Commercial · Sans serif · Monotype
Arial
Arial is a licensed font from Monotype: Complete family of 28 fonts: $961.99 USD, as printed on the foundry or reseller’s page on 2026-09-05. The 4 open-licence families below are suggested in its place, each with the basis for the substitution.
The name above is set in a fallback face. Arial is a licensed font and there is no file here to show it in; the foundry’s page has the real specimen.
- Designer
- Patricia Saunders, Robin Nicholas
- Released
- 1982
- Styles
- 51
- Classification
- Sans serif
- Price
- Complete family of 28 fonts: $961.99 USD (Individual Styles from $43.99 USD) — as printed, read 2026-09-05
Drawn in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders for an early IBM laser printer; the page notes its ancestor is Monotype Grotesque rather than Helvetica. 51 styles on MyFonts.
Free alternatives to Arial
Suggested, not measured
Typecase measures fonts from their outlines. Arial is not on this machine, so these were chosen by what is known about it — classification, lineage, common use — and each is labelled with that basis. Open one to see its measured character and neighbours.
Quiet luxury, approachable
The Arimo webfont did not load here — this is a fallback face, not Arimo.
metric-compatible
Its page states it is metrically compatible with Arial and was drawn by Steve Matteson; it can replace Arial without reflow, with different letter details.
Quiet luxury, approachable
The Inter webfont did not load here — this is a fallback face, not Inter.
commonly substituted
A neutral screen grotesque widely used in Arial's role in interfaces; larger x-height and more open forms.
Quiet luxury, approachable
The Roboto webfont did not load here — this is a fallback face, not Roboto.
commonly substituted
Neo-grotesque used across Android and the web; a serviceable Arial stand-in with more geometric curves.
Quiet luxury, approachable
The Work Sans webfont did not load here — this is a fallback face, not Work Sans.
same classification
A grotesque based on early models; similar neutrality, more character in the extremes.
Own Arial? Point the app at the file and this list becomes measured: every open family ranked by how close it actually is, with the difference named. The file never leaves your machine.
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