The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Free font
IBM Plex Sans
A free alternative to Graphik.
About IBM Plex Sans
IBM Plex Sans is the sans at the center of the IBM Plex superfamily, designed by Mike Abbink and released open-source in 2017 as IBM's corporate typeface. Its letterforms are squared off, with a strict horizontal and vertical terminal philosophy and a character that reads as engineered but not cold.
That philosophy is shared with Helvetica, Neue Haas Grotesk, and Univers, which is what makes it a credible free stand-in for all three — the same terminal logic, with a distinctly more technical modern accent instead of mid-century neutrality. It fills Graphik's role too, flexible enough to run across editorial, brand, and interface work without changing register. The family is reliable from body copy through subhead to display, and because it is available on Google Fonts alongside its serif and mono siblings, it drops into a full design system rather than a single slot.
- Designer
- Mike Abbink
- Released
- 2017
- Available at
- Google Fonts →
- Featured on
- 5 paid font pages
IBM Plex Sans is also a free alternative to…
- Graphik → A corporate sans with neutral, flexible design for clarity in many contexts. Slightly more technical character than Graphik but fills the same role across editorial, brand, and interface.
- Helvetica → Squared-off letterforms with the same strict horizontal/vertical terminal philosophy as Helvetica, but with a technical-modern character. IBM's own design system font, drawn to feel both engineered and human.
- Neue Haas Grotesk → The same horizontal/vertical terminal philosophy as Neue Haas Grotesk, with a slightly more technical character. IBM's design system font; reliable across body, subhead, and display.
- Univers → Squared-off letterforms and the same horizontal/vertical terminal philosophy as Univers, with a slightly more technical character. IBM's house design system font; works at body, subhead, and display.
- National 2 → A corporate workhorse grotesque with the same humanist detailing National 2 leans on — open apertures, a slightly warm tone under an otherwise neutral surface. The closest free match for the broad style range and text-first intent.
Display + body that work together
Letters that hold their nerve
The display sets the register; the body follows through. When both halves of a pair pull in the same direction, the design disappears and the words come forward.
Modern · Editorial IBM Plex Sans + EB Garamond
The shape of a working week
Crisp, even strokes give the display its punch. Quiet serifs underneath stay readable across thousands of words — used together by editors at the kind of paper that still prints corrections.
Editorial · Modern Bodoni Moda + IBM Plex Sans