The Best Nerd Fonts for Your Terminal in 2026

Quick answer: Iosevka Nerd Font is the best pick for most terminals in November 2026: its upstream shipped v34.9.1 on 24 October 2026 and has 23,206 GitHub stars. Pick Monaspace for a GitHub-backed family released in March 2026, FiraCode for the most-starred base font, and JetBrains Mono only if you accept an upstream that has been quiet since January 2025.

What is a Nerd Font, and do you need one?

A Nerd Font is an ordinary programming font patched with an extra set of icon glyphs: file-type symbols, Git branch marks, powerline arrows and status-bar icons. The patching happens in one project, ryanoasis/nerd-fonts on GitHub, which had 65,133 stars, a latest release of v3.5.1 (21 August 2026) and a last commit on 17 October 2026 when we read it through the GitHub API on 5 November 2026.

You need one as soon as a tool in your terminal draws icons: a prompt theme, a file tree in Neovim, a tmux status line. Without the patched glyphs those spots render as empty boxes or question marks. If nothing you run draws icons, you do not need one.

The patch adds icons; it does not change how the letters look. A Nerd Font reads exactly as well as the base font underneath it, and the base font's own repository decides whether its glyph bugs ever get fixed. That is why this ranking reads the upstream projects, not the patch.

How we ranked the base fonts

All figures below come from the GitHub API, collected on 5 November 2026. We applied one rule, in this order:

1. Reach and activity first: base fonts with at least 10,000 stars and a commit or release in 2026, ordered by latest release.
2. Reach without activity: at least 10,000 stars but no upstream movement in 2026, ordered by latest release.
3. Smaller projects: under 10,000 stars, ordered by latest release.

Fonts age better than plugins. A font last released in 2023 still renders correctly in 2026; what a stale upstream costs you is fixes for new characters and rendering bugs. So a low rank here means "frozen", not "broken".

| Base font | Repository | Stars | Latest release | Last commit | |---|---|---|---|---| | Iosevka | be5invis/Iosevka | 23,206 | v34.9.1 (24 Oct 2026) | 24 Oct 2026 | | Monaspace | githubnext/monaspace | 19,789 | v1.400 (28 Mar 2026) | 27 Mar 2026 | | Maple Mono | subframe7536/maple-font | 29,661 | v7.9 (5 Dec 2025) | 30 Oct 2026 | | Fira Code | tonsky/FiraCode | 82,165 | 6.2 (6 Dec 2021) | 28 Jul 2026 | | Cascadia Code | microsoft/cascadia-code | 27,954 | v2407.24 (27 Nov 2024) | 18 Nov 2024 | | Source Code Pro | adobe-fonts/source-code-pro | 20,455 | 12 Apr 2023 | 28 Oct 2025 | | JetBrains Mono | JetBrains/JetBrainsMono | 13,149 | v2.304 (14 Jan 2023) | 31 Jan 2025 | | Hack | source-foundry/Hack | 17,385 | v3.003 (6 Mar 2018) | 21 Nov 2020 | | Geist Mono | vercel/geist-font | 3,736 | v1.9.1 (4 Nov 2026) | 4 Nov 2026 | | 0xProto | 0xType/0xProto | 2,956 | 2.502 (16 Jan 2026) | 21 Mar 2026 |

Which Nerd Fonts are best for the terminal?

1. Iosevka

Iosevka is the most active large font project we read. Version 34.9.1 landed on 24 October 2026, the last commit is from the same day, and a major version number in the thirties says the project has shipped steadily for years. With 23,206 stars, plenty of people use it daily and report problems.

Verdict: the pick if you want an upstream that is still moving.

2. Monaspace

Monaspace comes from GitHub Next, GitHub's research group, and released v1.400 on 28 March 2026. It is the newest of the big-name families here, with 19,789 stars, and its last commit (27 March 2026) sits right next to that release.

Verdict: the choice for a recent, corporate-backed family; watch whether a release follows in 2027.

3. Maple Mono

Maple Mono has more stars than any base font in our table except Fira Code: 29,661. Its last release, v7.9, is from 5 December 2025, but commits continued until 30 October 2026, the week before we read it.

Verdict: the best-supported newer project; the commit log is more current than the release page.

4. Fira Code

Fira Code is the most-starred base font by a wide margin, at 82,165 stars, more than the Nerd Fonts project itself. Its latest release, 6.2, dates from 6 December 2021, yet the repository still took a commit on 28 July 2026.

Verdict: the most popular choice; finished rather than abandoned, but do not expect a new release.

5. Cascadia Code

Microsoft's Cascadia Code has 27,954 stars and released v2407.24 on 27 November 2024. The last commit (18 November 2024) is older than that release, so the repository has not moved for nearly two years.

Verdict: a solid font from a large vendor whose upstream has gone quiet.

6. Source Code Pro

Adobe's Source Code Pro (20,455 stars) last released on 12 April 2023 and last committed on 28 October 2025. Slow, but not stopped.

Verdict: a safe, conservative pick with an upstream that still answers occasionally.

7. JetBrains Mono

JetBrains Mono is the font most lists put first, and the data says to check that. Its latest release is v2.304 from 14 January 2023, and the last commit is from 31 January 2025. It has 13,149 stars.

Verdict: a familiar default; rank it on looks if you like it, but nothing new is coming from upstream.

8. Hack

Hack (17,385 stars) is the clearest case of a famous font that stopped. The last release, v3.003, is from 6 March 2018, and the last commit from 21 November 2020.

Verdict: still fine on screen; frozen for six years, so pick something else for a fresh setup.

9. Geist Mono

Vercel's Geist font shipped v1.9.1 on 4 November 2026, the freshest release in our table, the day before we collected the data. At 3,736 stars it has the smallest following of the active projects.

Verdict: the most recently released option, for readers who like Vercel's type.

10. 0xProto

0xProto released 2.502 on 16 January 2026 and committed on 21 March 2026, with 2,956 stars.

Verdict: a small, maintained project worth trying if the big names feel generic.

Popular but quiet upstream. Meslo's repository (andreberg/Meslo-Font, 2,743 stars) has published no GitHub release and has had no commit since 6 January 2013. Hasklig last released v1.2 on 22 December 2020. Victor Mono (v1.5.6, 26 January 2024), Commit Mono (v1.143, 28 December 2023) and mononoki (1.6, 25 February 2023) have not released since. Inconsolata's last release is v3.000 from 12 December 2019, though it took a commit on 3 November 2026. IBM Plex is active (commit on 4 November 2026), but its latest GitHub release is a Plex Sans package, so we have no release date for the mono face.

More command-line tooling is collected in our terminal category.

What does the directory say about fonts?

Our font category collects font sources and foundries, not individual Nerd Font builds, so it cannot rank one patched font against another. The ranking above therefore rests on the GitHub data, not on our listings.

Which Nerd Font works best with Starship, Powerlevel10k or Oh My Posh?

All three prompts draw their symbols from the Nerd Fonts glyph set, so any complete Nerd Font works with any of them; the prompt does not care which base font sits underneath. Choose the base font for reading code, then let the prompt use the icons.

The common failure is setting the font in the wrong place. The font belongs to the terminal app, not the shell: change it in the terminal's settings (per profile in Windows Terminal), and separately in your editor if you use its built-in terminal. Our Oh My Zsh themes ranking notes which themes need the glyphs at all.

How do you install a Nerd Font on macOS, Windows and Linux?

The source that works on every system is the release page of ryanoasis/nerd-fonts on GitHub (v3.5.1, published 21 August 2026), which ships an archive per font family. Download the family you picked, unzip it, then:

• macOS: open the font files and choose Install in Font Book, or copy them to ~/Library/Fonts.
• Windows: select the files, right-click and choose Install.
• Linux: copy them to ~/.local/share/fonts, then run fc-cache -fv.

Package managers carry many of the families as well; names differ between managers, so search for the font name before installing. Afterwards, restart the terminal and pick the font whose name includes "Nerd Font". Our guides to the best terminal for Mac, best terminal for Windows and best terminal for Linux cover where each app keeps its font setting.

Nerd Font vs a plain coding font: when is the patch not worth it?

Skip the patch when nothing you run draws icons: a plain prompt, no file-tree plugins, editing inside a graphical IDE. In that case the unpatched font is the same letters with fewer moving parts, and you get updates straight from the upstream release instead of waiting for the next Nerd Fonts release. If you are choosing on letterforms alone, our coding fonts ranking compares them without the icon layer.

FAQ

What fonts does Nerd Fonts patch?

Nerd Fonts patches existing open programming fonts rather than designing its own letters. The families in this ranking are popular base fonts, and the release archives on the ryanoasis/nerd-fonts page list what each version ships.

What is the most popular Nerd Font?

By upstream GitHub stars on 5 November 2026, Fira Code leads with 82,165, followed by Maple Mono (29,661) and Cascadia Code (27,954). Stars measure interest in the base font, not downloads of the patched version.

Is JetBrains Mono still maintained?

Its upstream repository has had no release since v2.304 on 14 January 2023 and no commit since 31 January 2025. The font still works; it simply is not changing.

Do Nerd Fonts work in VS Code?

Yes, for the integrated terminal and for icon-drawing extensions. Set the patched font as the terminal font family in the editor's settings, since the editor and its terminal can use different fonts.

After you install one, open a prompt theme or a file tree that uses icons and look for empty boxes; if you see any, the terminal is still using the old font.