Google Fonts is the best place to get free serif fonts: it listed 351 serif families when I checked, all open source, including Merriweather, Lora, Playfair Display, Libre Baskerville and EB Garamond. DaFont has 3,428 serif fonts, but only 257 pass its completely free or open licence filter, and some fonts it marks personal use are open source on Google Fonts.
Serif fonts are the ones with small strokes at the ends of the letters. They make a brand look established, a book look like a book and a menu look a little more expensive. Because they're used for body text as well as headlines, you often need a whole family with bold and italic, and that's where the free sources differ most.
Google Fonts: 351 serif families, all open source
Google's own font list put 351 families in its Serif category on 28 October, and every family in the list is flagged open source. 104 of those serif families have variable axes, so one file covers a range of weights. These are the ones I'd start with, described in their own notes:
| Font | Built for | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Merriweather | Pleasant reading on screens, very large x-height | Website body text, blogs |
| Lora | Contemporary serif with roots in calligraphy | Body text with some warmth |
| Libre Baskerville | Body text at around 16px, based on ATF Baskerville from 1941 | Long articles, reports |
| EB Garamond | A revival of Claude Garamont's mid-16th century typefaces | Books, invitations |
| Playfair Display | High-contrast transitional design | Headlines, fashion and beauty brands |
| Source Serif 4 | Transitional serif matched to Source Sans 3 | Documents that mix serif and sans |
| Instrument Serif | Condensed display serif for large sizes | Big headlines, posters |
| DM Serif Display | High contrast for poster sizes, with DM Serif Text for small text | Logos and titles |
Cormorant deserves a mention for sheer range: its project covers 45 font files across nine visual styles, from Garamond to Upright Cursive. And Cinzel, inspired by first-century Roman inscriptions, suits logos that want an ancient, carved feel.
The same font, two different licences
This one catches people out. On DaFont, Cinzel is listed by Ndiscover and marked free for personal use. On Google Fonts, Cinzel by Natanael Gama, whose project sits under the NDISCOVER name, is open source. Same family, very different answer depending on where you click download.
The lesson: if a serif font you like is also on Google Fonts, get it there and the licence question is answered. DaFont's own FAQ says the licence line on its pages is only an indication, so the readme or the designer's site always has the final word.
DaFont's Serif category
DaFont files these under Basic, then Serif, and the category held 3,428 fonts when I checked. The completely free plus Public domain, GPL or OFL filter left 257. The popular end is mostly personal use: Milesdane, Vogue, Seramonde and Monimer Serif are all labelled that way, and Apple Garamond shows no licence at all, which DaFont says doesn't mean it's free.
The free end has some well-known names. Butler by Fabian De Smet, Optimus Princeps and Bodoni XT by Manfred Klein, and IM Fell Types by Igino Marini are labelled completely free. Liberation Serif by Red Hat, Linux Libertine and Yeseva One are listed under Public domain, GPL or OFL.
Font Squirrel: mostly clear, with exceptions
Font Squirrel only lists fonts it believes are free for commercial desktop use. On the first page of its Serif classification, 37 of the 50 fonts were marked for all four uses (commercial graphics, websites, PDFs and ebooks, and apps). Thirteen couldn't be embedded in PDFs or ebooks, and four of those were for desktop graphics only. If you're designing an ebook or a PDF lead magnet, check those icons.
For team merch with a classic edge, see college-style fonts.
Using a free serif in your logo
Open source serifs are safe for brand work. The OFL FAQ lists logos, business cards, stationery, signage and print publications as uses that need no additional licence. What you can't do is sell the font itself on its own, which no small business needs to do anyway.
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If you like the old-print feel, vintage typewriter styles are a close cousin.
Choosing a serif that works
- Decide whether it's for headlines or body text. Display serifs like Playfair Display and Instrument Serif are made for big sizes.
- For body text, pick a family with bold and italic, such as Merriweather, Lora or Source Serif 4.
- Pair it with one clean sans serif for buttons, captions and small labels.
- Test your real words at the real size, on a phone as well as a laptop.
- Download from Google Fonts where you can, and keep the licence with your brand files.
Need the sans serif half of the pair? See free sans serif fonts. For older styles there's free Old English fonts, and if you work in Notion, here's how to change the font in Notion, including its serif option.
My advice
For a small business brand, you don't need to hunt. Merriweather or Lora for reading, Playfair Display or DM Serif Display for headlines, all open source and all on Google Fonts. Use DaFont for one-off display ideas, and if a font there says personal use, search Google Fonts for the same name before you give up on it.
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Frequently asked questions
Where can I get free serif fonts?
Google Fonts listed 351 serif families when checked, all open source, including Merriweather, Lora, Playfair Display, Libre Baskerville and EB Garamond. DaFont has 3,428 serif fonts, with 257 passing its completely free or open filter.
What is the best free serif font for a website?
Merriweather was designed for pleasant reading on screens, and Libre Baskerville is optimised for body text at around 16px. Both are open source on Google Fonts.
Is Cinzel free for commercial use?
On Google Fonts, Cinzel is open source, so yes. DaFont lists Cinzel as free for personal use, so download it from Google Fonts for business work.
Are Font Squirrel serif fonts free for PDFs?
Not all. On the first page of its serif list, 37 of 50 fonts were marked for all four uses, while 13 couldn't be embedded in PDFs or ebooks.
What's a good free serif for logos?
Cinzel, inspired by Roman inscriptions, suits classic logos, DM Serif Display was shaped for poster sizes, and Playfair Display gives a high-contrast look. All three are open source on Google Fonts.
