Inconsolata
Inconsolata was Raph Levien's first serious original font release. It is a monospace font, designed for printed code listings and the like. There are a great many “programmer fonts,” designed primarily for use on the screen, but in most cases do not have the attention to detail for high resolution rendering. Inconsolata draws from many inspirations and sources. I was particularly struck by the beauty of Luc(as) de Groot's Consolas, which is his monospaced design for Microsoft's Vista release. This font, similar to his earlier TheSansMono, demonstrated clearly to me that monospaced fonts do not have to suck. The development of the Regular style by Raph Levien was started in 2006 using his own Spiro-based tools and FontForge. The Bold style was designed by Kirill Tkachev and the Cyreal foundry in 2012. Updated September 2015: Internal metadata corrected. Updated April 2020: Family has been upgraded to a variable font family. To contribute, see github.com/googlefonts/inconsolata .
- Classification
- Mono
- Foundry
- License
- free
- Source
- Get this font ↗
01Style templates
Inconsolata for the heading, Karla for the body.
02Suggested pairings
AaBbCc
0123456789
{(!@#$?&})
05Type scale
Waterfall · 64 → 16 pxDesign starts with a question.
Good letters carry the memory of the pen.
A soft serif with old-style warmth, drawn for display sizes and unhurried reading.
This typeface borrows the melting charm of phototype and rebuilds it, patiently, for the screen.
At text sizes the warmth settles into something quieter: open counters, a generous x-height, and forms that curve rather than cut. It reads like a well-worn paperback — familiar, unhurried, and slightly mischievous.
06Weights
8 styles07In context
Text settingsGood letters carry the memory of the pen.
The brief asked for warmth without nostalgia, and authority without sternness. Inconsolata answered both at once — a face that feels typeset by hand yet holds up at retinal resolutions. At this size it settles into an unhurried rhythm: generous spacing, open counters, and letterforms that carry tone before they announce themselves.
Small sizes are where display faces usually apologise for themselves. Inconsolata does not. Drop into text and the texture tightens into a competent, readable grey — open counters, a generous x-height, and forms that curve rather than cut. At text sizes the warmth settles into something quieter: familiar, unhurried, and slightly mischievous. It reads like a well-worn paperback, holding its voice across captions, footnotes, and long paragraphs without flattening into noise. Paired with a neutral grotesque for wayfinding and labels, it gives an identity system exactly one strong opinion — usually the right number — while the body keeps doing the quiet work underneath.
08Character set
Hover a glyph to inspect09About Inconsolata
Inconsolata was Raph Levien's first serious original font release. It is a monospace font, designed for printed code listings and the like. There are a great many “programmer fonts,” designed primarily for use on the screen, but in most cases do not have the attention to detail for high resolution rendering. Inconsolata draws from many inspirations and sources. I was particularly struck by the beauty of Luc(as) de Groot's Consolas, which is his monospaced design for Microsoft's Vista release. This font, similar to his earlier TheSansMono, demonstrated clearly to me that monospaced fonts do not have to suck. The development of the Regular style by Raph Levien was started in 2006 using his own Spiro-based tools and FontForge. The Bold style was designed by Kirill Tkachev and the Cyreal foundry in 2012. Updated September 2015: Internal metadata corrected. Updated April 2020: Family has been upgraded to a variable font family. To contribute, see github.com/googlefonts/inconsolata .