Why I host my own fonts instead of Google Fonts

Google Fonts made web typography unusually easy to ship. A designer can add a type family with one stylesheet link, rely on Google’s CDN, and let the browser fetch only the formats it supports. That convenience is genuine. The less visible cost is a second network dependency: the page is no longer making requests solely to the publisher, and the type arrives through infrastructure controlled by somebody else.

On this minimalist site, I chose to keep the font files on the same domain as the HTML and CSS. That decision gives me control over privacy, caching, delivery, and future changes. It also makes the site more self-contained, which suits a personal domain built to grow slowly rather than depend on a collection of external services.

A smaller chain of requests

When a page calls Google Fonts, the browser normally contacts Google’s stylesheet host before requesting the actual font files from a separate font-file host. Each hostname can require its own DNS lookup, TLS connection, and cache policy. If the stylesheet is imported from another CSS file, the first font request must wait for that request to finish.

This extra chain does not make Google Fonts inherently slow, especially when a site preconnects to its servers or uses a nearby edge. It does, however, place another organisation between the reader and the words on the page. The direction behind this site's homepage is simple: essential assets should live with the site, and decorative additions should not quietly become requirements.

Self-hosting also lets me decide what is served. I can version a font file, replace it without changing a vendor API, restrict my content security policy to my own origin, and remove the service if its behaviour changes. The browser still needs permission to use the font, but the relationship is auditable. I can inspect the exact file being delivered and keep a reliable fallback while the preferred face loads.

Performance I can measure

Font delivery becomes a performance decision rather than a brand-name decision. I convert each family to WOFF2, the widely supported compressed format, and subset it when a family includes languages or glyphs the page never needs. A variable font can carry several weights in one file, but an oversized character set can still delay the useful bytes.

The loading sequence matters as much as file size. I use a restrained fallback stack, enable an immediate-display strategy where appropriate, and preload only the face needed for the opening view. Preloading every weight wastes bandwidth and can delay more important requests. A well-chosen fallback also reduces the visible jump when the real font replaces it.

Self-hosting does not guarantee faster pages, since a distant server can still perform poorly. I use long-lived cache headers, fingerprint font filenames, and can place the assets behind a CDN with edge capacity in Sydney and Melbourne while retaining a first-party hostname. That distribution matters in Australia: Perth lies roughly 3,000 kilometres from the eastern seaboard, while NBN plans, fixed-wireless connections, and mobile networks vary considerably in latency and stability.

Type that supports deliberate work

A fast font can still be the wrong font. On pages built for reading, the x-height, aperture, stroke contrast, and spacing determine whether long passages feel comfortable or tiring. Australian English, prices, quotations, dates, and names each need adequate glyph coverage, while a restrained visual system gives typography more responsibility for hierarchy and rhythm.

That restraint resembles the thinking behind my daily focus checklist: remove anything that does not support the work. Clear type hierarchy helps readers scan without decorative noise, just as a focused schedule leaves room for one demanding task at a time. The browser and the working day benefit from the same principle of fewer competing signals.

Hosting locally also gives the design stability. I can test a family against real articles, navigation labels, photography, and generous areas of whitespace before changing it. Tabular numerals, punctuation, links, and code samples can all be checked together. Typography becomes a maintained system rather than a fashionable choice that changes whenever a new hosted library appears.

Privacy under Australian expectations

Removing Google Fonts from the request path narrows the site’s exposure to third-party tracking. A font CDN can observe network metadata associated with a request, including an IP address, browser information, and the particular font being fetched. With a plain same-origin setup, the reader contacts the publisher’s domain instead, so an independent font company does not receive that font request.

The Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles are relevant when organisations handle personal information in Australia. APP 3.6 and 3.7 address disclosures to overseas recipients, including the need for contractual safeguards or another valid basis in defined circumstances. The Act does not impose a blanket rule that all data must remain in Australia, but using an external font service does not transfer responsibility away from the Australian organisation operating the site.

Australian market conditions make this worth examining carefully. A Sydney agency may deliver a WordPress site with Google Fonts installed through a theme, while a Melbourne retailer may use a Shopify theme selected for its typography. Those tools can introduce external requests after launch, even when the original design was intended to be self-contained. ACCC guidance on privacy and third-party services reinforces the value of knowing what is collected, where it goes, and whether the arrangement matches the promise made to customers.

A quieter personal web presence

On a sparse personal site, typography becomes the dominant interface. With few panels, colours, and images competing for attention, the chosen letterforms establish the tone before a visitor reads a sentence. That makes self-hosting more than a technical preference: it gives the site a stable visual voice, allowing whitespace, restrained colour, and photography to support the type rather than overpower it.

The same preference for fewer frictions appears beyond the browser. In my walking meetings guide, I describe how a walk around a park or a conversation without a screen can create room for clearer thinking. Those ideas suit the character of this site, where focus comes from removing distractions rather than adding features and keeping every available option within reach.

The operational side deserves equal care. An open-source font distributed under the SIL Open Font License can generally be self-hosted, subject to its terms, while commercial families may impose restrictions on domains, formats, or redistribution. The font files must come from an authorised source, the licence should travel with the project, and updates should be tested before they replace a working design. Self-hosting removes a vendor dependency, but it also creates a responsibility to maintain what is now part of the site itself.