Lato vs Poppins

Lato and Poppins are both freely available sans-serif fonts often used as alternatives to the same premium typefaces. Lato serves as a replacement for 13 premium fonts while Poppins covers 37. This comparison helps you pick between two strong open-source options.

67% Similarity

Design DNA

Design overlap:67%

Lato

Visual
WarmMinimal

Poppins

Visual
WarmMinimalModern

Highlighted traits are shared between both fonts

Visual Comparison

Lato

Free

Aa Bb Cc 123

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

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

Poppins

Free

Aa Bb Cc 123

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

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

Feature Comparison

Feature Lato Poppins
Type Free Free
Classification sans-serif sans-serif
Variable Font No No
Weights 100, 300, 400, 700, 900 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900
Italics Yes Yes
License OFL-1.1 OFL-1.1
Language Support latin, latin-extended latin, latin-extended, devanagari
Source Google Fonts Google Fonts

Best Use Cases

Corporate

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

Lato Poppins
Branding

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

Lato Poppins
Editorial

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

Lato Poppins
Mobile Apps

Fonts optimized for mobile interfaces with excellent small-size legibility, clea...

Lato Poppins
Healthcare

Typography for medical, wellness, and healthcare applications. Healthcare fonts ...

Lato Poppins
E-commerce

Typography optimized for online retail, marketplaces, and shopping experiences. ...

Lato Poppins
Startup

Typography for startups, tech companies, and venture-backed businesses. Startup ...

Lato Poppins
Web Design

Typography optimized for websites, landing pages, and web applications. Web font...

Lato Poppins
UI Design

Typography optimized for user interfaces, design systems, and digital products. ...

Lato Poppins
Signage

Typography for wayfinding, environmental graphics, and public signage. Signage f...

Lato Poppins

Weight & Style Coverage

Lato: 5 weights
Poppins: 9 weights
| 5 shared weights
Lato
Poppins
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900

Performance Comparison

Metric Lato Poppins
Score 60/100 59/100
File Size 85.9 KB 162.4 KB
Weights 5 9
Italics Yes Yes
Variable Font No No
Language Groups 2 3
CDN Delivery Yes Yes
x-Height Ratio 0.506 0.548
Cap Height Ratio 0.717 0.698

Lato is 47% lighter for the standard weight set (400, 400i, 700).

Which Should You Choose?

Recommended: Lato

  • Replaces 13 premium fonts
  • friendly, professional character
  • Popular in education-academia and healthcare-medical
  • 5 weight options
  • Free under OFL-1.1
View Lato →

Consider: Poppins

  • Replaces 37 premium fonts
  • friendly, modern character
  • Popular in education-academia and healthcare-medical
  • 9 weight options
  • Broader language and script support
View Poppins →

Premium Font Coverage

Lato covers 13 premium fonts vs Poppins's 37


Related Comparisons