The WhatTheFont Alternative That Identifies, Generates, and Licenses Fonts
Lipi is the best WhatTheFont alternative when you need more than a name. It recognizes fonts from any image using AI, and then, unlike WhatTheFont, it lets you generate a close matching font, edit it glyph by glyph, and confirm the licensing before you use it. WhatTheFont identifies the type and sends you to MyFonts to buy it. This page compares the two so you can pick the right one.
Choose Lipi
Best if you want to identify a font and then actually use it: generate a match, edit it, export a real file, and check its license.
Choose WhatTheFont
Best if you only need to name a known commercial typeface and buy it from the MyFonts catalog.
Lipi vs WhatTheFont: feature comparison
| Feature | Lipi | WhatTheFont |
|---|---|---|
| Identify a font from an image | Yes, AI powered | Yes, AI powered |
| Works on photos and web screenshots | Yes | Yes, best with cropped horizontal text |
| Find the closest commercial match | Yes | Yes, 900,000+ font catalog |
| Generate a matching or lookalike font | Yes, AI generation | No |
| Edit glyphs and export OTF, TTF, WOFF2 | Yes, in Font Studio | No |
| Licensing and copyright check | Yes, built in | No, you license on MyFonts |
| Developer API | Yes, font match API | No public API |
| Multilingual and extended scripts | Yes | Limited |
| Account required | No | No |
| Price | Free to identify, pay to export a font | Free to identify, pay to license on MyFonts |
What WhatTheFont does well
WhatTheFont, run by MyFonts, is one of the strongest pure identification tools available. It matches letterforms with deep learning against a catalog of more than 900,000 fonts, which makes it excellent at naming commercial and professional typefaces. It is free to use, needs no account, and its interactive crop and letter selection helps when the text in your image is noisy or tightly spaced.
If your goal is simply to find out the name of a known commercial font so you can license it, that large catalog is a real advantage and hard to beat.
Where Lipi goes further
Identification is only the first step. Most people who identify a font then need to do something with it: buy it, recreate it, adapt it, or make sure they are allowed to use it. WhatTheFont stops at the name and hands you off to a store. Lipi covers the whole path.
After Lipi identifies a font, you can generate a close matching typeface with AI when an exact match is not available or not affordable, open it in Font Studio to reshape letters and fix kerning, export a production ready OTF, TTF, or WOFF2 file, and run a licensing and copyright check so you know whether the original is safe to use commercially.
Accuracy and input handling
Both tools use AI trained on letterforms, so accuracy depends heavily on input quality. For the best result with either one, upload a sharp image, keep the text horizontal, and crop to a single line where you can.
The practical difference is what happens after the match. With Lipi, a near match is a starting point you can refine or regenerate, not a dead end.
Pricing
Both are free to identify a font. The difference is the next step. With WhatTheFont you pay a per font license on MyFonts, which can be significant for premium families. With Lipi you only pay when you export a finished font file, and that export includes a commercial license, so you are licensing one deliverable rather than a catalog product.
When WhatTheFont is the better choice
If you have spotted a specific commercial typeface and you want to buy that exact font, WhatTheFont plus the MyFonts catalog is the most direct route. No tool matches the breadth of that commercial library for exact lookups.
Lipi is the better choice when an exact purchase is not the goal: when you want a usable match without licensing a whole family, when you need to edit or extend the font, or when you have to verify that a font is safe to use before shipping it.
Switching from WhatTheFont to Lipi
Moving over takes about a minute and needs no account.
- 1Open the Lipi font identifier and upload the same image you would drop into WhatTheFont.
- 2Review the closest matches. If the exact font is available and you want to license it, you can stop here.
- 3If you want a usable match instead, generate one with AI, then open it in Font Studio to fine tune.
- 4Run the licensing check on the original font, then export your file with a commercial license.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lipi a free WhatTheFont alternative?
Yes. Identifying a font from an image with Lipi is free and needs no account, the same as WhatTheFont. You only pay if you choose to export a generated or edited font file, which then includes a commercial license.
Can Lipi identify fonts from an image like WhatTheFont?
Yes. Lipi uses AI to recognize fonts in photos and screenshots and returns the closest matches. As with any identifier, a sharp image with horizontal, single line text gives the best result.
Does Lipi have as many fonts as WhatTheFont?
WhatTheFont matches against the MyFonts catalog of more than 900,000 commercial fonts, which is larger for exact commercial lookups. Lipi focuses on getting you a usable result: it finds close matches and, when needed, generates a font you can edit and license, rather than pointing you to a store.
What if WhatTheFont cannot find an exact match?
That is exactly where Lipi helps. Instead of stopping at a near miss, you can generate a matching font with AI, refine it in Font Studio, and export a real OTF, TTF, or WOFF2 file.
Does Lipi check font licensing?
Yes. Lipi includes a licensing and copyright check so you can confirm whether a font is safe to use commercially before you ship it. WhatTheFont does not offer this; you handle licensing on MyFonts.
Identify a font free
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Identify a font free