Free fonts similar to Cambria
Cambria was built for reading on screen and for printing small: sturdy serifs, even spacing and proportions that survive low resolution. For years it was the heading font of Word’s default theme, so it is familiar from countless documents. On the web it only appears for visitors who have it installed.
Short answer: the closest free alternative to Cambria is Caladea. Source Serif 4 is also worth a look. All are open source and free for commercial use.
Cambria is not installed on this device, so it cannot be drawn here. The free alternatives below are live. On a device that has it, this row shows the original and unlocks the overlay.
/* Caladea is open source. Self-host it or load it from Google Fonts. */ font-family: "Caladea", Cambria, Caladea, Georgia, serif;
The alternatives in detail
1. CaladeaMetric-compatible
Why it works. Metric-compatible with Cambria. Every character has the same width, so documents keep their line breaks and page counts.
What differs. The letter shapes are its own, a little softer and more calligraphic. Regular and bold with italics only.
2. Source Serif 4
Why it works. A sturdy, low-contrast text serif made for screens, with optical sizes and a full weight range.
What differs. Wider and more open, so text reflows. Its tone is a little more bookish and less office-like.
How to recognize Cambria
Jelle Bosma with Steve Matteson and Robin Nicholas, 2004, for Microsoft. It shipped with Windows Vista and Office 2007 as part of the ClearType font collection.
- Strong, sturdy serifs and hairlines with fairly low contrast, so nothing breaks up at small sizes.
- Compact, slightly squarish letterforms with very even spacing.
- It often appears in stacks ahead of Georgia and Times New Roman, or as Cambria Math in formulas.
In a site’s CSS it may appear as Cambria Math. Not sure what you are looking at? Identify the font on the live page first.
Is Cambria free?
Ships with Windows and Microsoft Office, and is missing on Macs without Office, phones and Linux. It is not open source and cannot be served as a web font without a license, although it is now also in the Adobe Fonts library.
The alternatives on this page are open source, so you can use them on commercial sites, self-host the files and ship them in products. Read more in font licensing in plain English.
Use Caladea in your CSS
Put the free font first and keep sensible fallbacks behind it. Self-hosting the files is the most private and usually the fastest option.
@font-face {
font-family: "Caladea";
src: url("/fonts/caladea-400.woff2") format("woff2");
font-weight: 400;
font-display: swap;
}
@font-face {
font-family: "Caladea";
src: url("/fonts/caladea-700.woff2") format("woff2");
font-weight: 700;
font-display: swap;
}
body {
font-family: "Caladea", Cambria, Caladea, Georgia, serif;
}Saw a font you can’t place, or can’t afford?
Font Inspector names the font on any website in one click. For popular paid and system fonts it suggests free look-alikes right in the panel.
Questions & answers
What is the closest free font to Cambria?+
Caladea is the closest free alternative to Cambria. Metric-compatible with Cambria. Every character has the same width, so documents keep their line breaks and page counts. Source Serif 4 is also worth testing.
Is Cambria free to use?+
Ships with Windows and Microsoft Office, and is missing on Macs without Office, phones and Linux. It is not open source and cannot be served as a web font without a license, although it is now also in the Adobe Fonts library.
What Google Font looks like Cambria?+
On Google Fonts, the nearest matches are Caladea and Source Serif 4. All are open source and free for commercial use. None is an exact copy, so compare them with your own text first.
Which alternative keeps my layout from changing?+
Caladea is metric-compatible with Cambria. Each character has the same width, so line breaks and page counts stay the same when you swap fonts.
How can I tell whether a website uses Cambria?+
Inspect the text. Browser DevTools show the rendered font in the Computed tab, and the Font Inspector extension shows the family, the rendered font and free look-alikes in one click.
Times New Roman
Try Tinos, Source Serif 4 and Newsreader
TRANSITIONAL SERIF FOR SCREENSGeorgia
Try Gelasio, Merriweather and Source Serif 4
OLD-STYLE (GARALDE) SERIFGaramond
Try EB Garamond, Cormorant Garamond and Crimson Pro
DIDONE (MODERN) SERIFDidot
Try Playfair Display and Bodoni Moda
DIDONE (MODERN) SERIFBodoni
Try Bodoni Moda and Playfair Display
TRANSITIONAL SERIFBaskerville
Try Libre Baskerville and Baskervville