7 Tips to Speed Up Your Workflow in REB Font Editor

REB Font Editor vs. Alternatives: Which Is Best for Designers?

March 7, 2026

Choosing the right font editor shapes your type design workflow, output quality, and how quickly you iterate. This comparison examines REB Font Editor against several popular alternatives—Glyphs, FontLab, RoboFont, and FontForge—across features designers care about, so you can decide which fits your needs.

Quick summary

• Best for beginners: REB Font Editor (clean UI, approachable tools)
• Best for professional type foundries: FontLab (deep feature set, production-ready)
• Best for macOS native designers: Glyphs (native macOS UX, strong ecosystem)
• Best for scripting and customization: RoboFont (Python-first, highly extensible)
• Best free option: FontForge (feature-rich but dated UI)

Comparison table

Key strengths of REB Font Editor

• Approachable interface: A modern, uncluttered UI that helps new users start designing quickly without steep onboarding.
• Solid core tools: Reliable drawing tools, anchors, and guideline handling for most type design tasks.
• Variable fonts support: Handles variable font creation and export with a straightforward workflow.
• Balanced pricing: Competitive mid-tier pricing for freelancers and small studios.

Where REB falls short

• Scripting & automation: Limited API compared with RoboFont or Glyphs, so advanced batch tasks require manual work.
• Advanced OpenType control: While adequate for many projects, power users may miss the full low-level control provided by FontLab or Glyphs’ feature panels.
• Large-family production features: Handling very large multi-master families and complex interpolation scenarios can be smoother in FontLab.

When to choose each tool

• Choose REB if:

  • You’re new to glyph design and want a fast, pleasant learning curve.
  • You design display and text faces without needing heavy scripting or production automation.
  • You want solid variable font support at a reasonable price.

• Choose Glyphs if:

  • You work on macOS and value a polished native app with a strong plugin ecosystem.
  • You need high-quality kerning tools and OpenType feature workflows.

• Choose FontLab if:

  • You run or work for a type foundry and need deep production features and file-compatibility controls.
  • You require advanced interpolation, hinting, and professional output guarantees.

• Choose RoboFont if:

  • You’re a developer or power user who wants complete Python control over every aspect of the editor and workflow automation.

• Choose FontForge if:

  • You need a free, open-source solution and can tolerate a less modern interface.

Practical advice for switching or choosing

1. Match tool capability to project scope: hobby or one-off display fonts → REB; multi-weight retail families → FontLab or Glyphs.
2. Test with a trial: import an existing glyph set and try export workflows (OTF/variable). Focus on kerning, feature compilation, and generated file size.
3. Consider ecosystem: plugins, community resources, and third-party tools can reduce friction (e.g., kerning assistants, proofing tools).
4. Plan for automation needs: if you expect repetitive tasks, favor tools with scripting APIs.
5. Budget for training: even the friendliest editors have workflows worth learning via tutorials and template files.

Conclusion

REB Font Editor is an excellent, approachable choice for many designers—especially those starting out or building smaller families. For production-heavy workflows, deep scripting, or large retail families, Glyphs, FontLab, or RoboFont may be better fits depending on platform and