Font Guides
Font Licensing Explained: Can You Use a Font for Commercial Use?
Font licensing has a reputation for being confusing, but it really comes down to a few simple questions about how and where you use a font.
Buying a font is not quite like buying a T-shirt. You are not buying the font itself; you are buying permission to use it in certain ways. That permission is the licence, and reading it for one minute before you start a project can save you a very awkward email later.
Here is the plain-English version.
What "font commercial use" actually means
Commercial use means using the font in anything connected to making money. That includes obvious things like a product you sell, but also things people forget:
- a logo for your business or a client's business
- a website for a company, shop or freelancer
- social media graphics that promote a product or service
- YouTube thumbnails on a monetised channel
- packaging, flyers, menus and business cards
- designs you sell, like printables, templates or merch
If you are not sure, assume it is commercial. Personal use is genuinely personal: a birthday card for your mum, a school project, a poster for your own wall.
The three licence tiers we use
Different shops use different names, so always read the specific licence. At Vault Product we keep it to three tiers, explained in full on our licence page:
Personal
For one end product for yourself or one client, used non-commercially. Perfect for personal projects and trying a font out.
Commercial
For one end product that is sold or used commercially, for you or one client. This is the right choice for most business logos, a company website or a single product.
Extended
For unlimited end products for you and your clients. If you design for many clients, sell lots of different designs, or want to reuse the font across a whole product line, this is the tier built for that. The one thing no tier allows is reselling or sharing the font files themselves.
Desktop, web and app use
Font licences also care about where the font file lives:
- Desktop use: you install the font on your computer and use it in Photoshop, Canva, Figma, Illustrator or Word to create images and documents.
- Web use: the font file is uploaded to a website and loaded in visitors' browsers (usually as WOFF or WOFF2).
- App and ebook use: the font file is bundled inside software or an ebook.
Making an image with the font and uploading the image is desktop use. Uploading the font file itself so your website's text uses it is web use. Our fonts include web formats where listed on each product page, and the licence page explains what is covered.
Logos and trademarks
Using a font in your logo is normally fine with a commercial licence. What you cannot do is claim ownership of the font. Your trademark protects your logo as a whole, not the typeface inside it. If a logo is at the centre of a big brand, it is worth customising the letters a little so the mark is distinctly yours.
Print on demand and merch
T-shirts, mugs, stickers and posters you sell count as commercial end products. If you plan to sell many different designs with the same font, read our guide to fonts for print-on-demand and merch, which goes into the details.
Free fonts are not always free for business
Lots of "free" fonts online are free for personal use only. Others are open-source and genuinely free for commercial use. The only way to know is to read the licence that comes with the download. If it does not include a licence at all, treat it as personal use only.
A quick checklist before you start a project
- Is this project connected to a business or to making money? Then you need commercial rights.
- How many end products will use the font? One, or many?
- Will the font file go on a website or inside an app?
- Is it for you, or for a client?
Answer those four questions and the right licence is usually obvious. Every font in our font collection lets you choose the licence tier on the product page, so you only pay for what you need.