Arabic fonts for websites, apps and print.
When your brand, website, app or printed material goes into Arabic, it needs Arabic type that carries your brand's look and reads clearly on every screen and page. This guide explains how to choose Arabic fonts, what to test and what to know about font licences.
When your brand font has no Arabic
Arabic is a separate script, with its own letters, joining forms and marks, and most fonts made for English never had an Arabic version drawn. If your brand font is one of them, Arabic text appears in whatever font the device or program falls back to, or not at all.
In the Google Fonts library, for example, 57 of the 1,950 font families included Arabic letters when we checked on 3 October 2026.
- Check for an Arabic companion
- Some type families include an Arabic member alongside the Latin one. IBM Plex Sans Arabic belongs to the IBM Plex family, and Noto Sans Arabic, Noto Naskh Arabic and Noto Kufi Arabic belong to Google's Noto fonts. If your brand font is a commercial one, ask the company that designed or sells it whether an Arabic version exists.
- Choose a matching Arabic family
- If there is no companion, choose an Arabic font that matches your brand font on the three points below.
- Record the pairing
- Add the Arabic font to your brand guidelines, with its weights, sizes and line spacing, so every later document, screen and campaign uses the same Arabic type.
What to match
- Weight. The same range of weights, so that regular, medium and bold look equally heavy in both scripts.
- Size. Arabic letters that look as large as your Latin lower case, measured by its x-height (the height of letters such as x and n), so that neither script looks smaller.
- Tone. The same character, formal or friendly, traditional or modern, with a similar contrast between thick and thin strokes.
The main Arabic script styles
Arabic type grew out of calligraphy, and most Arabic fonts follow one of a few traditional styles. The style tells you where a font will work best.
Naskh
Rounded, flowing letters with thick and thin strokes. Naskh is the usual style for Arabic books and documents, and the default for Arabic text on screen.
Best for
Running text: articles, reports, help pages, contracts and anything people read at length.
Kufi-style geometric
Angular letters built from straight lines and right angles. Kufi is one of the oldest Arabic scripts, and modern fonts based on it give a clean, contemporary look.
Best for
Headings, logos, signs, buttons, menus and other short text.
Display styles: Thuluth and Diwani
Ornate calligraphic styles. Thuluth is used for many mosque inscriptions and for the chapter headings in many copies of the Quran. Diwani's letters intertwine, which makes it hard to read.
Best for
Occasional decorative use, such as a title, an invitation or a greeting card. Not for running text or interfaces.
Between these sit the even-stroke designs made for screens, such as Noto Sans Arabic and IBM Plex Sans Arabic, which suit interface text and reading on screen.
The same Arabic sentence in four fonts
الخط المناسب يجعل النص العربي سهل القراءة
الخط المناسب يجعل النص العربي سهل القراءة
الخط المناسب يجعل النص العربي سهل القراءة
الخط المناسب يجعل النص العربي سهل القراءة
The sentence means “The right font makes Arabic text easy to read”. All four samples are set at the same size: notice how the apparent size, width and spacing change from one font to the next.
What to test in Arabic type
Check each font with your real Arabic text, in the software, browser or device where people will read it. These are the points to look at.
- Letter joining and shaping
- Most Arabic letters join their neighbours and change shape with their position in a word. Software without Arabic text shaping, or with it switched off, draws each letter on its own and in the wrong order, so check whole words and sentences rather than letters one by one.
- Diacritics
- Vowel marks and other diacritics sit above and below the letters. If your text uses them, as children's books, language courses and religious texts often do, check that each mark sits clearly on its letter and does not touch the line above or below.
- Line spacing
- Arabic letters reach further above and below the line than Latin letters, so Arabic usually needs more line spacing than English. Arabic fonts also differ widely in their built-in spacing, so set the line height yourself and test it with diacritics.
- Numerals
- Arabic text uses Western digits (123) or Eastern Arabic digits (١٢٣), depending on the market. Check that the font has the digits you need and that they sit well with the letters.
- Arabic and English in one line
- Brand names, product codes, web addresses and numbers often appear inside Arabic sentences. Check that the Latin words use the font you intended, that their size matches the Arabic, and that punctuation and numbers appear in the right order.
- Sizes on phones
- Set Arabic sizes by eye: an Arabic font and a Latin font set at the same size often look different in size. Apple's design guidelines note that Arabic can look too small next to Latin capitals of the same size. Check the smallest text, such as captions, labels and buttons, on a real phone.
- Letter spacing and emphasis
- Keep letter spacing at zero, because pulling joined letters apart spoils the way they connect. Most Arabic fonts have no italic, so show emphasis with weight or colour instead of slanted letters. Arabic has no capital letters either, so styles built on capitals need another treatment in Arabic.
Using Arabic fonts on websites, in apps and in print
A few technical choices keep Arabic text fast to load and correct on every device. Share this section with your developers.
- WOFF2 files
- Serve web fonts as WOFF2, the compressed font format published by the W3C and supported by all current major browsers.
- Subsetting
- Put the Arabic letters in a file of their own and declare it with unicode-range, so a browser downloads it only for pages that contain Arabic. Subset by script: cutting a font down to the characters on one page drops letters that later content will need. Check that the subset keeps the data Arabic needs to join its letters.
- Variable fonts
- A variable font holds a range of weights in one file. The file is larger than a single weight, so it pays off when a page uses several weights; with one or two, separate files can be smaller.
- Fallback fonts
- End every font stack with a generic family, such as sans-serif, so a built-in Arabic font takes over if the web font fails to load. With font-display: swap, visitors see the text straight away in the fallback font, and the web font replaces it when it arrives.
- Arabic and Latin font order
- Many Arabic fonts include Latin letters of their own. If those do not suit your brand, list your Latin font first in the font stack: the browser draws English with it and falls back to the Arabic font for Arabic letters. Western digits and shared punctuation, such as full stops and brackets, then come from the Latin font too, so check how they look.
- Right-to-left layout
- Set lang="ar" and dir="rtl" on Arabic pages, and use start and end in CSS rather than left and right, so the layout mirrors. Give English passages inside Arabic their own dir attribute. Mirror icons that point in a direction, such as arrows, but never logos.
- Apps
- Android and iOS mirror their standard interface components for right-to-left languages; on Android, this needs supportsRtl and start and end in your layouts. Bundle the font files with the app, and check that the licence covers use in an app.
- Send print files as PDFs with every font embedded, so the printer does not need your fonts installed. A desktop licence usually allows this; check it before sending the font files themselves to a printer or a design studio.
Popular Arabic fonts with open licences
These eight families are among the most popular Arabic fonts on Google Fonts. Each is published under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which allows commercial use free of charge, including on websites, in apps and in print.
We checked each licence in the official Google Fonts repository on 3 October 2026. Licences can change, so read the licence file that comes with a font before you use it.
- Noto Naskh Arabic
- A Naskh design with thick and thin strokes, for running text on screen and in print, and suited to pairing with serif Latin fonts. Several weights, available as a variable font. Part of Google's Noto fonts.
- Noto Sans Arabic
- An even-stroke design for text, with several weights and widths in one variable font. Part of Google's Noto fonts, which cover writing systems from around the world.
- Noto Kufi Arabic
- A simplified Kufi design made mainly for larger sizes, such as headings and short text. Several weights, available as a variable font.
- IBM Plex Sans Arabic
- The Arabic member of the IBM Plex family, a natural choice for brands that already use IBM Plex. Seven weights, from Thin to Bold.
- Cairo
- A design based on the Kufi style, with Latin letters taken from Titillium Web. Its lighter weights suit body text and its heavier weights suit headlines. Available as a variable font, and used for the Arabic on this website.
- Tajawal
- A low-contrast design in a modern geometric style, with Latin letters included. Seven weights.
- Almarai
- A modern, low-contrast design with open shapes, made for easy reading, especially on screen. Latin letters included. Four weights.
- Amiri
- A classical Naskh for books and other running text, reviving the typeface pioneered by the Bulaq Press in Cairo, also known as the Amiria Press, in the early twentieth century. Regular and bold, each with an italic.
Font licences
Every font comes with a licence that sets out where and how you may use it. Check it before a font goes into a website, an app, a video or a print run.
- Open-licence fonts, such as the eight above, are free for commercial work too. The font files may not be sold on their own, and when you pass the files on, for example inside an app, the licence goes with them.
- Commercial fonts are licensed for particular uses. A licence for designing print work on your own computers does not always cover a website, an app or a video, and some licences run for a set period or a set number of users.
- When a project needs a commercial Arabic font, you buy the licence, or we buy it for you at cost once you approve, as clause 8.1 of our terms says.
- If a licence limits how a font may be used, for example to one medium or for a set period, we tell you before we set the text (clause 13.5).
- A font offered as a free download is not always offered by its owner. Get fonts from the designer, the company that sells them or an official library, and keep each licence with your files.
How we handle fonts in your project
Fonts are part of every layout and localisation project we take on. This is how we handle them.
- At the start, we ask for the fonts used in your files and any brand fonts you want us to use.
- If your brand font has no Arabic, we recommend a matching Arabic font, explain the choice and record it, so later work stays consistent.
- In desktop publishing, we set the Arabic in the agreed fonts and check letter shaping and line breaks on every page before delivery.
- For websites and apps, we check the Arabic screens in the live product, including how the fonts display, and report problems with screenshots.
- For layout work, you receive press-ready and screen PDFs together with the editable source files.
- Layout is priced per page in the instant quote, and our How we quote page explains how pages are classed.
Questions about Arabic fonts
Short answers to common questions about choosing and using Arabic fonts.
What is the best Arabic font for a website?
There is no single best font: the right one depends on your brand, how much people read and the weights you need. For long reading, start with a Naskh design such as Noto Naskh Arabic. For a clean interface, try Noto Sans Arabic, IBM Plex Sans Arabic, Cairo, Tajawal or Almarai, all free under the SIL Open Font License. Then test your short list with your real text on real phones.
Does my English brand font support Arabic?
Probably not, because most fonts made for English contain no Arabic letters. Check the language support listed by the font's maker or seller, or type some Arabic in it: if the letters appear in a different design, or as empty boxes, the font has no Arabic. Then ask the maker whether an Arabic companion exists.
Can we use any Arabic font we find online?
Only after checking its licence. Every font has one, and a site offering a font for free is not necessarily its owner. Download fonts from the designer, the company that sells them or an official library such as Google Fonts, and make sure the licence covers each use you plan: print, website, app or video.
Are free Arabic fonts safe for commercial use?
Fonts published under the SIL Open Font License, including the eight families on this page, can be used in commercial work free of charge, on websites, in apps and in print. The font files themselves may not be sold. Other free fonts can carry different terms, so read the licence of each one.
How do I show Arabic and English together?
Use an Arabic font and a Latin font that match in weight, apparent size and tone, or an Arabic font whose own Latin letters suit your brand. Order the font stack so each script uses the font you intend, then check mixed lines for size, spacing and the order of numbers and punctuation. Mark each passage with its language and direction (lang and dir) so browsers and screen readers handle it correctly.
Does Arabic need more line spacing than English?
Usually, yes. Arabic letters reach further above and below the line than Latin letters, and diacritics need room above and below them. Set the line height yourself rather than relying on the font's default, and try it on text with diacritics.
What is the difference between Naskh and Kufi fonts?
Naskh is rounded and flowing, with thick and thin strokes, and is the usual style for books, documents and running text. Kufi is angular and geometric, and modern Kufi-style fonts suit headings, logos and interfaces. You can pair them: a Kufi-style font for headings and a Naskh or even-stroke font for text.
Which file format should we use for Arabic web fonts?
WOFF2, a compressed format that all current major browsers support. Keep the Arabic letters in a separate file declared with unicode-range, so browsers fetch it only when a page contains Arabic.
Sources
The technical points on this page follow these references.
- Arabic & Persian Layout RequirementsW3C
- Inline markup and bidirectional text in HTMLW3C
- Structural markup and right-to-left text in HTMLW3C
- WOFF File Format 2.0W3C
- Right to left, Human Interface GuidelinesApple
- Support different languages and culturesAndroid Developers
- Variable fontsMDN Web Docs
- unicode-rangeMDN Web Docs
- SIL Open Font LicenseSIL
- Google Fonts repositoryGitHub
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