A font sale is a license sale. Your buyer is often a designer working for a client or a company, and before paying they need three answers: will the files work in my tools, may I use the font for this job, and what does it cost for my team or my site? A font shop that answers those in under a minute makes the decision easy.
Font licensing: desktop, web and app
Licenses are where font pricing lives. These are the most common kinds, and the ways they’re commonly scaled:
| License | What it commonly covers | Commonly priced by |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop | Installing on computers to make print, graphics, logos and documents | Number of users or computers |
| Web | Embedding the files on websites with @font-face |
Number of sites or monthly pageviews |
| App | Embedding the files inside a mobile app, desktop app or game | Number of apps |
Some foundries also sell ebook, broadcast, or logo and trademark licenses. Start with the three above and add others when buyers ask for them.
This page isn’t legal advice. Your end-user license agreement (EULA) is what buyers are paying for, so write it carefully, have it reviewed, and include it in every download. Before you sell, make sure every glyph is yours or comes from a source whose license allows sale.
What files to include when you sell a typeface
| Format | Used for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| OTF | Desktop apps | Preferred by many designers; carries OpenType features |
| TTF | Desktop apps | Widest compatibility, including older software |
| WOFF2 | Websites, through @font-face |
Compressed for the web; the format to lead with |
| WOFF | Websites on older browsers | Optional fallback |
| Variable (TTF or WOFF2) | Desktop and web | One file covering a range of weights or widths |
Put the files in a ZIP with a folder per format, plus the EULA, a specimen PDF, and a readme with install steps, the character set and the languages the font supports. Test the files on Windows and macOS and in the main browsers before release.
How to sell fonts online from your own font shop
On ShopFast, make one product per family or per style and add each license as an option with its own price, named so the scope is obvious (“Web: 1 site”). Repeat what each option covers in the description, with the full EULA in the download. If you sell desktop licenses per seat, quantity deals can lower the price per seat when a studio buys several.
Group typefaces into categories (serif, sans, display, script) and collections, turn on storefront search (storefront search), and drag your best typefaces to the front. Your font shop lives at its own address on shopfa.st, and you can connect your own domain on a paid plan (see current plans). Building the store is covered in digital storefront.
Make a specimen that sells the font
Designers buy what they can picture in use. Your product images and specimen PDF should show:
- The font at work: a poster, an interface, packaging, a long paragraph of body text.
- Every weight and style, side by side.
- The full character set and the languages it covers.
- OpenType features such as ligatures, alternates and figure styles, shown on and off.
- Pairings with other typefaces, if you suggest any.
Mockups help, as long as you have the rights to the mockup files you use (digital art and assets covers mockup licenses). Product pages carry structured data with one offer per option, so search engines can read the price of each license (store SEO).
Price styles, families and bundles
Fonts are commonly sold as single styles and as whole families. Sell each style on its own and the family as a bundle, delivered as all its parts, for less than the styles would cost one by one. A launch discount code for your newsletter or followers brings early sales without fixing a low price for good. Price each license by its reach: a web license for one small site and an app license for a widely used app shouldn’t cost the same. More in how to price digital products.
Delivery, updates and leaks
When a payment confirms, the order page shows a private download link made for that order. The same link is in the receipt email and the buyer’s library, and you choose how long links work and how many downloads each order gets (automatic delivery for digital products).
Fonts get better after release: new weights, wider language support, kerning fixes. Post each release in Catalog → Updates with a changelog and the new files, and filter by option when an update only concerns one license, such as new web files (updates to owners).
Font files are easy to share once downloaded, and your license is the main protection. Watermarked downloads and a leak tracer are in early access, on request. A delivered font can’t be taken back after a refund, though a full refund stops its download links working.
Selling to studios and companies
Business buyers need paperwork. Set your legal name and address so checkout shows who the seller is, and see how invoices work for buyers who need them. Taxes on digital goods depend on where buyers are: with your own gateway, tax is yours to handle, and ShopFast lets you set a tax category per product (VAT on digital products). Make sure companies can pay the way they’re set up to pay, usually by card; compare options in payment methods for digital products.
Questions sellers ask
What's the difference between a desktop and a web font license?
A desktop license commonly covers installing the font on computers to make things with it: print, graphics, logos. A web license covers embedding the font files in websites with @font-face, often priced by sites or traffic. Your EULA defines both.
Which font formats should I include?
OTF or TTF for desktop use, WOFF2 for websites (with WOFF if you support older browsers), and variable font files if you've built them. Add a specimen PDF and the EULA to every download.
Can I sell a font based on an open-source font?
Read its license first. Fonts released under the SIL Open Font License, for example, can't be sold by themselves, and modified versions have to stay under that license. Only sell glyphs you drew or have the right to sell.
Can I sell a font family as a bundle?
Yes. Sell each style on its own and the full family as a bundle, which is delivered as all its parts. Buyers who need one weight buy that, and studios that need the whole family buy the bundle.
Can I send updated font files to people who bought?
Yes. Post an update in Catalog → Updates with the new files and a changelog, and choose which owners get it, for example only buyers of one license option. It goes out by email, Discord DM and Telegram.
How do I stop people sharing my fonts?
Once a font file is downloaded it can be copied, so your license does most of the work. Expiring links and download limits stop links being passed around, and watermarked downloads with a leak tracer are in early access on request.