The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Best free alternatives to
Modern No. 20
Stephenson Blake of Sheffield issued Modern No. 20 in 1905, recutting a mid-19th-century design from the Caslon Letter Foundry lineage; the original designer is not recorded, and the Ed Benguiat credit on retail sites likely confuses it with his ITC Modern No. 216. It is a Didone built for titling: vertical stress, hairline serifs, abrupt thick-to-thin contrast, descenders shortened in the 1910 restyling. Microsoft's description calls it the king of titling faces, and a 1993 Type Solutions digitisation ships with Office. The Bitstream version is a paid license. These free Didones work the same high-contrast register without the license fee.
The closest font to Modern No. 20The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Display + body that work together
Quiet type that does the work
A pairing is a relationship: one voice speaks first, the other answers, and the contrast between them sets the tone for the whole page.
Editorial · Modern Bodoni Moda + Inter
Pages that earn the read
Two thousand years of letterforms boil down to a handful of decisions — width, weight, proportion. Pick a pair you trust, and let the rest take care of itself.
Modern · Editorial Archivo + Bodoni Moda
Fonts like Modern No. 20
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Common questions about Modern No. 20 alternatives
- Is Modern No. 20 free?
- No — Modern No. 20 is a commercial typeface from Stephenson Blake. Commercial: the Bitstream cut is licensed through MyFonts, and a 1993 Type Solutions cut is bundled with Microsoft Office under Microsoft's font terms. The closest free alternative is Bodoni Moda, available on Google Fonts.
- What font is similar to Modern No. 20?
- Bodoni Moda is the closest free match. A variable Didone with optical sizes, so the display master carries hairlines nearly as fine as Modern No. 20's titling cut while the text master stays readable. Its forms follow Bodoni's Italian model rather than the English foundry tradition, so curves are rounder and the overall colour is lighter.
- Can I use Bodoni Moda in commercial projects?
- Yes — Bodoni Moda is published under a free license on Google Fonts and can be used in commercial work. Confirm the license text at the source before shipping.