The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Segoe UI vs SF Pro
Two platform system fonts that define how Windows and Apple devices look. Segoe UI is a humanist sans designed by Steve Matteson at Agfa Monotype and used by Microsoft since Windows Vista, while SF Pro is Apple's neo-grotesque, first released to developers in 2014 and now the UI font across macOS, iOS, iPadOS and tvOS.
Segoe UI is a commercial font, so it is shown here in Open Sans, its closest free alternative. All free alternatives to Segoe UI → SF Pro is a commercial font, so it is shown here in Inter, its closest free alternative. All free alternatives to SF Pro →
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
- Segoe UI is humanist in construction, with open, Frutiger-like letterforms that Linotype once formally disputed, whereas SF Pro is a neo-grotesque drawing on Helvetica and FF DIN.
- SF Pro ships with Text and Display optical sizes and the OS switches between them at 20 points; Segoe UI only gained comparable Small, Text and Display faces with Segoe UI Variable in Windows 11.
- SF Pro's variable version carries weight, width and optical-size axes across nine weights and four widths, while classic Segoe UI is a fixed set of static weights.
- Neither is free: Segoe UI comes bundled with Windows and Office, and SF Pro is licensed only to registered Apple Developers, solely for mock-ups of interfaces running on Apple platforms, so neither is a legitimate option for a general-purpose webfont.
- SF Pro's license explicitly forbids embedding the font in software, websites or artwork, which makes it the more tightly restricted of the two.
Segoe UI
Reach for Segoe UI when you are building for Windows or Microsoft 365, where it is already installed and gives your product the native Fluent look at no extra cost.
SF Pro
Reach for SF Pro only when designing apps for Apple platforms as a registered developer, where its optical sizes and variable axes match the system exactly and the license actually permits it.