The best Adobe fonts are eye-catching, characterful and free if you subscribe to Creative Cloud.
(Image credit: Adobe / OH no Type Company)
Access to the best Adobe fonts is a big selling point of the Creative Cloud software package. The collection of more than 20,000 fonts from more than 150 type foundries offers great versatility, and the fonts are all free for anyone who subscribes to Creative Cloud or many of Adobe's individual applications.
The best Adobe fonts include the company's digitisations of many classic typefaces, some of which are up to 400 years old, allowing creatives to use tried and tested hot metal looks across digital platforms. There are also plenty of more modern fonts. To help you choose from so many options, we've picked out some of the best Adobe fonts for different styles.
Paying for an Adobe subscription may not be worth it for the fonts alone, as there are other sources of fonts out there, including even free options like Google Fonts (also see our pick the best free fonts in general). But if you're trying to choose what creative software to use, access to Adobe fonts is one of the many reasons to consider Creative Cloud (see our guide to Adobe Creative Cloud discounts).
All Adobe Fonts are licensed for personal and commercial use, though you'd be wise to read Adobe's FAQs on its fonts licences. Scroll down to the questions section if you're not sure how to activate Adobe Fonts.
The best Adobe fonts available now
01. Input Mono by David Jonathan Ross
Input mono draws inspiration from fonts designed for consoles (Image credit: Adobe Fonts)
An excellent typeface for code, Input Mono was designed by David Jonathan Ross. Part of the Input family, it takes its inspiration from fonts designed for games consoles but without the technical limitations that constrain the fonts when in these contexts, making it delightfully useable. Ross designed it as a bitmap font originally, and subsequently drew it over the 11 pixel grid. We love the generous spacing and large punctuation of this super-stylish font.
Add some fun to your creations with the Marshmallow family (Image credit: Neil Summerour from Positype)
The Marshmallow font family includes Marshmallow Fluff and Marshmallow Script, both of which will add a fun and relaxed feel to your designs. You won't want to be writing any essays in this font, but it's ideal for headers or posters. It was created by type designer, lettering artist, calligrapher and designer Neil Summerour.
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Sometimes, you just need a simple serif (Image credit: Alphabet)
When you just need a simple yet elegant serif, Adobe Fonts has plenty of options, including Noto Serif, which is a Google Font. There are over 60 different weights, too, including bold and italic, and some nice details on descenders.
Operetta brings the Didone movement harmoniously into the 21st century (Image credit: Synthview)
The Renaissance-inspired elegance of Didot and Bodoni has been refreshed for modern applications by the French foundry Synthview via the Operetta font family. Coming in eight weights – from Extralight through to Black – it has gorgeously smooth curves and razor-thin serifs.
Synthview’s Jan Tonellato has sculpted some beautiful swashes for it, there are five optical sizes and for those who love character detail, the lowercase A is marvellously unique. The contrast is so massive at Ultrabold and Black weights, you may never need Mastodon if you opt for Operetta.
OH no Type Co’s Viktor Script brings brush painted type to your Font Book (Image credit: OH no Type Company)
The OH no Type Company is a relatively new foundry mainly specialising in pretty wild display typefaces, playing with reversed contrast, variable widths and so forth. However, its Viktor Script is breath of fresh air when it comes to type with handwritten appeal.
All too often, script fonts get carried away with swooshes and flourishes just like actors trying to bring personality to their roles by adding ham. Viktor Script, on the other hand, is a purposeful script font ideal for succinct messaging with a personal feel, while not overdoing it. Bravo, Oh no. Bravo.
When you just want to create legible text, Tenso is a great option. This sans serif has a higher than normal stroke contrast and has character, while feeling quite classic. It's ideal for body text, but could also work at bigger sizes. It's balanced, sharp and there are 10 fonts in the family, created by Jos Buivenga.
07. Adobe Caslon by Carol Twombly and William Caslon
But at least Caslon is free for Jim to use with Adobe Fonts (Image credit: Carol Twombly and William Caslon)
This timeless classic is a favourite in the world of publishing, bringing an authoritative and cultured look and feel to the page. It’s highly legible at all weights and sizes, which is why it can be used for everything from front cover display type through to body copy.
The six Caslon fonts within Adobe Caslon were redrawn in 1990 by Carol Twombly, who modernised it based on samples dating back to around 1725, created by the English gunsmith and typographer William Caslon. He, in turn, was inspired by printers on the Continent, in particular the Dutch. We think Caslon is essential in everybody’s font collection.
Alegreya looks dramatic on the Classic Hungarian Plays website (Image credit: Juan Pablo del Paral)
Within Adobe Fonts there are plenty of typefaces designed for on-screen applications, suitable for everything from UX design to body copy on websites. Often you’ll want a sans serif in these situations, but Alegreya is a font family with robust yet classy serifs that defies convention.
When you’re tired of your Miller or Georgia, this is a screen-friendly and impactful choice. It may surprise you to find an open-source Google Font within Adobe Fonts, but it’s there alongside all the others, with the same licensing conditions. Alegreya was created by Argentinian designer Juan Pablo del Paral of Huerta Tipográfica.
Lo-Res valiantly battles against vector curves and Retina screens (Image credit: Zuzana Licko)
It’s nearly 40 years since the advent of home computers so using a pixel-based typeface seems almost primaeval these days. Lo-Res was created by Emigre's Zuzana Licko back in 1985, with an update in 2001. It smooths over the coarse sterility of early bitmap fonts, making them seem soft, approachable and perhaps a bit more fun than they really were.
In all, the Lo-Res family includes 25 fonts, and if a project comes up where you can use them, you’ll find they’re a lot of fun. Why not throw in an 8-bit palette while you’re at it? Emigre has shared a 1990 video it created that deconstructs pixel fonts – it’s worth checking out.
Punchy at display sizes, Merriweather is ideal for body text as well (Image credit: Eben Sorkin)
This versatile serif feels modern without labouring the point. Its Light Regular weight is perfect for body copy in magazines or company reports, the italic versions have a gentle elegance to them and UltraBold Regular forms a serious header font for current affairs publications.
When text standards like Times and Garamond are leaving you feeling uninspired, whip up a typographic storm with Merriweather. Like Alegreya, Merriweather is also a Google Font.
11. DIN Condensed by Paratype and Deutsches Institut für Normung
In print and on screen, DIN Condensed is a workhorse when space is tight (Image credit: Paratype and Deutsches Institut für Normung)
It may seem odd to include something as specific as a condensed sans serif font on a best-of list, but if your job is to create web banners, you’ll know the value of DIN Condensed. It’s superb for fitting copy in confined spaces – more words and the text doesn’t have to feel clipped or abrupt.
Foundry Paratype has digitised DIN and claims that it was influenced by Russian constructivism. That might be the case, but it was designed in Germany in the early 20th century for clear and efficient signage in railway stations and on the roads. Today it’s excellent for directing traffic, so to speak, on the internet.
Mmmm. Who doesn’t love an M squashed down to N-width? (Image credit: Mark Simonson Studio)
Here’s one for the coders. The Anonymous family includes four fixed-width fonts. Although it was designed with code panels in mind it can be used creatively as well.
It looks great on websites and with its smooth, contemporary feel Anonymous makes a good substitute in situations where you might be tempted to use a typewriter font such as Courier – hence it has bold and italic versions.
Posters, signage, advertising, packaging – Abolition is tall and hard-shouldered (Image credit: Fort Foundry)
This condensed serif gets lovelier the more you use it. Like DIN Condensed, it’s great for online banners and so forth and with its corners roughly cut at 45-degrees it feels like it means business.
However, if you don’t want to scare the chickens, use the Soft version of the font which brings a little bit of rounding to those corners making it feel a lot more comfortable in gentler settings without losing impact.
Where other luxury fonts look refined, Lust drips with decadence (Image credit: Positype)
No best-of fonts list is complete without a stunningly luxurious display typeface and Lust lives up to its name by leaving you wanting more. And there is more, too, because its Script and Stencil versions are equally desirable.
It’s not all about the contrast either – the way the lowercase c and r curl back in on themselves is truly alluring. Lust is ideal for work involving high-end brands wanting to emphasise fashion with a sensual touch.
Concluding our list of the best Adobe Fonts is this tribute the original Helvetica. Neue Haas Grotesk was actually the original name of the famous Swiss sans-serif developed by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. This font is designer Christian Schwartz's attempt to recreate it, since Helvetica itself has seen several changes as part of its evolution from pre-digital to digital use. It's available in both text and display optical sizes with 22 styles in total.
Use the slider to activate your desired font (Image credit: Adobe)
What are Adobe Fonts?
Adobe Fonts is an online service offered as part of Adobe Creative Cloud that provides subscribers with access to a font library via a single licensing agreement. The fonts can be used directly on websites or synced via Adobe Creative Cloud to applications on your computer.
Adobe Fonts was previously called Typekit. Created in 2009 by Small Batch, Typekit was bought by Adobe in October 2011 and changed its name to Adobe Fonts in October 2018.
How do I activate Adobe Fonts in Creative Cloud?
You can access Adobe Fonts from inside Adobe's apps or online via the Adobe Fonts site.
Once you find a font you like, you can simply click the slider to activate either individual fonts or entire families. These will become available in all Adobe apps, as long as you're signed in to Creative Cloud.
When opening a project with fonts that you don’t own, you will be given the option of Resolving Fonts, which syncs any matching fonts from Adobe Fonts. All fonts are included with any Creative Cloud subscription and there are no limits on how many you can use at once. If you need more help, we also have a specific guide to how to add fonts to Photoshop.
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Garrick Webster is a freelance copywriter and branding specialist. He’s worked with major renewable energy companies such as Ecotricity and the Green Britain Group, and has helped develop award-winning branding and packaging for several distilleries in the UK, the US and Australia. He’s a former editor of Computer Arts magazine and has been writing about design, creativity and technology since 1995.
