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I fell in love with this typeface called Proxima Nova the same day when I saw it on a website using it as a web font.

Proxima Nova is the creation of independent font designer Mark Simonson. The font has amazing readability and rendering on and off the web.

This cool-looking font isn’t available for free. You have to buy a license from any of the popular font services to use it. See it’s online preview.

The Google font library brought a great increase in web font usage in the past few years. People often search for free alternatives there for premium typefaces like Proxima Nova.

Google fonts which are licensed as open source can be used on any project for free without any worry. This FAQ page has more details on Google font usage and licensing.

Google fonts as Proxima Nova alternatives

Proxima Nova is an expensive typeface. If you’re looking to use a font like it on your non-profit site or small project, a free alternative can be a great help.

The question is whether there exists a Google font that looks like Proxima Nova or not.

Below given list of Google fonts is the answer to the question above. These cool Proxima Nova lookalikes may serve the purpose without spending one dime.

1. Montserrat

   Old posters and signs in Montserrat territory inspired Julieta Ulanovsky to create this. Observe the comparison of Proxima Nova and Montserrat in the below screen capture.

   

   It looks like a twin of Mark’s creation.

2. Lato

   Looks a bit smaller than you expect from a font, Lato appears to be a neat alternative to Proxima Nova. Łukasz Dziedzic started working on a cool font project in 2010, as a result of which Lato came out. I have used this font on this website before with some font-size adjustments. It looked pretty good.

3. Nunito Sans

   Nunito Sans is my kind of font and I find it pretty neat these days. It may not be a perfect alternative to Proxima Nova if observed closely, but it gives an impression like it is. Jacques Le Bailly extended Vernon Adams‘s Nunito and came up with 7-weight sans version of it.

4. Raleway

   As a bonus, Raleway, created by different font designers, looks more like a display font. Matt McInerney created it as a single-weight thin font. Later on, it is extended by Pablo, Rodrigo, and Igino for a 9-weight typeface.

Other lookalikes

Another typeface that looks quite similar to Proxima Nova is Gotham, which is a premium font as well. Both of them appear almost the same, however, people on the web use the former the most.

Here are some more typefaces other than Google fonts that appear to be the closest alternatives to PN:

• Core Sans
• Gibbs

Conclusion

If I were to pick one out of the above options above, I’d choose Montserrat.

Not satisfied with any of the alternatives? Here is a list of different licenses for Proxima Nova.

In case you know some more fonts that can be added to this list, feel free to mention them in the comments below.