TikTok's own font is TikTok Sans. TikTok's repository for the font, read on 21 October 2026, calls it "the default font used in millions of TikTok videos" and says it is made for "making your video captions stand out". It was built for TikTok by the type foundries Grilli Type, Contrast Foundry and Type Network, and since July 2025 it has been free to download from Google Fonts under the SIL Open Font License, which allows commercial use.
Before TikTok Sans arrived in May 2023, reports at the time said the app's text looked like Proxima Nova, a paid commercial font. If you want the TikTok caption look in CapCut, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, install TikTok Sans on your computer, set it white in a bold weight with a dark outline or shadow, and keep it clear of TikTok's buttons. The details, sizes and the limits of what TikTok publishes are below.
What TikTok says about its font
Everything in this section comes from TikTok's own font repository on GitHub and the Google Fonts listing that it links to, both read on 21 October 2026.
- Name and use. TikTok Sans. The description says it is "perfect for making your video captions stand out" and that you "may recognize this font as the default font used in millions of TikTok videos".
- Who made it. Designed and engineered by Grilli Type, Contrast Foundry and Type Network, and produced and maintained by TikTok's design, marketing and engineering teams.
- Licence. SIL Open Font License, version 1.1. You can use it in videos, thumbnails and commercial work, and bundle it with other software. What the licence does not allow is selling the font file on its own.
- Release. Version 4.000 was published on GitHub on 9 July 2025, and Google Fonts lists the same date as the day the family was added.
- Shape. One variable font with four axes: weight from 300 to 900, width from 75 to 150, slant from 0 to -6 degrees, and optical size from 12 to 36. Font libraries that split it into static files list seven weights, from Light to Black.
- Scripts. Latin, Greek and Cyrillic, which the repository says covers over 460 languages.
That last point matters if you caption in Hindi or another Indian language. TikTok's README lists languages that the TikTok app supports but TikTok Sans does not: Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Urdu, Bangla, Thai, Khmer, Burmese, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Devanagari, Bengali and Arabic-script text on TikTok therefore has to be drawn by a different font, and if you set Hindi captions in TikTok Sans in your editor, the letters will fall back to another font or show as empty boxes.
Where TikTok Sans came from
TikTok began rolling out TikTok Sans in May 2023. MobileSyrup's report from 18 May 2023 said it was made with the Swiss foundry Grilli Type, launched in nine languages, and looked similar to the font it replaced, Proxima Nova. One detail it pointed out is a slashed zero, so that "0" and the letter "o" can't be confused in usernames. Print magazine's article of 9 July 2025 covered the next step: the font was expanded, gained a width axis for condensed and expanded styles, and was published as open source on Google Fonts.
Proxima Nova is still sold by its foundry, Mark Simonson Studio, under paid licences; single styles start at $39.99 on its site as of 21 October 2026. If an older tutorial tells you TikTok's caption font is Proxima Nova, it describes the app before 2023, and you would need to buy a licence to use that font in your own edits.
What we could not confirm
TikTok's text tool offers several text styles, and the app can also generate captions automatically. TikTok's newsroom, developer blog and support pages could not be reached from our location on 21 October 2026, and no TikTok page we could read names the font behind each individual text style. So this post doesn't say which font each style uses. TikTok's statement that TikTok Sans is the default font in millions of videos is the most specific claim on the record. If you need an exact match for one style, compare it side by side with TikTok Sans in your editor.
TikTok Sans at a glance
As read on 21 October 2026 from TikTok's GitHub repository and the Google Fonts listing:
| Detail | TikTok Sans | Proxima Nova (pre-2023 look) |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Grilli Type, Contrast Foundry, Type Network for TikTok | Mark Simonson Studio |
| Price | Free | Paid licence, from $39.99 per style |
| Licence | SIL Open Font License 1.1 | Commercial licence |
| Where to get it | Google Fonts, GitHub | The foundry's site |
| Weights | Variable 300 to 900, seven named weights | Sold as separate styles |
| Scripts | Latin, Greek, Cyrillic | Not checked for this post |
| Hindi or Devanagari | No | Not checked for this post |
How to download and install TikTok Sans
- Open the TikTok Sans page on Google Fonts (TikTok's GitHub README links to it as "Download from Google Fonts").
- Download the family. You get the variable font file and, depending on the source, static files for each weight.
- Install it. On a Mac, open the file and choose Install Font. On Windows, right-click the file and choose Install, or Install for all users.
- Restart your video editor so it picks up the new font.
If your editor lists only one "TikTok Sans" entry, it is reading the variable file; pick the weight from the style or weight menu. If it can't read variable fonts well, install the static files instead.
Getting the TikTok caption look in your editor
The look itself is simple: white TikTok Sans in a bold or semibold weight, centered, one or two short lines, with a thin dark outline or a soft shadow so it reads over bright footage. Apply that recipe in whichever editor you use.
CapCut. CapCut's font list differs by app version and region, so search it for TikTok Sans first. On desktop, fonts installed on your computer may appear in the list after a restart. Generate captions, select them all, set the font, color and stroke, and check that the style applies to every caption, not just the first one. Our CapCut subtitles guide covers the auto-caption steps.
Premiere Pro. Premiere uses the fonts installed on your system, so TikTok Sans appears in the font menu once installed. Generate the captions, select the caption track, then set the font, size, fill and stroke for the whole track and save it as a style so the next video matches. Our Premiere Pro captions guide walks through transcription and styling.
DaVinci Resolve. Resolve also reads system fonts. Create the subtitles, then change the font and size in the subtitle track settings so all captions change together. Our DaVinci Resolve subtitles guide has the full steps, including what the free version can do.
In all three, set the sequence to 1080 x 1920 before you style, so what you see matches the phone.
What size TikTok captions should be
TikTok doesn't publish a caption size for creators, so these are working ranges for a 1080 x 1920 vertical frame, the same ones we use in our guide to the best fonts for video captions:
- Two-line captions: roughly 60 to 80 pixels cap height.
- One to three words at a time: 90 to 130 pixels, in a heavier weight.
- Weight: 600 or above for white text over video. The 300 and 400 weights look clean in a design file and thin on a phone.
- Line length: about 3 to 6 words per line on vertical video.
- Contrast: white with a 2 to 4 pixel dark outline, or a soft shadow. A dark box works too.
Placement matters as much as size. TikTok draws its buttons down the right edge and the username, description and sound bar across the bottom, so captions in those areas get covered. Keep text in the middle band of the frame and check a still from your video against the TikTok subtitle safe zone overlay before you export.
Then test one export on a real phone. A size that looks huge on a laptop timeline often looks right on a six-inch screen.
Using TikTok Sans with captions made elsewhere
TikTok Sans is a good choice when you control the font: in a desktop editor, a design tool, or a title card. Two things to keep in mind:
- Brand use. The font is free, but TikTok is a trademark of TikTok Ltd, and the font's licence doesn't give you any right to the TikTok name or logo. Using the font in your own videos is fine; presenting your work as made by TikTok is not.
- Languages. For Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and the other scripts TikTok Sans doesn't cover, choose a font made for that script, such as one of the Noto Sans families, and match the weight and size by eye.
Where CapsAI fits
CapsAI does not include TikTok Sans, and none of its caption styles is TikTok's font. You also can't upload a font: each of its 37 caption styles comes with its own font, and 8 of them are free to export. What it does is write the captions from your speech, in English or 10 Indian languages, sync them word by word, and burn them into an MP4 that you upload to TikTok like any other video. The TikTok caption generator page shows how the styles sit on a 9:16 frame.
What to do next
If you edit on a desktop, download TikTok Sans from Google Fonts, set it white and bold with a dark outline, and size it with the ranges above. If you'd rather not style captions by hand, try a few styles on your own clip: new CapsAI accounts get 3 free minutes, packs start from $4 (₹49 in India, €4 in the euro area), and watermark-free export comes with every paid pack.
