Roboto
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 10 of 26 typefaces by recommenders
Recommended as a dependable, broad sans-serif family for web text and code, with many font weights and a good emoji pack. Some find it generic or hard to read at small sizes.
Recommended as a dependable, broad sans-serif family for web text and code, with many font weights and a good emoji pack. Some find it generic or hard to read at small sizes.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Dependable, broad sans-serif family
“Unlike Roboto which continues to be great for that.”
Comment from 12 Dec 2025 in “Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source” “the industrial fonts like Roboto are not that bad”
Comment from 3 Dec 2025 in “Japanese game devs face font dilemma as license increases from $380 to $20k” “the wide and glorious world of Roboto”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” Long-time go-to for web text
“I like it a bit better than Robot Sans, which has been my go to for web content for about a decade.”
Comment from 31 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” “Unlike Roboto which continues to be great for that.”
Comment from 12 Dec 2025 in “Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source” Nicely shaped monospace variant
“or Roboto Mono just seem to work much better for my tired eyes”
Comment from 14 Oct 2026 in “Iosevka is an open-source, sans-serif and slab-serif monospace font” “Roboto Mono is nicely shaped but blurry.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Blurry or hard to read
“Roboto Mono is nicely shaped but blurry.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again” “the roboto felt nigh-unreadable”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “Shantell Sans”
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 | — | — |
| RobotoThis page | 12 | 2 | 86% | 4 | — | Approved |
What people said
9 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“or Roboto Mono just seem to work much better for my tired eyes”
“the roboto felt nigh-unreadable”
“Roboto Mono is nicely shaped but blurry.”
“Roboto has font weights, and probably has a better emoji pack”
“I like it a bit better than Robot Sans, which has been my go to for web content for about a decade.”
“I was never the biggest fan of the grotesk-style Roboto/Inter/Univers”
“Unlike Roboto which continues to be great for that.”
“the wide and glorious world of Roboto”
“the industrial fonts like Roboto are not that bad”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.