What to Check Before Using a Font Downloaded from FONT Repo

Before you use a font from FONT Repo, confirm three things: the font's license category (the site sorts fonts into "100% Free," "Free for personal use," "Donationware," "Demo," "Shareware," and "Public domain / GPL / OFL"), whether that category covers your intended use (especially commercial projects), and the source and license record for that specific font, which you should keep for later reference. FONT Repo's own description says it offers free fonts "for commercial use," but the site also lists categories that are clearly not free for commercial use, so the category label on the font you pick is what actually governs your use.

Start with the license category, not the download button

FONT Repo groups its library by license type, and those labels mean different things:

The practical rule: a font sitting in "Free for personal use," "Demo," or "Shareware" is not automatically safe for client work, product packaging, or ad campaigns just because it downloaded without a paywall. FONT Repo's homepage promotes "free fonts for commercial use," but that claim applies to the fonts that are actually licensed that way — not to every file on the site.

Check the font's own page and the Licensing page

The category gives you a first filter; the individual font entry is where the real terms live. Open the font's page and look for the license statement or a link to the designer's terms. Then cross-check against FONT Repo's Licensing page, which the site links in its footer alongside Sources and Contact Us. The Licensing page explains how the site classifies licenses; the Sources page tells you where fonts come from, which matters when a font's origin affects its terms.

If the font page and the category disagree, or the license is simply missing, treat the font as not cleared until you can confirm it. A missing license is not permission.

Match the license to your actual use

Write down what you're doing with the font before you decide, because "commercial" is broader than many people assume:

• Website or app UI — embedding counts as use; check whether webfont embedding is allowed.
• Client deliverables — logos, branding, packaging, and templates usually count as commercial.
• Printed or digital products for sale — merchandise, ebooks, course materials.
• Marketing assets — social posts, ads, email templates.
• Embedding in software or documents — some licenses restrict redistribution inside a product.

For each of these, the question is whether the font's license explicitly permits it. "Free for personal use" covers a school project, not a paid client logo. "Demo" fonts are typically for previewing a typeface, not for shipping.

Keep a license record

Save the evidence while you still have it: the font name, the download date, the license category shown on FONT Repo, a screenshot or PDF of the font's license page, and the designer or source credited on the Sources page. If a client or platform later asks you to prove the font is licensed, this record is what you produce. It also protects you if a font's listing changes later.

A quick pre-use checklist

1. Note the font's license category on FONT Repo.
2. Open the font's page and read its specific license terms.
3. Check FONT Repo's Licensing page for how that category is defined.
4. Confirm the license covers your exact use (commercial, embedding, redistribution).
5. If anything is unclear or missing, don't use it — find a font with a clear OFL, GPL, public domain, or explicit commercial license.
6. Save the license details and source for your records.

The one-line version: FONT Repo is a large index of fonts under mixed licenses, so the download itself proves nothing — the license attached to that specific font, checked against your specific use, is what determines whether you can use it.