Free fonts similar to Gill Sans
Gill Sans is the quintessential British sans: classical proportions borrowed from Roman capitals and a warm, slightly eccentric lowercase. It is associated with publishing, railways and broadcasting.
Short answer: the closest free alternative to Gill Sans is Cabin. Lato is also worth a look. All are open source and free for commercial use.
Gill Sans 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.
/* Cabin is open source. Self-host it or load it from Google Fonts. */ font-family: "Cabin", "Gill Sans", "Gill Sans MT", Calibri, sans-serif;
The alternatives in detail
1. Cabin
Why it works. Openly inspired by the lettering of Edward Johnston and Eric Gill, with a modern, screen-friendly finish.
What differs. More regular and contemporary. The eccentric details that define Gill Sans are toned down.
2. Lato
Why it works. A humanist sans with similar warmth and classical proportions in the capitals.
What differs. A different structure overall, especially in a and g. It shares the mood more than the shapes.
How to recognize Gill Sans
Eric Gill, 1928, Monotype. Influenced by Edward Johnston’s lettering for the London Underground.
- Capitals with classical, varying widths. M is wide, E and F are narrow.
- A distinctive lowercase a and an eyeglass-shaped g.
- A flared, calligraphic R leg and a t with a slanted top.
In a site’s CSS it may appear as Gill Sans MT, Gill Sans Nova. Not sure what you are looking at? Identify the font on the live page first.
Is Gill Sans free?
Commercial, from Monotype. It ships with macOS, and Gill Sans MT comes with Microsoft Office, so some visitors have it and some do not.
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 Cabin 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: "Cabin";
src: url("/fonts/cabin-400.woff2") format("woff2");
font-weight: 400;
font-display: swap;
}
@font-face {
font-family: "Cabin";
src: url("/fonts/cabin-700.woff2") format("woff2");
font-weight: 700;
font-display: swap;
}
body {
font-family: "Cabin", "Gill Sans", "Gill Sans MT", Calibri, sans-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 Gill Sans?+
Cabin is the closest free alternative to Gill Sans. Openly inspired by the lettering of Edward Johnston and Eric Gill, with a modern, screen-friendly finish. Lato is also worth testing.
Is Gill Sans free to use?+
Commercial, from Monotype. It ships with macOS, and Gill Sans MT comes with Microsoft Office, so some visitors have it and some do not.
What Google Font looks like Gill Sans?+
On Google Fonts, the nearest matches are Cabin and Lato. All are open source and free for commercial use. None is an exact copy, so compare them with your own text first.
How can I tell whether a website uses Gill Sans?+
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.
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