The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Times New Roman vs Helvetica
Two commercial classics that defined their categories. Times New Roman is a transitional serif commissioned by The Times of London in 1931 and cut by Monotype for newspaper body text, while Helvetica is the neo-grotesque sans-serif Max Miedinger drew for the Haas foundry in 1957 as a deliberately neutral face for the Swiss market.
Times New Roman is a commercial font, so it is shown here in Tinos, its closest free alternative. All free alternatives to Times New Roman → 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
- Times New Roman is a serif built on Monotype's Plantin with sharpened serifs and higher stroke contrast, a tall x-height, and short descenders so columns of newspaper text pack tightly.
- Helvetica is a sans-serif with uniform strokes that end in flat horizontal or vertical cuts, tight letter spacing, and narrow apertures, which hurts legibility at small sizes and on screens.
- Helvetica became the face of the International Typographic Style and corporate identity, from Lufthansa and American Airlines wordmarks to New York City Subway signage, while Times New Roman stayed the default for print publishing and academic documents.
- Both are proprietary: Monotype owns Times New Roman and, having acquired Linotype, also holds the rights to Helvetica, so web and app embedding beyond the versions bundled with Windows or macOS means paying for a license.
Times New Roman
Reach for Times New Roman when you need a space-efficient, conservative serif for long-form print, reports, or anything a reader expects to look like a traditional document.
Helvetica
Reach for Helvetica for signage, logos, and clean corporate layouts where a neutral sans with a solid, dense texture matters more than small-size screen legibility.