The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Netflix Sans vs Gotham
A bespoke brand face versus the typeface it replaced. Netflix Sans was drawn in 2018 by Netflix's in-house team with Dalton Maag specifically to move the company off Gotham, while Gotham itself is Tobias Frere-Jones's 2000 geometric sans for Hoefler & Co., modelled on mid-century New York signage and one of the most widely licensed typefaces of the century.
Netflix Sans is a commercial font, so it is shown here in Montserrat, its closest free alternative. All free alternatives to Netflix Sans → Gotham is a commercial font, so it is shown here in Montserrat, its closest free alternative. All free alternatives to Gotham →
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
- Gotham is a true geometric sans with a broad stance, high x-height and wide apertures, descended from 1920s faces like Futura; Netflix Sans is described by its design lead as an approachable geometric grotesque, with cinematic capitals and a compact, efficient lowercase.
- Netflix Sans carries a brand signature Gotham lacks: the arched cut on the lowercase t echoes the curve of the Netflix wordmark.
- Gotham is a large professional family of four widths and eight weights plus Rounded, Narrow and Extra Narrow cuts, with Cyrillic and Greek added in 2015; Netflix Sans ships in six weights from thin to black.
- Both are commercial: Gotham is licensed through Hoefler & Co. and the fee scales with use, which is the very cost Netflix cited when it built its own typeface; Netflix Sans is proprietary and not licensed to the public at all.
Netflix Sans
Reach for Netflix Sans only if you are designing for Netflix itself, since it is a private brand face that cannot be licensed elsewhere.
Gotham
Reach for Gotham when you need a proven, broad geometric sans with deep weight and width coverage for identities, signage and editorial work, and the licensing budget to match.