Calligraphr vs Fontra
Calligraphr
calligraphr.com
Fontra
fontra.xyzSide by side
| Figure | Calligraphr | Fontra |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £6/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 2 |
| Spec score · Font Design Software | 9.1 (#3) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Documentation | Official documentation includes three tutorials covering first fonts, randomized fonts and ligatures, plus a FAQ. | The documentation is organized into introductions, tutorials, how-tos, reference and explanations, and is licensed CC BY 4.0. |
| Integrations | Fonts can be installed on Windows or Mac and used in external programs such as MS Word or Adobe Illustrator; Google Docs does not support uploading custom fonts. | The project lists FontMake integration in Fontra Pak, fontc integration, experimental glyf1 export through fontra-compile, and an rcjk plugin for RoboCJK data or remote rcjk servers. |
| Maker | Calligraphr.com is provided by Maklabu GmbH. | Fontra is developed by Black[Foundry] and Just van Rossum with support from Google. |
| Support | The site directs users with problems to contact support through its contact form or by email. | The official site links to Fontra documentation, GitHub and a Fontra Discord server. |
Plans
Calligraphr
- FreeFree
- Pro six-month upgrade£6 a month
- Pro£8, paid once
- Pro£8 a month
In their own words
Calligraphr
Calligraphr turns handwriting or calligraphy into downloadable fonts. Users customize a character template, print and fill it, then scan or photograph the sheet and upload it. An image editor supports touch-ups, while controls adjust character height and spacing. Multiple character variants can be randomized to create more natural-looking handwriting. Fonts download as standard TTF or OTF files and continue working independently after download. The Free plan requires registration and allows unlimited fonts, one concurrent font, 75 characters per font, and two variants per character, with no ligatures. Pro costs £6 a month, billed per month for a 6 months upgrade; it allows 20 concurrent fonts, 600 characters per font, 15 variants per character, ligatures, browser and server storage, backup, and prioritized processing. Free data is stored in the browser and may be deleted after inactivity. Users may use creations commercially without crediting Calligraphr.
Fontra
Fontra is a free, open-source browser-based font editor designed around variable fonts. It was initially developed to make designing and producing large CJK fonts more efficient. Its architecture combines a JavaScript browser client and Python server, which can run locally or remotely. Fontra Pak bundles the application for desktop use and local file editing; a remote server setup allows real-time collaboration among users, with changes propagating across windows. The project supports reading and writing Designspace and UFO files, as well as reading and exporting TTF and OTF files, including variable fonts. Editing features include live text entry, designspace axis navigation, interpolation, OpenType features, outline editing, components, anchors, guidelines, background images, transformations, kerning, font metadata and variation-axis mapping. Fontra Pak has binaries for macOS 11 and newer, Windows 10 and newer, and Ubuntu x86_64. Linux users can also use Flatpak or Snap; source compilation is listed for other architectures such as ARM or PPC. The repository is licensed under GPL-3.0.