Free fonts for websites are fonts whose licences let anyone use them on a site without paying, and the licence text, not the price tag, decides what is allowed. Many of them use the SIL Open Font License.
This guide explains how that licence works in practice, and it belongs to a wider set of free graphic design resources and how their licences work. It is independent information and has no affiliation with any font foundry, Google or SIL.
What the Open Font License allows
The SIL Open Font License, usually shortened to OFL, is the licence behind most of the fonts in the Google Fonts collection. Its preamble describes the aim plainly: “The OFL allows the licensed fonts to be used, studied, modified and redistributed freely as long as they are not sold by themselves.” Using a font on a website, commercial or not, falls inside that permission.
The permission section lists the verbs explicitly: to “use, study, copy, merge, embed, modify, redistribute, and sell modified and unmodified copies of the Font Software”. Those permissions come with conditions. The first condition is that neither the font nor any of its individual components may be sold by itself. A font can be bundled with software and sold as part of that bundle, but a bare font file cannot be the product.
A second condition concerns names. Some OFL fonts declare a Reserved Font Name after the copyright line, and the licence states that “No Modified Version of the Font Software may use the Reserved Font Name(s) unless explicit written permission is granted by the corresponding Copyright Holder.” A designer who edits such a font, for example to add a custom glyph for a logo, has to rename the result before sharing it.
Finally, the licence limits its own reach. It states that “The requirement for fonts to remain under this license does not apply to any document created using the Font Software.” A page, a PDF or a printed poster that uses an OFL font does not itself become an OFL document. Only the font files, and modified versions of them, carry the licence forward.
How the licences in the Google Fonts collection differ
Google Fonts is the best-known source of free web fonts, and the open-source repository behind it documents which licences appear in the collection. Its README states: “Most of the fonts in the collection use the SIL Open Font License, v1.1.” It adds that “Some fonts use the Apache 2 license” and that “The Ubuntu fonts use the Ubuntu Font License v1.0.”
| Licence | Where it appears in the Google Fonts collection | Practical point for site owners |
|---|---|---|
| SIL Open Font License v1.1 | Most of the fonts | Free use on sites; the font may not be sold on its own; Reserved Font Names limit renaming of modified copies |
| Apache 2 | Some fonts | A software licence that is also applied to some font families; read the licence file in the family folder |
| Ubuntu Font License v1.0 | The Ubuntu fonts | A separate licence with its own terms |
The licence mix above comes from the Google Fonts repository README, which also gives the practical rule: “It is important to always read the license for every font that you use.”
That advice matters because “free” describes the price and not the permissions. Each family folder contains its own licence file, and the font files themselves carry licensing and authorship metadata, so the licence travels with the font.
Hosting fonts on your own site
Because the collection’s fonts are licensed with permission to redistribute, self-hosting is allowed. The repository states: “Since all the fonts available here are licensed with permission to redistribute, subject to the license terms, you can self-host using a variety of third-party projects.” Self-hosting means the font files sit on the site’s own server and are served from the same origin as the pages, rather than loaded from a font provider’s servers.
The OFL’s own FAQ covers the related case of offering fonts to others. On the question “Can I host the fonts on a website for others to use?” the answer is: “Yes, as long as you make the full font package available.” For a site owner who only uses a font on their own pages, the obligation is lighter, but a self-hosted copy that others could download should ship with its licence text.
The licence also requires that “each copy contains the above copyright notice and this license” when the font is bundled or redistributed. Keeping a licence text file next to the font files in the project satisfies that in the simplest way.
A Google-hosted stylesheet is the other route. Google’s developer documentation says of its API that “all you have to do is add a special stylesheet link to your HTML document, then refer to the font in a CSS style.” That route skips file management, while self-hosting gives full control over caching and where the files live.
Web font formats and loading behaviour
Licensing is only one part of choosing a font. The file format and the loading strategy decide how the font feels to visitors. Browsers load fonts through the CSS @font-face rule, and MDN notes that there are two versions of the compressed format: “There are two versions of WOFF: WOFF and WOFF2.” It explains the benefit of the compression: “The font data is compressed, so sites using WOFF will use less bandwidth and will load faster than if they used equivalent uncompressed TrueType or OpenType files.”
The OFL defines a Modified Version as any derivative made “by changing formats or by porting the Font Software to a new environment.” The OFL FAQ applies that to web formats: “A change in font format normally is considered modification, and Reserved Font Names (RFNs) cannot be used.” It then adds an exception: “Because of the design of the WOFF and WOFF2 formats, however, it is possible to create a WOFF/WOFF2 version that is not considered modification, and so would not require a name change.” Whether a converted copy counts as modified therefore depends on how it was made, and the copyright notice and licence stay attached either way.
The font-display descriptor controls what visitors see while a font is still loading. MDN defines it as the descriptor that “determines how a font face is displayed based on whether and when it is downloaded and ready to use.” Two values are commonly discussed. The value swap “Gives the font face an extremely small block period and an infinite swap period”, so text appears at once in a fallback font and switches when the web font arrives. The value optional “Gives the font face an extremely small block period and no swap period”, so the fallback is kept if the font is not ready quickly.
The web.dev guide on loading fonts ties these pieces together: “By preloading WebFonts and using font-display to control how browsers behave with unavailable fonts, you can prevent blank pages and layout shifts due to font loading.” Pairing a licence-clean font with a sensible loading rule is what makes a free font ready for production.
Choosing a free font with a clean licence trail
A short routine keeps a site out of licensing trouble. First, open the licence file for the specific family and confirm it is the OFL or another licence that permits web use. Second, note whether a Reserved Font Name is declared, because that affects any plan to edit or subset the font. Third, keep the copyright notice and licence text with any self-hosted files. Fourth, record the font name, source page and licence in the project notes so the decision can be traced later.
Fallback fonts deserve the same care. Google’s documentation advises: “always list at least one fallback web-safe font in order to avoid unexpected behaviors.” A generic family name at the end of the font stack lets the browser fall back to its own default if the web font fails to load.
Placeholder copy is another place where design work leans on conventions. Mock-ups often use lorem ipsum filler text so that a typeface can be judged on its letterforms and spacing rather than on the wording. Imagery, the other half of a typical mock-up, has its own rules, covered in the guide to free stock photos and the licences behind them.
Finally, remember what a licence cannot do. It cannot promise that a font suits a brand, supports every language a site needs or renders well at small sizes. Those are design questions, and they are separate from the question of whether the font may be used.
Frequently asked questions
Can free fonts be used on commercial websites?
Under the SIL Open Font License, the fonts may be used, studied, modified and redistributed freely as long as they are not sold by themselves, so commercial sites are covered. Other licences differ, so the licence file for each family decides.
Does a site using an OFL font have to be open source?
No. The licence states that the requirement for fonts to remain under the licence does not apply to any document created using the Font Software. Only the font files and their modified versions stay under the OFL.
Can an OFL font be renamed and modified?
Modification is permitted. A modified version may not use a Reserved Font Name unless the copyright holder gives written permission, so a renamed copy is the normal route when a Reserved Font Name is declared.
Is self-hosting allowed for Google Fonts families?
The collection’s repository says its fonts are licensed with permission to redistribute, subject to the licence terms, so self-hosting is allowed. The licence file in each family folder gives the exact terms.
