The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Best free alternatives to
Verdana
Verdana was designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft in 1996, hand-hinted pixel by pixel by Tom Rickner to stay crisp on the low-resolution monitors of the day. It is a humanist sans drawn unusually wide and loose, with a huge x-height and deliberately distinct 1, l, i, I, and J — everything sacrificed to small-size legibility. Shipped with Windows and macOS, it became the body-text voice of the early web and remains shorthand for 'readable on any screen.' These free typefaces work in that tradition.
The closest font to VerdanaThe 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
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.
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.
Editorial · Modern DM Serif Display + Istok Web
Fonts like Verdana
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Common questions about Verdana alternatives
- Is Verdana free?
- No — Verdana is a commercial typeface from Microsoft. Verdana is licensed as a Windows and macOS system font — using it as a self-hosted webfont requires licensing it separately from Monotype. The closest free alternative is Istok Web, available on Google Fonts.
- What font is similar to Verdana?
- Istok Web is the closest free match. The closest free match to Verdana's actual proportions — wide humanist letterforms, a big x-height, generous spacing, and simple open shapes built for small screen sizes, in four styles including true italics. If you need Verdana's footprint and texture, start here.
- Can I use Istok Web in commercial projects?
- Yes — Istok Web 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.