EB Garamond vs Bembo

EB Garamond is a popular open-source alternative to Bembo's old style design. At 88% similarity, EB Garamond delivers a classic, elegant aesthetic. Compare which works better for books and editorial projects.

88% Similarity

Design DNA

Design overlap:25%

EB Garamond

Visual
ElegantRetro

Bembo

Structural
Old Style
Visual
Elegant
Purpose
Academic

Highlighted traits are shared between both fonts

Visual Comparison

EB Garamond

Free

Aa Bb Cc 123

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !@#$%^&*()

Bembo

Premium

Feature Comparison

Feature EB Garamond Bembo
Type Free Premium
Classification serif serif
Variable Font Yes No
Weights Variable (100-900) Multiple
Italics Yes Yes
License OFL-1.1 Commercial License Required
Language Support latin, latin-extended, cyrillic, cyrillic-extended, greek, greek-extended, vietnamese latin, latin-extended
Source Google Fonts Monotype

Best Use Cases

Book Design

Typography optimized for extended reading, book publishing, and literary content...

EB Bembo
Editorial

Typography suited for magazines, newspapers, and long-form content. Editorial fo...

EB Bembo
Academic

Typography for academic papers, research publications, and scholarly documents. ...

EB Bembo
Luxury

Typography for luxury brands, high-end products, and premium services. Luxury fo...

EB Bembo
Branding

Fonts that establish strong brand identity with distinctive character and versat...

EB Bembo
Publishing

Typography for print and digital publishing, book design, and editorial producti...

EB Bembo
Corporate

Typography for established businesses, enterprise software, and professional ser...

EB Bembo
Packaging

Typography for product packaging, labels, and consumer goods. Packaging fonts mu...

EB Bembo
EB Bembo
EB Bembo

Performance Comparison

Metric EB Garamond Bembo
Score 55/100 N/A
File Size 640.5 KB N/A
Weights 9 (var) N/A
Italics Yes N/A
Variable Font Yes (1 axes) N/A
Language Groups 7 N/A
CDN Delivery Yes N/A
x-Height Ratio 0.4 N/A
Cap Height Ratio 0.65 N/A

Which Should You Choose?

Recommended: EB Garamond

  • Shares Bembo's elegant character
  • Variable font with continuous weight adjustment
  • Supports 7 scripts including cyrillic and cyrillic-extended
  • Delivers a classic, elegant, heritage aesthetic
  • Popular in legal-law and education-academia design
View EB Garamond →

Consider: Bembo

  • Original design with refined typographic details
  • Designed specifically for books and editorial
  • Commercial license with professional support
View Bembo →

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Free Alternatives to Consider

Other free alternatives to Bembo


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