No. Tiempos is a commercial typeface from Klim Type Foundry. Commercial; licensed from Klim. The fonts listed here are free, open-licensed alternatives you can download, self-host and use commercially.

What is the closest free alternative to Tiempos?

Source Serif 4 scores 79% against Tiempos on our published formula. Contemporary transitional serif with Tiempos' crisp, editorial feel. It is licensed OFL-1.1, so it is free to self-host.

How are these alternatives ranked?

By a fixed, published score — 0.35 classification, 0.25 measured proportions (x-height, cap height, width, stroke contrast), 0.20 traits, 0.10 role, 0.05 language coverage, 0.05 variable support. No model or vote; the same inputs always give the same ranking. Hand-curated picks are labelled and listed first.

Free font alternatives

Free alternatives to Tiempos

Tiempos is a commercial contemporary-serif serif from Klim Type Foundry. Commercial; licensed from Klim. Below are the 8 closest free, open-licensed families in the BrandSweets library, ranked by our published, deterministic score — classification, measured proportions, traits, role, language and variable support. Each one is shown in its own face and is free to self-host.

Tiempos is a trademark of its owner, named here only to identify the typeface. We do not host, embed or distribute it; “similar” means similar classification and proportions, nothing more.

#179% matchcurated pickserifOFL-1.1 · Frank Grießhammer
Source Serif 4
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Contemporary transitional serif with Tiempos' crisp, editorial feel.
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: contemporary-serif, transitional.
Metrics×0.25
96%
x-height 0.47 vs 0.48 (near-identical); cap height 0.67 vs 0.68 (near-identical); both normal width; both medium stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
33%
Shares editorial, refined (2 of 6 traits).
Role×0.10
67%
Both suit body, longform.
Language×0.05
33%
Covers latin, latin-ext.
Variable×0.05
100%
Static, like Tiempos.
View Source Serif 4 specimen →Pairings →200 · 300 · 400 · 500 · 600 · 700 · 800 · 900
#275% matchcurated pickserifOFL-1.1 · Production Type
Newsreader
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Editorial serif with optical sizes covering Tiempos Text and Headline.
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: transitional.
Metrics×0.25
86%
x-height 0.43 vs 0.48 (close); cap height 0.67 vs 0.68 (near-identical); both normal width; both medium stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
0%
No shared traits.
Role×0.10
100%
Both suit body, heading, longform.
Language×0.05
67%
Covers latin, latin-ext.
Variable×0.05
100%
Static, like Tiempos.
View Newsreader specimen →Pairings →200 · 300 · 400 · 500 · 600 · 700 · 800
#377% matchcurated pickserifOFL-1.1 · Cyreal
Lora
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Contemporary text serif with Tiempos' moderate contrast and warmth.
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: contemporary-serif, transitional.
Metrics×0.25
91%
x-height 0.50 vs 0.48 (near-identical); cap height 0.70 vs 0.68 (near-identical); both normal width; both medium stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
33%
Shares editorial, refined (2 of 6 traits).
Role×0.10
67%
Both suit body, longform.
Language×0.05
29%
Covers latin, latin-ext.
Variable×0.05
100%
Static, like Tiempos.
View Lora specimen →Pairings →400 · 500 · 600 · 700
#483% matchserifOFL-1.1 · Production Type
Spectral
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: contemporary-serif, transitional.
Metrics×0.25
89%
x-height 0.45 vs 0.48 (close); cap height 0.66 vs 0.68 (close); both normal width; both medium stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
60%
Shares editorial, modern, refined (3 of 5 traits).
Role×0.10
67%
Both suit body, longform.
Language×0.05
40%
Covers latin, latin-ext.
Variable×0.05
100%
Static, like Tiempos.
View Spectral specimen →Pairings →200 · 300 · 400 · 500 · 600 · 700 · 800
#581% matchserifOFL-1.1
Gelasio
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: transitional.
Metrics×0.25
97%
x-height 0.48 vs 0.48 (near-identical); cap height 0.69 vs 0.68 (near-identical); both normal width; both medium stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
20%
Shares editorial (1 of 5 traits).
Role×0.10
100%
Both suit body, heading, longform.
Language×0.05
67%
Covers latin, latin-ext.
Variable×0.05
100%
Static, like Tiempos.
View Gelasio specimen →Pairings →400 · 500 · 600 · 700
#681% matchserifOFL-1.1
Faustina
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: contemporary-serif.
Metrics×0.25
89%
x-height 0.49 vs 0.48 (near-identical); cap height 0.65 vs 0.68 (close); both normal width; both medium stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
25%
Shares editorial (1 of 4 traits).
Role×0.10
100%
Both suit body, heading, longform.
Language×0.05
67%
Covers latin, latin-ext.
Variable×0.05
100%
Static, like Tiempos.
View Faustina specimen →Pairings →300 · 400 · 500 · 600 · 700 · 800
#779% matchserifOFL-1.1
Rufina
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: transitional.
Metrics×0.25
83%
x-height 0.49 vs 0.48 (near-identical); cap height 0.67 vs 0.68 (near-identical); both normal width; high vs medium stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
17%
Shares elegant (1 of 6 traits).
Role×0.10
100%
Both suit body, heading, longform.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers latin, latin-ext.
Variable×0.05
100%
Static, like Tiempos.
View Rufina specimen →Pairings →400 · 700
#879% matchserifOFL-1.1
DM Serif Text
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: transitional.
Metrics×0.25
83%
x-height 0.48 vs 0.48 (near-identical); cap height 0.66 vs 0.68 (near-identical); both normal width; high vs medium stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
17%
Shares elegant (1 of 6 traits).
Role×0.10
100%
Both suit body, heading, longform.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers latin, latin-ext.
Variable×0.05
100%
Static, like Tiempos.
View DM Serif Text specimen →Pairings →400

mcpConnect your agent — find Tiempos alternatives live

live endpoint

Point any MCP client at the shared fonts endpoint and your agent gets the same ranked list with every axis score — find_alternatives, list_commercial_fonts, list_fonts and suggest_fonts, read-only, no key.

endpointhttps://mcp.brandsweets.com/fonts/mcp

claude mcp add --transport http brandsweets-fonts https://mcp.brandsweets.com/fonts/mcp

try this prompt

›find a free alternative to Tiempos for a editorial brand

Want the agent to remember your picks and write them into a living brand? Create a free BrandSweets workspace.

Use Source Serif 4 instead

Source Serif 4 is the top-ranked alternative to Tiempos (79%) and is free to self-host under OFL-1.1. Drop these @font-face rules into your CSS — the .woff2 files are served straight from BrandSweets.

css

@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 200;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-200.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 300;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-300.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 400;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-400.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 500;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-500.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 600;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-600.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 700;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-700.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 800;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-800.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 900;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-900.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: italic;
  font-weight: 200;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-200i.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: italic;
  font-weight: 300;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-300i.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: italic;
  font-weight: 400;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-400i.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: italic;
  font-weight: 500;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-500i.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: italic;
  font-weight: 600;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-600i.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: italic;
  font-weight: 700;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-700i.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: italic;
  font-weight: 800;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-800i.woff2") format("woff2");
}
@font-face {
  font-family: "Source Serif 4";
  font-style: italic;
  font-weight: 900;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/source-serif-4/source-serif-4-900i.woff2") format("woff2");
}

/* Usage */
.heading { font-family: "Source Serif 4", serif; }

What we compare Tiempos on

Class: contemporary-serif, transitional
x-height: 0.48 ≈
Cap height: 0.68 ≈
Width · contrast: normal · medium
Traits: editorial, modern, refined, elegant
Roles: body, longform, heading
Languages · variable: latin, latin-ext · no

≈ proportions are publicly documented approximations of the regular cut, not measured by us. Open-font metrics are measured from the files. Full formula and thresholds: methodology. Machine-readable: alternatives.md

Questions

Is Tiempos free?: No. Tiempos is a commercial typeface from Klim Type Foundry. Commercial; licensed from Klim. The fonts listed here are free, open-licensed alternatives you can download, self-host and use commercially.
What is the closest free alternative to Tiempos?: Source Serif 4 scores 79% against Tiempos on our published formula. Contemporary transitional serif with Tiempos' crisp, editorial feel. It is licensed OFL-1.1, so it is free to self-host.
How are these alternatives ranked?: By a fixed, published score — 0.35 classification, 0.25 measured proportions (x-height, cap height, width, stroke contrast), 0.20 traits, 0.10 role, 0.05 language coverage, 0.05 variable support. No model or vote; the same inputs always give the same ranking. Hand-curated picks are labelled and listed first.

Build a brand around Source Serif 4

Turn the pick into a full identity — colors, type roles, logo, and agent-readable tokens your future sessions already know.

Extract a brand Design one on a canvas