Circular Font Alternatives
Circular is the friendly geometric sans made famous by Spotify and Airbnb's early branding. It is a paid font, but several Google Fonts capture its rounded, quirky charm.
By Mohamed Farhan · Updated Oct 19, 2026
Circular (original)
Shows only if it is installed on your device01DM Sans
Best for: Product and marketing sitesLow-contrast geometric sans with a very similar friendly texture. DM Sans is a low-contrast geometric sans with a very similar friendly texture, a safe choice for interfaces.
02Plus Jakarta Sans
Best for: BrandingRounded geometric forms with a modern, polished feel. Plus Jakarta Sans has rounded geometric forms and crisp details that give brands extra character.
03Outfit
Best for: HeadlinesClean geometric shapes and a confident rhythm. Outfit offers clean geometric shapes and a confident rhythm for headings.
04Figtree
Best for: UI textFriendly and readable, with Circular-like round letters. Figtree is friendly and readable, with round letters suitable for UI text.
05Urbanist
Best for: Landing pagesGeometric construction with a wide stance and clean curves. Urbanist is built on geometric construction with a wide stance, great for landing pages.
06Lexend
Best for: Accessible productsDesigned for reading proficiency; round, open and very legible. Lexend was designed to improve reading proficiency, with round, open letters and generous spacing.
About Circular
- Designer
- Laurenz Brunner (Lineto)
- Released
- 2013
- License
- Commercial (Lineto)
- Character
- A geometric sans with perfectly round shapes, tight apertures and a few quirky details.
The story of Circular
Circular was designed by Laurenz Brunner and released by the Swiss foundry Lineto in 2013. It is a geometric sans built on circles, with a few quirky details that give it personality. Spotify used Circular for many years, and it was widely adopted by startups and tech companies that wanted a friendly, distinctive alternative to neutral grotesques.
Compare at a glance
| Font | Best for | License | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| DM Sans | Product and marketing sites | Free (open source) | Aa Gg 123 |
| Plus Jakarta Sans | Branding | Free (open source) | Aa Gg 123 |
| Outfit | Headlines | Free (open source) | Aa Gg 123 |
| Figtree | UI text | Free (open source) | Aa Gg 123 |
| Urbanist | Landing pages | Free (open source) | Aa Gg 123 |
| Lexend | Accessible products | Free (open source) | Aa Gg 123 |
Where Circular-style type works best
Circular-style typefaces suit consumer apps, startups, music and lifestyle brands, and any product that wants to feel approachable and contemporary. They are strong in bold headlines and still readable in UI text.
How to choose between them
- DM Sans if you need product and marketing sites. Low-contrast geometric sans with a very similar friendly texture.
- Plus Jakarta Sans if you need branding. Rounded geometric forms with a modern, polished feel.
- Outfit if you need headlines. Clean geometric shapes and a confident rhythm.
- Figtree if you need uI text. Friendly and readable, with Circular-like round letters.
- Urbanist if you need landing pages. Geometric construction with a wide stance and clean curves.
- Lexend if you need accessible products. Designed for reading proficiency; round, open and very legible.
Tested font pairings
Two friendly geometric sans with enough contrast in personality for a startup brand.
Geometric headings with a neutral, highly readable body.
A geometric sans with a matching high-contrast serif for editorial accents.
Add it to your site
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=DM+Sans&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">.heading {
font-family: "DM Sans", sans-serif;
}Pairing and tips
Circular-style sans pair well with a characterful serif such as Fraunces or Playfair Display for contrast.
- Look at the lowercase 't' and 'y' when comparing, since they carry Circular's personality.
- DM Sans is the safest swap for UI; Plus Jakarta Sans gives more brand character.
- Use slightly tighter tracking on headlines to match Circular's dense look.
Each font at a glance
- DM Sans is a sans serif best for product and marketing sites. Fallback stack: "DM Sans", sans-serif. It pairs well with Plus Jakarta Sans.
- Plus Jakarta Sans is a sans serif best for branding. Fallback stack: "Plus Jakarta Sans", sans-serif. It pairs well with DM Sans.
- Outfit is a sans serif best for headlines. Fallback stack: "Outfit", sans-serif. It pairs well with Inter.
- Figtree is a sans serif best for ui text. Fallback stack: "Figtree", sans-serif. Pair it with a neutral sans for body text.
- Urbanist is a sans serif best for landing pages. Fallback stack: "Urbanist", sans-serif. Pair it with a neutral sans for body text.
- Lexend is a sans serif best for accessible products. Fallback stack: "Lexend", sans-serif. Pair it with a neutral sans for body text.
Readability and accessibility
Like Circular, these alternatives are designed to stay readable in interfaces and long text. A good rule is to use expressive type for a few words at large sizes and a plain, readable font for anything people need to read carefully, such as instructions, prices and form labels.
Keep text contrast at 4.5:1 or higher, set body text at 16px or larger, and keep line lengths between roughly 45 and 75 characters. Avoid all caps for long passages and do not rely on a font's style alone to communicate meaning. If your audience includes people with dyslexia or low vision, test with real users and offer generous line spacing, which helps more than any single typeface.
Colors and layouts that suit this style
Circular-style type pairs with bold color, playful illustrations, rounded corners and confident, short headlines. It works for both vibrant consumer apps and clean startup sites.
Common mistakes
- Using it for long legal or technical text without testing readability.
- Combining it with another quirky geometric sans, which creates visual noise.
- Leaving default spacing on large headlines; slight tightening matches Circular's dense look.
Recommended sizes
- Sans serif faces (DM Sans, Plus Jakarta Sans, Outfit, Figtree, Urbanist, Lexend): readable from about 14px for interface text, 16 to 18px for long reading, and any larger size for headings.
Licensing and commercial use
Every font on this page is free and open source on Google Fonts. Most use the SIL Open Font License, and a few use the Apache License; both allow commercial use in websites, apps, logos, print and products. You can self-host the files, modify them and bundle them in software, but you cannot sell the fonts on their own. Circular itself is a commercial typeface, so using it on a website or in an app requires a license from its foundry.
For logos, a free font is fine legally, but remember that others can use the same font. If the logo is a long-term brand asset, consider customizing the letterforms so it is distinctive.
Loading fonts without slowing your site
- Load only the weights and styles you actually use. Each extra weight is another file to download.
- Use font-display: swap (included in the Google Fonts link above) so text shows immediately in a fallback font and swaps when the web font arrives.
- Add preconnect hints for fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com, or self-host the files on your own domain for the fastest, most private loading.
- Prefer variable fonts when available: one file can cover every weight.
- Define a sensible fallback stack, such as "DM Sans", sans-serif, so the layout looks right even before the font loads.
See DM Sans in a full design
Generate a landing page or app screen set in this font with Inspo AI, then swap fonts and colors with a prompt.
Sources and further reading
- Google Fonts · Every font on this page is available here for free.
- SIL Open Font License FAQ · What the most common Google Fonts license allows.
- Google Fonts FAQ · Licensing and commercial use of Google Fonts.
- MDN: font-family · How font stacks and fallbacks work.
More font guides
Questions people ask
What is a free alternative to Circular?
DM Sans, Plus Jakarta Sans, Outfit and Figtree are the closest free Google Fonts to Circular.
What font does Spotify use?
Spotify used Circular for years and later moved to its own custom typeface, Spotify Mix.
Is Circular on Google Fonts?
No. Circular is a commercial font from the Lineto foundry.
Which brands used Circular?
Circular was used by Spotify and many startups and tech brands in the 2010s.
Is DM Sans the same as Circular?
No, but DM Sans has a similar low-contrast geometric style and is one of the closest free alternatives.
↘ Building Inspo AI | AI-Powered Design Research & Builder Platform | Design Engineer.