The short version
- Five real options: Calligraphr (website), SnapFont (phone app), iFontMaker (iPad drawing), Microsoft Font Maker (Windows pen), and FontForge (free desktop editor).
- Only Calligraphr and SnapFont use your real handwriting on paper. The others have you draw letters on a screen.
- Calligraphr's free plan is the most generous on paper: one font, 75 characters. SnapFont's free tier lets you make and type with your first font in the app.
- If you have a phone and a pen, SnapFont is the fastest path. If you have a scanner and want hundreds of characters, Calligraphr.
A note before the list: I make SnapFont, so I have an obvious bias. I have tried to describe each tool by what it is good at and I have left in the places where the others beat mine.
The five, side by side
| Feature | SnapFont | Calligraphr | iFontMaker | MS Font Maker | FontForge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on | iPhone, Android | Web browser | iPad, Windows | Windows 10+ | Mac, Windows, Linux |
| Source | Paper, one photo | Paper, scan or photo | Drawn on screen | Drawn with a pen | Drawn or imported |
| Free tier | First font, typed in app | 1 font, 75 characters | Paid app | Free | Free, open source |
| Install on iPhone | Built in | Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual |
| Learning curve | None | Low | Low | Low | Steep |
| Best for | Your real handwriting, fast | Big character sets, ligatures | Drawing a display font | Quick pen font on a PC | Full control, any font |
Calligraphr
Calligraphr is the long standing website for this. You build a template, print it, fill it in, scan or photograph it, and upload it in a desktop browser. The free plan gives you one font at a time with up to 75 characters and two variants per character. Pro is $10 for a month or $6 a month for six months, and adds ligatures, up to 600 characters, 15 variants, and server backup. If you want a big, careful font and you like editing at a desk, it is very good. I wrote a longer SnapFont vs Calligraphr comparison if you are choosing between the two.
SnapFont
This one is mine, so weigh it accordingly. It is a phone app: you print one sheet with 72 boxes, write over the faint letters, take one photo, and a few minutes later your handwriting is typing on the screen. Your first font is free to make and type with in the app. Pro, a weekly or yearly subscription with a trial, unlocks installing it on your iPhone with one tap, exporting the TTF, unlimited fonts, and redoing single letters. There are no ligatures or random variants, and the character set is fixed at 72. What it is for is getting your real handwriting onto your phone in about 20 minutes with nothing but a pen.
iFontMaker
iFontMaker is an iPad app, also on Windows, where you draw each letter on the screen with your finger or a stylus and export a TTF. It is a paid app rather than a free one, but it belongs on the list because people ask about it in the same breath. It is quick and fun, and it is the right tool if you want to design a font rather than capture your handwriting. Drawn letters on glass never quite look like pen on paper, which is either the point or the problem, depending on what you want.
Microsoft Font Maker
Microsoft Font Maker is a free app from Microsoft for Windows 10 and later. You write a set of letters and a few sentences with a pen on a touch screen, and it makes a TTF you can install on the PC. It needs a pen enabled device, which rules out most laptops, and the results are decent rather than detailed. If you have a Surface and want something in five minutes, it is hard to argue with free.
FontForge
FontForge is the free, open source font editor that professionals have used for two decades. It will do anything, including importing scanned letters and turning them into outlines, but it expects you to know what a font outline editor is and to enjoy it. Several of the tools above, including SnapFont, use it under the hood to build the final file. As a way to make your first handwriting font it is the hardest road here by a wide margin.
Which one to pick
- Phone and a pen, want it today: SnapFont.
- Scanner, want hundreds of characters or ligatures: Calligraphr.
- iPad and a stylus, want to design rather than capture: iFontMaker.
- Surface or pen PC, want free and fast: Microsoft Font Maker.
- Want total control and don't mind learning: FontForge.