Is WhatFont Free to Use?

Updated

Yes. WhatFont is described on its own site as a free extension for Chrome and Safari, and the page presents no pricing, subscription tiers, or payment details. The site also states it "works on every website," so there is no indication of a paid tier for access to certain sites or font details. The only caveat the page raises is technical rather than financial: the bookmarklet version can be blocked by some sites.

What the free version includes

According to the site, the free tool reports the following for any text you point at:

  • Font name
  • Size
  • Weight
  • Color

You activate it by clicking the WhatFont button in your toolbar, then pointing at text; clicking pins the details, and Esc dismisses them. The page says the extension is used by 3 million people, which is a popularity claim rather than a pricing statement.

Where you can use it at no cost

Platform How it's offered
Chrome Free extension; also works in Edge, Arc, Brave, and other Chromium browsers
Safari on Mac Free Safari extension from the Mac App Store
iPhone and iPad Select text in Safari, then tap WhatFont
Other browsers Drag the bookmarklet button to your bookmarks bar and click it on any page

The one limitation to know about

The bookmarklet route is the fallback for browsers outside the Chrome and Safari families, and the site notes that "some sites block bookmarklets." That means the free method can fail on certain pages in that setup — not because of a paywall, but because of how those sites handle bookmarklets. If you rely on a non-Chromium, non-Safari browser, the extension routes are the more dependable free option.

Bottom line

If your question is simply whether you need to pay before installing, the answer is no — the site markets WhatFont as free across all the listed platforms and shows no payment mechanism. Install it through your browser's extension store or the Mac App Store, or use the bookmarklet, and expect the font name, size, weight, and color for whatever text you hover over.