Readex Pro — Free Arabic Google Font
Readex Pro is a sans-serif family from a multi-script design team (Thomas Jockin, Nadine Chahine, Bonnie Shaver-Troup, Santiago Orozco, and Héctor Gómez) with a friendly, rounded character and a wide weight range. It reads clearly at both small interface sizes and large display use.
About Readex Pro
Readex Pro was created by type designers Nadine Chahine and Thomas Jockin, who applied the method behind Lexend, Bonnie Shaver-Troup's Latin project for easier reading, to Arabic. The name is short for "reading expanded". It was added to Google Fonts in 2021, with Santiago Orozco and Héctor Gómez also credited. The aim is to reduce visual noise through distinct letterforms and the option of wider spacing.
Readex Pro applies the reading-research approach behind Lexend — Dr. Bonnie Shaver-Troup's work on reducing visual noise to make text easier to read fluently — to Arabic. Its HEXP axis widens the letterforms themselves rather than just the spacing between them, which makes it worth a look for accessibility-focused or educational projects.
Designers: Thomas Jockin, Nadine Chahine, Bonnie Shaver-Troup, Santiago Orozco, Héctor Gómez
Best used for
- Interface text
- Friendly, approachable branding
- Mixed-weight display use
How Readex Pro compares
Next to IBM Plex Sans Arabic, Readex Pro has roomier shapes and looser spacing, so it reads friendlier and less corporate. Compared with Almarai, another design aimed at screen readability, Readex Pro offers six weights rather than four and is the more deliberate choice when ease of reading, not brand character, is the priority. For learning apps, long help articles and accessibility-minded products, it is the strongest candidate of the three.
Tips for using Readex Pro
Good for long on-screen reading, learning materials and readers who find dense Arabic text tiring. Weights here run from ExtraLight to Bold, with no Black, so pick another family for very heavy display headlines. Lexend, which shares its design method, is the natural Latin partner for bilingual layouts.
Styles & weights
6 weights, self-hosted:
- 200 — Extra Light Download .ttf
- 300 — Light Download .ttf
- 400 — Regular Download .ttf
- 500 — Medium Download .ttf
- 600 — SemiBold Download .ttf
- 700 — Bold Download .ttf
Arabic character preview
ا ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن ه و ي
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم — مرحبا بالعالم — ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩
Download Readex Pro
Using Readex Pro on the web
Load it from the Google Fonts CDN:
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Readex+Pro:wght@200;300;400;500;600;700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">Then reference it in your CSS:
font-family: "Readex Pro", sans-serif;License
Licensed under the SIL Open Font License — free for personal and commercial use. What the OFL allows →