Times New Roman Alternatives: Free and Paid
If you need a Times New Roman alternative, the right pick depends on whether you want an exact substitute or just a similar serif that reads better on screen. Times New Roman is a transitional serif designed in 1931 for newspaper column widths, which is why it looks cramped and dated in many modern contexts. The fonts below range from pixel-for-pixel metric clones to fresh serifs built for digital text — and most of them are completely free.
Why use a Times New Roman alternative?
Times New Roman is licensed by Monotype and bundled with Microsoft products, so it is not freely redistributable in web and app projects. It was also engineered for narrow print columns at small sizes, giving it tight spacing and thin strokes that can look weak on screens. A good alternative either matches its metrics exactly — useful when a teacher, court, or journal mandates “12pt Times New Roman, double-spaced” — or improves on its readability while keeping a familiar, formal tone. For the wider serif landscape, see our guide to the best serif fonts, and read the font licensing guide before shipping any font on a website.
Best free Times New Roman alternatives
Tinos (free, metric-compatible)
Tinos is the closest free Times New Roman alternative there is. Commissioned by Google and available on Google Fonts, it is metric-compatible with Times New Roman, meaning identical character widths and line breaks. Swap it in and a 10-page paper stays 10 pages. It is the safest choice when an institution requires Times metrics but you need an open-source, embeddable file.
Liberation Serif (free, metric-compatible)
Liberation Serif is the metric-compatible serif shipped with LibreOffice and many Linux distributions. Like Tinos, it matches Times New Roman’s widths almost exactly, so documents convert cleanly between Microsoft Office and open-source suites. It is the standard substitute on Linux when a .docx asks for Times New Roman.
PT Serif (free)
PT Serif is a free Google Fonts family with a slightly larger x-height and sturdier strokes than Times. It reads noticeably better at small sizes on screen while keeping a conservative, formal voice. Use it for blog body text, reports, and documents where you want Times’ seriousness without its frailty.
Source Serif 4 (free)
Source Serif 4 is Adobe’s open-source serif (SIL Open Font License) with a full range of weights and a clean, transitional structure. It feels more contemporary than Times and pairs well with Source Sans for a complete document system. Excellent for long-form reading and editorial layouts.
Noto Serif (free)
Noto Serif is Google’s universal serif, built to cover hundreds of languages with consistent design. If your Times New Roman document needs multilingual support — accents, Cyrillic, Greek — Noto Serif is the most reliable free choice. It is well-hinted and renders crisply across operating systems.
Lora (free)
Lora is a free, well-balanced serif with moderate contrast and calligraphic roots. It is warmer and friendlier than Times, making it a strong pick for body text in blogs, magazines, and brand sites that want gravitas without stuffiness.
Georgia (system font)
Georgia ships on virtually every computer and phone, so it is effectively free and universally available. It was designed for screens, with a tall x-height and robust strokes that hold up far better than Times at small sizes. As a zero-cost, zero-download swap, it is the pragmatic default — see how it stacks up in our Georgia vs Times New Roman comparison.
Best paid Times New Roman alternatives
If you have a budget and want a refined, professionally hinted serif, a few paid families improve on Times for publishing. Times Ten and Times Eighteen (Linotype) are optical-size cuts of Times tuned for small and large text respectively. Plantin (Monotype) is the historical model Times was based on and reads with more warmth. Miller (Font Bureau) is a modern Scotch serif favored by newspapers and magazines that want Times’ authority with sharper detailing. For most users, though, the free options above are more than sufficient.
How to choose a Times New Roman alternative
Start with the requirement. If a document mandates Times New Roman metrics — a legal brief, an academic submission, a page-limited essay — use Tinos or Liberation Serif so nothing reflows. If you are designing for the web or an app and want better on-screen readability, choose PT Serif, Source Serif 4, or Georgia. For multilingual work, pick Noto Serif. And always confirm the license before embedding: every free font listed here uses the SIL Open Font License, which permits web and commercial use. Need a pairing partner? Browse our Garamond alternatives for a contrasting display serif, or our Baskerville alternatives for a higher-contrast option.
Times New Roman alternatives compared
| Alternative | Free/Paid | Best for | How it compares |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tinos | Free | Exact drop-in swap | Metric-compatible; identical widths |
| Liberation Serif | Free | LibreOffice / Linux docs | Metric-compatible; near-identical |
| PT Serif | Free | Screen body text | Larger x-height, more readable |
| Source Serif 4 | Free | Editorial / long-form | More modern, multi-weight |
| Noto Serif | Free | Multilingual documents | Huge language coverage |
| Lora | Free | Blogs and brand sites | Warmer, friendlier serif |
| Georgia | System | Universal, no download | Built for screens; sturdier |
| Plantin / Miller | Paid | Professional publishing | Refined, optically tuned |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the closest free font to Times New Roman?
Tinos and Liberation Serif are the closest free fonts to Times New Roman because both are metric-compatible — their character widths match Times exactly, so text occupies the same space and line breaks stay identical. Tinos is on Google Fonts; Liberation Serif ships with LibreOffice. Either works as a true drop-in replacement.
Is Times New Roman free to use?
Times New Roman is bundled with Microsoft and Apple software for personal and office use, but it is licensed by Monotype and is not free to embed in websites or apps. For redistributable projects, use an open-licensed alternative like Tinos, Liberation Serif, or PT Serif, all of which use the SIL Open Font License.
What font looks like Times New Roman but reads better on screen?
Georgia and PT Serif look similarly formal but read better on screen than Times New Roman. Both have taller x-heights and heavier strokes that survive low-resolution rendering, where Times’ thin hairlines tend to break up. Georgia is pre-installed on most devices, making it the easiest no-download swap.
Can I use Tinos instead of Times New Roman for a school paper?
Yes. Because Tinos is metric-compatible with Times New Roman, a paper set in Tinos has the same page count and line breaks. Visually it is nearly indistinguishable. However, if your instructor’s software substitutes the font automatically, set the document in actual Times New Roman to avoid confusion.
Which Times New Roman alternative is best for a website?
For websites, PT Serif, Source Serif 4, and Lora are the best Times New Roman alternatives. They are free under the SIL Open Font License, optimized for screen rendering, and available on Google Fonts for fast, self-hostable delivery — all things Times New Roman is not built or licensed for.
