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About this tool
Check what a desktop, webfont, app, ePub, server, broadcast or open font licence actually permits before you ship.
The Font Licence Usage Explainer maps a set of intended uses against the licence family you actually bought — desktop, webfont, app, ePub, server, broadcast, SIL Open Font Licence 1.1 or Apache 2.0 — and marks each use as covered, dependent on the exact EULA wording, or needing a separate licence. Commercial type is licensed per channel, so a desktop seat that lets a designer set a poster does not let you serve the same file with @font-face or ship it inside an app binary. It is aimed at designers, marketers and developers who need to know what to buy before a font file leaves the design team.
Open Font Licence Usage Explainer on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Add your input to the workspace.
Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Shows the desktop, web, app, ePub, server and broadcast split that commercial EULAs are built around.
Separates the clauses that genuinely vary between foundries from the ones no licence permits.
Compares the workstations, pageviews or titles you licensed against what the project actually needs.
No. A desktop licence permits installing the font on a stated number of workstations for design work; serving it with @font-face needs a separate webfont licence, which foundries meter by monthly pageviews and tie to named domains. Using desktop files as webfonts is one of the most common licence breaches.
Usually yes — most desktop EULAs allow converting glyphs to outlines for a logo — but several foundries require an extended or logo licence once company turnover crosses a stated threshold, and a few exclude trade-mark registration entirely. Read the logo clause before filing.
The OFL 1.1 permits use, study, modification and redistribution for any purpose including commercial, on three conditions: the font cannot be sold on its own, a Reserved Font Name must be changed in any derivative, and derivatives stay under the OFL. Bundling an OFL font inside a paid product is fine.
Sending one copy to a service bureau purely to output your job is allowed by most EULAs, on condition the file is deleted afterwards. A freelancer who designs with the font is a user and needs a seat of their own; no licence lets you pass the file on generally. This is informational guidance, not legal advice — check your EULA or ask the foundry in writing.