Where has The Hungry JPEG and its fonts gone? The marketplace closed on December 1, 2025. Its parent company, 123RF, pointed users to its own platform, and customers report that downloads on the old site stopped working. The fonts themselves were made by independent designers, so they were not deleted, but no verified list shows where each designer went. This post covers what we could confirm, what is still unclear, and how to keep your fonts and licences safe.
We have only included facts we could tie to a named source. Where something is a user report or a gap in public information, we say so.
What happened to The Hungry JPEG
- Who owned it. Wikipedia’s 123RF entry says 123RF acquired TheHungryJPEG, which it describes as a UK-registered font and graphics marketplace, together with its sister company Craftbundles, in March 2017. The price was not disclosed.
- Closure announced. A Microstock Group forum thread was titled “The Hungry JPEG is closing on December 1st”. A former contributor also wrote on Substack that they received an email saying the marketplace would stop operating on December 1, 2025, and that contributors were invited to continue with 123RF. That writer did not see an official notice on the site at the time, and said nothing about what would happen to customer purchases or earnings.
- Closed. A January 21, 2026 post on the Greeting Card Universe community blog says that as of December 1, 2025 the site had shut down, that downloads are no longer available, and that parent company 123RF is pointing users toward its own platform.
- Account access. One user-written account says some long-term customers and sellers were not notified directly and lost access to accounts, purchase history and outstanding earnings. This comes from a single source, so treat it as a report, not a confirmed fact.
What the domain shows now
When we checked on November 10, 2026, thehungryjpeg.com loaded a page titled “AI Vector Generator and SVG Designs”, branded The Hungry JPEG. It sells AI-generated SVG designs for credits and offers a free font and a free bundle each day. We could not confirm whether it is run by the same company as the original marketplace, and it does not look like the old catalogue of designer fonts and bundles. An old marketplace address we tried also returned an unrelated page.
The practical advice is simple. Do not assume your old account, order history or saved payment details exist there. Do not enter a password you use elsewhere, and be careful with search results and emails that claim to offer your old downloads.
What happens to fonts you already bought
Closing a shop does not automatically cancel a font licence you already received, but we have not found a public statement from 123RF about customer licences, and we are not giving legal advice. What matters is that you can prove what you bought and what the terms were.
- Find the font files you downloaded. Check your Downloads folder, any external drives and cloud storage. Installed fonts also live in your system font folder, but copying out of it may break the licence terms, so look for the original download first.
- Keep the licence and the receipt. Save the order email, the licence text or PDF, and a screenshot of the product page if you still have one. If a client ever asks where a font came from, that file is your answer.
- Do not re-download from unofficial sources. Free-download sites and torrents that offer pirated copies are not licensed, and they may carry malware.
- Back up everything. If you only have a font installed on one machine, copy the original zip to a second location. Our guide to backing up your computer with the 3-2-1 rule shows how.
- Check uploaded fonts. If you uploaded fonts into Canva or another tool, they usually stay in that account’s Brand Kit, but confirm that your files and the licence are still stored elsewhere. See how to upload fonts to Canva for where those uploads live.
Where did the designers and their fonts go?
We could not verify a list of designers who moved or a place where the whole catalogue is now sold. The 123RF invitation applied to contributors, and the Substack writer says they heard the marketplace would continue under a new name, but we found no confirmation of either. Here is how to track a specific font yourself:
- Read the font file’s details. On Windows, right-click the font file, choose Properties, then Details. On a Mac, open the font in Font Book and press Command and I. Designer and vendor fields often name the studio or website.
- Search by font name plus designer. Many independent designers also sell on their own sites or other marketplaces.
- Use the licence text. It often includes the designer’s name or contact address.
- Identify an unknown font from artwork. If you only have a design file or an image, our post on finding a font from an image lists six methods.
Legal alternatives
Free fonts you can use commercially
Google Fonts is the easiest source. Families there are published under open licences, usually the SIL Open Font License, and each page shows the licence. The League of Moveable Type is another curated source of open fonts. Font Squirrel curates free fonts too, but licences differ from font to font, so check each one. Never assume a font is free for commercial use because it is free to download.
If you were buying crafting and display fonts, browse our handwritten fonts, script fonts and calligraphy fonts for similar styles.
Paid marketplaces
The Greeting Card Universe post lists these alternatives for people who used The Hungry JPEG: Design Bundles, Creative Fabrica, Creative Market, So Fontsy and Design Cuts, plus 123RF as the company’s suggested option. The post says most of them state commercial licensing. We have not compared their terms, so read each product’s licence before you buy and keep a copy. The same post warns that DaFont’s licences need checking.
Using the right licence
Commercial work needs a commercial licence. Different licences cover different things, such as print, web, apps, embedding in PDFs or sold products like T-shirts and mugs. If a font was bought under a personal or a limited licence, that does not become a broader licence just because the marketplace closed. When in doubt, contact the designer directly.
Whether you replace the font with a free alternative or with a paid one, test it on a real layout before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Hungry JPEG closed?
The original marketplace closed on December 1, 2025, according to a January 2026 community post and a former contributor. The domain currently loads an AI vector service under the same name, and we could not confirm who runs it.
Can I still download fonts I bought there?
The January 2026 post says downloads are no longer available on the site. Look for the files you saved earlier and your licence documents. Do not use unofficial mirrors.
Is my font licence still valid?
We found no public statement about customer licences after the closure. Keep your receipt and licence text, and contact the font’s designer if you need confirmation for important client work.
Where can I find similar fonts legally?
Use Google Fonts for open-licence fonts, and a paid marketplace such as Creative Fabrica, Creative Market, Design Bundles, So Fontsy or Design Cuts for commercial display fonts. Read each licence before you buy.
