Sabon vs EB Garamond

EB Garamond is a popular open-source alternative to Sabon's old style design. At 90% similarity, EB Garamond delivers a classic, elegant aesthetic. Compare which works better for books and editorial projects.

90% Similarity

Design DNA

Design overlap:50%

Sabon

Structural
Old Style
Visual
ElegantRetroReadable

EB Garamond

Visual
ElegantRetro

Highlighted traits are shared between both fonts

Visual Comparison

Sabon

Premium

EB Garamond

Free

Aa Bb Cc 123

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

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

Feature Comparison

Feature Sabon EB Garamond
Type Premium Free
Classification serif 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 latin, latin-extended, cyrillic, cyrillic-extended, greek, greek-extended, vietnamese
Source Linotype Google Fonts

Best Use Cases

Book Design

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

Sabon EB
Editorial

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

Sabon EB
Luxury

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

Sabon EB
Academic

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

Sabon EB
Branding

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

Sabon EB
Publishing

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

Sabon EB
Corporate

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

Sabon EB
Packaging

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

Sabon EB
Sabon EB
Sabon EB

Performance Comparison

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

Which Should You Choose?

Consider: Sabon

  • Shares Sabon's elegant, retro 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 Sabon →

Recommended: EB Garamond

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

Free Alternatives to Consider

Other free alternatives to Sabon


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