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Arial vs Public Sans
Public Sans does Arial's institutional job with better character disambiguation and an accessibility-first brief.
Design DNA
Design overlap:40%
Arial
Public Sans
Highlighted traits are shared between both fonts
Visual Comparison
Arial
Premium
Public Sans
FreeAa Bb Cc 123
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !@#$%^&*()
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Arial | Public Sans |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Premium | Free |
| Classification | sans-serif | sans-serif |
| Variable Font | No | Yes |
| Weights | Multiple | Variable (100-900) |
| Italics | Yes | Yes |
| License | Commercial License Required | OFL-1.1 |
| Language Support | latin, latin-extended, cyrillic, greek, hebrew | latin, latin-extended |
| Source | Monotype | Google Fonts |
Best Use Cases
Typography for business documents, reports, and professional communications. Doc...
Typography for established businesses, enterprise software, and professional ser...
Typography optimized for websites, landing pages, and web applications. Web font...
Typography optimized for user interfaces, design systems, and digital products. ...
Typography for wayfinding, environmental graphics, and public signage. Signage f...
Fonts that establish strong brand identity with distinctive character and versat...
Typography suited for magazines, newspapers, and long-form content. Editorial fo...
Typography for tech companies, software products, and digital innovation. Tech f...
Typography for desktop and web applications, software interfaces, and digital to...
Typography for creative work, artistic projects, and experimental design. Creati...
Performance Comparison
| Metric | Arial | Public Sans |
|---|---|---|
| Score | N/A | 64/100 |
| File Size | N/A | 134.3 KB |
| Weights | N/A | 9 (var) |
| Italics | N/A | Yes |
| Variable Font | N/A | Yes (1 axes) |
| Language Groups | N/A | 2 |
| CDN Delivery | N/A | Yes |
| x-Height Ratio | N/A | 0.517 |
| Cap Height Ratio | N/A | 0.723 |
Which Should You Choose?
Consider: Arial
- Shares Arial's readable, minimal character
- Particularly suited for documents and corporate
- Variable font with continuous weight adjustment
- Delivers a professional, neutral, trustworthy aesthetic
- Popular in government-public-sector and enterprise-corporate design
Recommended: Public Sans
- Original design with refined typographic details
- Designed specifically for documents and corporate
- Commercial license with professional support
Browse by Context
Free Alternatives to Consider
Other free alternatives to Arial