Open Sans vs Source Sans 3
Two sans-serif faces, set live below in their own letters — then the honest take on which to pick and when.
At a glance
- Feel
- Familiar, slightly wider
- Modern, slightly narrower
- Origin
- Web default of the 2010s
- Adobe's first open-source family
- Setting density
- More generous
- More efficient
- Designer
- Steve Matteson, 2011
- Paul D. Hunt, 2012
Open SansSource Sans 3
The honest take
Two humanist sans-serifs designed for on-screen reading, and they are close enough that the decision comes down to detail preference. Open Sans (Steve Matteson, 2011) is the ubiquitous 2010s default — open, upright, endlessly neutral, and instantly familiar. Source Sans 3 (Paul D. Hunt, 2012) was Adobe's first open-source family, drawn for user interfaces with slightly narrower proportions and a cleaner, more contemporary finish that packs a little more text per line. Choose Open Sans for the safest, most recognisable body voice, or when you want the warmth of its slightly wider forms. Choose Source Sans 3 for a marginally more efficient, more modern feel and tighter setting in UI. Honestly, either will serve a content site well; Source Sans 3 just reads a touch fresher.
The x-ray
Same size, same baseline — Open Sans over Source Sans 3. 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.
Read more
More about each face: Open Sans · Source Sans 3