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2026-02-08

How to Tell if a “Free Font” Is Actually Safe to Use (Without Becoming a Lawyer)

Downloading fonts is the internet’s version of adopting a stray cat: it’s exciting, it looks harmless, and it sometimes comes with paperwork you didn’t expect. On FontFreak we want things to stay fun and copyright-safe, which means we need a quick way to evaluate whether a font is truly “free” for real-world use.

The first rule: “free to download” is not the same as “free to use commercially.” A surprising number of fonts are labeled free for personal use, which is fine for a birthday card but not fine for a client logo or a product page. If the license says personal-only, treat it like a “do not enter” sign, not a “maybe.”

What’s usually safe? Licenses like SIL Open Font License (OFL), Apache 2.0, MIT, or CC0/Public Domain are clear and widely used. Many foundries also publish “free for commercial use” terms; that can be OK too, but only when the terms are explicit and you can archive them.

Here’s a simple checklist we use before adding a font to the daily pipeline:

• Source: Is the download from the author/foundry or a reputable directory?
• License text: Is there a LICENSE/OFL/README file, or a clear license page?
• Commercial use: Does it explicitly allow commercial use (or is it an open license)?
• Redistribution: Can we redistribute the font (important for download sites)? If unclear, we skip.
• Attribution: If attribution is required, we keep it with the font package.

One practical habit that saves a lot of pain: keep evidence. When we package a font, we include a SOURCE.txt with the URL, the license summary, and the date we fetched it. That way, if someone ever asks “where did this come from?”, you don’t have to play archaeological typography.

Want to see how FontFreak organizes downloads? Start from the homepage and drill into a font page; the goal is a clean flow from discovery to download: FontFreak.com.

TL;DR: If the license is personal-only or unclear, it’s a “no.” If it’s OFL/Apache/MIT/CC0—or explicitly commercial + redistributable—it’s a “yes,” and we archive the proof.