The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Neue Montreal vs Helvetica
A Montreal-made grotesque set against the Swiss original it openly draws on. Helvetica is the 1957 neo-grotesque from Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas foundry, built to be neutral and all-purpose, while Neue Montreal is Mathieu Desjardins's 2018 take for Pangram Pangram — a versatile grotesque tuned with the spirit of a display face.
Neue Montreal is a commercial font, so it is shown here in Switzer, its closest free alternative. All free alternatives to Neue Montreal → Helvetica is a commercial font, so it is shown here in Inter, its closest free alternative. All free alternatives to Helvetica →
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
- Neue Montreal is spaced tighter than Helvetica, which is why it excels at display sizes, whereas Helvetica's tight apertures and dense fit were drawn for print and can hurt legibility at small sizes on screen.
- Helvetica has been reworked twice — Neue Helvetica in 1983 and Monotype's Helvetica Now in 2019, which added Micro, Text, and Display optical sizes and a variable version in 2021 — while Neue Montreal is a single family of 14 styles (7 uprights plus italics) without optical sizes.
- Helvetica's forms descend from Akzidenz-Grotesk and were designed to carry no intrinsic meaning; Neue Montreal is inspired by Expo 67-era Montreal design and reads a touch more contemporary and branded.
- Both are commercial: Helvetica is licensed through Monotype, while Pangram Pangram offers Neue Montreal free to try for personal use with commercial licenses starting at $30, so licensing cost is a real factor on either side.
Neue Montreal
Reach for Neue Montreal when you want a tight, contemporary grotesque for headlines, posters, and brand identities where a slightly more characterful voice than Helvetica is welcome.
Helvetica
Reach for Helvetica when you need the proven neutral default with decades of pedigree and, via Helvetica Now, optical sizes that cover everything from micro UI text to signage.