# Shantell Sans

19 Hacker News commenters recommended Shantell Sans and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for its playful yet readable handwritten style and variable font axes that let you adjust informality and bounce.

## Why people recommend it

- Beautiful, charming design (5 comments): "This font, however, is by far the most beautiful one I've encountered yet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342110)) "A beautiful font, and a beautiful gift from the creators." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342918)) "gorgeous piece of human-computer engineering art" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342333))
- Playful yet readable (4 comments): "I also love this font -- it seems very readable and could be a good go-to in many places." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48345916)) "the roboto example also highlighted a very stark difference in readability for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342549)) "it has so much joyful charm while still being readable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48422214))
- Variable font axes well used (3 comments): "genuinely one of the coolest uses of a variable font axis i've seen in recent memory" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342326)) "You could sample the informality variable for this font, it might work out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48346007)) "That’s the coolest thing!And “bounce” slider. What a time to be alive…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342874))
- Good for handwritten notes (2 comments): "It’s a great fit for emulating hand-written notes on a whiteboard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342742)) "this is already my favourite hand-written font" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342508))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Nebula Sans](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nebula-sans.md): 16 recommend
- [Furifont](https://hackerapproved.com/p/furifont.md): 16 recommend
- [Avería font](https://hackerapproved.com/p/aver-a-the-average-font.md): 15 recommend
- [Inter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/inter.md): 13 recommend
- [Public Sans](https://hackerapproved.com/p/public-sans.md): 13 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Shantell Sans", https://hackerapproved.com/p/shantell-sans/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).