Fonts similar to Verdana
4 free Google Fonts that share Verdana’s structure, compared side by side. Type your own text to test them.
About Verdana
A wide, loosely spaced humanist sans designed for small sizes on early screens.
How to spot it
- Very wide letters and loose spacing
- Large x-height
- Distinct I, l and 1
- Low stroke contrast
Not sure it’s really Verdana? Upload a screenshot and let the identifier check. Looking for a different font? Use the similar font finder.
Free alternatives to Verdana
Verdana Quartz 1234
Humanist, highly legible at small sizes.
View on Google Fonts ↗Verdana Quartz 1234
Similar openness and legibility.
View on Google Fonts ↗Verdana Quartz 1234
Even more character distinction for accessibility.
View on Google Fonts ↗Verdana Quartz 1234
Sturdy humanist screen font.
View on Google Fonts ↗Choosing between them
Start with PT Sans if you need the most faithful substitute. Humanist, highly legible at small sizes. If you want the same feeling with a little more personality, try Istok Web. For body text, check the specimen at 16–18px: some display-leaning alternatives look closest in headlines but tire the eye in paragraphs.
Pairing one of these with a contrasting serif or sans? Open it in the font pairing generator.
Questions people ask
What is the closest free font to Verdana?
PT Sans is the closest free alternative in our list: humanist, highly legible at small sizes. Other good options are Open Sans and Atkinson Hyperlegible.
What kind of font is Verdana?
Verdana is a humanist sans. Proportions from handwriting: open apertures, slight stroke contrast, angled terminals, a true italic.
How can I tell Verdana apart from lookalikes?
Check these details: very wide letters and loose spacing; large x-height; distinct i, l and 1; low stroke contrast.
Are these Verdana alternatives free for commercial use?
Yes. All alternatives listed are Google Fonts released under open licences (SIL Open Font License or Apache 2.0) that allow commercial use.