feel new.
Best for:
Sophisticated designs
Display text
Editorial, hospitality, or luxury brands
19. Zodiak
Font type: Variable; ****Serif
Zodiak is what its designers call a “sturdy” serif, with strong terminals and a huge range of characters. Whether you’re setting a juicy headline or dense body copy, Zodiak conveys a sense of old world sophistication mixed with a modern versatility. This typeface is a good fit for brands positioning themselves as thought leaders or tastemakers.
Best for:
Intellectual, warm designs
Body and/or display text
News media and blogs, stationery brands, publishing companies
20. Melodrama
Font type: Variable; sans serif
Melodrama’s high-contrast stroke weights communicate high drama, whether it’s on-screen or after hours. Picture it on an old Hollywood noir movie poster or at the top of a menu at a smoky club, making it a good candidate for a lifestyle site that knows exactly who it is.
Best for:
Classic, vintage-inspired designs
Display text
Nightlife, food and beverage, entertainment, or hospitality brands
21. Archivo
Font type: Variable; sans serif
Used in over a million websites, Archivo is a high-performance typeface with American roots in headline typography. Since 2021, it’s been available as a variable font, stretching from ultra-thin to ultra-heavy weights and increasing its versatility.
Best for:
Smart, approachable designs
Body and/or display text
Tech, media, or medical designs
22. EB Garamond
Font type: Variable; serif
A modern revival of a foundational typeface originally created in the 16th century, EB Garamond was updated in 2019 to be variable and web-friendly. Its low-contrast strokes and soft serifs feel like they were just set in ink, even on the crispest of modern screens.
Best for:
Classic, serious designs
Body text
News, publications, and academia
23. Caprasimo
Font type: Variable; sans serif
Originally designed as a fallback for the Cooper Black, Caprasimo has the vintage feeling of a 1970s textbook or album cover. It shines at large sizes that emphasize its curved terminals and heavy ligatures, which feel soulful and fun at the same time.
Best for:
Classic, vintage-inspired designs
Display text
Apparel and accessories brands, book covers, music and entertainment projects
24. Gambarino
Font type: Serif
Like Instrument, this condensed, vintage-inspired serif designed by Théo Guillard is best for headlines: Its off-kilter stroke connectors make the greatest impact at a large size. Try Gambarino in an advertisement for a canned cocktail or a sustainable cotton brand.
Best for:
Classic, vintage-inspired designs
Display text
Food and beverage, hospitality, home goods
25. Epilogue
Font type: Variable; sans serif
With its round features and sassy, simple details, Epilogue feels like it belongs on a cocktail menu in the 1980s Italian countryside. And with 18 styles, it feels almost like a pair of fonts rather than one big family.
Best for:
Classic designs with a European flair
Body and/or display text
Food and beverage, hospitality
Web fonts vs. web safe fonts
When people say “web fonts,” they usually mean fonts that have been defined in a site’s CSS, are being hosted online, and were uploaded to a server in a web-optimized format such as WOFF/WOFF2 files. But just because a font is on the web doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a web-safe font.
In order for a font to be web-safe, it should be able to load even when a server or custom font file fails. To do so, the font needs to be installed on the user’s device.
In the early days of the web, all web fonts were also web-safe, because font styles were defined within a site’s HTML, not CSS, and were hosted on the user’s individual computer. That’s why so many early websites used basic fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, Tahoma, and the like. When custom fonts became available via CSS around 2009 or 2010, the web got a facelift. Now, sites can pull more interesting fonts.
Today, a small selection of fonts, like Arial and Times New Roman, usually come pre-installed on all devices. These fonts are web-safe, while a more modern typeface like Barlow would simply be considered a web font.
Find your best font on Framer
Framer allows you to choose the best font for your project right from the platform: in addition to a comprehensive library of open source fonts, you can also easily upload your own font to use in any site design.
