MonoLisa, my favorite monospaced font ever, released v3
From the MonoLisa blog: MonoLisa - MonoLisa version 3 – now with MonoLisa Text family
Now with version 3, the family grows with a new member besides MonoLisa Code, the original typeface. The new font family called MonoLisa Text covers the other half of common usage where a monospaced typeface reaches its limits. In other words, MonoLisa Text is a proportional family designed for use cases where you might have regular text and therefore completes the family while working as a complementary pair to the original version. This makes it ideal for use cases such as prose, user interfaces, presentations and any sort of printed items like books, magazines and the like.
According to my emails, I purchased MonoLisa almost exactly five years ago today in 2021. Since then, it's been my monospace font across every Mac I've owned, whether it be my text editors or my terminals. It's one of those things where I was trying out every monospaced font I could get my hands on, and once I got this, I stopped looking because it was exactly what I wanted.
In 2023, they added a variable font version, which I immediately picked up. And honestly, I thought that would have been the end of updates. Fonts aren't exactly like regular software where you expect ongoing improvements. Frankly, this might be the only font I've ever kept up with updates at all over the years. Still, I wasn't expecting to have a version three come out, let alone have it include a text version. You can try it out on their testing page, but I think it looks really nice. I haven't made the jump yet, but I'm going to play around and see how this would look on Birchtree, but I suspect it's just a matter of time.
Fair warning, this is a paid font, which I know is not the norm in 2026, especially for monospaced fonts. I know there are plenty of free options out there, but for me, this has been worth the money. Besides, if you've ever bought other fonts in the past, you know this is incredibly cheap compared to what a lot of premium fonts go for.
