40 Free Serif Fonts for Digital Designers

Having an arsenal of quality fonts is essential for web and graphic designers. In this post, we’ll feature 40 free serif fonts made for web and graphic design projects. Browse through these featured fonts and click on any of the thumbnails to be led to the font source for download.

As always when you are using freebies, be sure to check the terms and conditions to verify what types of projects it can be used for.

The word “Serif” relates to the font’s styling. Serif is the term used for an additional line attached to the end of text or stroke that enhances the style of font in a unique way. The small styling or unique line sketched at the end of the text is an indication of a serif font.

Serif fonts are easy to read on-screen and all types of other formats. Unlike, serif fonts, sans fonts, do not have any styling or enhanced flourishing at the end of each character. Writers and artists have different views on the types of fonts but there is not much difference in both of them as far as readability is concerned. Here is the list of the most common and widely used serif fonts.

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Free Serif Fonts

Didonesque Roman

Didonesque is a gorgeous serif font family that includes16 different fonts. One of those fonts, Didonesque Roman, is available for free.

Calluna Regular

When you’re looking for a beautiful serif font, Calluna is a great choice. There are a total of eight fonts in the family and Calluna Regular can be downloaded for free.

Fanwood Regular and Italic

Fanwood Regular and Italic can both be downloaded for free. You may find that this stylish font becomes one of your go-to fonts.

Corda Light

Corda has 10 different fonts in the family. One of those fonts, Corda Light, can be downloaded for free.If you’re looking for a lightweight serif font, it’s an excellent option.

Vollkorn

Vollkorn is a beautiful font family with 8 variations that can be downloaded for free. This includes Regular, Semibold, Bold, and Black, with Italic versions of each.

Ashbury Light

Ashbury is a beautiful font family that includes 10 different styles. Ashbury Light is available as a free download.

Alegreya

Alegreya is a very popular serif font with 12 variations available for free, giving you lots of choices to find the right fit for your needs.

Cardillac Light

Cardillac includes 14 different styles and one of them, Cardillac Light, can be downloaded for free.

Ethos Regular and Italic

Ethos is a family with a total of 36 fonts. Two of those fonts, Ethos Regular and Ethos Italic, can be downloaded for free.

Fnord 23

Fnord is a display serif font that comes in 23 different styles. One of those styles, Fnord 23 (which is a lightweight serif) is available for free.

Merriweather

Merriweather offers eight different styles for free download, from Light to Ultra Bold.

Sina Nova Regular

Sina Nova has a total of 12 different styles in the font family and Sina Nova Regular is available for free.

Borgia Pro

Borgia Pro offers four different variations for free: Regular and Bold with Italic versions of each.

Cabrito Didone Regular

Cabrito Didone is a very attractive serif font that includes 42 variations. Cabrito Didone Regular is available as a free download.

Baskerville Old Serial Regular

Baskerville Old Serial offers seven different styles, with Baskerville Old Serial Regular being available for free download.

Toledo Serial Regular

There are 14 fonts in the Toledo Serial family and one of them, Toldeo Serial Regular, is available for free.

Verona Serial Regular

There are seven different fonts in the Verona Serial family, and Verona Serial Regular can be downloaded for free. This font has a unique look while still fitting in the mold with what you would expect from a quality serif font.

Marbach Light

There are 14 variations in the Marbach family. Marbach Light is available for free.

Capita Light

The Capita font family includes a total of 12 fonts. Capita Light is a beautiful serif font that you can download for free.

Droid Serif

Droid Serif Regular and Bold are free, as well as Italic versions of each.

Cardo

Cardo Regular, Bold, and Italic are all offered as free downloads

Afta Serif

Afta Serif Regular and Italic are both available for free. While this is a somewhat standard serif font, there are some letters (like the lowercase “k”) that are more unusual.

Judson

Judson Medium, Bold, and Italic are all available for free.

Apple Garamond

There are six varieties of Apple Garamond that can be downloaded for free (Light, Regular, and Bold with Italic versions of each).

Bodoni XT

Bodonit XT can be downloaded for free. There are no license details provided (to indicate if it can be used for commercial projects or only for personal use).

Charpentier Renaissance Pro

Charpentier Renaissance Pro offers four variations for free download, however, the free versions are somewhat limited. The free version does not include punctuation, numbers, or ligatures.

Crimson

Crimson comes in six varieties that can be downloaded for free (Regular, Semibold, and Bold, with Italic versions of each).

DejaVu Serif

DejaVu Serif and DejaVu Serif Condensed can be downloaded for free, with four versions of each.

Devroye

Devroye is a serif font that has a different look from many of the other fonts on this list. There are 4 variations of Devroye that can be downloaded for free.

Espinosa Nova

Espinosa Nova Regular can be downloaded for free and this is an elegant font that offers wide possibilities for use in your own work.

Galatia SIL

Galatia SIL Regular and Bold can be downloaded for free.

Goudy Bookletter 1911

Goudy Bookletter 1911 is a public domain font based on Kennerly Old Style.

Sling

Sling Light, Normal, and Bold are available for free. If you’re looking for a beautiful bold serif font, this can be an excellent choice.

Andada

There are eight different variations of Andada that are available for free download.

Ashbury Light

Ashbury is a nice serif font, with the Light version being available for download.

Cambo

Cambo Regular is a nice free serif font.

Gandhi Serif

You can download Gandhi Serif Regular and Bold, plus Italic versions of each.

Luxi Serif

There are four variations of Luxi Serif that can be downloaded for free (Regular and Bold, plus Oblique versions of each).

Theano Modern

Theano Modern Regular can be downloaded for free.

Prociono

Prociono Regular is a public domain font.

Conclusion:

As a designer, you’ll need access to a lot of different types of fonts, and serif fonts will be among the most commonly-used fonts in your arsenal. While there are plenty of outstanding options out there, the cost can get pretty significant if you’re buying a lot of fonts. This collection of free serif fonts should help you to find several that you can use on a regular basis without the need to purchase premium fonts.

For more fonts, please see these collections: