No. Tungsten is a commercial typeface from Hoefler&Co.. Commercial; licensed from Hoefler&Co. The fonts listed here are free, open-licensed alternatives you can download, self-host and use commercially.

What is the closest free alternative to Tungsten?

Bebas Neue scores 86% against Tungsten on our published formula. Condensed caps-only grotesque with the same tall, tight headline proportions. 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 — after a family gate: specialist families (blackletter, script, glyphic, stencil, monospace) only list same-family fonts, and any cross-family match is capped at 0.2. 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 Tungsten

Tungsten is a commercial grotesque sans from Hoefler&Co.. Commercial; licensed from Hoefler&Co. 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.

Tungsten 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.

#186% matchcurated picksansOFL-1.1 · Ryoichi Tsunekawa
Bebas Neue
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Condensed caps-only grotesque with the same tall, tight headline proportions.
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: grotesque, display.
Metrics×0.25
91%
x-height 0.70 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (near-identical); cap height 0.70 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (close); both condensed width; both low stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
67%
Shares bold, condensed, industrial, monoline (4 of 6 traits).
Role×0.10
50%
Both suit display; Bebas Neue is not tagged for heading.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers all of Tungsten's subsets (latin, latin-ext).
Variable×0.05
100%
Static instances, like Tungsten.
Family gate
Same family: sans.
View Bebas Neue specimen →Pairings →400
#284% matchcurated picksansOFL-1.1 · Vernon Adams, Kalapi Gajjar, Cyreal
Oswald
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Condensed grotesque with lowercase and Tungsten's compact weight.
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: grotesque.
Metrics×0.25
53%
x-height 0.58 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (far apart); cap height 0.81 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (noticeably different); both condensed width; both low stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
80%
Shares bold, condensed, industrial, monoline (4 of 5 traits).
Role×0.10
100%
Both suit display, heading.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers all of Tungsten's subsets (latin, latin-ext).
Variable×0.05
100%
Static instances, like Tungsten.
Family gate
Same family: sans.
View Oswald specimen →Pairings →200 · 300 · 400 · 500 · 600 · 700
#390% matchcurated picksansOFL-1.1 · Vernon Adams
Anton
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Heavy condensed grotesque for Tungsten-style bold headlines.
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: grotesque, display.
Metrics×0.25
97%
x-height 0.73 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (near-identical); both condensed width; both low stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
80%
Shares bold, condensed, industrial, monoline (4 of 5 traits).
Role×0.10
50%
Both suit display; Anton is not tagged for heading.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers all of Tungsten's subsets (latin, latin-ext).
Variable×0.05
100%
Static instances, like Tungsten.
Family gate
Same family: sans.
View Anton specimen →Pairings →400
#489% matchdisplayOFL-1.1
Staatliches
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: grotesque, display.
Metrics×0.25
89%
x-height 0.70 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (close); cap height 0.70 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (close); both condensed width; both low stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
60%
Shares condensed, industrial, monoline (3 of 5 traits).
Role×0.10
100%
Both suit display, heading.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers all of Tungsten's subsets (latin, latin-ext).
Variable×0.05
100%
Static instances, like Tungsten.
Family gate
Same family: sans.
View Staatliches specimen →Pairings →400
#584% matchsansOFL-1.1 · Vernon Adams
Antonio
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: grotesque.
Metrics×0.25
97%
x-height 0.73 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (near-identical); both condensed width; both low stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
60%
Shares condensed, industrial, monoline (3 of 5 traits).
Role×0.10
25%
Both suit heading; Antonio is not tagged for display.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers all of Tungsten's subsets (latin, latin-ext).
Variable×0.05
100%
Static instances, like Tungsten.
Family gate
Same family: sans.
View Antonio specimen →Pairings →100 · 200 · 300 · 400 · 500 · 600 · 700
#678% matchsansOFL-1.1 · Florian Karsten
Space Grotesk
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: grotesque.
Metrics×0.25
57%
x-height 0.49 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (far apart); cap height 0.70 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (close); normal width vs condensed for Tungsten; both low stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
43%
Shares industrial, modern, monoline (3 of 7 traits).
Role×0.10
100%
Both suit display, heading.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers all of Tungsten's subsets (latin, latin-ext).
Variable×0.05
100%
Static instances, like Tungsten.
Family gate
Same family: sans.
View Space Grotesk specimen →Pairings →300 · 400 · 500 · 600 · 700
#778% matchsansOFL-1.1 · Omnibus-Type
Archivo
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: grotesque.
Metrics×0.25
54%
x-height 0.53 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (far apart); cap height 0.69 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (close); normal width vs condensed for Tungsten; both low stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
80%
Shares bold, industrial, modern, monoline (4 of 5 traits).
Role×0.10
33%
Both suit heading; Archivo is not tagged for display.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers all of Tungsten's subsets (latin, latin-ext).
Variable×0.05
100%
Static instances, like Tungsten.
Family gate
Same family: sans.
View Archivo specimen →Pairings →100 · 200 · 300 · 400 · 500 · 600 · 700 · 800 · 900
#877% matchsansOFL-1.1
League Gothic
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Show score breakdownScore breakdown
Classification×0.35
100%
Same class: grotesque, display.
Metrics×0.25
71%
x-height 0.55 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (far apart); cap height 0.73 vs 0.72 for Tungsten (near-identical); both condensed width; both low stroke contrast.
Traits×0.20
60%
Shares condensed, industrial, monoline (3 of 5 traits).
Role×0.10
25%
Both suit heading; League Gothic is not tagged for display.
Language×0.05
100%
Covers all of Tungsten's subsets (latin, latin-ext).
Variable×0.05
100%
Static instances, like Tungsten.
Family gate
Same family: sans.
View League Gothic specimen →Pairings →400

mcpConnect your agent — find Tungsten 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 Tungsten for a bold brand

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

Use Bebas Neue instead

Bebas Neue is the top-ranked alternative to Tungsten (86%) 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: "Bebas Neue";
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 400;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("https://fonts.brandsweets.com/bebas-neue/bebas-neue-400.woff2") format("woff2");
}

/* Usage */
.heading { font-family: "Bebas Neue", sans-serif; }

What we compare Tungsten on

Class: grotesque, display
x-height: 0.72 ≈
Cap height: 0.72 ≈
Width · contrast: condensed · low
Traits: condensed, bold, industrial, modern, monoline
Roles: display, 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 Tungsten free?: No. Tungsten is a commercial typeface from Hoefler&Co.. Commercial; licensed from Hoefler&Co. The fonts listed here are free, open-licensed alternatives you can download, self-host and use commercially.
What is the closest free alternative to Tungsten?: Bebas Neue scores 86% against Tungsten on our published formula. Condensed caps-only grotesque with the same tall, tight headline proportions. 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 — after a family gate: specialist families (blackletter, script, glyphic, stencil, monospace) only list same-family fonts, and any cross-family match is capped at 0.2. No model or vote; the same inputs always give the same ranking. Hand-curated picks are labelled and listed first.

Build a brand around Bebas Neue

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