FontBob vs Shift
FontBob
fontbob.comShift
shift.graphicsSide by side
| Figure | FontBob | Shift |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $7/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Spec score · Font Design Software | 9.3 (#2) | 7.4 (#25) |
| What it does | FontBob presents itself as a browser font editor intended to make type design accessible. | Shift is a free, open-source desktop font editor for designing variable fonts. |
Plans
In their own words
Shift
Shift is a free, open-source desktop font editor for designing variable fonts on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Version 0.1.1 is the first alpha release, and the maker says workflows and document details may change. The editor draws and edits straight and cubic curves, shapes, points, handles, side bearings, and advance width. Shape operations include moving, resizing, rotating, flipping, aligning, distributing, union, intersect, and subtract on closed contours. Users can inspect and edit variable-font axes, sources, mappings, style labels, and named instances. The glyph catalog uses Hyperglot language data to indicate required characters for selected languages and scripts. Shift opens `.shift` documents and inspects TTF, OTF, UFO, Designspace, Glyphs, and Glyphspackage sources. TTF and OTF files are view-only previews. Editable `.shift` files can be saved and TrueType fonts exported. Text proofing and complete spacing and kerning workflows are not yet available.