Font hosting is a problem when we are not using free fonts such as Google fonts. While Google fonts is great, some of them don’t display well in different browser types. This is when we need to use font hosting for non Google fonts. Currently, there are not that many font hosting services in the market. The alternative to these services is self hosting. If you want to go this route, I have also included some free software tools to help you self host your fonts.

 

#1: Typekit

Typekit is one of the most famous service since they are owned by Adobe. It is pretty dependable and has been highly used. It also has the largest font library currently. In the event that you are unaware of this, do check them out. The good news is that it is a very cheap service ($8 per month). So much so that it feels like free 🙂

 

#2: H&co font

H&co font is another solid font hosting service. It uses cloud hosting infrastructure which tend to minimize any service disruption. They also have a large library of fonts to use.

 

#3: @Font-face

Font face is relatively new when compared to the 2 but it has an extensive library. The best part is that the fonts are free to used as it is trying to work a creative comms type of agreement with the font owners.

 

#4: Fontspring

Fontspring has a nice desktop license for its fonts which is suitable for small projects. For larger one, there is also the typical licensing agreement that you can purchase.

 

#5: Typefont

Fonttype is another established service that helps you to host your fonts. It doesn’t have an extensive font library. You need to upload your own font and the service will take care of the hosting infrastructure for you.

 

#6: Weloveiconfonts

This is one of the free font hosting service that I have found. However, it hosts only icon fonts so this is what you are looking for, it is a great choice.

 

#7: Self hosting with font squirrel

A lot of the font hosting services mentioned above all use @font-face rules to change how the fonts will look in different browsers. If you want to self hosted your fonts, you will need a tool to do this @font-face rule declaration. This is where Font Squirrel comes in as it is free tool that helps you to do that. Very useful for self hosting.

 

#8: Self hosting with fontprep

Fontprep has some really great functions that will solve a lot of problems if you want to do self hosting for your fonts. For example, it can reformat your font to fit into what displayed is being used. Best of all, it is free to use.