Free Alternatives to Myriad Pro
About Myriad Pro
- Foundry
- Adobe
- Classification
- sans-serif
- Style
- humanist
Myriad Pro is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Robert Slimbach and Carol Twombly for Adobe in 1992. It became one of the most widely recognized typefaces in the world after Apple adopted it as their corporate font from 2002 to 2017.
History and Design
Robert Slimbach and Carol Twombly designed Myriad for Adobe as a versatile, modern humanist sans-serif. The design draws on the clarity of Frutiger while developing its own distinct personality through subtle calligraphic touches and carefully balanced proportions. The generous x-height and open letterforms ensure excellent legibility across all sizes and media.
Myriad Pro, released in 2000, expanded the original family with additional weights, widths, and OpenType features. The comprehensive family includes condensed and semi-condensed widths, making it suitable for virtually any typographic application.
Why Myriad Pro Became Iconic
Apple's adoption of Myriad for their corporate communications, product packaging, and marketing materials made it one of the most visible typefaces in the world. For fifteen years, every Apple product featured Myriad prominently, associating the typeface with innovation, elegance, and premium technology.
Beyond Apple, Myriad Pro became a standard choice in corporate communications for its combination of warmth and professionalism. It conveys approachability without sacrificing authority.
Use Cases
Myriad Pro excels in:
- Tech and software: Clean, modern, and highly legible
- Corporate identity: Versatile enough for any brand personality
- Web applications: Excellent screen rendering across devices
- Print materials: Reliable for everything from business cards to annual reports
Finding Free Alternatives
Source Sans Pro is Adobe's own open-source alternative, sharing similar design philosophy and excellent language support. Open Sans offers comparable humanist warmth optimized for digital interfaces. Lato provides similar professional character with humanist proportions and wide weight range.
FAQ
What is the best free alternative to Myriad Pro?
Source Sans Pro is the best free alternative to Myriad Pro, essentially Adobe's open-source counterpart with similar design philosophy. Designed by Paul D. Hunt and available on Google Fonts, Source Sans Pro offers excellent legibility, extensive language support, and the same professional versatility that made Myriad Pro an industry standard.
Can I use Source Sans Pro commercially?
Yes, Source Sans Pro is licensed under the SIL Open Font License (OFL-1.1), permitting unlimited commercial use without fees. As Adobe's first open-source typeface, it can be freely used for corporate identity, websites, applications, and print materials. The license only requires attribution if redistributing font files.
How similar is Source Sans Pro to Myriad Pro?
Source Sans Pro achieves approximately 88% similarity to Myriad Pro, sharing humanist proportions and Adobe's design philosophy. Both feature generous x-heights, open apertures, and excellent screen legibility. Source Sans Pro has slightly different curves in letters like 'a' and 'e' but maintains Myriad's professional, approachable character.
What are the main differences between Myriad Pro and Source Sans Pro?
Myriad Pro features more refined curves and subtle details from its Adobe Originals heritage, with more width variations (condensed, semi-condensed). Source Sans Pro offers variable font technology, superior language support including Cyrillic and Greek, and is optimized for modern screen rendering. For most applications, Source Sans Pro is functionally equivalent.
Where can I download Source Sans Pro for free?
Source Sans Pro is available for free download from Google Fonts at fonts.google.com/specimen/Source+Sans+Pro. The variable font version (Source Sans 3) offers continuous weight adjustment. You can embed it via CSS, download for desktop use, or use it through Adobe Fonts for Creative Cloud subscribers.
Free Alternatives (3)
Adobe's open-source counterpart with similar design philosophy
Shares humanist warmth and excellent screen legibility
Similar professional character with humanist proportions
How to Use Source Sans Pro
Copy these code snippets to quickly add Source Sans Pro to your project.
CSS Import
@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Source+Sans+Pro:wght@100..900&display=swap');HTML Link Tags
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Source+Sans+Pro:wght@100..900&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">Tailwind CSS
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
fontFamily: {
'source-sans-pro': ['"Source Sans Pro"', 'sans-serif'],
},
},
},
}
// Usage in HTML:
// <p class="font-source-sans-pro">Your text here</p>React / Next.js
// Using next/font (Next.js 13+)
import { Source_Sans_Pro } from 'next/font/google';
const source_sans_pro = Source_Sans_Pro({
subsets: ['latin'],
weight: ['100', '200', '300', '400', '500', '600', '700', '800', '900'],
});
export default function Component() {
return (
<p className={source_sans_pro.className}>
Your text here
</p>
);
}
// Or using inline styles with Google Fonts link:
// <p style={{ fontFamily: '"Source Sans Pro"' }}>Your text</p>Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free alternative to Myriad Pro?
Source Sans Pro is the best free alternative to Myriad Pro with 88% similarity. It shares similar proportions and characteristics while being available under the OFL-1.1 license for both personal and commercial use at no cost.
Can I use Source Sans Pro commercially?
Yes, Source Sans Pro can be used commercially. It is licensed under OFL-1.1, which allows free use in websites, applications, print materials, and commercial projects without purchasing a license or paying royalties.
Is Source Sans Pro similar enough to Myriad Pro?
Source Sans Pro achieves 88% similarity to Myriad Pro. While not identical, it offers comparable letterforms, proportions, and visual style. Most designers find it works excellently as a substitute in web and print projects.
What are the main differences between Myriad Pro and its free alternatives?
Free alternatives to Myriad Pro may differ in subtle details like letter spacing, curve refinements, and available weights. Premium fonts typically include more OpenType features, extended language support, and optimized screen rendering. However, for most projects, these differences are negligible.
Where can I download free alternatives to Myriad Pro?
Download Source Sans Pro from Google Fonts. Click the "Get Font" button on any alternative above to visit the official download page. Google Fonts also provides embed codes for easy web integration.