You designed a site, picked a beautiful typeface from a foundry, converted it to WOFF2, and deployed it. Two weeks later, you get a cease-and-desist letter because your desktop license doesn't cover web embedding. This scenario plays out constantly because font licensing is genuinely confusing — and deliberately so, since license complexity is how commercial foundries make money.
This guide explains the licensing landscape in plain terms: what each license type covers, what's free, what's not, and where the legal lines actually are. We're not lawyers, and this isn't legal advice. But understanding the basics prevents the most common mistakes.
License Types: Desktop, Web, App, Server
Commercial font foundries (Hoefler&Co, Commercial Type, Klim, Dalton Maag) sell separate licenses for each use case. A single font might require four different licenses depending on how you use it.
Desktop License
Covers installing the font on computers for use in design applications (Photoshop, InDesign, Figma, Word). Typically priced per seat — each computer that has the font installed needs a license. A 5-seat desktop license means 5 people can use the font in their design tools.
What desktop licenses allow: creating documents, PDFs, images, and print materials using the font. The font's output (a poster, a PDF, a JPEG) can be distributed freely — the license covers the font file, not its visual output.
What desktop licenses don't cover: embedding the font file in a website (@font-face), bundling it in a mobile app, or using it on a server for dynamic image generation.
Web License (Webfont License)
Covers using the font in @font-face CSS on websites. Typically priced per domain and sometimes per pageview. A web license for 1 domain with up to 250,000 monthly pageviews is a common tier.
Web licenses usually allow: WOFF2 and WOFF hosting on your server, @font-face declarations linking to those files, and font-display/preloading. They usually prohibit: using the font on domains not listed in the license, hotlinking the font file from other sites, and exceeding the pageview limit.
Some foundries offer self-hosted web licenses (you host the files) and cloud-hosted web licenses (they host via a CDN like Adobe Fonts or Fontstand). Cloud-hosted is easier but adds a third-party dependency.
App License (Mobile/Desktop Application)
Covers embedding the font file inside a distributed application (iOS app, Android app, Electron app, desktop software). Priced per app or per number of installs. App licenses are typically more expensive than web licenses because the font file is distributed to end users' devices and is technically extractable.
The license covers: bundling the font as a resource in your app binary. It doesn't cover: making the font available for user-generated content (like a text editor that lets users type in the licensed font — that's a different, more expensive license).
Server License (Dynamic Content)
Covers using the font on a server for dynamic content generation — PDF generation, image rendering, personalized media. Priced per server or per number of documents/images generated. This is the most expensive license type and the most commonly forgotten. If your backend generates invoices or certificates using a commercial font, you need a server license.
Open Source Font Licenses
Most Google Fonts (1,400+ families) use open source licenses that allow free use for any purpose. The two dominant licenses are SIL OFL and Apache 2.0.
SIL Open Font License (OFL)
The OFL is the most common open font license. Used by the majority of Google Fonts including Inter, Roboto, Open Sans, Lato, Montserrat, Poppins, Raleway, and Noto. Key terms:
- Free for all uses: Desktop, web, app, server, commercial, non-commercial — everything
- Redistribution allowed: You can include OFL fonts in software, websites, templates, and products
- Modification allowed: You can subset, convert formats (TTF to WOFF2, OTF to TTF), and modify glyphs
- Renaming required for modifications: If you modify the font, you must rename it. You can't distribute a modified version under the original name
- Cannot sell the font alone: You can't sell the font file as a standalone product. You can sell software or templates that include the font
- Attribution: Include the license and copyright notice when redistributing the font file (not required for web use via @font-face)
In practice, OFL fonts are free to use however you want. The only restriction that matters is: you can't sell the font file by itself, and you must rename modified versions.
Apache License 2.0
Used by Roboto, Droid Sans, and some other Google-designed fonts. Apache 2.0 is even more permissive than OFL:
- All OFL freedoms apply
- No renaming requirement: Modified versions can keep the original name (though this is generally bad practice)
- Patent grant: Contributors grant users a patent license, protecting you from patent claims related to the font
For practical purposes, Apache 2.0 and OFL fonts are equally free. The difference matters for font developers modifying the source files, not for web developers using them.
Other Open Licenses
- MIT License: Used by some fonts (JetBrains Mono). Same freedoms as Apache, shorter text
- Ubuntu Font License (UFL): Similar to OFL but specific to the Ubuntu font family. Allows all uses, requires attribution
- Creative Commons CC0: Public domain. No restrictions at all. Rare for fonts but exists (some pixel fonts, some experimental typefaces)
Commercial Font Licensing
Commercial fonts from type foundries are a different world. The font file itself is proprietary — you're buying a license to use it, not ownership of the file.
Typical Pricing
| License Type | Typical Price Range | Common Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop (1-5 seats) | $25-200 per weight | Per seat, covers design apps only |
| Web (1 domain) | $50-500 per family | Per domain, often pageview-limited |
| App (1 app) | $100-2,000 per app | Per app, sometimes install-limited |
| Server | $200-5,000+ | Per server or per-document pricing |
| Unlimited/Enterprise | $500-20,000+ | All uses, negotiated terms |
Prices vary enormously by foundry and typeface. A popular workhorse font (Proxima Nova, Gotham) can cost $500+ for a basic web license. A lesser-known indie font might be $30 for all uses.
Subscription Services
- Adobe Fonts (included in Creative Cloud): ~25,000 fonts licensed for desktop, web, and app use as long as your CC subscription is active. Fonts are served from Adobe's CDN for web use. Cancel the subscription and you lose access to all fonts
- Monotype Mosaic: Enterprise font management platform with per-seat or per-use pricing
- Fontstand: Monthly font rental — pay $5-15/month per font instead of buying outright. Desktop + web use included
Subscription services simplify licensing (one fee covers multiple uses) but create dependency — your typography stops working if you cancel.
Embedding Fonts in PDFs
PDF files can embed font subsets — the characters used in the document are stored inside the PDF. This is how PDFs render text consistently across devices. Most font licenses allow this, but there are nuances.
OpenType fonts have an fsType flag in the OS/2 table that declares the foundry's embedding preferences:
- Installable (0): Full embedding allowed. The font can be extracted from the PDF and installed. Most open-source fonts use this
- Editable (8): Embedding allowed for editing. The font can be used in the PDF and the document can be edited with the embedded font
- Print and Preview (4): Embedding allowed for viewing/printing only. The font cannot be extracted or used to edit the document
- Restricted (2): No embedding. The font cannot be included in PDFs. Rare and unpopular
Most commercial fonts set fsType to 4 (print and preview) or 8 (editable). OFL fonts set fsType to 0 (installable). The fsType flag is a request, not enforcement — PDF generators can technically ignore it, but doing so may violate the license agreement.
@font-face and Licensing
Using @font-face to serve a font is legally equivalent to distributing the font file. The browser downloads the WOFF2 and stores it (temporarily, in cache). Anyone can extract it from the cache, devtools, or the network request. Converting a desktop-licensed font to WOFF2 and using it via @font-face requires a web license.
The format conversion itself (e.g., TTF to WOFF2) is not a licensing issue — most licenses allow format conversion for permitted uses. The issue is whether your license covers the specific use (web embedding). A desktop license that says "installation on computers" does not extend to web servers serving files to browsers.
How Enforcement Works
Font foundries monitor web usage. They crawl sites, inspect @font-face declarations, and compare against their license records. If they find unlicensed usage, they send cease-and-desist letters or invoices for retroactive licensing. Some foundries use watermarking — invisible marks in glyph outlines that identify the specific license a font file was generated from.
The risk is real for commercial fonts. For open-source fonts (OFL, Apache), there's no enforcement concern because the license allows all uses.
Free vs Libre: An Important Distinction
"Free font" means two different things:
- Free as in beer (gratis): No cost to download. But the license may restrict what you do with it. Many "free" fonts on download sites prohibit commercial use, web embedding, or modification. The price is zero but the license is restrictive
- Free as in freedom (libre): Open-source licensed (OFL, Apache, MIT). You can use, modify, and redistribute the font for any purpose. Google Fonts, Font Squirrel (open-source section), and GitHub-hosted typefaces are typically libre
When evaluating a font, read the license file — not just the price tag. A "free" font from a random download site with no license file is legally risky. An OFL-licensed font from Google Fonts is unambiguously safe.
Quick rule: if there's no license file, assume all rights reserved. Use the font only if you can find and read the specific license it's distributed under.
The Safest Choices
If licensing complexity gives you anxiety, stick to these sources:
- Google Fonts: 1,400+ families, all OFL or Apache licensed. Free for every use
- Font Squirrel (SIL OFL section): Curated collection of open-source fonts
- GitHub-hosted type projects: Inter, JetBrains Mono, Fira Code, IBM Plex — all open source with clear licenses
- Adobe Fonts (with CC subscription): 25,000+ fonts licensed for desktop + web + app while subscribed
These cover 95%+ of professional typographic needs. The remaining 5% (specific foundry faces like Gotham, Proxima Nova, Freight) require commercial licensing from the foundry.
Font licensing is complicated because it's a business model, not a technical requirement. For most projects, the answer is simple: use Google Fonts or other OFL-licensed typefaces, and the entire licensing question evaporates. Convert to WOFF2, subset for your language, self-host, and deploy. Zero licensing concerns, zero cost.
If you need a commercial font, budget for the web license (not just desktop) before committing to the typeface. Read the EULA. Check the pageview limits. And keep the license file in your project repository so future developers know the terms.