Free fonts similar to Georgia
Georgia was drawn for low-resolution screens: a large x-height, sturdy serifs and generous spacing. It still reads beautifully, and its old-style numerals give text a bookish charm. Many sites keep it as the serif fallback.
Short answer: the closest free alternative to Georgia is Gelasio. Merriweather and Source Serif 4 are also worth a look. All are open source and free for commercial use.
Georgia 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.
/* Gelasio is open source. Self-host it or load it from Google Fonts. */ font-family: "Gelasio", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;
The alternatives in detail
1. GelasioMetric-compatible
Why it works. Designed to be metric-compatible with Georgia, so it fits the same space.
What differs. Slightly sharper and more refined in the details, and it lacks Georgia’s screen-era chunkiness.
2. Merriweather
Why it works. Made for comfortable screen reading, with a large x-height and sturdy serifs like Georgia.
What differs. Heavier and wider, with lining numerals by default.
3. Source Serif 4
Why it works. A versatile modern text serif when you want Georgia’s readability with a cleaner look.
What differs. Lower contrast and a more neutral, less bookish voice.
How to recognize Georgia
Matthew Carter, designed in 1993 for Microsoft and released in 1996.
- Old-style numerals by default: 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 dip below the baseline.
- A large x-height and wide, sturdy letters.
- A distinctly calligraphic italic.
Is Georgia free?
Ships with Windows and macOS, which made it a web-safe serif for two decades. It is not open source and cannot be served as a web font without a license.
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 Gelasio 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: "Gelasio";
src: url("/fonts/gelasio-400.woff2") format("woff2");
font-weight: 400;
font-display: swap;
}
@font-face {
font-family: "Gelasio";
src: url("/fonts/gelasio-700.woff2") format("woff2");
font-weight: 700;
font-display: swap;
}
body {
font-family: "Gelasio", Georgia, "Times New Roman", 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 Georgia?+
Gelasio is the closest free alternative to Georgia. Designed to be metric-compatible with Georgia, so it fits the same space. Merriweather and Source Serif 4 are also worth testing.
Is Georgia free to use?+
Ships with Windows and macOS, which made it a web-safe serif for two decades. It is not open source and cannot be served as a web font without a license.
What Google Font looks like Georgia?+
On Google Fonts, the nearest matches are Gelasio, Merriweather 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?+
Gelasio is metric-compatible with Georgia. 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 Georgia?+
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
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
NEO-GROTESQUE SANS SERIFHelvetica
Try Inter, Arimo and Roboto
NEO-GROTESQUE SANS SERIFHelvetica Neue
Try Inter, Arimo and Hanken Grotesk