Free alternatives
Free alternatives to Helvetica
Helvetica is a paid font. These free fonts look closest.
40px
Helvetica is a trademark of its owner. Fonteezy isn't affiliated with or endorsed by them.
Telling letters
The a, g, R, Q, 3 and & are where lookalikes usually give themselves away. Each alternative's CSS falls back to a system font resized to its measurements, so the page doesn't jump when the font loads. Host the font files yourself.
| Font | Letters | License |
|---|---|---|
| Helvetica (original) | Paid | |
| Arimo | a g R Q 3 &Drop-in CSS@font-face {
font-family: "Arimo Fallback";
src: local("Arial");
size-adjust: 100.00%;
ascent-override: 90.53%;
descent-override: 21.19%;
line-gap-override: 3.27%;
}
body {
font-family: "Arimo", "Arimo Fallback", sans-serif;
} | Free for commercial useSIL Open Font License |
| Questrial | a g R Q 3 &Drop-in CSS@font-face {
font-family: "Questrial Fallback";
src: local("Arial");
size-adjust: 100.28%;
ascent-override: 81.77%;
descent-override: 20.94%;
line-gap-override: 0.00%;
}
body {
font-family: "Questrial", "Questrial Fallback", sans-serif;
} | Free for commercial useSIL Open Font License |
| Liberation Sans | a g R Q 3 &Drop-in CSS@font-face {
font-family: "Liberation Sans Fallback";
src: local("Arial");
size-adjust: 100.00%;
ascent-override: 90.53%;
descent-override: 21.19%;
line-gap-override: 3.27%;
}
body {
font-family: "Liberation Sans", "Liberation Sans Fallback", sans-serif;
} | Free for commercial use |
| Nimbus Sans L | a g R Q 3 &Drop-in CSS@font-face {
font-family: "Nimbus Sans L Fallback";
src: local("Arial");
size-adjust: 99.99%;
ascent-override: 72.91%;
descent-override: 27.10%;
line-gap-override: 20.00%;
}
body {
font-family: "Nimbus Sans L", "Nimbus Sans L Fallback", sans-serif;
} | Free for commercial use |
| TeX Gyre Heros | a g R Q 3 &Drop-in CSS@font-face {
font-family: "TeX Gyre Heros Fallback";
src: local("Arial");
size-adjust: 99.99%;
ascent-override: 114.81%;
descent-override: 28.40%;
line-gap-override: 0.00%;
}
body {
font-family: "TeX Gyre Heros", "TeX Gyre Heros Fallback", sans-serif;
} | Free for commercial useGUST Font License |
Already in Microsoft Word
If you have Microsoft 365, Word already includes a version of Helvetica, at no extra cost:
- Neue Haas Grotesk Text Pro. A revival of Neue Haas Grotesk, the 1957 design that was renamed Helvetica. This is its text cut.
From Microsoft's cloud font list, checked 3 October 2026. Some of these only appear in Word's font menu once a document uses them.