What it does
Fontmin is a Node-based font-processing tool with a command-line interface and plug-in pipeline. It can subset TrueType fonts by text, convert formats and generate font-related CSS.
Fontmin lets a web build keep only the characters it needs and produce the corresponding font files and CSS. Install the Node package, give the pipeline a source file or file pattern, add the glyph and conversion plug-ins you need, then set a destination before calling run. Without a destination, the pipeline does not write files to disk. The command-line interface offers a shorter route for text-based subsetting.
The glyph plug-in accepts the text to retain and can preserve or remove TrueType hinting. For a fixed event page, include every heading, name, accent and punctuation mark in that text; characters omitted from the subset will not appear later. Version 2 uses ES modules and requires Node 16 or later, while CommonJS projects are directed to version 1. Fontmin is free under MIT, but the font you process still needs to permit subsetting and conversion.
Strengths
- Combines text-based subsetting, conversion and CSS generation.
- Offers both a programmable pipeline and CLI.
Watch out for
- Current versions require an ES-module Node workflow.
- A text subset must include every character the final content needs.
Best for
- Developers reducing fonts for fixed-content web pages.
- Build pipelines generating licensed font assets.
Sources
- Fontmin official README (Oct 27, 2026)
- Fontmin MIT license (Oct 27, 2026)