Free fonts similar to Neue Haas Grotesk
Neue Haas Grotesk is Helvetica as it was first drawn for metal type, before decades of adaptation to new machines flattened out its details. The revival restores separate designs for display and text sizes, with softer curves and better spacing. Designers pick it when they want the Helvetica look with more finesse.
Short answer: the closest free alternative to Neue Haas Grotesk is Inter. Arimo is also worth a look. All are open source and free for commercial use.
Neue Haas Grotesk 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.
/* Inter is open source. Self-host it or load it from Google Fonts. */ font-family: "Inter", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
The alternatives in detail
1. Inter
Why it works. The closest free match in neutrality and even color, with a variable weight range that covers both the Display and the Text cuts.
What differs. Taller x-height and more open apertures. Tighten letter spacing in headlines to get closer to the Display cut.
2. Arimo
Why it works. Shares Arial’s widths, which were modelled on Helvetica, so the overall rhythm and line lengths stay close.
What differs. Letter shapes follow Arial, with angled stroke endings. Weights run only from regular to bold, so the thin and black styles are lost.
How to recognize Neue Haas Grotesk
Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann, 1957, Haas Type Foundry. It was renamed Helvetica in 1960. The digital revival under the original name is by Christian Schwartz, completed in 2010 and released by Linotype and Font Bureau in 2011.
- The Helvetica skeleton: horizontal stroke endings on c, e and s, and tight apertures.
- Two optical cuts. Display is tightly spaced for headlines, and Text is looser and sturdier for paragraphs.
- The CSS name usually ends in display or text, which separates it from plain Helvetica at a glance.
In a site’s CSS it may appear as Neue Haas Grotesk Display, Neue Haas Grotesk Text, Neue Haas Grotesk Text Pro, neue-haas-grotesk-display, neue-haas-grotesk-text. Not sure what you are looking at? Identify the font on the live page first.
Is Neue Haas Grotesk free?
Commercial, from Linotype (Monotype). It is included with Adobe Fonts, where the CSS names are neue-haas-grotesk-display and neue-haas-grotesk-text. Windows 11 also offers the Text cut as an optional download in its Pan-European Supplemental Fonts feature.
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 Inter 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: "Inter";
src: url("/fonts/inter-400.woff2") format("woff2");
font-weight: 400;
font-display: swap;
}
@font-face {
font-family: "Inter";
src: url("/fonts/inter-700.woff2") format("woff2");
font-weight: 700;
font-display: swap;
}
body {
font-family: "Inter", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, 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 Neue Haas Grotesk?+
Inter is the closest free alternative to Neue Haas Grotesk. The closest free match in neutrality and even color, with a variable weight range that covers both the Display and the Text cuts. Arimo is also worth testing.
Is Neue Haas Grotesk free to use?+
Commercial, from Linotype (Monotype). It is included with Adobe Fonts, where the CSS names are neue-haas-grotesk-display and neue-haas-grotesk-text. Windows 11 also offers the Text cut as an optional download in its Pan-European Supplemental Fonts feature.
What Google Font looks like Neue Haas Grotesk?+
On Google Fonts, the nearest matches are Inter and Arimo. 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 Neue Haas Grotesk?+
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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