The article was written in 2009, and since then much has changed, including some alternative fonts for programming, for example, Anonymous Pro .

As a developer and a real geek in the field of typography, if we are talking about a font that I have to stare at all day, then I will choose very carefully. When I recently noticed that my friend uses a rather plain-looking font for the console and in the code editor (it’s too terrible to mention here), my jaw dropped open and my heart stopped beating for a second, and I realized that it was time for me to write this article.

I am laying out a list of ten monospaced fonts, ready to use. Some of them come with modern operating systems, but most can be downloaded for free from the Internet. Individuals, including Consolas, are part of commercial software.

A note on font smoothing (anti-aliasing)

In the past, you had to choose either a small mono-font or jagged edges. But modern operating systems do an excellent job of anti-aliasing, so monospaced headsets look good with any size. It's not 1990 anymore, so give your tired eyes a break and increase the font size.

If you still have any doubts that smoothed fonts are suitable for coding, please note that even the esteemed BBEdit, which for many years has been supplied as a default in the smoothed Monaco 9 set, jumped off the train. The application now comes bundled with Ascender’s specially licensed version of Consolas, oversized, with default anti-aliasing. Panicalso contains a special smooth font (Panic Sans, which is actually just a version of Deja Vu Sans Mono) in its popular Coda app .

Unless otherwise stated, for illustration here I used a size of 15 pt with anti-aliasing enabled to demonstrate its suitability on large sizes.

10. Courier

All operating systems come with some modification of Courier (often referred to as Courier New). Unfortunately, many have chosen this font for the console and editor. He does his job, but at the same time is dull and boring, suffers from a lack of style and gloss. I do not recommend this font if you have at least some alternative - and, fortunately, you have one. If you still use it, then at least increase the size and enable anti-aliasing.


_{Courier new}

9. Andale Mono

A little better than the Courier family, the Andale Mono font also falls into the default category, since it comes with some systems. It is unlikely that you would want to download and use it if it had not already been installed. For my taste, the letter spacing is clumsy, and the letters are too wide.


_{9. Andale Mono}

8. Monaco

Monaco is the default monospace font on Mac since System 6 . He is completely solid, a good workhorse that really looks great with a small size with anti-aliasing turned off. I used to like this font, when my eyes could look at a point size of 9 points for several hours, but those days are gone. This font looks good at 9 or 10 points, but not very happy with larger sizes with anti-aliasing.

As far as I know, you can get Monaco only with Mac OS, but there are other options, so read on.


<sub>Monaco


Monaco 9 points, no smoothing</sub>

7. Profont

Profont is modeled after Monaco and is available for Mac, Windows and Linux (there is also a modified version for Mac OS X called ProFontX from another author). They look best on a small size and represent an excellent alternative to Monaco if you are not working on a Mac. Profont and ProFontX are designed for use at 9 pips with anti-aliasing turned off.


_{Profont 9 points, no smoothing}

6. Monofur

Monofur is a unique monospaced font that looks great on any size with anti-aliasing. This is a pretty funny font with individual outlines that vaguely resemble the Sun OPEN LOOK GUI , which worked on Solaris (SunOS) systems in the late 80s. If you're looking for something special, try this font, but be sure to turn on anti-aliasing even on a small size.


_Monofur

5. Proggy

Proggy is a clean, monospaced font. It seems to be especially preferred by Windows users, although it works fine on Macs as well. This is a clear font that should only be used on small sizes without anti-aliasing.


_{Proggy Clean 15 points (yes, 15 points), no smoothing}

4. Droid Sans Mono

The Droid family (available for download here ) is specifically designed for use on small screens of smartphones such as Android, and is published under the Apache license.

Droid Sans Mono is great for programming. It is made with a special taste and stands out among the rest of the monospaced fonts on this list, but it has the only major flaw - the zero strikethrough. The version with the corrected zero here - approx. trans.


_{Droid sans mono}

3. Deja Vu Sans Mono

The Deja Vu family is one of my favorite free headsets based on the gorgeous Vera Font . The Deja Vu fonts are complemented by a wide range of characters, while maintaining the familiar look of Vera.

I used this headset for many years. It looks great at any size with anti-aliasing turned on.

Panic ships with its Coda application a font called Panic Sans, which is based on this font. Gruber told me in a letter that when comparing Panic Sans and Vera, the former has “noticeably sharper punctuation marks,” and it looks like they also improved the hinting of some characters.


_{Deja Vu Sans Mono}

2. Consolas

Consolas unexpectedly appeared on my poppy when I installed Microsoft Office, and with it a whole new set of new fonts from Microsoft.

This font was created by Lucas de Groot specifically for Microsoft ClearType ( here is a great description with examples of all the new Microsoft fonts). Consolas is a commercial font, but it comes with many Microsoft products, and it is highly likely that it is already installed on your system.

You are strongly advised to enable anti-aliasing for Consolas, because otherwise it looks awful.

It is unfortunate that the font is not free, otherwise it would have deserved the first place in this list.


_Consolas

1. Inconsolata

Inconsolata is my favorite monospace font, and it's free. When I discovered it, I immediately replaced Deja Vu Sans Mono as a working font for programming. I use it generally everywhere, from console windows to code editors. It has an almost impeccable and at the same time original style, and it looks fantastic on both large and small sizes. I use this headset, demonstrating code in presentations, and also in the console and TextMate windows for PeepCode screencasts . The font does not support the Cyrillic alphabet - approx. trans.

Inconsolata is designed for use with anti-aliasing, but it is surprisingly crisp on the smallest size. Many thanks to Rafa Levin (Raph Levien) for the creation of this text and for the fact that it is free.


_Inconsolata