Georgia vs Times New Roman Compared
The Georgia vs Times New Roman debate is a clean case study in how a font’s original medium shapes its strengths. Both are serif faces installed on nearly every computer, and both are common defaults, yet they were engineered for opposite environments more than sixty years apart. Knowing which was built for the screen and which for the page settles most of the argument.
For the underlying method we use to judge typefaces, see our pillar on how to compare fonts.
Georgia vs Times New Roman at a glance
| Attribute | Georgia | Times New Roman |
|---|---|---|
| Classification | Transitional serif (screen-optimised) | Old-style / transitional serif (print) |
| Designer / year | Matthew Carter, 1993 | Stanley Morison & Victor Lardent, 1932 |
| Designed for | On-screen reading | Newspaper printing (The Times of London) |
| x-height | Large | Smaller, more compact |
| Best use | Websites, screens, long-form digital text | Print, academic and formal documents |
| Free / paid | System font; not freely licensed | System font; not freely licensed |
| Where to get | Bundled with Windows and macOS | Bundled with Windows and macOS |
What were these fonts designed to do?
Times New Roman was commissioned by The Times of London and released in 1932, drawn under Stanley Morison with Victor Lardent. Its job was to pack legible text into narrow newspaper columns and survive high-speed printing, so it is relatively condensed with fine, contrasting strokes. It became the world’s most familiar serif partly because Microsoft bundled it for decades.
Georgia was designed by Matthew Carter and released by Microsoft in 1993, expressly for reading on low-resolution screens. Carter gave it a large x-height, sturdier strokes, and more open spacing so it would hold up at small sizes on the displays of the era. The result is a serif that feels comfortable and warm on a monitor where Times New Roman can look spindly.
Which reads better on screen?
Georgia, decisively. Its larger x-height makes letters appear bigger at the same point size, and its heavier strokes resist the thinning and blurring that screens cause. Times New Roman’s compact proportions and high stroke contrast were tuned for ink on paper, so at typical web sizes its thin strokes can look fragile and its smaller x-height reduces legibility. If your text lives on a screen, Georgia is the better serif of the two. The same x-height logic explains why screen-designed fonts generally beat repurposed print fonts online, a theme in our best serif fonts roundup. It is the same principle that decides the sans serif version of this debate in our Calibri vs Arial comparison.
Which reads better in print?
Times New Roman holds its own and often wins in print. High-resolution printing renders its fine strokes and tighter spacing accurately, and its compactness fits more words per page, which is exactly why it remains a standard for academic papers, legal documents, and formal correspondence. Georgia also prints well, but its larger, more spacious design uses more space and reads as slightly less formal. For dense, traditional print documents, Times New Roman is the conventional and effective choice. There is also a perception factor: because Times New Roman is so strongly associated with formal printed paperwork, setting a printed report in it signals seriousness in a way a screen-first face does not, which is part of why institutions keep specifying it.
How do their letterforms and figures differ?
Beyond x-height, two details separate them at a glance. First, stroke contrast: Times New Roman has high contrast between thick and thin strokes, a refined look that prints beautifully but thins out on screen, while Georgia keeps its contrast lower and its thin strokes heavier so they survive digital rendering. Second, figures: Georgia uses old-style (text) numerals that rise and descend like lowercase letters, giving running text and dates a softer, more elegant flow, whereas Times New Roman uses lining figures that sit uniformly at cap height, which reads as more formal and tabular. Georgia’s serifs are also slightly chunkier and more bracketed, reinforcing its sturdy, screen-friendly feel, while Times New Roman’s are finer and sharper in keeping with its newspaper heritage. These choices are not cosmetic; they are the direct result of designing for pixels versus designing for ink.
Which should you choose?
- Choose Georgia for websites, blog body text, ebooks, and any long-form reading on a screen. Its screen-first design is the whole point.
- Choose Times New Roman for printed reports, academic submissions that require it, and formal documents where its familiarity and compactness are assets.
- Consider neither for the web at scale. Both are system fonts you cannot freely embed. For controllable web typography, an openly licensed serif is safer; see serif vs sans serif for how to slot a serif into a digital design.
Are Georgia and Times New Roman free?
Both ship pre-installed on Windows and macOS, so they are available to most users, but neither is openly licensed for redistribution or web embedding. Referencing them in CSS relies on the visitor already having the font. For a website you control, an openly licensed alternative is the dependable route, as we explain in the font licensing guide. Once you have a body serif, pair it with a complementary sans using our font pairing guide. Free, openly licensed serifs designed for screens, such as Source Serif or Lora, give you Georgia-like comfort with full web embedding rights, and they let you control the exact rendering rather than depending on whatever the visitor’s device happens to have installed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Georgia better than Times New Roman?
For on-screen reading, yes. Georgia was designed in 1993 specifically for screens, with a larger x-height and sturdier strokes. Times New Roman was designed in 1932 for print and reads better on paper. Neither is universally better; it depends on whether your text is digital or printed.
Why is Georgia easier to read on screen?
Georgia has a large x-height and thicker, lower-contrast strokes that stay crisp on low and standard-resolution displays. These traits were engineered for screen rendering, whereas Times New Roman’s fine, high-contrast strokes were optimised for high-resolution print and can look thin on screens.
Is Times New Roman still used for academic papers?
Yes. Times New Roman, usually at 12 point, remains a default requirement for many academic, legal, and formal documents because it is familiar, compact, and prints cleanly. Its long association with serious printed text keeps it the conventional choice in those contexts.
Can I use Georgia or Times New Roman on a website?
You can reference them in CSS, but neither is openly licensed for web embedding, so you rely on visitors already having the font installed. For reliable, legal web typography, choose an openly licensed serif such as a suitable Google Font instead.
What kind of font is Georgia?
Georgia is a transitional serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter and released by Microsoft in 1993. It was created specifically for on-screen legibility, featuring a large x-height, sturdy strokes, and old-style figures, which give it a warm, readable character on digital displays.
