Tattoo-style typefaces have that similar hand-drawn attractiveness, but are frequently bolder with thicker strokes, making them an excellent choice for display lettering or word art.
When it comes to tattoo styles, there are a variety of character sets and glyphs available that can bring a lot of visual interest to a project. You’ll discover a collection of 25 free tattoo fonts below; however, keep in mind that these typefaces come from a range of sources, so make sure to verify the license before using them (most are free for personal projects, but need licensing for commercial purposes).
Some of the listed fonts include restricted character sets, while others have more robust paid options.
1. Tribal
Get this tribal tattoo font that will give your a cool tribal look. Be part of the pack with Tribal font.
2. Tribal Tattoo
Get into the 90s vibe with this collection of eye-catching tribal motifs, which includes Celtic knots, stylized dragons, spirit insects, and spiky abstract shapes.
3. Tattoo Vieja Escuela 1
Swish, precisely crafted tattoo typefaces are nice, but every now and then you want a tattoo that looks like it was done in a prison with a contraband blade and a ballpoint pen. If so, this fantastic pack of old-school ink from Woodcutter is a must-have.
4. Serval
Maelle. K and Thomas Boucherie’s calligraphic font is deliciously rough, and it’s ideal for softening the edge of a too-serious script tattoo. It is free to use, but please contact the designers if you intend to commercialize it.
5. Lemon Jelly
This one got our eye because it’s named after Fred Deakin’s previous band; it’s a huge and friendly-looking script typeface made by Billy Argel that’s free for personal use.
6. Always Beside You
Jonathan Harris is a font titan, with over 433 fonts on FontSpace and over 11 million downloads to his name. Check out Always Beside You, a slightly scratchy script font that’s great for tattoo designs and is free for personal use, to get a taste of his abilities.
7. Tuamotu
The tribal designs within the letterforms of Imagex Fonts’ South Pacific-inspired tattoo typeface really bring it to life. It’s free for personal use; if you wish to use it professionally, contact Imagex.
8. Ginga
Billy Argel’s arch-script typographer Ginga is an inky tattoo typeface. With its damaged appearance, it is on the grungier end of the spectrum – and don’t forget to utilize the > and Symbols to create the tails. Ginga is free for personal use, and it may be purchased for business usage for $39.
9. Rustic Love Tattoo
Get some rustic love in your life with this cheerful tiny tattoo font from Chequered Ink, which is free for personal and charitable use. It also serves as a suitable substitute for Comic Sans.
10. Xanax
Xanax by Apostrophic Labs is a solid-looking 3D font with a hint of graffiti swagger, and it’s ideal for a tattoo font that stands out from the crowd. It has upper and lower case characters and is free to use for any purpose.
11. Rebel Bones Bold
We all know that bikers have the best tattoos, so this motorcycle-inspired offering by Siempre Leales is our first stop on our list of the best tattoo fonts. There are two versions: bold and standard, both of which aim to recreate traditional biker designs.
12. MOM
Rafa Miguel created the tattoo typeface MOM after being inspired by old-school lettering. “I’m a big fan of classic American tattoos, and this is just a tribute to the great artists who use this technique,” he says on Behance. MOM is free to use for both personal and commercial purposes.
13. Man Down
The strong strokes of this new ornamental typeface from British company Chequered Ink appeal to us. This amazing tribal typeface, inspired by Maori tattoos, is free for personal use, but you may purchase a license to use it commercially.
14. Angel Tears
Billy Angel’s Angel Tears has a lovely hand-drawn quality to it. It adds a distressed aspect to your creations with 128 characters — including upper case, lower case, and punctuation.
15. Precious
Precious Regular is a traditional, calligraphy-inspired tattoo font designed by BoltCutterDesign that you can download right now. The graphic design firm has also designed a variety of free fonts, so make sure to visit its website.