A Calligraphr alternative with no printer or scanner
Calligraphr and MyHandFont both turn handwriting into a font file. They differ in where you write: Calligraphr starts from a template you fill in and upload; MyHandFont starts from letters you write on a screen. This page sets out the differences as plainly as we can.
We make MyHandFont, so read this with that in mind. Every statement about Calligraphr below comes from its own website as of November 2026; prices and plans change, so check calligraphr.com before you decide. If you are looking for a Calligraphr alternative because you have no printer, no scanner, or you would rather pay once, the table should answer most of it.
Side by side
| Feature | MyHandFont | Calligraphr* |
|---|---|---|
| How you write the letters | On the screen, with a finger, stylus or mouse | On a printed template with a pen, or on the template in a drawing app |
| Printer or scanner needed | No | For the paper route, a printer and a scanner or phone camera |
| Works offline | Yes (Android app; the website works once loaded) | No, it is a web app |
| Account | None | Registration required |
| Price model | Free to draw and preview; the font export is one purchase for life (US$7.99 in the US) | Free plan with limits; Pro bought per month or per six months, as a one-time payment or a subscription |
| Characters per font | 70 drawn (a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and 8 marks) plus 8 built from them | Up to 75 characters on the free plan, up to 600 on Pro |
| Font files | TTF | TTF and OTF |
| Animated GIF of your writing | Yes, free with a small tag | No |
| Character variants and ligatures | No | Yes (variants on both plans, ligatures on Pro) |
| Ads | None, ever | None seen on calligraphr.com (November 2026) |
| Where your drawings are kept | Only on your device | In your browser on the free plan; on their servers with Pro |
How each one works
Calligraphr
Calligraphr is a web app. You choose which characters you want, download a template with a box for each, print it and write in the boxes with a pen. Then you scan the pages or photograph them with a phone, upload the images, and Calligraphr cuts out each letter and builds a font you can download as TTF or OTF. You can also fill the template on a tablet in a drawing app and upload that image instead of paper. Its strengths are real ink texture, character variants that rotate so repeated letters differ, and ligatures on the Pro plan.
MyHandFont
MyHandFont is an Android app with a free web version. You write each letter directly on the screen over guide lines. The app records your strokes, smooths them, joins them into clean outlines and spaces and kerns the letters automatically. You see a sentence in your handwriting while you draw, and you can share an animated GIF of your writing. The font export is a single purchase for life, and the app has no ads and needs no account. Your drawings never leave your device.
Which to choose
- Choose Calligraphr if you write best with a real pen on paper, want the texture of ink, or need many characters, accented letters or ligatures.
- Choose MyHandFont if you have no printer or scanner, want to make the font on your phone in one sitting, prefer to pay once, or want an animated GIF of your handwriting to share.
Both give you a standard font file that installs on Windows and Mac. The install guide applies to either.
Android app Coming to Google Play
Web version Draw in your browserQuestions
- Is MyHandFont a free Calligraphr alternative?
- Drawing, the preview, the animated GIF and the PNG sample are free in MyHandFont, on Android and on the web. Exporting the font file is a single one-time purchase in the Android app (US$7.99 in the US). Calligraphr has a free plan with limits and a paid Pro plan.
- Which one makes better fonts?
- It depends on how you write best. Pen on paper, scanned, keeps the texture of real ink; Calligraphr is built for that. Writing on a screen records clean strokes that MyHandFont smooths into even outlines, and needs no printer.
- Can I move a font from Calligraphr to MyHandFont?
- Not directly. MyHandFont works from strokes drawn on screen, not from scanned images or font files, so the letters need to be drawn again.
- Does MyHandFont work on iPhone or iPad?
- Not yet. The app is for Android; on other devices you can draw in the browser and move the project file to an Android phone or tablet to export the font.
* Calligraphr is a trademark of its owner. MyHandFont is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Calligraphr. The name is used only to identify the product being compared. Information about Calligraphr comes from its public website in November 2026 and may have changed since.