Public Sans
Shares rank 8 of 26 typefaces by recommenders
Free, neutral government typeface that reads well at small sizes and tells lowercase l from uppercase I. Common caveat: limited international character coverage.
Free, neutral government typeface that reads well at small sizes and tells lowercase l from uppercase I. Common caveat: limited international character coverage.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 76%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Looks attractive, strong and neutral
“It looks great, it's very strong, neutral, readable, and respectable.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” “Much better than a lot of the fonts I see on the web these days.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Public Sans – A strong, neutral typeface” “Ooh, I like Public Sans! I hadn't seen it before.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” - Comment from 31 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman”
- Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman”
- Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Public Sans – A strong, neutral typeface”
Free, open government-made standard
“Creating a standard that states, cities, municipalities, townships, etc can utilize for digital services improves access for all.”
Comment from 31 Dec 2025 in “Public Sans – A strong, neutral typeface” “they actually did create their own font for public state affairs, and ist open on GitHub”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Antiqua–Fraktur Dispute” “a good, generic, license free font developed for the government”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” Distinguishes lowercase l from uppercase I
“the mentioned Public Sans developed by the US federal government seems to be a great option, as it actually distinguishes the lowercase l and the uppercase I”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” “it does distinguish between l and I with a little hook/spur on lowercase el”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” Readable at small sizes
“I've tended towards fonts that I just find readable at the relatively small sizes”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Public Sans – A strong, neutral typeface” “Public Sans is definitely a bit more readable for me”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Public Sans – A strong, neutral typeface”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Feels generic, lacks distinctive character
“I want to like it but I feel like it neuters everything I like about Franklin Gothic/Libre Franklin.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Public Sans – A strong, neutral typeface” “Another generic limited font that isn't solving anything.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Public Sans – A strong, neutral typeface” Limited glyph set and international characters
“It really needs to fill in a lot of the international characters for more broad use, but probably enough for general use in Govt documents.”
Comment from 31 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” “The glyph repertoire is a bit limited, though.”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” Letters c and e spaced too tightly
“the "c" and "e" are closing in too much.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Public Sans – A strong, neutral typeface” “the "c" and "e" are closing in too much”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Public Sans – A strong, neutral typeface”
Other typefaces people recommend
The four most recommended other typefaces, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times New Roman | 35 | 28 | 56% | 4 | — | — |
| Atkinson Hyperlegible | 23 | 2 | 92% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Shantell Sans | 19 | 1 | 95% | 2 | — | — |
| Calibri | 16 | 36 | 31% | 1 | — | — |
| Public SansThis page | 13 | 4 | 76% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
21 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“they actually did create their own font for public state affairs, and ist open on GitHub”
“It really needs to fill in a lot of the international characters for more broad use, but probably enough for general use in Govt documents.”
“I think it's absolutely beautiful myself”
“Creating a standard that states, cities, municipalities, townships, etc can utilize for digital services improves access for all.”
“Public Sans seems like a good candidate for a new "web safe" font.”
“a good, generic, license free font developed for the government”
“It looks great, it's very strong, neutral, readable, and respectable.”
“appears to be an excellent font”
“I've tended towards fonts that I just find readable at the relatively small sizes”
“Public Sans is definitely a bit more readable for me”
“they did seem to capture a distinctive IBM vibe when designing it”
“the "c" and "e" are closing in too much”
“Another generic limited font that isn't solving anything.”
“the "c" and "e" are closing in too much.”
“I want to like it but I feel like it neuters everything I like about Franklin Gothic/Libre Franklin.”
“Looks like a nice typeface.”
“Much better than a lot of the fonts I see on the web these days.”
“the mentioned Public Sans developed by the US federal government seems to be a great option, as it actually distinguishes the lowercase l and the uppercase I”
“The glyph repertoire is a bit limited, though.”
“Ooh, I like Public Sans! I hadn't seen it before.”
“it does distinguish between l and I with a little hook/spur on lowercase el”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.