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HeyMadeFonts

HeyMadeFonts: an alternative to Google Fonts

What is different about HeyMadeFonts, how to switch an existing site to one of our families, and how to self-host instead.

Last reviewed 10 November 2026.

HeyMadeFonts is a free library of open-source fonts that you can use instead of Google Fonts. You can load the fonts from our CDN or host the files yourself. HeyMadeFonts is independent and not affiliated with Google.

What is different

  • Our own families. Every family is an original design by the HeyMadeFonts Foundry, not a copy of a Google Fonts family. Your text will look different after switching, so check your pages before you publish the change.
  • Open licence. All families use the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and are variable fonts with weights from 100 to 900 and italics.
  • No cookies. The CDN sets no cookies. The privacy notice describes what our servers log.
  • Familiar URL syntax. The CSS API uses the same css2 URL format. The developer documentation lists exactly which parameters are supported.

How to switch

Switching means two changes: the host, and the family name. Paste your current <head> or CSS into the switch tool. It suggests the closest family in our catalogue by style and writes the new URL. A link that loads Roboto, for example, becomes a link that loads Sandhavn:

HTML 
<!-- Before -->
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Roboto:wght@400;700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">

<!-- After -->
<link href="https://fonts.heymadefonts.com/css2?family=Sandhavn:wght@400;700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
  1. Replace the stylesheet link and change the family name in your CSS, for example font-family: 'Sandhavn', sans-serif;.
  2. Remove preconnect hints for fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com.
  3. Check the result with a website scan. Themes, plugins and embeds can load fonts on their own; on WordPress, follow the WordPress guide.

You can also pick a family yourself in the catalogue and copy the snippet from its font page.

Or self-host

Our CDN is still a third party. If you would rather have no font host at all, download the WOFF2 files or the ZIP from any font page and serve them from your own server. The self-hosting guide shows how.

When a browser loads a font from a third-party host, it connects to that host’s servers. The request transmits the visitor’s IP address and HTTP metadata, such as the browser’s user agent, the requested URL and, depending on the referrer policy, the address of the page, to whoever operates that host. Self-hosted fonts keep those requests on your own server.

Changing how your fonts load changes which third parties your visitors’ browsers contact. It does not by itself decide whether your website as a whole meets data protection requirements. This guide is not legal advice. For compliance questions, ask a qualified lawyer or your data protection officer.