Times New Roman
The most recommended of 26 typefaces
Familiar serif font that renders correctly on almost any computer and is easy to read for many. Critics say it looks poor on screens and that better alternatives exist.
Familiar serif font that renders correctly on almost any computer and is easy to read for many. Critics say it looks poor on screens and that better alternatives exist.
63 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 35
- criticize it
- 28
- approval share
- 56%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: 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
- 35 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not 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
Preferred over Calibri
“I'm dyslexic and I much prefer to read Times New Roman to Calibri”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” “More proof that the government chose correctly.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” “Is it better than Calibri? Yes.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” - Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri”
Classic, elegant look
“It captures the beauty of old style and transitional types like Garamond and Baskerville”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “A brief history of Times New Roman” “I like how it looks, and I like it better than other fonts.”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “A brief history of Times New Roman” “times new roman just looks better”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” - Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Antiqua–Fraktur Dispute”
Renders on nearly any computer
“may be a more portable default if you want the document to render identically across platforms”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” “will render correctly on basically any computer built in the last 30 years”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” “I find Times New Roman very easy to read and available on many platforms.”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “A brief history of Times New Roman” - Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman”
Readable for many people
“I find Times New Roman very easy to read and available on many platforms.”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “A brief history of Times New Roman” “most Times New Roman is perfectly legible with careful observation”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” “I'm dyslexic and I much prefer to read Times New Roman to Calibri”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Poor legibility on screens
“on screen it is not fine unless you have a high resolution display”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” “Serifs on even the highest DPI displays look pretty terrible when compared with print, and lose readability tests every time they're measured.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” “a serif font that is provably more difficult to read on screens”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” Better alternatives exist
“Time New Roman is marginally better because there are several good, modern open source alternatives with the same metrics”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” “it feels like there have always been a number of alternatives that are stylistically better or more readable”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “A brief history of Times New Roman” “TNR is awful and anyone who actually cares about serifs knows there are better options.”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri” - Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “A brief history of Times New Roman”
Seen as generic or tacky
“If you communicate in Times New Roman and Arial it tells me that you probably are apathetic about mold in the walls”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” “Using either Calibri or Times New Roman makes it look like you did not put any thought into your brand”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Calibri Wasn't Fit for the State Department; Neither Is Times New Roman” “Imagine if all text in your favourite game was all Times New Roman, it would make the game worse.”
Comment from 3 Dec 2025 in “Japanese game devs face font dilemma as license increases from $380 to $20k” - Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri”
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 RomanThis page | 35 | 28 | 56% | 4 | — | — |
| Atkinson Hyperlegible | 23 | 2 | 92% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Shantell Sans | 19 | 1 | 95% | 2 | — | — |
| Calibri | 16 | 36 | 31% | 1 | — | — |
| Nebula Sans | 16 | 21 | 43% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 67 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Times is classical and majestic”
“Times New Roman isn’t bad, but it isn’t good.”
“Times New Roman and Arial had man _years_ of hinting effort by Monotype”
“I guess Times New Roman it is”
“The old TNR version gets this right”
“Times New Roman is much older and easier to obtain”
“Using a common font like Times-compatible (metrics-wise) does help to an extent, but it can still fall off quickly”
“will render correctly on basically any computer built in the last 30 years”
“If you communicate in Times New Roman and Arial it tells me that you probably are apathetic about mold in the walls”
“Is it better than Calibri? Yes.”
“may be a more portable default if you want the document to render identically across platforms”
“it was designed explicitly for a very specific purpose, which it fills admirably”
“I personally think Times isn't a great choice for the reasons articulated in that statement”
“Maybe 14 pt TNR isn't the best, but rolling back to it is a defensible decision”
“Using either Calibri or Times New Roman makes it look like you did not put any thought into your brand”
“I don't tend to have issues with TNR going funny in another format.”
“I find Times New Roman very easy to read and available on many platforms.”
“I like how it looks, and I like it better than other fonts.”
“It captures the beauty of old style and transitional types like Garamond and Baskerville”
“it feels like there have always been a number of alternatives that are stylistically better or more readable”
“then the existence of superior alternatives is enough of a reason to not use a font”
“More proof that the government chose correctly.”
“Good, and not because of the diversity drama that the US government wants to shoehorn in here.”
“even those basic types have only few relevant differences from Times New Roman and Arial”
“Time New Roman is marginally better because there are several good, modern open source alternatives with the same metrics”
“TNR is awful and anyone who actually cares about serifs knows there are better options.”
“most Times New Roman is perfectly legible with careful observation”
“on screen it is not fine unless you have a high resolution display”
“It is inferior to Times New Roman.”
“you think you are doing Roman Empire meets Versailles, but ultimately, you're just being tacky”
“think TNR is a good default for serif”
“times new roman just looks better”
“I'm dyslexic and I much prefer to read Times New Roman to Calibri”
“a font that is open and truly cross platform”
“I have only bad memories of using it since I directly associate it with endless formatting fixes”
“Serifs on even the highest DPI displays look pretty terrible when compared with print, and lose readability tests every time they're measured.”
“a serif font that is provably more difficult to read on screens”
“less atrocious than Calibri”
“People like this makes me want to use Times New Roman more.”
“Imagine if all text in your favourite game was all Times New Roman, it would make the game worse.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.