# Arial: the Helvetica stand-in, and its free twin Arimo

> Arial was drawn to match Helvetica character for character. Its history, why it is in every copy of Windows, and Arimo, its free metric twin.

Web page: https://davidewins.com/fonts/arial

Drawn to the same widths as Helvetica, shipped with Windows.

Preview uses Arimo, the closest free match.

## History

- Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders designed Arial for Monotype in 1982. [1]
- It is metrically compatible with Helvetica, so either can replace the other without changing a layout. [1]
- Arimo, commissioned by Google for ChromeOS, and Liberation Sans are free fonts with the same metrics. [1]

## Who uses it

- Windows 3.1 (1992), as one of its four core TrueType fonts [1]
- Every version of Windows since [1]

## Sources

1. [Wikipedia: Arial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arial)

## The free alternative

Arimo was commissioned by Google for ChromeOS and has the same character widths as Arial, so text sets the same way.

Body fonts that go with Arimo:

- [PT Serif](https://davidewins.com/fonts?heading=arial&body=pt-serif): A sturdy serif body with enough contrast to separate it from the plain heading.
- [Lora](https://davidewins.com/fonts?heading=arial&body=lora): Curvier serif shapes make up for how neutral the heading is.
- [Open Sans](https://davidewins.com/fonts?heading=arial&body=open-sans): Humanist sans with open apertures, easier to read in long passages than a grotesque.

[Open Arial in the pairing tool](https://davidewins.com/fonts?heading=arial)