If you’re designing a website, app or presentation with Korean text, you’ll almost certainly end up choosing between Pretendard and Noto Sans KR. Both are free, both are excellent — but they feel different. Here’s how to decide.
Side by side
Pretendard 프리텐다드
한글 디자인 Typography 2026
The modern favorite of Korean UI designers. Pairs Hangul with Inter-style Latin letters, 9 weights, perfect for apps and landing pages.
Noto Sans KR 본고딕
한글 디자인 Typography 2026
The most widely used Korean sans-serif. Clean, neutral and supports every Hangul syllable — the safe choice for websites, apps and documents.
The short answer
- Choose Pretendard for modern product design: apps, dashboards, landing pages, slide decks. It looks contemporary and its Latin letters match Hangul beautifully.
- Choose Noto Sans KR for maximum compatibility and long-form content: news, documentation, multilingual sites — or when you want to load it from Google Fonts with one line of code.
Comparison table
| Pretendard | Noto Sans KR | |
|---|---|---|
| Style | Modern, geometric, slightly tighter | Neutral, classic gothic |
| Latin letters | Based on Inter | Based on Source Sans |
| Weights | 9 (Thin → Black) | 9 (Thin → Black) |
| License | SIL Open Font License | SIL Open Font License |
| Web hosting | Self-host or CDN | Google Fonts or self-host |
| Best for | UI, apps, marketing | Content, documents, compatibility |
Design differences
Pretendard combines Inter-style Latin letters with Hangul derived from Source Han Sans, then adjusts proportions so the two scripts sit together evenly. Numbers and English words inside Korean sentences look especially tidy — which is why so many Korean startups use it.
Noto Sans KR (the Korean member of Google and Adobe’s Source Han Sans / Noto CJK family) is more neutral. It’s slightly wider and more traditional, which makes long paragraphs very comfortable to read.
Performance on the web
Korean fonts are big because Hangul has thousands of syllables. Both fonts solve this with subsetting:
- Google Fonts serves Noto Sans KR in small slices, so a page only downloads the characters it uses.
- Pretendard publishes a “dynamic subset” version that works the same way when you host it yourself.
For a quick setup, Noto Sans KR from Google Fonts is one line of HTML. For a polished product, self-hosting Pretendard gives you more control.
What about the alternatives?
If neither feels right, these are worth a look:
SUIT 수트
한글 디자인 Typography
A UI-first Korean sans with geometric Latin letters and tight spacing. Nine weights, built for apps and websites.
Wanted Sans 원티드 산스
한글 디자인 Typography
A modern geometric Korean sans from the Wanted team, with friendly round shapes and seven weights.
Spoqa Han Sans Neo 스포카 한 산스 네오
한글 디자인 Typography
A crisp, compact Korean UI font based on Noto Sans CJK, with Latin letters from Lato. A favorite for Korean product design.
- SUIT — geometric Latin and tight spacing, made for UI.
- Wanted Sans — rounder and friendlier.
- Spoqa Han Sans Neo — compact and crisp, popular in Korean product design.
Download both
Both fonts are available as free ZIP downloads here, including all weights and the license file: Pretendard and Noto Sans KR.