The 8 Best User Interface Fonts with Real-Life Examples

Picking the perfect UI font for your website or app has its challenges. On one hand, you’re looking for impactful user interface fonts that feel on-brand. On the other, you’re also looking for a readable, efficient, mobile-friendly font to work best across all devices and resolutions. Your font has to look as equally appealing and readable at 10px as it’s at 72px. The good news is, today, we’re going to look through the best user interface fonts and see them in use with some real-life examples.

In this article you will find:

• What makes a good UI font?
• Inter – User Interface Font + Examples
• Roboto – User Interface Font + Examples
• Montserrat – User Interface Font + Examples
• Crimson Text – User Interface Font + Examples
• IBM Plex Serif – User Interface Font + Examples
• Cabin – User Interface Font + Examples
• Nunito – User Interface Font + Examples
• Helvetica Neue – User Interface Font + Examples

Before we start, here’s what to look for when choosing a font for your design.

What makes a good UI font?

In short, there are a few criteria that the best fonts for websites and apps cover. Let’s see what to look for when choosing a professional font.

Readability

Individual letterforms aside, first and foremost, a good UI font must be really easy to read at any size. The more complex the font, the more effort it requires for the reader to distinguish words.

Large x-height

 The x-height is the distance between the baseline and the height of the lowercase letters, excluding the ascending letters. Fonts with larger x-height allow you to use smaller sizes without making the text illegible.

Visual distinction between letters

Many fonts, especially the geometric ones have the issue of some letterforms looking almost indistinguishable in small sizes. For example, Il1 (capital I, lowercase L, and the number 1); or O0 (capital O and the number 0). The best user interface fonts offer a good visual distinction between those letterforms.

With that in mind, let’s see which are the best UI fonts for apps and websites.

 

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Inter

This is one of the coolest Google fonts that get things done surgically. A great application front, with a tall x-height for mixed-case and lower-case text, Inter also provides contextual alternates such as a slashed zero for when you need to distinguish the letter O and the number 0, tabular numbers, and more. It’s also a popular free font.

• Styles: 18
• License: SIL Open Font License 1.1

Examples of websites using Inter:

 

 

Roboto

The classic neo-grotesque sans-serif Roboto is the system font for Android and one of the most popular Google typefaces, with geometric structure and a mechanical skeleton form. It works beautifully in longer texts but makes a great title.

• Styles: 12
• License: SIL Open Font License 1.1

Examples of websites using Roboto:

 

 

Montserrat

Montserrat is one of the most popular fonts for websites and applications. It has a cool large x-height and a lot more character than Helvetica. UI designers prefer it for its modernist style of the early 20th century.

• Styles: 3
• License: SIL Open Font License 1.1

Examples of websites using Montserrat:

 

 

Crimson Text

This is one of the best Figma fonts for UI design for its premium and elegant vintage look. Crimson Text is a great option for business websites, portfolios, and eBooks for its class and high readability.

• Styles: 6
• License: SIL Open Font License 1.1

Examples of websites using Crimson Text:

 

 

IBM Plex Serif

This font family includes a Sans, Sans Condensed, Mono, and Serif and has excellent legibility in print and web. It’s also one of the best mobile fonts if you wish to play it safe and classy. IBM Plex offers three designs that work great independently, and even better when together.

• Styles: 14
• License: SIL Open Font License 1.1

Examples of websites using IBM Plex:

 

 

Cabin

Cabin is another popular and mobile-friendly font. It differentiates well between “I”, “l”, and “1″, which is essential in a good wayfinding font.

• Styles: 8
• License: SIL Open Font License 1.1

Examples of websites using Cabin:

 

 

Nunito

Nunito is a popular Google font that looks great on desktop and mobile. It’s a balanced, highly readable sans-serif typeface. The characters have thin, uniform stroke widths that work well for both body and display copy

• Styles: 14
• License: SIL Open Font License 1.1

Examples of websites using Nunito:

 

 

Helvetica Neue

Neue Helvetica is one of three Helvetica typeface families from Linotype and contains 51 different font weights and is one of the best fonts for mobile apps. Many companies use Helvetica Neue for branding.

• Styles: 51
• License: End-User License Agreements for Linotype

Examples of websites using Helvetica Neue:

 

 

That’s it!

I hope you enjoyed this selection of the best user interface fonts you can always bet on for your designs. All fonts in the selection are readable, efficient, and mobile-friendly. And the best part, most of them are open-source free Google fonts.

In the meantime, if you’re on a hunt for free fonts, why not check this collection of free modern fonts for websites.

• 25 Spectacular Free Fonts Every Designer Should Start Use Today!
• 25 Remarkable Free Fonts Designers Must Start Use Today! (Part 2)