Three of Museo’s five weights, 300, 500 and 700, are free. They are not demos: on MyFonts they are listed at $0 for every license type, including webfonts and apps, which is rare for a free font. The remaining weights, 100 and 900, and the newer italics cost $16.50 each, or $69 for the complete set (checked 17 October 2026). There is one condition worth knowing before you put Museo on a website, and we cover it below.
Museo 300, 500 + 700: free at every license type
Official free weights from exljbris, checked out at $0 on MyFonts · OTF · desktop, web and app licenses all $0
Need 100, 900 or the italics?
The paid weights and the new italics are $16.50 each, or $69 for the complete set.
The premium button is an affiliate link; FontCompass may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
How to get Museo for free (official)
Museo is made by Jos Buivenga’s foundry, exljbris. His site no longer hosts the files; it points to Fontspring (his preferred reseller), MyFonts and FontShop. The button above goes to MyFonts:
- Open the Museo page on MyFonts and choose Museo 300, Museo 500 and Museo 700.
- Select the license type you need (Desktop for design work, Webfonts for a site, App for an app). Each shows $0.
- Check out with a free MyFonts account and download the OTF files.
MyFonts also lists “Museo Std” versions of the same three weights, also at $0.
The free file we measured (version 2.002) maps 363 characters (399 glyphs in total), Latin only. Vietnamese is not supported. exljbris lists support for Central European languages and Esperanto, plus ligatures, contextual and stylistic alternates, fractions, figure styles and case-sensitive forms.
What the free license allows
exljbris no longer offers Museo as a direct download from its own site, so the free weights now come through MyFonts or Fontspring, the reseller exljbris names as preferred. On MyFonts, the free weights are listed at $0 for every license type: Desktop, Webfonts (we checked up to 100,000 pageviews a month), App, Electronic Doc and Server, all checked on 17 October 2026. Pick the license type that matches your use at checkout; the license you check out with is the one that applies.
exljbris publishes an excerpt of its Standard License Agreement for fonts “acquired via MyFonts” (last updated December 17, 2009). The points that matter most:
| Use | Free weights via MyFonts |
|---|---|
| Images on screens, paper, web pages, photos, T-shirts, film credits | Allowed |
| A designer or printer working on your project | Allowed, if they use it only for your work and keep no copy |
| Embedding in documents you send (view and print only) | Allowed |
Self-hosted web fonts via @font-face |
Allowed for $0 fonts, with a credit (see below) |
| Editing letters after importing them as graphics | Allowed |
| Modifying the font file itself | Not allowed without permission |
| Software or hardware products whose users get the font | Needs a separate license (MyFonts’ App license tier) |
The credit rule for websites. Section 4.b.IV allows @font-face embedding of a free font “only if you put a link to www.exljbris.nl on your page and/or put this notice” in your CSS, next to the @font-face rule:
/* A font by Jos Buivenga (exljbris) -> www.exljbris.com */
Adding that comment costs nothing, so add it whenever you self-host a free exljbris font. The same applies to Museo Sans, Museo Slab, Calluna, Calluna Sans and Tenso.
The excerpt notes that the full license at MyFonts applies to your download. We are not lawyers; check the license you receive at checkout if a project depends on it.
Where Museo comes from
Museo started with a single letter. Jos Buivenga writes that the idea came “with my love for U”: one day the uppercase U appeared to him in a daydream, the tops of both stems bent into semi-slab serifs. That half-slab ending became the signature of the whole family. Museo was featured in MyFonts’ Rising Stars newsletter and named one of MyFonts’ Top 10 fonts of 2008, and it later grew into Museo Sans and Museo Slab.
What the paid weights cost
The family has five weights (100, 300, 500, 700, 900), each now with an italic. MyFonts prices in USD, checked 17 October 2026, for a paid weight and the complete set:
| License | One style | Complete family (10 styles) |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop, 1 user | $16.50 | $69 |
| Desktop, 5 users | $59.40 | $248.40 |
| Company Desktop, up to 20 employees | $30.94 | $129.38 |
| Webfonts, 10,000 pageviews/month | $16.50 | $69 |
| Webfonts, 100,000 pageviews/month | $63.94 | $267.38 |
| Electronic Doc (e-book, PDF), 1 title | $33 | $138 |
| Digital Ad / Email, 1,000,000 impressions | $16.50 | $69 |
| App, 1 title | $247.50 | $1,035 |
| Server, 1 CPU core | $165 | $690 |
Other packages: the Regular Set is $29.95 and the Italic Set is $49. Since the free weights already cover 300 to 700, most projects only need 900 for heavy headlines, at $16.50.
Free alternatives, compared
- Bitter Regular (Google Fonts, SIL Open Font License) is 2% wider than Museo 500 on the word “Branding”. It is a conventional slab serif with sturdier serifs on every stem.
- Roboto Slab Regular is 3% wider, with a more mechanical, full-slab look.
- Neither has Museo’s half-slab endings. Since Museo’s three middle weights are free at every license type, they are usually the better choice anyway.
Quick answers
Is Museo free for commercial use? Museo 300, 500 and 700 are, at $0 for every license type on MyFonts.
Can I use Museo on my website? Yes, with a $0 Webfonts license from MyFonts. If you self-host, add the exljbris credit comment to your CSS.
Are the italics free? No. The italics are paid, including 300, 500 and 700 Italic.
More free fonts from exljbris
Written by Thinh Tran. FontCompass earns a commission if you buy through the MyFonts links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Prices and license terms were checked on 17 October 2026 and can change, so confirm them at checkout.
Leave a Reply