Licensing

Last updated: January 10, 2025

Fonts in the OmniFonts library

Every font listed in the OmniFonts font library is distributed under an open license that permits free commercial and personal use. Two licenses are used:

LicenseWhat it permitsObligations
SIL Open Font License 1.1Use, study, modify, and redistribute the font. Commercial use included. Bundle in software.Preserve copyright and license notices. Do not use a Reserved Font Name for modified versions.
Apache License 2.0Use, modify, and redistribute including for commercial purposes.Preserve copyright and license notices. Provide attribution notice.

Each font's detail page links to the specific license text. That license text is the authoritative source — the summary here is for orientation only.

SIL Open Font License 1.1 — practical summary

The SIL Open Font License is the most common open source font license. In practice, it means you can:

  • Use the font for any purpose — personal, commercial, nonprofit
  • Embed the font in websites, apps, PDFs, ebooks, and physical documents
  • Distribute the font as-is with your project
  • Modify the font and redistribute the modified version

You must:

  • Preserve the copyright notice — usually the copyright field in the name table of the font file
  • Preserve the license — ship the OFL.txt (or similar license file) with any redistribution
  • Not use Reserved Font Names — if the original license declares a Reserved Font Name (RFN), a modified version may not use that name. Check the license text for the specific RFN list.

You cannot:

  • Sell the font file by itself (you can sell a product that uses the font)
  • Relicense the font under different terms

Example attribution for a font used on a website:

This site uses Inter, © 2016 Rasmus Andersson,
licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.
https://openfontlicense.org

Apache License 2.0 — practical summary

Apache 2.0 is a permissive license that also applies to some fonts (Open Sans, Roboto, and others). You can:

  • Use the font for any purpose, including commercial
  • Modify and redistribute the font
  • Include the font in patents, trademarks, and other legal instruments (with standard limitations)

You must:

  • Preserve the NOTICE file if one is distributed with the font
  • Preserve copyright notices
  • Provide attribution — usually a short note in your project's credits

Attribution requirements

Both licenses require attribution, but the requirement is not onerous. Typical form:

  • For a website using a font: a note in your site footer or in a dedicated "Licenses" page
  • For an app or PDF: an "Acknowledgements" or "About" section
  • For a print project: a credits page or colophon

Attribution does not need to be on every page. A single page listing all fonts used is usually sufficient.

Redistribution and self-hosting

You may redistribute OFL and Apache 2.0 fonts as part of your project. If you self-host a font on your own server or CDN:

  • Preserve the license file (OFL.txt or LICENSE) next to the font file
  • Do not rename the font unless the license explicitly permits it or you have modified the font (see RFN below)
  • Do not remove the copyright metadata from the font file itself

You do not need to display attribution in your HTML for self-hosted fonts. The attribution requirement applies to redistribution of the font file, not to pages that merely use it. A credits page at /credits or /licenses is a good practice but not strictly required by OFL 1.1 for use (only for redistribution).

Reserved Font Names

The SIL OFL 1.1 allows designers to declare a Reserved Font Name (RFN) — a name that modified versions of the font cannot use. This protects the designer's reputation: you cannot modify Inter and call it "Inter" because Inter's license declares the name as reserved.

If you modify an RFN-protected font and want to redistribute the modified version, you must:

  1. Rename the font family (e.g., "Inter" becomes "MyInterMod")
  2. Preserve the original copyright notice in the metadata
  3. Distribute under OFL 1.1

If you only use the font without modification (the common case), RFN does not affect you.

Fonts NOT in the library

Fonts that are not shown in the OmniFonts library are not distributed by us. This includes proprietary fonts (Adobe Fonts, Monotype, commercial foundries) and free-for-personal-use fonts. Their terms are set by their designers and must be respected. The OmniFonts converters will technically convert any font file you upload, but that does not grant you any right to use the result. Check the license before conversion.

User-uploaded fonts

OmniFonts processes font files entirely in your browser. We do not receive, store, or redistribute your uploaded fonts. When you upload a font:

  • The file never leaves your device
  • The converted output is downloaded directly by your browser
  • OmniFonts does not assert any claim over your file or the output
  • You remain responsible for your legal right to use the font

OmniFonts code and content

The OmniFonts platform itself is built using:

  • HTML5, CSS3, and vanilla JavaScript written specifically for OmniFonts
  • opentype.js (MIT license) — for font parsing in converters and analysis tools
  • pako (MIT license) — for zlib compression in WOFF conversion
  • wawoff2 (MIT license) — for Brotli compression in WOFF2 conversion

Original content written by the OmniFonts editorial team is © OmniFonts. You may quote short excerpts with attribution and a link. You may not republish full articles without permission.

Generated Unicode text

Text generated by OmniFonts Unicode tools (Fancy Text, Stylish Font, etc.) is real text composed of standard Unicode code points. Unicode is not owned by anyone and text using Unicode characters is not subject to font licensing. You may use generated text freely.

Reporting license issues

If you believe a font in the library is licensed incorrectly, or that a specific attribution is missing, contact us via the Contact page. We will investigate and correct or remove the font promptly if the claim is verified.

Full license texts