The best free stencil fonts can look great on flyers, posters and more. They're designed to look like stencil artwork, in which a template to create an outline. This is a familar technique used everywhere from military and government settings to quickly and clearly label objects, to street art by the likes of Banksy (also see our pick of the best free graffiti fonts).
When it comes to typography, there's a wealth of stencil fonts online for creatives to use in their designs. We've scoured the internet to find free fonts in a stencil style that can help you get that authentic, handcrafted feel. Remember to always check the terms of the licence before you use them. Some of these stencil fonts may be free for personal or non-profit use only, while others may be available to use freely for commercial use as well.
The best free stencil fonts
01. VAL Stencil
This bold stencil font is available as free download from independent type foundry Fontfabric. This inspirational, fun design comes complete with 215 characters and is great for posters, logos, packaging and more.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from FontFabric
02. Toy Soldiers
This army-style inspired font was created by type designer Billy Argel. Like many of Argel's cool designs, Toy Soldiers is free for personal use. A single weight font made up of purely uppercase letters, this free stencil typeface will add serious attitude to your designs.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
03. AG Stencil
AG Stencil was created by creative director Yong of visual communications company Somewhere Else. The design was originally created for an unfulfilled identity project, and Yong now offers the typeface free, for both personal and commercial use.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
04. Unconform Round
Want to replicate those old school plastic letter stencils? Then Unconform Round may be just what you're looking for. Featuring a full set of uppercase letters and numbers, this typeface is great for giving your designs that retro feel.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
05. Capture it
A single weight, free stencil font, Capture it was designed by Koczman Balint. Operating under Magique Fonts, this is one of many type designs created by Balint. Complete with a full set of uppercase letters, numbers and special characters, Capture it is available as a free download, with donations to the author, as always, gratefully received.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
06. Stela UT
Stela UT is a layered font influenced by the stencil form. It was designed by independent Spanish graphic design studio Wete, who love all things typography and editorial, and comes in a number of layers. The studio is offering up the regular weight as a free download.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Behance
07. Scriber
Scriber Stencil is a single weight, free stencil font consisting of 250 characters, manual kerning and a Euro symbol. Designed by Newcastle creative director Jonathan Hill, Scriber is a gorgeous take on the stencil format. Hill also has a wide range of other fonts on his website.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from MyFonts
08. Playtime
The Playtime Typeface is a font with five different styles - regular, bold, rounded, rounded bold, and cutouts. It works like a puzzle: you can seamlessly slide the the type together and experiment with some truly unique figures. This free stencil font was designed by John Skelton.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Behance
09. Gunplay
This bold, free stencil font was created by type designer Ray Larabie of Typodermic Fonts. Larabie explains: "Gunplay is a hard-nosed stencil font inspired by the poster for the 1972 Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw film, The Getaway."
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
10. DOCK 51
Free for personal use only, this cool DOCK 51 font was created by Imagex Fonts. One of over 200 designs by the company, this font includes a full set of uppercase letters, numbers 0-9 and various special characters.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
11. Stencilla
Developed by typeface designer Otto Maurer, this free stencil font includes a full set of uppercase letters, numbers and special characters. Maurer has also made this download free for both personal and commercial use.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
12. Boston Traffic
Designer Vic Fieger is the man behind this free stencil font. The busy artist has over 60 designs available for download on the archive of free fonts Dafont. This Boston Traffic design is available for both personal and commercial use.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
13. Due Date
Typeface designer Dieter Steffman has over 120 fonts available to download on Font Space and many more on his website. This particular free stencil font, created in 2003, is available for both personal and commercial use.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from FontSpace
14. Sistemas
This cool Sistemas font design was created by type designer Manuel Lage. This is one of 15 typefaces developed by Lage, which collectively have amassed over 1.7 million downloads. This particular design is free for both personal and commercial use.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
15. Top Secret
For all your top secret documentation, check out this classic military stencil design by Koczman Bálint of Magique Fonts. With over a million downloads, this typeface is free for both personal and commercial use.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
16. Urban Sketch
This Urban Sketch typeface, created by designer Nils von Blanc, was inspired by Ray Larabie and his Gunplay font. A popular free stencil font, it has amassed nearly 900,000 downloads since its release. It's free for personal use only.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
17. CargoCrate
Designer Mickey Rossi is the man behind this stylish free stencil font. Rossi has multiple type designs available for download on Urban Fonts. This particular creation is available for both personal and commercial use.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from UrbanFonts
18. Stardos Stencil
Vernon Adams of New Typography is the designer behind this classic stencil font. The free stencil font, which includes a full set of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters, is available for both personal and commercial use.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from FontSpace
19. Popcorn
Type designer Billy Argel has created numerous different fonts, many of which he generously offers as a free download for artists to use in their personal work, including this fun, vibrant cinema-inspired font. Commercial licenses for this full font (including a cool sketch version) are available from the designer.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from FontSpace
20. Octin Stencil
Octin Stencil was designed by Ray Larabie of Typodermic Fonts. Larabie comments on his creation: "This font is a tough headliner in seven weights: light, book, regular, semi-bold, heavy and black. Octin Stencil is perfect for police, sports, prison, construction, school or military themes." This typeface is free to download, but donations to the author will be gratefully received.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
21. LeArchitect
LeArchitect is the creation of the late type designer Manfred Klein. Based in Frankfurt, Klein worked as a typesetter and in advertising for decades before he became involved in creating typefaces. Many of his creations freely available to download online, including this army-style, free stencil font.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
22. Fine Stencil
This thin font by graphic designers VNBC is one of 24 designs, which, collectively, have amassed nearly half a million downloads. This typeface includes a simple set of uppercase letters, numbers and the odd special character. It's free, but donations to the author can be made at the time of download.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from Dafont
23. Kaiser
San Francisco-based Jeff Canham is an artist, graphic designer and traditional sign painter. He is also the man behind this bold stencil font Kaiser. The free download includes a full set of uppercase characters and a selection of special characters.
FORMAT: TTF
Download from UrbanFonts
For more free typefaces, see our picks of the best free retro fonts and free handwriting fonts. We also have a complete designer's guide to typography and fonts.
