Inter vs Lexend
Two sans-serif faces, set live below in their own letters — then the honest take on which to pick and when.
The quick brown fox 0123456789
Bonnie Shaver-Troup, Thomas Jockin · 2019 · weights 400, 500, 600, 700
At a glance
- Design goal
- UI legibility at all sizes
- Reading-proficiency research
- Spacing
- Compact, neutral
- Wider, more open
- Best for
- Dense product UI
- Education, accessibility
- Designer
- Rasmus Andersson, 2017
- Shaver-Troup & Jockin, 2019
InterLexend
The honest take
Two screen sans faces built on legibility, but from different research goals. Inter (Rasmus Andersson, 2017) optimises for on-screen UI clarity at every size, with a tall x-height and open apertures — the neutral product default. Lexend (Bonnie Shaver-Troup & Thomas Jockin, 2019) was designed around reading-proficiency research: wider default spacing and proportions intended to reduce visual stress and improve reading speed for some readers. Choose Inter for the densest, most conventional UI and body text where compactness helps. Choose Lexend when readability and comfort — especially for readers who benefit from more open spacing — is an explicit goal, such as education or accessibility-forward products. Both offer 400–700; Inter sets tighter and more neutrally, Lexend sets airier by design.
The x-ray
Same size, same baseline — Inter over Lexend. Where they agree the strokes merge; where they argue, fringes.
“Hamburgefonstiv” is the type designer's test word — it carries most of the shapes that give a face away.