FontLab 8 vs Fontra
FontLab 8
fontlab.com
Fontra
fontra.xyzSide by side
| Figure | FontLab 8 | Fontra |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $9.08/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 2 |
| Spec score · Font Design Software | 8.1 (#9) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Integrations | The maker lists interchange with Glyphs, RoboFont, FontForge and Microsoft VOLT, plus Python 3 scripting and the TypeRig library. | 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. |
| Support | The maker offers expert support with the Starter and Pro licenses and provides support through its support portal and email. | The official site links to Fontra documentation, GitHub and a Fontra Discord server. |
Plans
FontLab 8
- Starter — 3-months license$97, paid once
- Workshop 2-weeks$99, paid once
- Student 1-year$109 a year
- Course 4-months$249, paid once
- Student / teacher lifetime$335, paid once
- Pro — Lifetime license$499, paid once
In their own words
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.