Free alternatives to Arial
Arial (Monotype): Designed at Monotype in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders, Arial is a neo-grotesque sans serif drawn to match Helvetica's metrics, with softer, more angled stroke endings. Bundled with Windows since the early 1990s, it became one of the most widely seen typefaces ever.
Arial is bundled with Windows and macOS under OS licenses that permit local use but not redistribution, app bundling, or self-hosted web embedding.
Arimo, by Steve Matteson, is metric-compatible with Arial: identical character widths, so documents and layouts reflow without shifting. It is the direct open-license replacement used across Linux distributions.
Roboto covers the same neutral grotesque role with a slightly narrower, more open construction that performs better in interfaces. It is the natural upgrade when you are replacing Arial in a product rather than a document.
Inter matches Arial's neutrality with a taller x-height and screen-first spacing, making it the stronger choice for UI text. It looks noticeably more contemporary at display sizes.
Open Sans is a humanist-leaning grotesque with open apertures and generous spacing, reading friendlier than Arial while staying corporate-safe. It is slightly wider, so line lengths grow a little.
Noto Sans offers Arial-like plainness with consistent design across a vast range of scripts, ideal for multilingual sites. Its forms are a touch rounder and more open than Arial's.
Arial is a trademark of its owner and is not distributed by DaFontFonts. This page recommends independent open-licence typefaces with a comparable feel; they are not copies and render with their own metrics and details.
Questions
Is Arial free for commercial use?
Using Arial in documents made on a licensed Windows or macOS system is fine, but the font is Monotype property: you may not redistribute the files, embed them in apps, or self-host them as webfonts. Arimo is a free, metric-compatible substitute.
What is the closest free alternative to Arial?
Arimo, which was designed by Steve Matteson to be metric-compatible with Arial. If exact widths do not matter, Inter and Roboto are more refined modern options.