Cyrillic Font Subsetting Guide
Learn how to optimize Cyrillic fonts for Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and other Slavic languages. Reduce font sizes while keeping full language support.
Understanding Cyrillic Script
Cyrillic is the alphabet used by Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and many other languages. It has about 66 base characters in Unicode. However, different languages use different subsets.
Russian uses 33 letters. Ukrainian has 33 letters too, but four are different from Russian. Bulgarian uses 30 letters. Serbian Cyrillic has 30 letters with some unique ones.
A complete Cyrillic font supports all variations. This includes historical characters and letters for minority languages. Most websites only need a specific language subset.
Subsetting Cyrillic fonts is straightforward. The character count is small compared to CJK fonts. But proper subsetting still provides meaningful size reduction.
Cyrillic by Language
Each Slavic language uses slightly different letters. Here is what you need for each:
| Language | Letters | Unique Characters |
|---|---|---|
| Russian | 33 | Standard Cyrillic base |
| Ukrainian | 33 | ґ є і ї (unique to Ukrainian) |
| Bulgarian | 30 | Specific letter forms |
| Serbian | 30 | ђ ј љ њ ћ џ |
| Belarusian | 32 | ў (short u) |
If your site serves multiple Cyrillic languages, combine the character sets. Our Cyrillic preset includes characters for all major languages.
Expected Size Reductions
Cyrillic subsetting gives moderate but useful size reductions:
The biggest savings come from removing Latin, Greek, and other scripts you do not need. Many fonts include extensive Latin support by default.
How to Subset Cyrillic Fonts
Follow these steps to create optimized Cyrillic fonts for your website:
Open the Font Subsetter
Visit our Font Subsetter Tool. It works directly in your browser with no installation needed.
Upload Your Font
Drag and drop your font file or click to browse. We accept TTF, OTF, WOFF, and WOFF2 formats.
Good Cyrillic fonts include Roboto, Open Sans, Noto Sans, PT Sans, and Inter. All support multiple Cyrillic languages.
Analyze Your Font
Click the Analyze button to see what your font contains. Check the Cyrillic coverage percentage. Most quality fonts show 90%+ coverage.
The analysis also shows which presets work best for your specific font.
Select the Cyrillic Preset
Find "Cyrillic" in the Quick Presets section and click it. This includes Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Serbian characters.
Most Cyrillic websites also display some English. Add "Basic Latin" if you need English letters too.
Add Numbers and Punctuation
Select "Numbers" and "Punctuation" from the Character Categories. These are essential for most websites.
Currency symbols might be needed if you display prices. Check the "Currency Symbols" preset if so.
Generate Your Subset
Click the orange Subset Font button. Your browser will download the optimized font after processing.
Check the success message for size reduction stats. Verify the new file is significantly smaller.
Unicode Ranges for Cyrillic
These Unicode ranges cover Cyrillic characters:
/* Basic Cyrillic */ U+0400-04FF /* Cyrillic Supplement */ U+0500-052F /* Cyrillic Extended-A */ U+2DE0-2DFF /* Cyrillic Extended-B */ U+A640-A69F
The Basic Cyrillic range (U+0400-04FF) covers all major Slavic languages. The extended ranges add historical and minority language characters.
Tips for Cyrillic Web Fonts
Use WOFF2 Format
After subsetting, convert to WOFF2 for best compression. This adds another 20-30% size reduction. Use our Font Converter.
Check Language-Specific Letters
Ukrainian needs ґ є і ї. Serbian needs ђ ј љ њ ћ џ. Make sure your subset includes these if you support those languages.
Consider Bulgarian Forms
Bulgarian uses different letter forms for some characters. Quality fonts include Bulgarian localization. Check font documentation.
Test With Real Content
After subsetting, test with actual website text. Check for missing characters that appear as boxes or question marks.
Ready to Convert Your Fonts?
8 formats and 56 conversion paths available
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Written by
Sarah Mitchell
With help & verified by language expert