FontCreator vs Shift
FontCreator
fontcreator.comShift
shift.graphicsSide by side
| Figure | FontCreator | Shift |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Font Design Software | 8.2 (#7) | 7.4 (#25) |
| Support | High-Logic directs users to its support page and customer support, and recommends its forum for technical issues, where it says questions are usually answered within a couple of hours. | The Help menu includes Report a Problem, Show Logs, and Feedback, and the maker lists [email protected] for direct email. |
| Supported systems | FontCreator runs on 64-bit Windows 7, 8, 10, or 11 and macOS 11 or later on Apple Silicon or Intel. | The maker lists macOS, Windows, and Linux as supported platforms. |
| Variable fonts | Both editions support variable fonts with one axis, while two or more axes are a Professional feature. | Users can inspect and edit authored sources and settings such as axes, sources, mappings, style labels, and named instances. |
Plans
FontCreator
- FontCreator 16 Essentials$49, paid once
- FontCreator 16 Professional$199, paid once
In their own words
FontCreator
FontCreator has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
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.