Avenir is an excellent alternative to Futura. It takes the simple, clean, geometric shapes in Futura and modernizes them to be more current and functional.

Kabel is a step in the wrong direction.

I haven't used Gill Sans since college. What was I thinking back then?

I hate Kabel with a passion. However, I must include it to be politically correct in fontage. The number one font alternative to Future is Century Gothic. No doubt. The great thing about Futura is how it's so pointy in the capital A, M, N, V, W. All the fonts I have listed here don't have that point--except Century Gothic.

Then again, Century Gothic's x-height on the lower case letters is WAY too big. Avenir does a better job of retaining the lower x-height.

I don't like Futura or Gill Sans because the uppercase J falls below the baseline. How stupid!