Making a TikTok with a third-party editing software but still want that authentic TikTok look? Getting the fonts right is key. So, what fonts does TikTok use?

In this article, we'll cover the five different fonts currently available in TikTok's text feature as well as royalty-free dupes you can use in any editing software.

What font does TikTok use?

TikTok uses a custom font called TikTok Sans, which the app introduced in May 2023. Previously, TikTok used a font called Classic which was just Proxima Nova with a different name.

In their press release, TikTok says they developed the TikTok Sans font in order to address the following:

• Spacing. TikTok Sans features larger and clearer strokes than their previous font, which makes letters easier to distinguish from each other at a glance.
• Readability. TikTok increased the line height and introduced larger lettering in its new font so that it's easier to read on mobile devices. TikTok says they developed a "special formula" to improve letter spacing of the font as well.
• Multi-language. The new TikTok font is now also available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Indonesian, Turkish, Vietnamese, though TikTok announced they plan to add more languages in the future.

That covers TikTok's official font, but there are other very popular fonts used across vides on the platform. Let's cover those next.

TikTok Font #1: Classic

As mentioned, the old default in the TikTok app is called Classic. Visually, it's a bit of a throwback font, especially with the rounded corner blocky backgrounds.

Even though it's reminiscent of the early TikTok era, circa 2020, this is still a pretty popular option on the app. The font used for the Classic TikTok font is Proxima Nova - Semibold. It's part of the Proxima Nova font family, which is free for personal use but not commercial use.

If you've already licensed Proxima Nova and have permission to use it, great. If not, you'll want a completely royalty-free font to cover all your bases. Montserrat or Montserrat Semibold are both great dupes for the Classic TikTok font.

Be sure to add that rounded corner text background to match the TikTok Classic look. You can do that with a video editing tool like Kapwing. You don't have to exactly match the colors available in the TikTok editor, but here they are for reference:

You can eyeball the colors or use these HEX codes to get the TikTok font colors:

• White — #FFFFFF
• Black — #000000
• Red — #EA403F
• Orange — #FF933D
• Yellow — #F2CD46
• Lime Green — #78C25E
• Teal — #77C8A6
• Light Blue — #3496F0
• Dark Blue — #3496F0
• Violet — #5756D4
• Pink — #F7D7E9
• Brown — #A3895B
• Dark Green — #32523B
• Blue Gray — #2F688C
• Light Gray — #92979E
• Dark Gray — #333333

TikTok Font #2: Typewriter

Next up, for hardboiled detective types, novelists, and vintage girlies, TikTok's Typewriter font. A clean sans-serif font with pretty generous spacing between characters, Typewriter is pretty easy to dupe.

Source Code Pro — Bold is the perfect dupe for this TikTok font. The key element here is Bold, otherwise it won't have that heavy line weight that Typewriter does.

Not only does it look nearly identical, Source Code Pro is completely free to use font, making it great for commercial or personal use.

TikTok Font #3: Handwriting

The Handwriting font on TikTok can be a little difficult to read if the text is too small and we'd never recommend using it for captioning a whole video, but it's very aesthetic. Use it for titles, emphasis, and a little bit of cottagecore spice. Finding a script font that was a good dupe for TikTok's Handwriting was difficult.

Kaufmann and Cafe Script are generally considered the best dupes, but neither of those fonts are free. For a royalty-free alternative, we think that the Google font Yesteryear is the best option.

The letters don't slant to the right quite as much as the TikTok Handwriting font, but there are enough other similarities (the i's and s's are near identical) that it passes the test.

TikTok Font #4: Neon

The Neon font on TikTok is an all caps font with a glowing background reminiscent of, well, neon lights.

Distinctly geometric, despite the rounded ends of character lines, Aveny-T is a dead ringer for this font. Although the diffuse colored background is unique to the TikTok font, Aveny-T is not new to the social media scene. Spot it in Meta advertising assets and in the Type font on Instagram. Unfortunately, Aveny-T is not free to use.

We recommend the free Google font Abel instead. It's a similar line weight and it has that soft geometric look with the tall, sort of squished letters and rounded line ends.

Here's the trick to making it look like TikTok's Neon font:

Step 1) Use Caps Lock

The Neon font is all caps, all the time. Abel is a font family with both upper and lower case characters, so you'll need to turn caps lock on to get the same look.

Step 2) Add a Glowing Background

Abel doesn't have the glowing, colored background like Neon does right out the gate. You'll need to add that neon glow yourself. We did this using Kapwing, an online video editing software.

First, duplicate the text. Make the new text whatever color you'd like the glow to be.

Blur the colored text — about 75% is good. Then line up the two text boxes and move the colored text behind the regular text.

And that's it! Now your Abel font looks just like the TikTok font.

TikTok Font #5: Serif

Last up is the TikTok font Serif. While it might not be everyone's go to, we've seen it crop up in a few TikTok trends (like this one). In all caps, it looks bold and classy like a wedding invite. In lower case, it's reminiscent of the print-type used in classic novels.

As the name suggests, this is the only serif font in the TikTok bunch. Serifs are the little flourishes and flags on the ends of letters and tend to make a font look a little more old-fashioned. Times New Roman is a classic serif font — but it's not the TikTok Serif font.

This last font is Georgia - Bold. Fortunately, Georgia is another royalty free font family that you can use for commercial and personal projects without any restrictions.

Don't forget to bold the text! Otherwise it won't have the same line weight as TikTok's Serif font.

Now you know what fonts TikTok uses and all of the royalty-free "dupes" for them. Whether you want the TikTok look but prefer editing on desktop or just wanted to satisfy your curiosity, you've got the power of TikTok fonts at your fingertips now. Use it wisely.

P.S. Try Kapwing's AI-powered Subtitle Generator if you want to add custom animated fonts to your video's subtitles; you can design every aspect of your subtitles after generating them in a single click.