The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Free font
Varela Round
A free alternative to Speedee.
About Varela Round
Varela Round is a soft-cornered sans drawn by Joe Prince and released through Google Fonts in 2011, distributed as a single regular weight. Every stem and terminal is rounded off, which gives the face an even, pill-like rhythm and a plain, unhurried voice. There is no bounce or novelty in the drawing — proportions stay conventional, and the letterforms read as a straightforward sans that has simply had its edges taken down. The single weight is the real constraint: it sets type, not hierarchy.
That mid-range friendliness is what makes it a workable free stand-in for Speedee. Varela Round matches Speedee's approachable, mid-weight voice — warm without turning childish — and it is the sensible pick when a project needs that softness but not the movement of the original. Reach for it on signage, app labels, and short headings, then pair it with a family that carries the weight range it lacks.
- Designer
- Joe Prince
- Released
- 2011
- Available at
- Google Fonts →
Varela Round is also a free alternative to…
- Speedee → A single clean rounded weight that matches Speedee's approachable mid-range voice — a good choice when you need the friendliness without the bounce.
- Quenda → A simple rounded sans with soft stroke ends and an open, friendly tone close to Quenda's Regular and Medium. It works well for short headlines and UI labels. The drawback is that it ships in a single weight, so it can't reproduce Quenda's six-weight family.
Display + body that work together
Letters that hold their nerve
A pairing is a relationship: one voice speaks first, the other answers, and the contrast between them sets the tone for the whole page.
Modern · Editorial Varela Round + Source Serif 4
Pages that earn the read
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.
Editorial · Modern Bodoni Moda + Varela Round