Frequently Asked Questions About Adobe Fonts & Adobe Creative Cloud

What happened to Typekit? Is Adobe Fonts the same thing?

Typekit was initially launched as an independent webfont service in 2009 and later purchased by Adobe in 2011. In October of 2018, Adobe announced that Typekit was officially being renamed to Adobe Fonts, with the goal being to more fully integrate Typekit into their Creative Cloud subscription offering.

With the name change came numerous enhancements to the service. There are no longer any desktop sync limits, all fonts are now available for both web and desktop use, and there are no longer any pageview limits for using webfonts on websites. Anyone with a paid Creative Cloud subscription now gets complete access to the entire Adobe Fonts library without any restrictions or limits.

All previous standalone Typekit plans were retired. Customers who had a Typekit plan, but not a Creative Cloud plan, were contacted by email with instructions on how to move forward.

As a longtime Typekit customer, I found the name change a little weird at first. But I imagine most new users of the service are coming from other Adobe products, so from that perspective, the Adobe Fonts branding makes more sense. Despite the official name change, the main navigation on the Adobe Fonts website still confusingly uses the language Typekit Web Fonts. I imagine they may change this in the future.

Are all fonts on Adobe Fonts available for both web and desktop use?

Yes. Previously, there were “web-only” fonts available on Typekit that did not allow use inside desktop applications. Now with Adobe Fonts, all fonts can be used on both the web and desktop.

Are there any desktop sync limits with Adobe Fonts?

Not anymore. Previously, Typekit limited the number of desktop fonts users were able to have synced at one time (although it was possible to go over that limit without any repercussions). Now with Adobe Fonts, users are able to sync as many fonts concurrently as they would like.

Are there any pageview restrictions with Adobe Fonts?

Not anymore. Previously, Typekit had different plans that each allowed a maximum number of monthly pageviews. If you had a website with higher traffic, you would need to upgrade to a more expensive tier that offered more pageviews. Now with Adobe Fonts, there is just a single plan that comes with all Creative Cloud subscriptions, and this plan allows unlimited pageviews.

Are the fonts on Adobe Fonts available for both personal and commercial use?

Yes. All fonts available on Adobe Fonts are cleared for both personal and commercial use.

What are some of your favorite foundries that have offerings available on Adobe Fonts?

Here are some of my favorites: Adobe Originals, Dalton Maag, Darden Studio, Emigre, exljbris Font Foundry, OH no Type Co, FontFont, Fort Foundry, Mark Simonson Studio, Monotype, Production Type, The Northern Block and TypeTogether.

Do you have any favorite blackletter fonts that are available on Adobe Fonts?

Check out Amador, Eskapade and Blonde Fraktur for some nice typefaces in the blackletter (sometimes referred to as Fraktur or Old English) style.

How should I pair the fonts in this list? Do you have any tips or any favorite combinations?

There are many superfamilies available on Adobe Fonts that make pairing easy. For example, Adelle + Adelle Sans, Calluna + Calluna Sans, Questa + Questa Sans, FF Meta + FF Meta Serif, FF Scala + FF Scala Sans, FF Tisa + FF Tisa Sans and Freight Text + Freight Sans.

You can also check out my Type Pairing Lookbooks for hand-selected palettes of typeface pairings. Each lookbook includes three pairing palettes available on Adobe Fonts.

Is there a way to browse Typewolf to only see fonts that are available on Adobe Fonts?

If you purchase my PDF guide Typewolf’s Guide to Adobe Fonts, it gives you access to a special section on Typewolf that lets you browse the site in “Adobe Fonts mode” to only see designs using fonts available on the service.

What’s the difference between Adobe Fonts and Google Fonts?

Google Fonts is Google’s free webfont hosting service. Everything available on Google Fonts is 100% free and open-source. Adobe Fonts, on the other hand, is made up of (mostly) commercial fonts and is only available to Adobe customers with a Creative Cloud subscription.

The quality and selection on Adobe Fonts is much better, which you would expect from a paid service. Many fonts available on Google Fonts contain a limited number of styles and lack the features you would need in a professional font. And oftentimes (although definitely not always), fonts on Google Fonts are designed by new or inexperienced type designers.

For projects without a very big budget, Google Fonts is a fine option. However, if you have the budget you will generally get better results using Adobe Fonts. Their library is much deeper, so you will be able to have type that is much more distinctive than what you would get using Google Fonts, which can tend to feel generic and overused.

Can I get Adobe Fonts without a Creative Cloud subscription?

Unfortunately not. After Adobe renamed Typekit to Adobe Fonts, all standalone Typekit plans were retired. You now need a Creative Cloud subscription to access the service.

Does the Creative Cloud Photography Plan include Adobe Fonts?

Yes. The Creative Cloud Photography Plan is about $10/month, so it’s an inexpensive option to get access to the entire Adobe Fonts library without having to pay for a more expensive subscription that includes the complete collection of Adobe apps. Considering the quality and selection of fonts that come with Adobe Fonts, I think the price is worth it alone even if you don’t plan on using any of the photography apps that come with it.