IBM Plex Sans Arabic

IBM Plex Sans Arabic is a free Arabic and Latin font with seven upright weights. It is a useful candidate for product interfaces, technical documentation and bilingual systems that already use the broader Plex collection.

Know which Plex files you are getting

Google Fonts credits Mike Abbink, Bold Monday, Khajag Apelian and Wael Morcos. Plex spans several families and writing systems; the package here contains Sans Arabic only. It does not bundle Plex Serif, Mono or the italic styles found elsewhere in the collection.

For a product team comparing Arabic web fonts, the choice between Regular, Medium and SemiBold is useful for testing hierarchy. Try those weights on the same navigation labels before deciding how many levels the interface needs.

Seven static weights

The files are Thin 100, ExtraLight 200, Light 300, Regular 400, Medium 500, SemiBold 600 and Bold 700. They are separate TTF files, so you can install the weights you use. Check thin strokes at your smallest size and weakest background contrast before assigning them to secondary information.

Compare a complete component with Tajawal. If four weight choices are sufficient, Almarai offers another restrained option. Choose using the text and spacing of the actual product rather than a single specimen word.

Arabic, Latin and mixed strings

The supplied files contain Arabic and Latin characters. Test vowel marks, punctuation and line spacing in the target application. Persian or Urdu content needs its own character and shaping checks; Arabic script support alone is not a guarantee of complete language coverage.

For Arabic and Latin bilingual typography, include a name followed by a date, a parenthesized Latin term and a code identifier inside an Arabic paragraph. Correct direction settings matter alongside the font. The preview helps with a first comparison, but the production component is the final test.

Pairing within Plex

Start with the Latin already in these files. For a larger editorial system, consider IBM Plex Sans for Latin prose, Plex Serif for a contrasting editorial voice or Plex Mono for code. These additional families require their own files. For traditional Arabic book text, compare the page color with Amiri.

OFL license and the reserved name

The package is version 1.101, licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 with the Reserved Font Name “Plex.” Personal and commercial use are allowed. Redistributed modifications must respect the reserved name restriction and the OFL terms. Selling the font on its own is prohibited; the original license is included with all seven TTFs.

See the Google Fonts source files, compare more Arabic sans fonts, and prepare sample text with the Arabic keyboard. Our guide to choosing an Arabic font covers testing across different uses.