Commercial · Sans serif · Klim Type Foundry
Karbon
Karbon is a licensed font from Klim Type Foundry: $60 USD, as printed on the foundry or reseller’s page on 2026-09-05. The 3 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. Karbon is a licensed font and there is no file here to show it in; the foundry’s page has the real specimen.
- Designer
- Kris Sowersby
- Released
- 2009
- Styles
- 14
- Classification
- Sans serif
- Price
- $60 USD (base price for the first font style; each subsequent style is discounted (from the Klim FAQs page)) — as printed, read 2026-09-05
- Trial
- The foundry offers a trial download.
An open geometric sans with a spartan finish, exploring Renner's Futura concept through the proportions of Gill Sans, with a nod to Tschichold's Uhertype sans. 14 styles; Karbon Slab Stencil is a companion.
Free alternatives to Karbon
Suggested, not measured
Typecase measures fonts from their outlines. Karbon 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 Jost webfont did not load here — this is a fallback face, not Jost.
same classification
A Futura-model geometric sans with a comparable weight range; stricter geometry than Karbon's Gill-influenced proportions.
Quiet luxury, approachable
The Josefin Sans webfont did not load here — this is a fallback face, not Josefin Sans.
same classification
A geometric sans with 1920s roots and an airy, spartan tone; more decorative in its lighter weights.
Quiet luxury, approachable
The Questrial webfont did not load here — this is a fallback face, not Questrial.
same classification
A plain geometric sans; single weight only.
Own Karbon? 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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