When comparing Anka/Coder vs Apple Monaco, the Slant community recommends Apple Monaco for most people. In the question“What are the best programming fonts?” Apple Monaco is ranked 12th while Anka/Coder is ranked 20th. The most important reason people chose Apple Monaco is:
Monaco's rendering is similar to that of Consolas but slightly more playful. Each character seems to be a tiny bit larger when compared to Consolas, yet code takes up the same amount of space.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Zero distinguishable thanks to protruding slash
The zero really stands out and looks quite different from zeroes in most other fonts. The addition of the slash means you'll never have to second guess if that character is actually an "O" or if it is a "0".
Pro Open source
Because it's open source, Anka/Coder is freely available to anyone.
Pro Practical yet stylish
Anka/Coder has just the right balance between style and readability.
Pro Compact
Condensed and, even to a greater extent, narrow versions allow for compact lines without sacrificing readability.
Pro Easy on user's eyes
Monaco's rendering is similar to that of Consolas but slightly more playful. Each character seems to be a tiny bit larger when compared to Consolas, yet code takes up the same amount of space.
Pro Good differentiation between clashing characters
The curly braces are easily distinguishable from parentheses, "0" is distinguishable from "O", and "1" is distinguishable from "l", to name but a few.
Pro Beautiful braces, perfect parens
Parentheses are half-circles. Square brackets, half-squares. Curly braces, unmistakable. Geometric, classy, fun, and most importantly clear.
Other fonts' bracket delimiters might start to look lifeless and wilted.
Especially well-suited to those who color their brackets as the colors show even against light backgrounds.
Pro Excellent legibility at non-antialiased small sizes
This font shines for legibility at non-antialiased small sizes. It was originally designed as a 9 pt bitmap font. This is excellent for when maximizing on-screen code is a priority.
Pro Small file size
Even if you are struggling with memory, this font is no concern. Its ttf file is just about 50 kb.
Cons
Con Some characters aren't distinguishable from others
This is especially the case with the colon, which is barely distinguishable from the semi-colon.
Con Not quite as charming at sizes of 10 and 11 pt
There are some hinting issues at these sizes: upper curves are bent sharper while the lower look is squashed to the baseline. Also, the dot of "i" appears merged with the stick at 11 pts. At 9 pts, the font looks good again (nice for watches, compiler output, etc).
Con Only comes with Mac OS X
While it generally only came with OS X, you can try here for installing on other platforms.
Con Ability to select different anti-aliasing grades was dropped
Before OS X Snow Leopard, it was possible to apply varying degrees of anti-aliasing to the font. At present, the previously "medium" anti-aliasing option is the only choice.