Not Courier Sans vs Monaco

Not Courier Sans is a popular open-source alternative to Monaco's monospace design. At 45% similarity, Not Courier Sans delivers a raw, experimental aesthetic. Compare which works better for code-editors and terminal projects.

45% Similarity

Design DNA

Design overlap:20%

Not Courier Sans

Visual
Expressive
Purpose
Tech

Monaco

Structural
Monospace
Visual
Retro
Purpose
TechDisplay

Highlighted traits are shared between both fonts

Visual Comparison

Not Courier Sans

Free

Aa Bb Cc 123

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

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

Monaco

Premium

Feature Comparison

Feature Not Courier Sans Monaco
Type Free Premium
Classification mono mono
Variable Font No No
Weights 400, 700 Multiple
Italics No Yes
License GPL-2.0-with-font-exception Commercial License Required
Language Support latin, latin-extended, cyrillic latin, latin-extended
Source Font Squirrel Apple

Best Use Cases

Not Monaco
Terminal

Typography for command-line interfaces, terminal emulators, and shell environmen...

Not Monaco
Not Monaco
Presentations

Typography for slide decks, keynotes, and presentation materials. Presentation f...

Not Monaco
Documentation

Typography for technical documentation, user guides, and help content. Documenta...

Not Monaco

Where You'll See These Fonts

Monaco

  • Classic Mac Terminal
  • TextMate (legacy)
  • BBEdit (legacy)
  • Vintage Mac applications
  • Retro computing enthusiasts

Which Should You Choose?

Recommended: Not Courier Sans

  • Shares Monaco's tech character
  • Delivers a raw, experimental, technical aesthetic
  • Popular in enterprise-corporate design
  • Rated as an easy replacement
  • Free under GPL-2.0-with-font-exception license
View Not Courier Sans →

Consider: Monaco

  • Original design with refined typographic details
  • Designed specifically for code-editors and terminal
  • Used by Classic Mac Terminal, TextMate (legacy)
  • Commercial license with professional support
View Monaco →
FontSwap Extension

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Free Alternatives to Consider

Other free alternatives to Monaco


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