# IBM Plex Sans font

> IBM's corporate sans serif: seven weights with italics, plus a width axis that narrows the letters to 75.

IBM Plex Sans is a grotesque-style sans serif designed by Mike Abbink at IBM with the Dutch foundry Bold Monday. IBM Plex Sans is a variable font with weights from Thin 100 to Bold 700, matching italics and a width axis from 75 to 100. It is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and suits interfaces and documentation.

## Facts

- Classification: [Sans Serif](https://trendhub.net/fonts/category/sans-serif)
- Designed by: Mike Abbink, Bold Monday
- License: SIL Open Font License 1.1 (https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/)
- Styles: 14 (Thin 100, ExtraLight 200, Light 300, Regular 400, Medium 500, SemiBold 600, Bold 700; with italics)
- Variable font: Yes (wght 100–700, wdth 75–100)
- Glyphs: 1021
- Character sets: cyrillic, cyrillic-ext, greek, latin, latin-ext, vietnamese
- Last updated: 2025-09-08
- Official source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/IBM+Plex+Sans
- Page: https://trendhub.net/fonts/ibm-plex-sans
- Tagged for: Body text, Interfaces, Branding, Tech

## About IBM Plex Sans

IBM Plex Sans is a sans serif family in the grotesque tradition, drawn as the corporate typeface of IBM. The shapes are plain and even in stroke, yet engineered details show through: the capital I stands on horizontal serifs, and stroke ends are cut square. Mike Abbink of IBM designed the family together with Bold Monday; the font's own credits also name Paul van der Laan and Pieter van Rosmalen. Roman and italic each come in seven weights, Thin 100 to Bold 700, 14 styles in all. Both are variable fonts carrying a weight axis and a width axis that runs from 75 to 100, so the same files also give a condensed cut. The fonts hold 1,021 glyphs and cover Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and Vietnamese. Plex Sans has sibling Serif and Mono designs and was added to Google Fonts in 2018.

## License

SIL Open Font License 1.1. Copyright © 2017 IBM Corp. with Reserved Font Name "Plex"

Allowed:
- Use the fonts in personal and commercial work, in print, on the web and in apps.
- Modify the fonts and build new versions from them.
- Redistribute the fonts, on their own or bundled with software, as long as the license text and copyright notice go with them.

Conditions:
- The fonts cannot be sold by themselves.
- A modified version must stay under the same license and cannot use a Reserved Font Name without the copyright holder's permission.
- The authors' names cannot be used to promote a modified version without permission.

Summary only, not legal advice. Full text: https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/

## Where it works

- **Product interfaces**: Even strokes and seven weights from Thin to Bold cover labels, navigation and headings inside one family.
- **Technical documentation**: Plex Sans sets the prose while the Mono member of the same Plex family shows code samples, so both share one design.
- **Dense tables and column headers**: Moving the width axis from 100 towards 75 narrows the letters, which fits long headers into tight columns without a change of typeface.
- **Corporate identity systems**: A family drawn as a company typeface, with Serif and Mono relatives, keeps slides, reports and websites in one voice.
- **Products in several scripts**: Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and Vietnamese character sets let Russian, Greek and Vietnamese versions use the same typeface.

## Things to know

- **The condensed cut is an axis**: The variable files include a width axis from 75 to 100. Lower values give narrower letters; there is no separate condensed file in this package.
- **Bold 700 is the heaviest weight**: The weight axis stops at 700. ExtraBold and Black do not exist in this family.
- **The name Plex is reserved**: The license notice reserves the font name “Plex”, so a modified version has to be published under another name.

## FAQs

### Is IBM Plex Sans free for commercial use?

Yes. IBM Plex Sans is published under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which allows use in personal and commercial work, modification and redistribution. The font cannot be sold on its own, and modified versions stay under the same license. A modified version may not use the Reserved Font Name “Plex” without permission.

### Who designed IBM Plex Sans?

IBM Plex Sans was designed by Mike Abbink of IBM in collaboration with the Dutch type foundry Bold Monday. The font's credits also list Paul van der Laan and Pieter van Rosmalen, and the copyright belongs to IBM Corp.

### How many weights does IBM Plex Sans have?

IBM Plex Sans has seven weights, from Thin 100 to Bold 700, each with an italic, which makes 14 styles.

### Is IBM Plex Sans a variable font?

Yes. IBM Plex Sans is a variable font with a weight axis from 100 to 700 and a width axis from 75 to 100, in separate roman and italic files.

### Which languages does IBM Plex Sans support?

IBM Plex Sans includes the letters needed for English and other Latin-script languages such as German, Polish, Turkish and Vietnamese, as well as Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Greek.

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Source: https://trendhub.net/fonts/ibm-plex-sans (trendhub)