FontLab 8 vs Shift
FontLab 8
fontlab.comShift
shift.graphicsSide by side
| Figure | FontLab 8 | Shift |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $9.08/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 1 |
| Spec score · Font Design Software | 8.1 (#9) | 7.4 (#25) |
| Import and export | It opens and exports OTF, TTF, variable and color OpenType, PostScript Type 1, WOFF, WOFF2, UFO, designSpace and Glyphs v2/v3 formats, among others. | Shift can save editable `.shift` documents and export TrueType fonts; compiled TTF and OTF sources remain view-only. |
| Support | The maker offers expert support with the Starter and Pro licenses and provides support through its support portal and email. | The Help menu includes Report a Problem, Show Logs, and Feedback, and the maker lists [email protected] for direct email. |
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
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.