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The 8 Best Free PowerPoint Alternatives

Professional results for tight budgets

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Microsoft PowerPoint is a great tool for creating professional-looking slideshows and presentations. However, the home version requires a Microsoft 365 subscription, and the free mobile app locks some features behind the sub as well. Fortunately, there are plenty of free PowerPoint software alternatives out there. Here's a look at some of the best options and how they compare to PowerPoint. 

Best Direct PowerPoint Replacement: Google Slides

Very similar to PowerPoint.

Free to use. 

Compatible with PowerPoint.

An internet connection is strongly recommended. 

Where there's a need for an app, Google seems to have it covered. Google Slides is its PowerPoint equivalent and it's a lot like Microsoft's app. Very simple to use and offering full compatible with the alternative, you can access Google Slides via your browser and easily create custom presentations with audio and your own images, all entirely for free. It also offers great live collaboration features for teamwork purposes.

The only minor downside is you need an internet connection to at least get started but the service does also work offline with presentations syncing once you're back online.

Best for Designers: Prezi

Video editing included.

Can easily make data visualizations. 

Stylish user interface.

Free option is pretty basic.

No support.

Presentations viewable by all.

Prezi is a great option for designers who have a vision but aren't technically proficient at achieving it. Its simple drag and drop interface makes it a breeze to organize your presentation just how you want it. Backed up with other Prezi apps that mean you can create videos or more stylish data visualizations than simple graphs, it's ideal for industries that are more visual than others. A series of pre-made templates makes it all the more attractive. 

Prezi isn't as free as it seems though. To get the full wealth of features like advanced image editing, offline access, and narration, you'll need to pay a subscription fee.

Best for Quick Results: Zoho Show

A theme for every occasion.

Quick to create something.

Intuitive interface.

Need to be online to use it.

Simple to use yet highly effective is the sweet spot for quick results, and that's certainly the case with Zoho Show. You might need to be online to use it, but it's worth the connection with an intuitive user interface that adapts to what you need to do. You can easily embed videos, tweets, and images into your presentations with some neat transition effects making things more interesting. 

Collaboration tools further sweeten the deal with annotation features meaning you can work together well as a team and fast.

Best for Animations: Powtoon

Great animation tools.

Easy to use.

Can export to social media platforms.

Branding applied on free presentations.

More about animations than slideshows. 

PowToon tackles PowerPoint presentations from a slightly different angle than a lot of its competitors. It's primarily great for creating full animations and videos rather than presentations that you would click through and present yourself. That lends itself perfectly to the internet which is why it's so useful that you can export your presentations to various forms of social media. 

With a drag and drop template, you can create something within about 20 minutes from your browser. The free version bundles in branding logos so viewers will always know you've used PowToon to create them but that's a small price to pay for an otherwise very accessible and simple to use piece of software. 

Best for Mass Branding: Renderforest

Plenty of options for expanding branding.

300MB cloud storage for free.

Unlimited exports.

Exports can be low in quality.

Content is watermarked.

RenderForest thinks of itself as more than just a PowerPoint alternative. It tackles everything you might need from creating logos to designing promo videos, music visualizations, landing pages, and websites. That's on top of its extensive animations and intro creation. That might sound intimidating but the service keeps things simple, so it won't take you long to mock something up and develop it.

Stick to the free version and there are some restrictions such as branding on your videos, lower quality logos, and so forth, but it's a solid start for an otherwise entirely free service. In particular, if you just need to concoct a quick 3-minute video for a presentation, RenderForest has you covered.

Best for Non-Designers: Visme

Plenty of templates to choose from.

Can set up five projects at once.

Charts and widgets support.

Limited cloud storage.

Visme branding on free plan.

Been asked to make a presentation and you don't know where to start? Visme is perfect for those that aren't well versed with graphics as it offers an extensive template library. The free plan limits your options a little but there are still some decent choices here. In addition, the service provides cool ways to make stats and data look exciting thanks to chart and widget support. It's all done through a simple drag and drop interface too that makes it super simple to add video and embed other content. 

Just bear in mind that storage options are a little limited and everything on the free plan will contain Visme branding. 

Best for Office Replacement: LibreOffice Impress

Full program rather than browser-based.

Extensive support. 

Similar experience to Microsoft Office.

Requires installation. 

Not quite as intuitive as alternatives.

LibreOffice is a popular free alternative to Microsoft Office, so it makes sense to use LibreOffice Impress if you want the closest experience to Microsoft's package. Unlike most of the others here, you need to install LibreOffice on your PC or Mac which means it's no good for Chromebooks or moving between different systems. However, in exchange, you get an intuitive experience that makes it simple to create slideshows, whether you're handing them out to a class or conference afterwards, or simply projecting them on screen. 

Bear in mind you have to seek out templates yourself though which may be off-putting for the least technically minded user out there. 

Download for:

Best for Apple Users: Keynote

Simple to use. 

Apple Pencil support. 

Cloud based as well as app based.

App is only on Apple devices.

Keynote is Apple's direct competitor to Microsoft PowerPoint and it's a great alternative, especially if you're a Mac user. With app support for iOS and Mac, it takes seconds to get started. Alternatively, PC users can use Keynote via the iCloud website and easily work across multiple devices. 

One of the best features is the ability to use the Apple Pencil on an iPad to create diagrams or illustrations making it great for skilled artists. As well as that, Apple provides plenty of convenient templates for personal and professional projects. 

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The best presentation software

These powerpoint alternatives go beyond the basics..

The latest presentation apps have made it easier than ever to format slides and create professional-looking slideshows without giving off a "this is a template" vibe. Even standard PowerPoint alternatives have updated key features to make it easier than ever to collaborate and create presentations quickly, so you can spend more time prepping for your actual presentation.

If, like me, you've been using Google Slides unquestioningly for years, it's a whole new world out there. The newest crop of online presentation tools go way beyond the classic slideshow experience, with new features to keep your audience's attention, streamline the creation process with AI, and turn slide decks into videos and interactive conversations.

I've been testing these apps for the past few years, and this time, I spent several days tinkering with the top presentation software solutions out there to bring you the best of the best.

Beautiful.ai for AI-powered design

Prezi for non-linear, conversational presentations

Powtoon for video presentations

Genially for interactive, presenter-less presentations

Pitch for collaborating with your team on presentations

Zoho Show for a simple presentation app

Gamma for generative AI features

What makes the best presentation app?

How we evaluate and test apps.

Our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. Unless explicitly stated, we spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We're never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site—we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the Zapier blog .

When looking for the best presentation apps, I wanted utility players. After all, slideshows are used for just about everything, from pitch decks and product launches to class lectures and church sermons. With that in mind, here's what I was looking for:

Pre-built templates. The best presentation tools should have attractive, professional-looking templates to build presentations in a hurry.

Sharing and collaboration options. Whether you plan to share your webinar slides later, or you just want to collaborate with a coworker on a presentation, it should be easy to share files and collaborate in real-time.

Flexibility and customization options. Templates are great, but top presentation apps should enable you to customize just about everything—giving you the flexibility to build exactly what you need.

Affordability. Creating compelling presentations is important, but you shouldn't have to bust your budget to make it happen. With capable free tools on the market, affordability is a top consideration.

Standalone functionality. There's no reason to use multiple tools when one can do it all, so I didn't test any apps that require and work on top of another presentation app like PowerPoint or Google Slides.

Familiar, deck-based UI. For our purposes here, I only tested software that uses slides, with the familiar deck-based editor you expect from a "presentation" tool (versus, for example, a video creation app).

While many apps now offer AI features in one way or another, I found many of these features to be lacking still—they're often slow, struggle to pull in relevant imagery, and yield wildly inconsistent designs. For that reason, I opted not to make AI features a strict requirement (for now!), and I've still included apps that don't offer AI. (Of course, if you opt for one of those, you can still easily get AI-generated images from a separate tool and copy them into your presentation app of choice.)

Beyond that, I also looked for presentation apps that brought something unique to the table—features above and beyond what you can get for free from a legacy solution like PowerPoint or Google Slides. (And I opted not to test any brand new apps that are still in beta, since there are so many established options out there.)

Here's what my testing workflow looked like:

I went through any onboarding or guided tutorials.

I created a new deck, scanning through all available templates, noting how well-designed they were (and which were free versus paid).

I added new slides, deleted slides, edited text and images, and played around with other content types.

I changed presentation design settings, like color schemes and background images.

I reviewed and tested the sharing and collaboration options.

I tested out presenter view (when available).

After my first round of testing, I went back into the top performers to test any unique or niche features like AI, brand settings, interactive content, and more. With that, these are the best presentation apps I found—each one really brings something different or radically easy to the table.

The best presentation software: at a glance

The best free presentation software, canva (web, windows, mac, android, ios).

Canva pros:

Excellent free plan

Tons of amazing templates for all use cases

Feature-rich

Canva cons:

The Magic Design AI tool is still inconsistent and not super impressive

Canva offers one of the most robust free plans of all the presentation apps I tested. The app delays account creation until after you've created your first design, so you can get started building your presentation in seconds. Choose from an almost overwhelming number of beautiful templates (nearly all available for free), including those designed specifically for education or business use cases.

Anyone who's accidentally scrolled too far and been bumped to the next slide will appreciate Canva's editor interface, which eliminates that problem altogether with a smooth scroll that doesn't jump around. Choose from a handful of preset animations to add life to your presentations, or browse the library of audio and video files available to add. And Canva also has a number of options for sharing your presentation, including adding collaborators to your team, sharing directly to social media, and even via QR code.

Present directly from Canva, and let audience members submit their questions via Canva Live. Once you share a link to invite audience members to your presentation, they can send questions for you to answer. As the presenter, you'll see them pop up in your presenter view window, so you can keep the audience engaged and your presentation clear. Alternatively, record a presentation with a talking head bubble—you can even use an AI presenter here—to share remotely.

Canvas has added a number of AI-powered tools , but I wasn't super impressed by them yet. When I asked the Magic Design tool to generate a presentation from scratch, for example, the result was a bunch of unrelated images, inconsistent design, and surface-level copy. These features will likely improve in time, but for now, you're better off starting from one of Canva's many great templates.

Canva pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $119.99/year for 1 user and include additional features like Brand Kit, premium templates and stock assets, and additional AI-powered design tools.

The best presentation app for AI-powered design

Beautiful.ai (web, mac, windows).

Beautiful.ai pros:

True AI design

No fussing around with alignment

Still allows for customization

Beautiful.ai cons:

No free plan

Generative AI features aren't great yet

If you're like me, editing granular spacing issues is the absolute worst part of building a presentation. Beautiful.ai uses artificial intelligence to take a lot of the hassle and granular design requirements out of the presentation process, so you can focus on the content of a presentation without sacrificing professional design. If I needed to make presentations on a regular basis, this is the app I'd use.

Many apps have recently added AI design features, but Beautiful.ai has been doing it for years—and they've perfected the UX of AI design, ensuring the tool's reign as the most streamlined and user-friendly option for AI design.

The editor is a little different from most presentation apps, but it's still intuitive—and you'll start off with a quick two-minute tutorial. When creating a new slide, scroll through "inspiration slides" to find a layout you like; once you choose, the app will pull the layout and automatically adapt it to match the design of the rest of your presentation.

With 10 themes, several templated slides, over 40 fully-designed templates, and 23 different color palettes to choose from, Beautiful.ai strikes a perfect balance between automation and customization.

While Beautiful.ai doesn't offer a free plan, paid plans are reasonably priced and offer sharing and collaboration options that rival collab-focused apps like Google Slides. And speaking of Google, you can connect Beautiful.ai with Google Drive to save all your presentations there.

Note: I did test the newly released generative AI feature (called DesignerBot) and felt it wasn't much to write home about. It's great for adding individual slides to an existing presentation—automatically choosing the best layout and matching the design to the rest of the deck—but as with most other apps, it struggled to generate a quality presentation from scratch.

Beautiful.ai pricing: Plans start at $12/month for unlimited slides, AI content generation, viewer analytics, and more. Upgrade to a Team plan for $40/user/month to get extra collaboration and workspace features and custom brand controls.

If you're a founder looking for an AI presentation tool for your pitch deck, Slidebean is a great Beautiful.ai alternative for startups. The app offers a number of templates; a unique, content-first outline editor; and AI design help that you can toggle on or off for each slide. I didn't include it on the list mainly because of the price: the free plan is quite limited, and the paid all-access plan starts at $228/year.

The best presentation app for conversational presentations

Prezi (web, mac, windows, ios, android).

Prezi pros:

Doesn't restrict you to standard presentation structure

Lots of customization options

Prezi Video lets you display a presentation right over your webcam video

Prezi cons:

Steep learning curve

Struggling to squeeze information into a basic, linear presentation? Give Prezi a try. Unlike nearly all other presentation apps on the market, Prezi Present doesn't restrict the structure of your presentation to a straight line. The editor focuses on topics and subtopics and allows you to arrange them any way you want, so you can create a more conversational flow of information.

With the structural flexibility, you still get all the same customization features you expect from top presentation software, including fully-editable templates. There's a learning curve if you're unfamiliar with non-linear presentations, but templates offer a great jumping-off point, and Prezi's editor does a good job of making the process more approachable.

Plus, Prezi comes with two other apps: Prezi Design and Prezi Video. Prezi Video helps you take remote presentations to a new level. You can record a video where the presentation elements are displayed right over your webcam feed. Record and save the video to share later, or connect with your video conferencing tool of choice (including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet) to present live.

Prezi pricing: Free 14-day trial and a free plan that includes up to 5 visual projects; paid plans start at $5/month and include additional features like private presentations and Prezi Present.

The best presentation app for video presentations

Powtoon (web, ios, android).

Powtoon pros:

Timing automatically changes based on the content on the slide

Can toggle between slideshow and video

Can orient presentation as horizontal, vertical, or square

Powtoon cons:

Limited free plan

Powtoon makes it easy to create engaging videos by orienting the editor around a slide deck. Editing a Powtoon feels just like editing a presentation, but by the time you finish, you have a professional video. 

You can edit your slides at any time, and when you hit play, a video plays through your deck—the feel is almost like an animated explainer video. Each slide includes the animations you choose and takes up as much time as is needed based on the content on the slide. Powtoon figures the timing automatically, and you can see in the bottom-right of the editor how much time is used on your current slide versus the total presentation. If you ever want to present as a slide deck, just toggle between Slideshow and Movie.

You'll likely need to subscribe to a paid plan to get the most out of Powtoon—like creating videos longer than three minutes, downloading them as MP4 files, and white-labeling your presentations—but doing so won't break the bank. Plus, you'll unlock tons of templates complete with animations and soundtracks.

One of my favorite Powtoon features is the ability to orient your video: you can choose horizontal orientation (like a normal presentation) or opt for vertical (for mobile) or square (for social media). When your presentation is ready, you can publish straight to YouTube, Wistia, Facebook Ads, and any number of other locations.

Powtoon pricing: Limited free plan available; paid plans start at $20/month and include white-labeling, priority support, additional storage, and more.

The best presentation app for interactive presentations

Genially (web).

Genially pros:

Don't need a presenter (it's interactive)

You can set universal branding guidelines

Unlimited creations on the free plan

Genially cons:

Free plan has some limitations worth looking into (e.g., can only make public presentations)

While many presentation apps are built for presenter-led decks, Genially 's interactive features and animated templates make it easy to build a self-led presentation. A variety of interactive buttons allow you to show viewers additional context on hover, have them skip to any page of your deck, and let them navigate to external links.

This presentation program offers a bunch of searchable templates, including some for business proposals, reports, social media presentations, and more (though most of those are available on premium plans only). Genially also includes Smart blocks —templated blocks of content for elements like data visualizations and image galleries.

My favorite feature is the brand settings. Premium users can set universal branding guidelines that include your logo, color scheme, fonts, images, and backgrounds, among other options. Think of them like a custom template, created and customized by you, that the whole team can use. Once set, your team can easily create on-brand presentations that automatically apply your brand settings, without even thinking about it.

Plus, Genially supports additional content like training materials, infographics, and interactive images—all subject to your brand presets.

Genially pricing: Free plan available with unlimited creations and views and access to templates; paid plans start at $7.49/month and include additional download options, privacy controls, offline viewing, premium templates, and more.

The best presentation app for collaborating with your team

Pitch (web, mac, windows, ios, android).

Pitch pros:

Google levels of collaboration

Assign slides to specific team members

Start live video calls straight from decks

Pitch cons:

User interface is a little different than you're used to

Need to collaborate on presentations with your team? Pitch is a Google Slides alternative that gets the job done. As far as decks go, Pitch includes all the beautifully-designed templates, customizability, and ease of use you expect from a top-notch presentation tool. But the app really shines when you add your team.

The right-hand sidebar is all about project management and collaboration: you can set and update the status of your deck, assign entire presentations or individual slides to team members, plus comment, react, or add notes. Save custom templates to make future presentations even easier and faster.

You can also invite collaborators from outside your company to work with you on individual decks. And if you opt for a paid plan, Pitch introduces workspace roles, shared private folders, and version history.

The "Go live" feature is a personal favorite—with just a click on the camera icon in the top-right, you can start a live video call. Any team members who open the presentation can hop in and collaborate in real-time. 

Pitch pricing: Free plan offers unlimited presentations, custom templates, and live video collaboration; paid plans start at $8/user/month for additional workspace features, presentation analytics, and more.

The best simple presentation app

Zoho show (web, ios, android, chrome).

Zoho Show pros:

Simple and easy to use

Version history and ability to lock slides

Completely free

Zoho Show cons:

Templates are pretty basic

If you're looking for a simple, yet capable presentation app that's a step up from Google Slides, Zoho Show is a great option. It's completely free to use, offers a clean, intuitive editor, and includes a number of great templates.

While the handful of "Themes" offered are on the basic side, Zoho templates boast a more modern and professional design than much of what Google Slides or PowerPoint offer. And I love that you can set the font and color scheme for the whole template, right from the start.

The app doesn't skimp on collaboration or shareability either. You can invite collaborators via email or shareable link, and comments and version history make it easy to work together on presentations. Once you're ready to share, you can even broadcast your presentation to a remote audience right from within Zoho. Plus, you can one-click lock slides to prevent any more editing or hide individual slides to customize your presentation for different audiences.

You can even connect Zoho Show to Zapier , so you can do things like automatically create a presentation when something happens in one of the other apps you use most.

Zapier is the leader in workflow automation—integrating with 6,000+ apps from partners like Google, Salesforce, and Microsoft. Use interfaces, data tables, and logic to build secure, automated systems for your business-critical workflows across your organization's technology stack. Learn more .

Zoho Show pricing: Free

The best presentation app for generative AI

Gamma (web).

Gamma pros:

Creates fully fleshed-out presentations from a prompt

Chatbot-like experience

Can still manually edit the presentation

Gamma cons:

Not as much granular customization

I tested a lot of apps claiming to use AI to up your presentation game, and Gamma 's generative features were head and shoulders above the crowd.

Simply give the app a topic—or upload an outline, notes, or any other document or article—approve the outline, and pick a theme. The app will take it from there and create a fully fleshed-out presentation. It's far from perfect, but Gamma produced the most useful jumping-off point of all the AI presentation apps I tested. 

Here's the key: Gamma is much more geared toward the iterative, chatbot experience familiar to ChatGPT users. Click on the Edit with AI button at the top of the right-hand menu to open the chat, and you'll see suggested prompts—or you can type in your own requests for how Gamma should alter the presentation.

Once you've done all you can with prompts, simply close the chat box to manually add the finishing touches. While you do sacrifice some granular customizability in exchange for the AI features, you can still choose your visual theme, change slide layouts, format text, and add any images, videos, or even app and web content.

Gamma pricing: Free plan includes unlimited users, 1 custom theme, 400 AI deck credits, and basic view analytics; upgrade to the Pro plan ("coming soon," as of this writing) for $10/user/month to get additional AI credits, advanced view analytics, custom fonts, and more.

What about the old standbys?

You might notice a few major presentation players aren't on this list, including OGs Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, and Google Slides. These apps are perfectly adequate for creating basic presentations, and they're free if you have a Windows or Mac device or a Google account.

I didn't include them on the list because the presentation space has really developed in the last several years, and after testing them out, I found these behemoths haven't kept pace. If they weren't made by Microsoft/Apple/Google, I might not even be mentioning them. They're pretty basic tools, they're behind the curve when it comes to templates (both quantity and design), and they don't offer any uniquely valuable features like robust team collaboration, branding controls, video, and so on.

Some of these companies (think: Microsoft and Google) are openly working on some pretty impressive-sounding AI features, but they haven't been widely released to the public yet. Rest assured, I'm watching this space, and the next time we update this article, I'll retest tools like PowerPoint and Google Slides to see what new features are available.

In any case, if you're reading this, you're probably looking for an alternative that allows you to move away from one of the big 3, and as the presentation platforms featured above show, there's a ton to gain—in terms of features, usability, and more—when you do.

Related reading:

8 Canva AI tools to improve your design workflow

The best online whiteboards for collaboration

How to share a presentation on Zoom without sharing your browser tabs and address bar

This post was originally published in October 2014 and has since been updated with contributions from Danny Schreiber, Matthew Guay, Andrew Kunesh, and Krystina Martinez. The most recent update was in May 2023.

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Kiera Abbamonte

Kiera’s a content writer who helps SaaS and eCommerce companies connect with customers and reach new audiences. Located in Boston, MA, she loves cinnamon coffee and a good baseball game. Catch up with her on Twitter @Kieraabbamonte.

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9 Best Free PowerPoint Alternatives

Why even look for a PowerPoint alternative? PowerPoint is tough. But I'm sure you already know that. If you landed here, then you’re one of the millions frustrated with PowerPoint’s inability to support the modern work mindset of "work smart, not hard." Instead, you're often stuck tinkering with text boxes and slide layouts for hours on end, instead of focusing on what really matters: presenting for impact and telling a good story. Interestingly enough, Microsoft’s PowerPoint is marketed to everyone, but we'd agree that most users don’t benefit from its clunky interface, lack of design guidance, and limited features. But still, Ye Olde Standby boasts 500 million users worldwide. And we predict that maybe 2% of those users are actually pleased with PowerPoint.

After all, presenters have enough to worry about, with potentially embarrassing technical issues, public speaking anxiety, and increasingly distracted audiences to solve for. The presentation design part of the process should be the easiest stage. We have good news on this front: The rise of cloud-based free PowerPoint alternatives are paving the way for teams to create pro-quality presentations in less time, collaborate seamlessly with their team, and maybe—just maybe— enjoy presentations for once. So today we’re examining the top 10 free alternative presentation software, based on brutally honest reviews from diehard Microsoft PowerPoint fans over on Capterra (the largest online peer review website for software). Let’s see what real presenters think! ‍

PowerPoint Alternatives For Both Mac and PC (Cloud)

#1: Beautiful.ai (5 Star Capterra Score)

It's easy with B.ai to produce really nice-looking presentation slides. While you don't have full control over everything, that is on purpose. By 'constraining' you via various slide templates—which have a good degree of controllable variation and flexibility, but not full control—you end up with really good looking slides in a short time. Essentially B.ai prevents you from wasting time and energy on dead-end paths that would give you ugly-looking slides. —Leonard C.

Beautiful.ai is presentation software that designs your presentation for you in real time. The design-focused software combines learning behavior and artistry of professional graphic designers to visualize crystal clear ideas. Never offend your audience with messy content again—and look like a rockstar presenter every time.

Beautiful.ai offers 60+ ‘smart templates’. Unlike PowerPoint, Smart Slide templates handle the manual labor of layout, image placement, text boxes, margins, and aesthetics. Have a huge block of text? Sounds like an eyesore. Smart templates convey more information, with well-balanced attractive slides.

The "design a.i." updates your presentation as the content is added or removed, automatically, project schedules are shortened and streamlined.

• Genuine free PowerPoint alternative - great features included in the free Basic plan!
• Create presentations in 3 easy steps: choose a design theme, add a template and then the content
• Presentation design is optimized in real-time 
• Good design principles ensure your audience learns effectively 
• Lack of full creative control of slide layout
• You cannot edit a Beautiful.ai presentation after export

Price to Upgrade: Pro version is $12 per month annually and includes performance analytics to the presentation, custom fonts, and a desktop player. 

#2: Google Slides (4.5 Star Capterra Score)

It's a bit of a learning curve when migrating to the platform, and some may feel a little lost. But I do not think it's overwhelming, nor do I feel that this should deter you from giving it a try. —Russell P.

PowerPoint alternative—Google Slides— is web-based presentation software. For GSuite users, this software is a no-brainer, with its integrated apps like Google Hangouts and collaboration through Drive.

With commenting, chat and real-time editing features, GoogleSlides allows teams to keep their presentations on track and provide crucial feedback instantly that can make or break a project. Automatic save and recorded history gives you the ability to view changes and restore to older versions. The "blank slate" authoring abilities on each slide are best for people that understand the principles of good design, as there's little to no guidance when it comes to laying out your content.

• Pre-made presentations, pitches, and portfolios for marketing and sales professionals
• Save and convert slides as PowerPoint files
• Edit presentation on the mobile app
• Limited typefaces, transitions, and animations
• Converting from PowerPoint to Google Slides will cause loss of some animations effects
• No media library or screen sharing

Price to Upgrade: The basic package for GoogleSlides is $6 per month with 30 GB of storage. With this tier, you’ll receive 24/7 support and mobile management options to work remotely.

#3: Prezi (4.5 Star Capterra Score)

It is a program that allows you to show the elements in a striking way, with movement, which makes it more interesting for the viewer. —Carlos A.

Prezi is an alternative to PowerPoint known for its non-linear style and ‘reveal zoom’ feature. Popular among students, Prezi stands out with its unique single canvas interface that pulls an audience in right off the bat.

Prezi is not a snoozefest, to say the least. The large canvas is used as a diagram to connect ideas to subcategories and show relationships between them. A Prezi presentation begins zoomed out, then narrows in on specific details taking its audience on a whirlwind journey. 

• Breaks away from traditional slide format 
• Collaborate and receive feedback and comments through chat
• Zoom animation can cause dizziness
• Difficult to train and teach people who are used to PowerPoint
• Backgrounds have unchangeable fonts and colors

Price to Upgrade: The standard upgrade is $7 per month with privacy options, import PowerPoint slides, and unlimited presentations.

#4: Visme (4.5 Star Capterra Score)

It's a great product and well worth the time and money if you want some unique and functional ways to present content to a wide audience. The design software is a bit clunky on the zooming in/out and the use of layers, fine-tuning, and other options. Also, I have all of my projects visible on the main page and it can be hard to find what I'm looking for. —Matt T.

‍ Visme is a free Powerpoint alternative that revamps dense information into visual candy that's fun to absorb. Infographics, maps, and charts are Visme’s main attraction. We love data in bite sizes. Presenters can use modern and contemporary design styles to win over audiences.  Animated objects, pop-ups, and rollovers add new dimensions to break down patterns and trends within your industry. PROS:

• Product tutorials to guide you through creating a presentation
• Create slides from scratch or use pre-made templates
• 400+ classic free templates and 400+ modern
• ‘Autosave’ feature to recover lost data
• Only 5 projects in free version
• Posts are made public
• Doesn't allow you to copy and paste into Visme from another tool or document

Price to Upgrade: Starting upgrade is $14 per month with access to 500,000 stock images from Visme’s library and all charts and widgets. 

#5: Slides (4.5 Star Capterra Score)

Slides platform gives users 'free-reign' to create slides that are dynamic, great for both developers and designers. Where many other PowerPoint alternatives offer a plethora of  templates, Slides gives none. —Hasin A.

Slides is a presentation app for creatives and developers to present and design with freedom. Slides have incredible flexibility, it's fully open-sourced with access to HTML, JavaScript, and CSS versions of your presentation. Why is this great as an alternative for PowerPoint? Your team can add custom animation styles or host the project on your business website. Develop your signature style to be remembered at conferences, summits, and with important clients.

• Only fully open source presentation software available
• Present on mobile and use your phone as a remote control
• Versatile for designers and programmers
• More time-consuming altering source code and CSS
• The free version of presentations are public, searchable, and includes ads

Price to Upgrade: The lite upgrade is $5 monthly with unlimited private decks and PDF conversion.

#6: Slidebean  (4.5 Star Capterra Score)

I've used the classic Powerpoint for many years, and I still use that at the time for particular reasons when I need hefty presentations rich in facts and figures. ….I find Slidebean does a neat job at separating content from design. —Edwin S.

Slidebean bills itself as the world’s first AI-powered presentation design tool, but is it the best on the market? Geared towards startups, Slidebean has ready-made content blocks that you can use or maneuver around and helps presenters who prefer written content to deliver your message over graphics.

• Readability, aesthetic and alignment is done by an algorithm
• Your slide designs are evaluated and corrected in 0.97 seconds
• Photos are aligned with advanced neural network
• You can share presentations only through an upgrade
• Free templates have limited flexibility

Price to Upgrade: The starter package is $98 per year and comes with basic content templates, share, and unlimited presentations.

#7: Powtoon (4.5 Star Capterra Score)

I have used Powtoons for my professional life, to create How To videos and instructional or educational information. It is really easy to use and engaging for people to follow along for a few minutes. —Sadie R.

Powtoon is a presentation and video maker used by the brands Apple, Coca Cola, and Starbucks. Powtoon’s digital graphics and illustration styles are great for corporate campaigns and scripted, drag and drop templates cut down your creation time to 20 minutes.

• Live webinars and training center to guide users over from PowerPoint
• Interactive photos and icons that move on a timer
• Cartoon characters to add to your presentation or explainer video
• The free account only allows presentations up to 3 minutes 
• Uploading images and adding videos to timeline is tedious

Price to Upgrade: $16 per month will get you access to royalty-free images and 24/7 support.

Free PowerPoint Alternatives For Mac Only (Desktop)

#8: Haiku Deck (4.5 Star Capterra Score)

I like Haiku Deck, but you need to know your end-goal or purpose. If you need to create extensive slideshows with hyperlinks, videos, specific images, large amounts of information, then this might not be the platform for you. —Miriam T.

Haiku Deck is a niche presentation software that doesn’t allow variety, unlike PowerPoint. Just as Beautiful.ai restricts users’ customizations to get perfect results every time, Haiku Deck limits slide decks to achieve two styles. A background image with text overlay and simple pie and bar charts.

• A small pool of templates that will not overwhelm you
• 40 million royalty-free images
• Not a great option for elaborate ideas or powerful messages

Price to Upgrade: $9.99 per month for unlimited slide decks, audio narration, and Zuru.

Free PowerPoint Alternatives For PC Only (Desktop)

#9: LibreOffice Impress (4.5 Star Capterra Score)

Not only do you benefit from the initial cost of the program (as opposed to MS Office) you also benefit due to free updates. Sharing LibreOffice documents of all types with Microsoft users has proven to be flawless, with few or any very minor compatibility issues. —Mack S.

LibreOffice Impress is an open-source alternative to PowerPoint. Planning, research, and organization become simplified with Impress’ various view modes. The normal, outline, notes, and slide sorter view modes aid your content production and editing process. 

• Build and control a 3D scene
• Control manual, timed, or a pointer for presentation
• No onboarding product training

Price to Upgrade: LibreOffice Impress remains 100% free!

Final Judgement

The main takeaway from all of this? There are a lot of free powerpoint alternatives out there, some with more free features than others, so it really depends on what your preferences are in terms of usability, export options, design quality, et cetera. The demand for smarter presentation programs is slowly increasing, especially as these new free powerpoint alternatives focus on ease of use so the learning curve is minimal. Speaking broadly, free PowerPoint alternatives win over users who want professionally designed presentations with less effort and legwork. From simple interfaces, to advanced customizations and design automation, there's a smorgasbord of solutions out there so we suggest you start with the first powerpoint alternative listed, Beautiful.ai , and work your way down until you find something that works. If you’re curious how Beautiful.ai measures up against PowerPoint, check out our comparison battle here .

Maria Bell is a content strategist for SaaS, e-commerce and technology companies based in San Francisco. You can find her at www.mariabell.co.

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Top 10 Must-Know Free PowerPoint Alternatives [for 2023]

Guru - December 5, 2022 - Leave your thoughts. 15 min read

online presentation maker , online presentation software , presentation , slide decks

When was the last time you were impressed by a PowerPoint Presentation?

Most of your answers would be, "Sorry, I don't remember."

You might be able to recall specific parts of the slide decks, but you can’t say you learned anything from them.

Lemme ask you a question. Can you confidently say you gave full attention to the last presentation you sat through?

So if it's your turn to create a presentation, it's high time you don't give a boring powerpoint template presentation.

Lucky for you, there's an ocean of powerpoint alternatives out there! Anyone can create a professionally designed presentation from these latest online presentation softwares.

In this article, we have narrowed down the top 10 powerpoint alternatives available online with an in-depth overview of their unique features, pricing, and usability.

Let's dive in

• Google Slides
• Animaker Deck
• Beautiful.ai

1. Google Slides

Google Slides is the most well-liked PowerPoint alternative available that excels at teamwork. It  is accessible to anybody with a Gmail account, but G Suite subscribers enjoy additional data security.

Google Slides is accessible both via Laptop/PC and via mobile. It offers real-time collaboration, a friendly UI, and seamless connectivity with  all the Google Web Applications.

Google Slides is available in the following  plans :

Personal  - Available for free to all Google Account holders. Under this plan, users get up to 15 GB of storage size.

Business Starter  at $6 USD per user per month with 30 GB storage capacity and standard support.

Business Standard -  premium plan at $12 USD per user per month with a 2 TB storage size available under this plan.

Business Plus , at $18 USD per user per month, with a whopping 5 TB storage capacity per user and a paid upgrade to Enhanced support services.

There’s also an  Enterprise plan specially catering to corporates for custom and secure business email addresses providing as much storage as you need.         

Special Features:

• A Google Drive or a YouTube link can be used to  upload videos into the presentation . Using assistive tools like  Smart Compose  and  autocorrect  will help you build slides faster and more accurately.

Collaboration

• Collaboration  is the key feature of Google Slides. Several persons can edit a presentation, and new slides can be added simultaneously. You can also quickly roll back your slideshow to a prior version since Google Slides keeps track of all the modifications users have made to a presentation.
• Google Slide offers ample templates for users to choose from and edit. However, there are fewer templates, animation forms, and fonts available than in PowerPoint.
• The ease of usability is high. Any Google user can pick it up and use the application seamlessly.
• There are also  open communities  and  self-service online forums  for customer support. So the users need not worry about troubleshooting any issues.

2. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is one of the best modern presentation softwares available online. It is mainly designed to create visually engaging presentations for free on any device.

Zoho Show is  free to use . You just need a valid mail address or mobile number to get started.

User Interface

• Zoho Show’s key feature is the contextual and minimalist  user interface  that allows you to create presentations in your style.
• It is pre-loaded with 100 plus professional presentation templates suitable for start-up pitch decks, sales presentations, etc.

Central Presentation Repository

• With Zoho Show, you can create a presentation as a team. It houses a central presentation repository that helps retrieve created presentations and makes collaboration much easier for all the teams.
• You can  upload your existing presentations in formats like ppt, pptx, ODP, and PPS and continue customizing them with no hassle in Zoho Show.

Remote Broadcasting

• Y ou can broadcast your presentations on big screens and control them through a smartwatch, Chromebook, or android tv, for that matter.
• The ad-free user-interface lets you create compelling presentations with no distractions and take them to the next level.
• The central organization library allows us to repurpose the slides and work together effectively, even in bigger teams. You can also give role-based access and permit individual members to work cross-functionally.

3. Animaker Deck

Animaker Deck is the  world’s first avatar-powered presentation software  to create wow-worthy slide decks without any professional experience in no time.

Animaker Deck is available in the following pricing plans ,

Free plan   where users can create presentations by just creating a free account in the app.

Slides Pro plan ,  at $20 per month, offers users premium bundles and an import PPT feature.

The Animaker Pro plan ,  at $49 per month, gives full access to the animation suite and access to unlimited slides, premium bundles, priority support services, and the import PPT feature.

The Enterprise plan  is catered for small to big organizations with unlimited custom character creation, a dedicated account manager, and all the features available in the Animaker Pro Plan.

Character Builder

• The best part about Animaker Deck is the Character builder, where you can create your custom avatars and use them as brand ambassadors or mascots. You can also use the pre-built animated characters in your slide decks and bring them to life.

Professional Templates  

• Animaker Deck houses more than 50 unique handcrafted presentation templates to choose from and create a pitch-winning deck. You also have the option to create a presentation from scratch.

Customizable Background s

• There’s an option to customize the background of the slide deck entirely according to your presentation style and needs.

Integrations  

• Users can also access stock images and GIFs from Pixabay, Giphy, and Unsplash. This helps users to use stock images from the library itself instead of searching the internet for appropriate images.

Storage Space

• More importantly, the users get  25 GB of storage space  to upload their files into their presentations.
• Animaker Deck has an “import PPT” feature that allows the users to upload their presentations in the PPTX format  and easily edit them as needed.

Brand Kit Manager

• The Brand Kit manager enables bigger teams to efficiently manage their presentations and maintain uniformity and brand continuity throughout the presentations.
• The user interface is super clean. Animaker Deck is the easiest presentation software to use.
• Animaker Deck offers real-time collaboration when creating presentations and lets team members review and work together productively.

4. Prezi Present

Prezi Present is an online presentation software known for non-linear types of presentations. Its open canvas helps view and organize the contents as a whole rather than the traditional linear type of presentation.

Free Trial   - Prezi Present offers 14 days free trial and gives access to other Prezi products as well.

Premium  - Users can upgrade to a premium subscription available as Basic, Individual, Business, and Student/Educators plans.

The premium plans start at $16 per month. In addition, students and Educators can subscribe to the premium plan starting at $3 per month and get access to track progress in class.

Smart Structures

• Prezi comes loaded with an intelligent structures feature that enables the user to efficiently arrange the contents of the presentation with simple click-and-drag actions.

Zoom Reveal Feature

• Your content is revealed as you zoom in to start your presentation, unveiling the necessary details in a non-linear fashion  like a story.

Conversational Presentation

• Prezi is designed as a conversational presentation software that reduces navigating back and forth continuously between slides.

Present over video

• Another critical feature of Prezi is present over video. Users can present their content along with their videos on the same screen.  This makes the presentation much more engaging and keeps up the personal connection in remote meetings.

Templates  

• Prezi also offers designer templates to jump-start your presentations and not worry about starting them from scratch.

Presenter View

• Prezi comes with a Presenter view feature that helps you to leave notes, prompts, and talking points only you can see while you present.

Upload Option

• There’s also an option to upload your own slides and turn them into a dynamic, engaging Prezi presentation and improve the content you already have in 10 minutes or less.
• Prezi’s user interface is comparatively difficult to understand right off the bat for the users. Therefore, the users would have to go through a learning curve to use the full potential of the Prezi app efficiently.
• Prezi also offers a slack integration for teams that enables them to work together on more significant projects. Live collaboration makes it easier for every team member to create a presentation and share it with anyone via a dedicated link.

Visme is another well-known presentation software to create interactive presentations, documents, data visualizations, and other branded content.

Visme is available in the following  plans :

• Basic plan  is available for 0$
• Starter plan  starts at $12.25/month annually
• Pro plan  at $29/month annually
• Visme for Teams plan  with Custom pricing

Illustrations  

• Users can create diagrams or illustrations that bring the slides to life with their Apple Pencil on their iPads.

Real-time Collaboration

• The Keynote app provides real-time collaboration that enables the teams to work together, irrespective of the device type (Mac, iPad, iPhone, or PC).
• Every team member gets a hand in designing the presentation with beautiful charts, customizing the images, and adding cinematic effects.

Dynamic Backgrounds

• Keynote offers dynamic backgrounds that help to create sleek presentations. Also, you can add over 700 Apple-designed shapes, photos, videos, music, image galleries, and charts to illustrate your critical points in the presentation.
• It even lets you take pictures and scan documents with your iPhone, and  Continuity Camera   will send them straight to Keynote on your Mac.
• With Keynote, you can seamlessly present with your team. Multiple presenters can take turns controlling a single deck — from anywhere — on Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Also, the Rehearse Mode lets you practice on the go in an all-in-one view.
• Keynote’s intuitive interface is super user-friendly, comprises all the essential tools up front, and is easily accessible.
• Additionally, with Scribble for iPadOS and Apple Pencil, handwritten words will automatically be converted to typed text. With this, the users can take notes quickly, edit a presentation or annotate the text.

7. Slidebean

Slidebean offers a Pitch Deck Builder to create an investor-winning pitch. Then, with the help of artificial intelligence, it helps to craft stories and stand out from the monotone crowd.

Slidebean is available in the following  plans ,

Basic Plan , at $0 per month, offers unlimited presentations, access to free startup lessons, free document templates, and an accelerator programs monitor.

All-Access Plan   starts at $171 billed annually, and includes everything in the Basic Plan and additionally offers sharing and exporting presentations, access to 30,000+ investor contacts, and much more.

Extensive Tool kit

• Slidebean’s Pitch Deck Builder comprises an extensive toolkit that hand-holds the users in creating a stunning pitch deck.

Automated Pitch

• With Automated Pitch Deck builder, you can create a stunning pitch in a few steps and it is very useful to startups with fewer resources.
• Slidebean offers well-vetted and successful venture-winning templates with top brands like Airbnb, Uber, and Peloton as the basis.
• About 300+ of the best pitch deck templates from the most successful venture-backed startups are pre-loaded inside this presentation software.

Real-time collaboration

• The premium plans of Slidebean offer real-time collaboration features.
• You can also track and view activity in slides.
• Financial modeling templates and Investor CRM are also available to help the startup founders design presentations.
• The AI integration makes Pitch Deck Builder very easy for anyone without professional design experience.
• Also, the templates are entirely customizable and can be edited per your needs.

8. Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai is an online presentation maker for startups. Creating winning pitch decks, marketing plans, or sales proposals is possible with Beautiful.ai in minutes.

Beautiful.ai is available in the following  plans ,

Pro Plan  starting at $12 per month, is suitable for individual users.

Team plan  starts at $40 per month per user, includes everything from the Pro Plan, and offers a centralized slides library.

Enterprise Plan  is available for organizations under custom pricing, unlimited team resources, and everything from the Team plan.

There’s also an option to create a single presentation under a monthly plan at $45 for  ad-hoc projects .

Pitch Decks

• Beautiful.ai is aimed at helping bootstrapped companies create pitch-winning decks. Thousands of  startups  secured funding and closed deals by creating slide decks with this refreshing presentation maker.

Custom Branding

• Custom Branding of slides, Version history, Stock media library, and Powerpoint import are the critical features of the Beatiful.ai presentation maker.

Collaboration  

• A collaborative workspace allows teams to work in unison and brainstorm ideas together.
• Customizable templates help any entrepreneur to modify their slide decks according to their needs and preferences.
• The user interface is so straightforward that even beginners and users without prior familiarity with graphic design can create presentations easily.

9. Genial.ly

Genially is an online tool for making creative presentations from scratch or with pre-built templates.

Creating interactive presentations with professional designs, dossiers, reports, business proposals, and enticing pitches are all made possible with Genial.ly.

Genially comes under the following  plans ,

Free plan  gives access to unlimited presentation creation but with restricted features.

Education plan starts at $4.99 per month, billed annually.

Master plan starts at $20.82 per month, billed annually.

Cloud Storage

• Presentations created in Genially are automatically stored in the cloud. So any change made will get updated instantly.

Gamification  

• Genially templates also offer a Gamification option where users can use the presentation templates solely for quiz type or simple Q&A slide decks.
• When slides are shared with clients or prospects, genially Statistics help monitor views and content engagement.
• Genially helps users create a storytelling-based presentation with the best templates. Users can also apply a custom logo, colors, and fonts to the slide designs and align the presentation with their brand image.
• Privacy is never a concern with Genially. You get to control the access to your creations, be it public or privately shared presentations.
• Genially’s templates are easy to edit and don’t require any design knowledge to modify them.
• The minimalistic workspace makes the user feel at home. You can also easily share the Genially created presentation links and embed them into a website, blog, or LMS(Learning management system) .

Slides is an online suite for creating modern presentations. Unlike traditional presentation software, there's no need to download anything. Slides let you create professional slide decks and work with collaborators to make an awe-inspiring presentation without any hassle.

Slides app is available in the following  plans ,

Free plan gives access to limited presentation creation. However, the content will be publicly viewable and include ads. Also, users get 250 MB of storage size to create up to five decks.

Lite plan starts at $5 per month, billed annually. It includes 1 GB of storage space, one collaborator per deck, and an export to pdf feature.

Pro plan   starts at $10 per month, billed annually. It offers unlimited storage, three collaborators per deck, custom CSS, and a Google Analytics feature.

Team plan  starts at $20/month when billed annually and includes features like endless collaborations, a shared media library, and custom branding.

Open source tool

• Slides is the only presentation tool with a fully open-source format. You get access to your presentation's complete source code.

Customizations

• Presentations can be made in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript formats. Rich customization options using CSS.
• Export a copy and present it offline or store it on your web host.

  Present Mode

• You can control what your viewers see with the help of a Present Mode. You can even use your phone as a remote control with direct access to your speaker notes during a meeting, conference call, or on stage.

Customizable Team Editor

• Slides offer a customizable editor with which you can easily edit your company's assets and themes and as well as leave comments/feedback and notifications when working together.
• There’s also a Media library loaded with stock images, videos, and slide templates that help to make your whole team work better.
• Slides user interface is very friendly. The editor is built in a minimalistic manner that even beginners can get the hang of it once they start.

And that’s a wrap!!

To sum up, all these presentation tools carry out the same tasks as PowerPoint. Still, they are less expensive and much more intelligent, with features like character builder, live collaboration, cloud storage, and automated saving.

We hope we saved you from death by powerpoint. Try out these powerful alternatives for your future presentations.

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15 PowerPoint Alternatives for High-Stakes Presentations

Learn what the best PowerPoint alternatives are and discover slides tools to create cool presentations that are way better than PowerPoint.

Dominika Krukowska

14 minute read

Short answer

What are the best alternatives to PowerPoint?

The best alternatives to PowerPoint are:

• Beautiful.ai
• Microsoft Sway

Your presentations deserve more than just PowerPoint

Remember the last time a PowerPoint presentation truly wowed you? Hard to recall, right? That's because most slide decks, no matter how well-intentioned, tend to blur together after a while.

As a result, your message goes unnoticed, your efforts wasted, and those high-impact opportunities? They slip right through your fingers.

But here's some good news: a new era of interactive presentation tools is here, ready to transform the way we share ideas. By choosing these dynamic alternatives to PowerPoint, you can truly engage your audience, make your message resonate, and achieve your goals.

Let’s dive in!

What’s wrong with PowerPoint?

PowerPoint has long been the presentation tool of choice, but it's starting to show its age. Here's why:

Standardized slide set with a 16:9 aspect ratio

PowerPoint's 16:9 aspect ratio is familiar, but it can limit creativity. When every presentation looks the same, it's hard to stand out.

No mechanisms to keep you from breaking the design

While PowerPoint offers design freedom, it lacks safeguards. This can lead to cluttered slides that confuse rather than clarify.

Generic templates

Relying on the same templates can make your content feel stale. Freshness matters, and predictability can lead to disinterest.

Limited interactivity options

Modern audiences expect to interact with content. PowerPoint's limited interactive features can't match today's dynamic tools.

Passive engagement

PowerPoint often results in a one-way flow of information. Without deeper engagement, your message might just skim the surface.

If you want to learn more, check out our article on why PowerPoint is bad for the job .

What makes modern alternatives better than PowerPoint?

The world of presentation platforms is evolving, and modern tools are stepping up in ways PowerPoint can't match.

Here are the main features that make these PowerPoint alternatives a better choice:

Rich library of pre-built templates: Dive into diverse designs, ready to customize and make your own.

Data visualization options: Turn complex data into clear, compelling visuals with ease.

Multimedia: Embed videos, audio, and more for a multi-sensory experience.

Interactive elements: Engage your audience with clickable features and dynamic content.

Narrated design (Scrollytelling): Guide viewers through a visual journey and let them explore at their own pace.

Collaboration options: Team up in real-time, making content creation a collective effort.

Optimized for mobile: Make sure your content shines, whether on a desktop or a smartphone.

Software integrations: Seamlessly connect with other tools and optimize your workflow.

Content analytics: Gain insights into viewer engagement and adjust for maximum impact.

AI-guided content: Let artificial intelligence steer your content strategy for optimal results.

AI-guided design: Benefit from AI-driven design suggestions, enhancing visual appeal.

Personalization with dynamic variables: Connect to your CRM and tailor content to individual viewers with just a few clicks.

Centralized content management: Keep all your materials in one organized, accessible place.

Web-based content: Access and share your content from anywhere, anytime.

Version control: Maintain authority over your final version and keep the design consistent.

Access control: Set parameters like gated access, time limits, or location-based viewing.

Here's what a static PPT and an interactive deck look like side by side:

Is there a free alternative to PowerPoint?

Absolutely! While some presentation tools like Storydoc or Visme offer free trials or basic plans, there are platforms like Zoho Show that are entirely free to use. Exploring these PowerPoint alternatives can provide fresh, dynamic ways to present without breaking the bank.

In a world where innovation drives success and audiences crave novelty, relying solely on traditional tools like PowerPoint may not cut it anymore. The landscape of presentation software has evolved, offering diverse alternatives that cater to different needs, styles, and functionalities.

These alternatives not only challenge the status quo but also redefine the way we present and engage with our audience.

If you're looking to step up your presentation game and explore beyond the limitations of PowerPoint , let's dive into the top alternatives:

Jump ahead to page section:

1. Storydoc

Storydoc is reshaping how we create presentations, all thanks to AI. This interactive presentation maker turns your usual slides into engaging, interactive stories.

With its unique approach to narrated design, or "scrollytelling," it breaks away from the constraints of conventional presentations, letting your audience dive into the content at their own speed.

And with AI by your side, Storydoc helps fine-tune your brand's appearance and offers content suggestions, making sure you have a top-notch presentation ready quickly.

Once done, you can integrate it with your CRM and use dynamic variables to create countless personalized versions in just a few clicks. And the cherry on top? After sharing, you can peek into the analytics to gain insights on what's clicking with your viewers and what's missing the mark.

• AI-backed design suggestions
• Personalize presentations at scale
• Perfect for any device
• Integrates with tools like calendars and live chats
• Dive deep into presentation analytics
• The charm of interactivity might not translate well in printed versions
• Might take a minute for those used to traditional tools
• 14-day free trial
• Starter: $30/month per user (billed annually)
• Pro: $45/month per user (billed annually)
• For teams: Reach out to sales

2. Mentimeter

Mentimeter is all about transforming passive listeners into active contributors. It's not just about presenting; it's about conversing. With tools like real-time word clouds, polls, and quizzes, it makes sure that everyone's voice is heard, making sessions more interactive and memorable.

Whether you're conducting a business meeting, teaching a class, or running a workshop, Mentimeter adds that spark to make it lively, inclusive, and productive.

• Tools like word clouds and live polls keep the audience engaged
• Creates a sense of inclusivity and participation
• Versatile for various settings: work, education, or workshops
• Seamless integration with platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams
• There's a learning curve for those new to interactive presentation tools
• Some might wish for more customization in templates
• Free plan available
• Basic plan: $11.99 per presenter/month
• Pro plan: $24.99 per presenter/month
• Campus plan: Reach out to sales
• Discounts for teachers and students

Canva is more than just a presentation tool; it's a one-stop-shop for all your creative projects. Whether you've been designing for years or you're just dipping your toes, Canva's user-friendly interface makes the process a breeze.

From social media graphics to business cards, Canva has a template for almost everything, but presentations remain one of its strongest assets. Thanks to the drag-and-drop feature and a rich library of elements, there’s no fumbling around; just pick, place, and voila! Your design is ready.

Beyond just design, Canva promotes collaboration. Teams can come together, working on a project at the same time. And since it's cloud-based, you can access your designs anytime, anywhere.

• Wide range of design options for various needs
• Simple to use, great for both beginners and seasoned designers
• Work on your designs from any device with Internet access
• Solid free version to get you started
• Premium design elements are reserved for Pro users
• With so many design choices, it might feel a bit much for some
• Pro plan: $14.99 billed monthly or $119.99 billed annually
• Canva for Teams: Talk to sales
• Free for education and NGOs

4. Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai is a presentation tool that takes the guesswork out of presentation design. It starts you off with smart templates, so you're never faced with the scary blank slide.

As you add content, the platform’s AI adjusts everything – from layout spacing to color choices. It's like having a designer by your side, making sure your slides always look polished.

Need to collaborate? Share slides with your team and get everyone on the same page. Want to keep your brand consistent? The brand control feature guarantees your slides always match your company's look.

Beautiful.ai does most of the work for you, but you’re always in the driver’s seat.

• AI-driven design that simplifies slide creation
• Templates that adapt, making design intuitive
• Collaborate seamlessly with shared slides
• If you're a design purist, the automation might feel limiting
• Customization has its limits, so ultra-specific designs might need more tweaks
• Might not be the fit for super-detailed slide decks
• Free 14-day trial
• Pro plan: $12/month (billed annually)
• Team plan: $40/user/month (billed annually)
• For a single project: $45
• Enterprise plan: Talk to sales

5. Slidebean

Slidebean is a game-changer for those diving into the world of startups. It's an AI-driven platform that makes the process of crafting pitches easy.

Start with a basic outline using its user-friendly editor, and watch as Slidebean turns your content into slides that resonate.

While AI does the initial setup, you're always in control, tweaking slides or using their templates to shape your presentation just right.

• Tailored for startup challenges
• Perfect blend of AI automation and user customization
• Collaborate with experts to refine your pitch
• Might be too much for basic presentation needs
• Some design elements could use an update
• Basic plan: Free
• All-Access plan: $199 annually
• Accelerate plan: $499 annually

6. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is a presentation tool that effortlessly blends functionality with flair. Its intuitive interface lets you easily craft slides, and with a collection of over 100 templates, you're set for any occasion, be it a startup pitch or a business proposal.

Collaboration is a standout feature in Zoho Show. Work on slides in real-time, receive instant updates, and exchange feedback. Want to add a touch of creativity? There are animations, custom shapes, and multimedia options to explore.

Got an existing presentation? No worries. Slidebean smoothly imports PPTX, PPT, and other popular formats, making sure your transition is seamless.

• Simplified design for easy slide creation
• Real-time collaboration tools to keep teams in sync
• Compatible with popular presentation formats
• A price tag that's hard to beat: Free
• Template variety might feel limited to some
• There are tools with more advanced features out there

Visme is a go-to tool for building presentations from scratch using an extensive collection of industry-specific templates, which means that your content always feels fresh.

If visuals are your thing, Visme's got you covered with over 1.5 million crisp images, vibrant charts, and engaging data widgets. And, if you want to add a touch of your brand's essence, you can customize decks with your unique fonts and colors.

Plus, with handy tools like presenter notes and a special mode for presenting, you're all set to win over your audience, whether they're right in front of you or tuning in online.

Just a heads-up: while there's a sea of design choices, a few templates lean more towards style than clarity. But with a bit of tweaking, you'll find the sweet spot.

• Intuitive with a wide range of templates
• Team collaboration made easy
• Branding tools for that consistent look and feel
• Might be overwhelming for newcomers due to the variety of design choices
• Some designs prioritize style over clarity
• Premium features require a paid subscription
• Starter plan: $12.25/month (billed annually)
• Pro plan: $24.75/month (billed annually)
• Visme for Teams: Talk to sales

8. Microsoft Sway

Microsoft Sway is where creativity meets simplicity. This digital storytelling app is designed to help you craft interactive reports, presentations, newsletters, and more.

Its built-in design engine makes your content look professional, whether you're using images, text, videos, or other multimedia. The best part? Sway makes sure your creations are optimized for any screen size.

Plus, with seamless integration with Office 365, you can easily transform content from Word or OneNote into a dynamic Sway presentation.

• Easily integrates with Office 365 tools
• Adapts to any screen for optimal viewing
• Share or co-edit with just a URL
• Requires a Microsoft account to use
• Limited customization options
• Cannot be used offline
• Available with Office 365 subscriptions; the price depends on your plan
• Specific details can be found on the Microsoft Office website

9. DesignCap

DesignCap is a versatile platform that brings your visual ideas to life. Need a captivating presentation? Or perhaps an infographic that speaks volumes? DesignCap's got you covered.

Explore its template library, and you'll find designs tailored for every occasion. But it's not just about templates. With a variety of stock images, icons, and customizable modules, you have all the tools at your fingertips to craft unique visuals.

The best part? Its intuitive interface means you spend less time figuring things out and more time designing.

• Variety of resources: stock images, icons, and customizable modules
• Intuitive drag-and-drop design experience
• Affordable pricing makes it perfect for beginners
• Better suited for beginners, as it lacks more advanced features
• It’s more geared towards creating flyers than presentations
• Limited image bank
• Basic plan: $4.99/month (or $59.88 billed annually)
• Plus plan: $5.99/month (or $71.88 billed annually)

Ludus is a presentation tool that focuses on teamwork. Whether you're collaborating in real-time or sharing resources among teams, Ludus makes the process easier.

Dive into their platform, and you'll find a range of features, from templates to start with or the option to create from the ground up. Ludus comes with a rich set of tools, including the ability to integrate content from platforms like YouTube, Unsplash, and design apps like Figma.

Want to add a personal touch? Record your voice over your slides. Plus, with live collaboration and custom blocks, Ludus gives you the flexibility to design the perfect presentation.

• Real-time collaboration for team projects
• Integrations with platforms like YouTube, Unsplash, and Figma
• Custom domains for a branded presentation experience
• Advanced design tools for creative freedom
• Slight learning curve for those new to the platform
• Extensive feature set could be overwhelming for those seeking basics
• Some users might experience performance issues with content-heavy presentations
• 30-day free trial
• Teams of 1-15 people: $149.99/year
• Teams of 16 people and over: Talk to sales

Vyond is your go-to platform for making animated videos that turn complex messages into relatable tales. With a wide collection of templates, it's a breeze to create anything, from a corporate presentation to an explainer video or an educational clip.

But, Vyond doesn't just stop at animations; it lets you enhance your stories with a blend of photos, videos, and even 3D elements. And if you've got a unique voice to share? You can use their voice-over tools and create customizable characters to match your narrative.

• A variety of templates for every story you want to tell
• Enrich animations thanks to content integrations
• Voice-over tools and character customization to make your story truly yours
• Premium features might stretch your budget
• There's a learning curve, especially if you're new to video editing
• Basic plans are limited to single users
• Essential plan: $25/month for 1 user (billed annually)
• Premium plan: $54/month for 1 user (billed annually)
• Professional plan: $92/month per user (billed annually)
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for details

12. Powtoon

Powtoon is where creativity meets animation. This platform lets you create lively presentations and videos, blending your messages with vibrant animations.

With Powtoon's intuitive drag-and-drop interface, even those without a design background can whip up eye-catching animations in no time. For a personal touch, you can also integrate voice-overs, embed videos, or even play around with customizable characters to make your content pop.

And if you're aiming for a unique look, Powtoon lets you tweak characters down to their outfits. Once you're set, exporting your creations as videos means your story can reach audiences far and wide.

• Customize characters to resonate with your narrative
• More cost-effective than hiring a professional video agency
• Versatile enough for various industries and purposes
• No free version on offer
• Custom character features exclusive to the Business plan
• Seasoned designers might need more advanced animation options
• Lite plan: $15/month (billed annually)
• Professional plan: $40/month (billed annually)
• Business plan: $125/month (billed annually)
• Enterprise plans: Reach out to sales

13. FlowVella

FlowVella offers a fresh approach to slide design, allowing you to stitch together text, images, and videos into a cohesive narrative.

But it doesn't stop there. You can also embed interactive links and galleries, giving your audience the opportunity to be a part of the journey. Need to share detailed data? No worries, as you can easily incorporate PDFs.

And for those looking to transform public spaces like museums or exhibitions, FlowVella's feature to turn iPads into interactive kiosks is a game-changer.

• Intuitive editor that's easy to use
• Functions both offline and online for flexibility
• The option to share presentations with custom URLs
• The free tier includes FlowVella's branding
• Might leave design pros wanting a bit more
• Premium plan: $60/year (billed annually)
• Pro plan: $200/year (billed annually)

14. SlideDog

SlideDog is a presentation tool that blends various presentation elements for a smooth delivery. Think about merging PowerPoints, Prezis, PDFs, and other media without the awkwardness of toggling between programs.

It lets you curate a playlist of all your presentation elements, with a smooth transition between each. No more awkward pauses or switching between apps. Plus, its live sharing feature means your audience can tune in from their devices in real-time.

And if you're looking to set up continuous slideshows in public spaces, SlideDog doubles up as a digital signage solution.

• Combine diverse file types into a single presentation
• Boost engagement with real-time sharing
• Manage your presentation from any device with web access
• On-the-fly edits can be a bit challenging
• Available exclusively for Windows users
• Monthly plan: $19 for 2 seats
• Annual plan: $99 for 2 seats (first year, with a 20% renewal discount)
• Lifetime plan: $299 for 2 seats

Pitch is a presentation platform that's all about efficiency, collaboration, and aesthetics. Whether you're starting with a template or crafting from scratch, Pitch offers smart editing features to guide your creative process. Each slide becomes a visual journey, enriched with photos, icons, and videos.

Teamwork is a breeze with real-time editing and feedback loops. And once you're ready to share? Just send a link and tap into the power of real-time analytics to understand how your content resonates with your audience.

• Collaborate in real-time with ease
• Affordable, making it a top pick for individuals or small businesses
• Analytics panel offers insights into how your presentation is received
• Limited range of templates
• Lacks AI assistance
• Advanced analytics require a plan upgrade
• Starter plan: Free
• Pro plan: $8/member per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales

How to choose the best PowerPoint alternative for your needs?

Navigating the world of presentation tools can be a bit overwhelming, especially with so many great options out there. But don't worry, here's a simple guide to help you pinpoint the best fit based on your specific needs:

For personal use

When it's just you, or perhaps a small group, you'll want a tool that's straightforward, yet versatile. Look for platforms that offer a range of templates, are user-friendly, and won’t break the bank.

Tools like DesignCap and Canva shine here. They come with intuitive interfaces and a variety of design options, making it easy to craft presentations, even if you're not a design pro.

For business

In the business world, presentations often serve as a bridge between you and potential clients, investors, or stakeholders. You'll need a platform that's not only visually appealing but also offers features like analytics, real-time edits, and integration options.

Storydoc is a front-runner here. Its AI-powered design capabilities and focus on storytelling make sure that your presentations are not only informative but also unforgettable. Plus, with features like CRM integrations and robust analytics, you're always a step ahead.

For education

Engagement is the cornerstone of effective learning. Tools that offer multimedia embeds, interactive quizzes, and dynamic animations are essential.

Mentimeter shines in this space, offering a range of education templates, the option to host Q&A sessions, brainstorm ideas, and gather immediate feedback from students.

Interactive presentation templates

Ditching PowerPoint doesn't mean you're diving into the unknown. Interactive presentation templates are your safety net, making your shift seamless and straightforward.

These templates are designed to feel familiar right off the bat, so you won't spend ages trying to figure things out. They're not your typical PowerPoint slides either. They come packed with stylish designs, captivating interactive features, and a flow that naturally steers your storytelling.

Grab one and see for yourself.

Hi, I'm Dominika, Content Specialist at Storydoc. As a creative professional with experience in fashion, I'm here to show you how to amplify your brand message through the power of storytelling and eye-catching visuals.

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12 Best Microsoft PowerPoint Alternatives You Can Use

Best Microsoft PowerPoint Alternatives (Updated July 2020)

• LibreOffice Impress
• Google Slides

Which Presentation App is Better for You?

• A beautifully-designed template that can invite attention and engage the audience
• Well-organized layout
• And more significantly, seamless presentation of ideas 

As to which presentation apps like Microsoft PowerPoint can suit your needs better. Be sure of what you need:  full customization, a wide range of pro tools, seamless collaboration, or a simplified experience . Keeping in mind various demands, I have chosen the best alternatives to PowerPoint.

List of Top Alternatives to Microsoft PowerPoint

On the collaboration front, it’s also equally effective, allowing you to work seamlessly with your team. And with the desktop app, you can  work on your presentation even offline . As far as analytics is concerned, Prezi is highly efficient, enabling you to track viewers and have better insight so that you will be able to target the follow-up with clarity. Price-wise, Prezi is slightly cheaper than PowerPoint as it starts at just $5/month (for personal use).

• Analytics for your online presentations
• Super handy smart branding feature
• Great collection of templates 
• Reuse a presentation
• Importing files feel a bit slow 

Visit:  Website 

2. LibreOffice Impress

Another feature that makes Impress a worthy rival of PowerPoint is an elegant Slide Show mode that enables you to control how your slides are shown and sequenced. Long story short, it’s got most bases covered to be a notable replacement for PowerPoint. And that too without costing you a single penny.

• Free and open-source
• Multiple different view modes
• Features a range of drawing and diagramming tools
• Option to stunning 2D and 3D images from text
• The UI looks a bit dull 
• Comparatively, fewer tools than PowerPoint 

• Best for creative users
• Impressive Typography
• Available on Web; Cross-platform
• Third-party tools integration
• Supports collaboration
• No offline support

4. Zoho Show

If PowerPoint boasts a  solid assortment of templates , Show doesn’t look behind in the match up either. So, no what matter your requirement is, chances are high that you will always have a template that can give the right shape and appearance to your ideas.

• Offers a competent free version
• A solid assortment of templates
• Works reliably in importing PowerPoint files
• Maintains formatting accuracy
• At times, file size restriction could become a roadblock for efficient performance.

5. Haiku Deck

• Feature-packed yet easy-to-handle presentation software
• A wide range of templates
• Over 40 million creative images
• It’s priced same as Microsoft PowerPoint (Even offers higher pricing tier options)

Platform Availability:  iOS and web

6. Google Slides

• A large collection of predefined templates
• A good roster of transitions
• More efficient collaboration 
• A few transitions don’t work effectively 

Platform Availability: iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome OS

Unlike PowerPoint, Visme has a  clutter-free interface  so that creating a top-quality presentation remains hassle-free. Depending on your need, you can audio, video, charts, maps, and even links to make your creations look more engaging. Talking about  privacy control , it offers multiple options so that you can choose to make your presentation public and fully indexable by a search engine or safeguard it using a password.

• A massive collection of pro tools
• Tons of beautiful images, icons, and fonts to experiment 
• Privacy control
• Handling multi-media is slightly inconvenient 

Pricing: Free, $14/month 

8. OnlyOffice

Being fully  integrated with collaboration platforms  including mail, CRM, projects, and calendar, OnlyOffice keeps the entire team in sync and enables them to work on the presentation with clarity. Though it lacks a plethora of templates that PowerPoint boasts, it has enough pre-defined templates to meet most demand. In terms of customization tools, I think it excels in most aspects and easily leaves its famous counterpart behind.

• Simplified experience
• Open-source presentation software
• Integrated with collaboration platforms

Platform Availability:   Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS

• Impressive animations 
• Only 30 Apple-designed themes
• One of the best collaboration experience 
• Doesn’t offer the app for Windows and Android 

Platform Availability:   iOS, macOS, and web

For the folks who use attractive images in their presentation, they would really appreciate the  library of millions of images . And with photo filters at the beck and call, you can instantly transform the look of your pics. Besides, it also got some  cool editing tools  to give photographs of some adorable personal touch.

• A plethora of background images, eye-grabbing templates, and filters
• Library of millions of images
• Cool editing tools
• Takes time to get a full hang of the software 

Pricing:  Free, $12.95/month 

11. SlideDog

SlideDog  keeps all the elements in their original formats  so that they can achieve the expected result. With the live sharing feature, you can easily broadcast your presentation on your channel. All the participants will receive a link and with just a click/tap, they will start watching the presentation.

• Creating powerful multimedia presentations
• Effectively combine Prezis, PDFs, PowerPoints
• Keeps all the elements in their original formats
• Feels sluggish at times 
• The pro version doesn’t offer a compelling price-to-value proposition 

Pricing:  Free, $99/year

12. WPS Office Free

WPS Office has got more than decent formatting tools that include font styles, colors, shapes and more. Thus, giving a suitable appearance to your presentation won’t be a big ask. If you want to go for a bit more customization,  over 230 fonts and text effects  would come into play really.

• Fully compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint
• Supports both PPT and PPTX files
• Over 230 fonts and text effects
• Lacks the versatility of PowerPoint
• The interface should be better 

Pricing:  Free 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. which powerpoint alternative is best for your small business, q. what can i use instead of powerpoint, q. is there a better presentation software than powerpoint, q. is prezi better than powerpoint.

While Prezi surely has got new looks and great animations, it’s a tad bit harder to design presentations on Prezi than PowerPoint. In addition, Prezi’s formatting options are really messy, but your experience may vary. I would recommend you to try out Prezi and see if it works for you.

Q. How do I Make a PowerPoint Presentation Without Powerpoint?

Q. are there free microsoft powerpoint alternatives, choose the best microsoft powerpoint alternatives.

Rajesh Mishra

An old school bibliophile who turned a tech nerd out of obsession. When he is not digging into hacks and tracking down stories that are breaking the internet, you may find him reciting poems.

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The ULTIMATE Guide to PowerPoint Alternatives

• Written by: Olivia Kippax Jones
• Categories: Presentation technology

There’s an astounding number of PowerPoint alternatives out there claiming to be the solution to your most pressing presentation problems. But it can be tricky to see through the pretty branding and weigh up the functionality that lies beneath. Luckily for you, BrightCarbon is here to separate the wheat from the chaff, and the decent presentation programs from the rubbish PowerPoint knock-offs.

What is a PowerPoint alternative?

For the sake of this article, a PowerPoint alternative is software you can access from your computer or tablet that allows you to create presentations from beginning to end.

Why use PowerPoint Alternatives?

The number of PowerPoint alternatives available shows that people are willing to invest time and money in creating effective, attractive presentations and it’s clear that PowerPoint is not everyone’s first choice.

We at BrightCarbon think PowerPoint is great and use it for loads of incredible creation projects – check out our portfolio for examples . We also have lots of free resources to help you create gorgeous content in PowerPoint. However, we’re well aware of the horrors of “Death by PowerPoint” and are lucky enough to have a team of brilliant designers to help make our stuff look lovely. Maybe one of these PowerPoint alternatives is a better option if you don’t have a team of PowerPoint experts on hand. There are a lot of free PowerPoint alternatives here too – so if you’re looking to save some money you might be in luck!

Let’s see if the grass is greener over the proverbial fence. Feel free to skip ahead if you’re curious about one particular PowerPoint alternative.

Beautiful.ai

Custom show, google slides, libre office impress.

What is Beautiful.ai?

Beautiful.ai is an online presentation tool that automatically enforces presentation design ‘best practices’ using artificial intelligence.

Basic (free)

Pro ($12/month): All Basic features plus unlimited slides, no Beautiful.ai branding, analytics, revision history, PowerPoint export.

Organization (Coming soon): All Pro features and shared slide and asset library, single sign-on, brand control.

First impressions

Beautiful.ai looks good and it was easy to get started. Compared to other PowerPoint alternatives, Beautiful.ai has a smaller selection of templates/themes to choose from. Though they may look plain, things improve once you start adding content!

Creating slides

Once you’ve chosen a theme, you can edit the style by selecting a font, setting a colour palette, adding a logo and/or footer, and adding slide numbers. You can select how you want decorative elements, like headers and icons, to look and this is automatically applied to every slide in your deck meaning everything is consistent and you don’t have to edit each slide individually.

Within each theme a bunch of slide layouts are available, including charts, visualisations, and image-based slides. Once you’ve chosen a layout, clicking Variations brings up other design options for that layout.

The AI element comes in when you add or change elements – other parts of the slide automatically adjust. For example, if you change the background colour the text colour will automatically change so it remains visible.

There are no alignment tools, which would usually be a disaster because they help make sure all the objects on your slides are lined up properly. However, with Beautiful.ai, the AI does it all for you. You can easily switch elements around on a slide e.g. if you’ve got three icons and the labels are in the wrong place you can just drag and drop the text boxes and they will snap into place. In fact, it’s almost impossible to mess up (famous last words!).

Customisation

There’s a decent library of images and icons, but you can also import images from your computer or pull from other presentations you’ve created with Beautiful.ai. When you add an image, you can customise it in a few ways, such as adjusting the zoom, setting filters, and adding blur. You can also add audio from your own computer.

Text editing is limited. Because of the AI capabilities, increasing the font size in one text box changes the font size of every text box on the slide.

There are surprisingly detailed animation options for a program that does the design work for you – no complaints here! If you don’t want to deal with animations, Beautiful.ai will add simple transitions for you. However if you want to go further, you can set each object to appear on a click – great for live presenting – and you can change animation order and animation speed, as well as set the timings (overlapping, simultaneous or sequential).

You can’t choose what the animation effects (e.g. wipe, fade, fly in) actually are, they seem to be pre-set. Most objects animate in on a simple fade, although some graphs have specific animations.

Annoying things

• The AI doesn’t always get the design right. Sometimes objects are pushed too close to the edge of the slide and look odd.
• Widows and orphans are common and there’s no control over text wrapping.

If you have simple content, not much time, and want something that looks good then Beautiful.ai might be right up your street. It’s pleasant to use once you give up any idea of creative control and, if you know what you want on each slide, you can quickly pull together a deck that looks professional and modern.

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What is Canva?

Canva is an online content creation powerhouse enabling you to create everything from WhatsApp and Instagram stories, to Facebook covers, to presentations, to letters, flyers, invitations and more. We’re just testing out the presentation creation capabilities.

Free (free!)

Pro ($9.95 per month): Access to photo and element library, fonts, and priority support. Use unlimited folders, the brand kit, and create animations and GIFs.

Enterprise (~$30 per team member per month or custom):  All previous and storage, multiple brand kits, single sign-on, team folders, comments, templates, account manager.

With Canva you get access to a huge amount of assets: 2 million photos, 500,000 illustrations and icons, 20,000+ templates, 500+ fonts and so on. It’s a bit overwhelming!

Canva is template-based and there are lots of different styles to choose from. Each template contains a selection of slide layouts which you add to your deck using + Add a new page . You can also add blank slides to a presentation.

Editing these layouts is easy. Clicking on an element brings up a toolbar at the top of the screen showing the options for that object. The left-hand side menu shows the types of content you can add, this includes images, icons and shapes, and text. You can drag and drop content into your layout: when you do this with images, they are automatically resized and edited to fit the layout.

Smart guides help position elements accurately but there are also alignment tools if you want to get really precise. You can group objects which is handy for arranging and rearranging slides. There’s a bunch of grid layouts for adding photography, but you can’t overlay a grid on the slide. Read our grids and guides blog post to see why grids are so important to good design.

Like many PowerPoint alternatives, Canva is template-based which could be restrictive but these templates are very editable. If you have brand guidelines to follow you can create something on-brand by uploading custom fonts and logos and saving colour palettes and templates.

There are good text editing options – line spacing, letter spacing, font, font size – as well as pre-designed text templates you can pop right into your deck. Canva also has basic image editing options and swapping out images is super easy with the drag and drop function. However, graph editing is limited. For example, you can’t get rid of graph labels, titles etc. If you’re determined to jazz up your graphs there’s probably a workaround, but it’s not ideal.

Animation is available with Canva Animator – this is part of the Canva Pro option. The animations available are Rise, Bounce, Slide, and Fade. They are tricky to find; you have to start the process of downloading your presentation and then choose to download it as an Animation (MP4/GIF). You then get the option to add animations.

If you do animate your presentation you can only download it as a GIF or video file, not a click-through presentation. The animations are basic and inflexible and once you’ve chosen Bounce or Rise, that animation is applied to every slide – this gets very repetitive.

The animation options feel like they’re not designed for full length presentations but for bringing an essentially static web or social media graphic to life.

Nice things

• Collaborative working features
• Plenty of attractive charts
• Huge selection of background images, but not always very high quality
• Icon/illustration styles are mixed together, so achieving visual consistency is difficult. It would be great to filter by style.
• Slow to download – a four-slide presentation took seven or eight minutes!

We say you can use PowerPoint to create different types of content , and you definitely can, but if you’re not a designer and want to create party invitations, business cards or flyers – then Canva is your best bet. In terms of presentation creation, though Canva’s templates are attractive and editable, the lack of control over animation means Canva presentations are not viable for live presenting.

What is Custom Show?

Custom Show claims to be the only sales and marketing software that combines both slide storing and sharing options with a design-focused presentation builder. It’s a cloud app specifically designed for organizations of 10 or more employees and allows you to make instant companywide updates to your slide library, collaborate in real time, and present in person, on the web, or on an iPad. Custom Show offer training and support and will help design, organize, pilot and roll out content across your organisation.

Full disclosure – we haven’t had the opportunity to test out Custom Show. However, as it’s specifically aimed at the corporate community, whereas many PowerPoint alternatives are set up for individual users, we thought it should be included. If you’re looking for a presentation creation solution that’s specifically designed for businesses, it might be worth requesting a demo.

decktopus is an online presentation tool that claims to help users create great looking decks ‘in the shortest time’. Articles on the decktopus blog talk about simplicity as a key tenet of all good presentations. To help their users create simple slides, they provide a rapid creation tool with ‘restrictions that bring perfection’.

There are three decktopus  pricing tiers .

Pro (£9.90/mo): 1000s of design options, media libraries, online sharing and collaboration, export and share presentation options, embedding tool, voice recording, rehearsal mode and presentation tips.

Business (£19.90/mo): Everything in Pro, plus; embedded forms, custom domain connection, custom colours and font types, custom footer and analytics platform including email capture, dashboard and lead mail notification.

Enterprise (Contact for pricing): This option is for corporate plans with over 100 users. decktopus will find the right deal for you and your team.

When we first reviewed decktopus, there was a free version. However, today they have a 7 day no questions asked money back guarantee if you try it out and it’s not for you.

Decktopus has a similar set up to many PowerPoint alternatives I’ve tried out, you select a template from a bunch of predesigned options or start from scratch by picking a design style, then adding layouts.

In the main editing view, you can see all the slides in your deck. To edit a slide, you click on the ‘card’ (a preview of the slide plus an editor section), then edit the text and/or graphics. The changes are immediately reflected in the preview.

decktopus auto-adjusts the size and placement of text as you edit. There are a limited number of components and text permitted on each slide to ensure users don’t stuff the slides with content.

To get a better view of the slide preview, you can enter Focus Mode.

You can upload images from your computer or search the free stock image sites Unsplash and Pixabay from within decktopus.

As you can see in the video clip below, it’s really easy to swap the icons out, you simply search the bank and all the relevant icons pop up. All the icons are in the same design style which is great for making sure your slides stay consistent.

To create a new slide, you click Add Slide then select a slide layout. There are a good selection of visual slide layouts including a timeline, icons, and a statement number slide. They’ve also added some new layouts including diagrams, charts, graphs and tables.

You can also add your own images into mock-ups of different digital devices, which is great for showcasing things like websites, apps or e-learning modules. Unfortunately, you can’t use the in-built stock media search in these mock-up slides, the images have to be uploaded from your own PC.

You can drag and drop slides to rearrange the order of your deck and you can also drag and drop slide content in the editor section to change the order of icons or text points.

The customisation options in decktopus are pretty limited as the tool purposefully imposes restrictions to help users create well-designed decks. However, there are a few things you can play around with. In the Pro plan, you have the option to choose from a range of pre-selected colour schemes and fonts. This gives you the ability to switch up your deck without worrying about clashing colours or fonts that don’t fit well together. In the Business plan, you have access to this feature as well as the option to upload your own fonts and colours, allowing you to easily stick to your brand guidelines. You can also add notes and logos in the footer of your slides as part of the Business plan.

When you’re editing a slide, you can swipe left or right on the card to view alternative layouts and click Swap Colours to see alternative colour options within that design style. There isn’t a huge amount of variation on offer, but it helps to mix up the style of your slides a little whilst maintaining a cohesive colour scheme.

With both the Pro and Business plans you can also add voice over to your slides which is great for sending out a presentation for your clients to watch without you having to present directly to them. Recordings are only available when you present online or share your presentation as a link.

There’s no image editing, but you can zoom in and out of an image and select which bit to show which is a useful feature.

Sadly, there are no built-in animation or slide transition options in decktopus but you can export your presentation as either a PDF or a PPT file. This means it could be possible to add animation in PowerPoint after creating your initial deck in decktopus.

• The slide layouts have very little text and lots of white space, encouraging users to create easily digestible slides.
• You can view, play and create presentations on mobile.
• There’s a bank of videos on presenting ideal for nervous presenters.
• Undoing actions is not intuitive. You have to go to History and revert the action.

Decktopus is all about helping people create decks really quickly, without producing a messy, poorly designed collection of slides. The interface is intuitive and, if you already have your content planned out, you really could produce a visually appealing deck in a matter of minutes. It’s biggest limitation is the lack of animation, which reduces presentability. Decktopus are actively developing their offering and there are some exciting features in the works such as hyperlinking the ability to embed your deck on a web page and more!

What is eMaze?

eMaze is an online, template-based tool that helps users create presentations, websites, e-cards, blogs and more. It has 3D presentation building capabilities. There are 75 templates to choose from, collaboration options, and advanced editing tools.

There’s a confusing number of pricing options. Here are a few of them…

Pro Plan ($13 per month): Premium templates, multiple download options, custom effects, branding tools.

Edu Class ($40 per month for max 30 users): All Pro features plus lesson templates, custom templates, collaboration, control privacy settings.

Enterprise Plan ($452 per year max 20 users): All other features plus premium templates, branding, support.

eMaze uses a drag-and-drop editor and navigating the dashboard is simple. However, once you start to work with a template, eMaze isn’t super intuitive. The interface is okay, but tools aren’t where you might expect. It can be difficult to tell how big the slides are and whether objects are hanging off the edge as you can see in this clip.

You select a template or a blank presentation to start, and then add slides that have the layouts you want to use. eMaze templates come in two forms, 3D and 2D. The 2D templates look and feel like PowerPoint templates but with slightly fresher design. There are plenty of options and each template has lots of different slide layouts with a good selection of charts, timelines etc. (though there’s also a lot of space for text encouraging “Death by eMaze”!).

The 3D templates place the slides in a 3D space e.g. a gallery. The 3D templates might look cool, but you have little control over the movement of the deck and the transitions might give you motion sickness.

There are a few positive points, including good object alignment tools and the ability to lock and unlock elements. Currently, you can only lock and unlock elements in PowerPoint with the help of an add-in like our free design and productivity add-in BrightSlide .

eMaze has good text effects, for example, you can make text scrollable. Though not useful for a live presentation, this is great for a kiosk-style deck. There’s also decent text formatting and you can hyperlink both within and outside of the presentation.

You can alter the opacity of image and shapes, add custom colours and custom fonts and, under Brand in Settings , you can set theme colours, font and font styles, and formatting for charts and tables. This last feature helps ensure consistency if yo are creating more than one deck with this PowerPoint alternative. eMaze presentations can be translated into over 100 languages.

The animation options allow you to have animations play on a click, loop, hover, or timed. There are some fun transitions depending which template you choose.

The animation options are hard to find and, oddly, are under the same Fx menu as other special effects, like shadow or 3D. The real issue with grouping animation options and other effects together is that you can’t apply multiple Fx options to the same object. So, if your line is dashed or your image blurred you can’t apply any animation effects to it. This is a real oversight. There’s also no animation pane, so it’s hard to see what you’ve got happening on a slide.

Good things

• Can present offline
• Well set up for sharing content online e.g. users can add SEO information
• A potentially cool feature, the ability to upload and eMaze-ify your PowerPoint files, didn’t work with the animated deck or the simple bullets point deck we tested.

Looking at the eMaze Shared tab, what’s being produced by other users looks very much like PowerPoint with just a hint of Prezi. Both PowerPoint and Prezi are easier to use than eMaze and if what you end up with looks no different, why you would you use eMaze?

What is Focusky?

Focusky is desktop presentation software with a free cloud hosting service. They apply mobile friendly HTML5 technologies to help you create animated presentations. Focusky provides you with an unlimited canvas to add frames to and zoom and pan around.

Standard ($9.90 per month): All free functionality plus 100G storage, no watermark, premium templates, 720P export, limited offline viewing, custom templates, publishing in multiple formats, premium animation editor.

Professional ($99 per year): All previous and unlimited storage and uploads, HD export, unlimited offline viewing, animated and vector resources, 2 users.

Enterprise ($399 permanent): All previous plus more backgrounds, animated and vector resources, 10 users.

Focusky has a clunky interface and many of the templates look old fashioned. Similar to eMaze, Focusky has a few 3D layouts with less traditional transitions. The interface has everything on show and was very busy compared to some of the more pared back PowerPoint alternatives.

Focusky has a mixed bag of templates, some dated, some modern, so do a bit of digging before settling on a style. Loading up themes and fonts can take a while; though the software is stored on your computer, the templates are online, so bear in mind that you need an internet connection to get started.

The way Focusky works is that each slide is ‘slide-sized’ but you can zoom round the canvas in a nonlinear way. There are different frame layouts to choose from or you can start from scratch.

Focusky has some useful tools for creating slides, such as a grid you can toggle on and off, a ruler, alignment tools and group tools. The layouts have a pretty 90s feel and the assets in general are not as modern or impressive as some PowerPoint alternatives. There’s a variety of chart and smart art options, as well as 5000+ online royalty-free vector resources.

The templates and slides are highly customisable, very similar to PowerPoint but with the added 3D/Prezi-like zoom and pan functionality. You can record narration, change the screen ratio, add videos, images, and audio. You can also add interactions, such as clickable objects, triggers, and hyperlinks using the interactions designer.

There are lots of animation options, though many are similar to the worst of PowerPoint’s animations. Stick to Fade in, Fly in, and Bounce in, or use the Action Paths, Focusky’s answer to Motion Paths (get to grips with Motion Paths here ). Focusky’s Animation Painter is a great feature, you can copy animations from one object to another quickly.

• You can hide/show sections in show mode
• Screen recording capability
• Focusky uses Comic Sans font for its help tips. Need we say more?
• There were spelling errors in some of the help tips which doesn’t fill you with confidence.

• At some points Focusky was downright glitchy. For example, the animation options below.

Final thoughts

It would take a fair amount of work to create something spectacular in Focusky. It has lots of functionality true, but there are lots of sleeker PowerPoint alternatives out there.

What is Genially?

Genially helps people create digital resources with built-in interactivity including quizzes, games, and polls.

Pro (€7.49 per month): All free resources and offline viewing, premium templates, PowerPoint import, PDF and JPG download.

Master (€20.82 per month): All previous and brand personalisation, training, resource management, collaborative tools.

Team (€79.15 per month): All previous plus 5 Master users, training, design support.

An attractive interface with lots of different templates to play with. There are a few nice touches, like the animations playing when you hover your cursor over them.

There are lots of themed templates and, if you scroll to the bottom, the option to start with a blank deck. The layouts are similar to many PowerPoint alternatives, but the templates do come pre-animated which is great if you’re lacking animation confidence. (If you’re a PowerPoint user needing some animation tips, check out this blog post ).

Some of Genially’s suggested layouts have room for improvement – they leave loads of space to write text and, not to blow our own trumpet, our editable world map is better!

Alongside templates, there are lots of other resources like illustrations, icons, figures, maps, as well as predesigned elements like titles and subtitles that you can pop right onto your slide. There are also interactive elements, like buttons, that you can drag and drop.

The Interactive elements tab lets you add interactivity to your slides. You can link to another page/slide, add a link to a window in your browser, or add a text pop up. These features could be handy for creating more self-guided slides.

Though there’s no grid, there are smart guides and basic alignment tools – you can align to the slide (though only with the edges and centre not the middle) but not to other objects.

There are different levels of design control with Genially. For example, you can drag and drop pre-made interactive elements on to your slide or create your own from shapes. There’s also a specific designer mode. It takes a while to find (under the main settings menu) but allows you to precisely edit the size and position of objects, as well as the layers on a slide. Tucking these controls away works well, as the general user is not overwhelmed but those that want a little more control and information can access it.

In terms of customisation, you can change canvas size, there’s good text editing with customisable letter spacing, line height, fonts, font size, and more. You can also copy and paste text formatting which is super handy. The native icons and illustrations are fun but not editable, so are less useful for branded presentations. However, the paid version offers various brand personalisation options, so this issue can be resolved.

The image bank isn’t as good as some PowerPoint alternatives, but you can upload your own imagery (though you can’t crop them to shape). Content can be added from Twitter, Instagram, Google Docs, Pinterest, Instagram, Wikipedia and more. You can’t yet insert video files from your computer – but can embed videos from Vimeo and YouTube. There are no graphs – you might be able to insert graphs from one of the many plug-in options but there’s nothing in Genially itself.

A handy option is the ability to choose how your audience navigates through the slides: standard (clicking or pressing left and right), video (playing the whole presentation), or Microsite (all navigation through internal linking).

The templates come with pre-set animations which are fine if you don’t want to use animation to help tell a story. There are customisable animation options, though they’re limited compared to PowerPoint. There’s no animation timeline or way of easily seeing which elements are animated and which are not. Animations can be triggered by hovering your cursor over an object but not with a click which is what you want when you’re presenting in person.

Looks lovely, smooth transitions and animations, fun to play with, plenty of customisation and interactivity options – give Genially a go!

BrightCarbon does lots of work in Google Slides and, over the years, we’ve found there are definitely pros and cons to working with it.

For a really detailed look at Google Slides, head to our ULTIMATE guide to Google Slides .

What is Google Slides?

Google Slides is Google’s version of PowerPoint. It’s a cloud-based presentation tool that allows people to collaboratively work on a project and either present online or download a presentation to use offline.

When purchased under G Suite subscription, Business $10 per month: unlimited cloud storage, smart search, data loss prevention.

Google Slides has a bright, clean and intuitive interface. There are a few templates and though they’re simple, they’re easy to edit.

When designing slides, you can add grids and guides, can group and ungroup objects and use alignment tools to place objects precisely. If you want tips on creating presentations with Google Slides check out out this blog post on interactivity or this one on fonts !

Collaboration is super easy with Google Slides. Google Slides offers a variety of sharing options meaning you decide who gets full access. You can also tag people in comments, so they get an alert. You can sync slides across multiple decks meaning if you make updates to a specific slide in a specific deck, the changes will be implemented across other synced slides that sit in different decks. This is particularly handy if, for example, you have a slide containing data that you need to update regularly. This is all more stable and more comprehensive than the collaboration options offered by PowerPoint – so if working closely with your team is something you need to do regularly, then Google Slides could be perfect for you.

Slides has most of the same formatting options as PowerPoint. There are lots of shape editing tools – fill and line colour, border colour – you can add shadows and reflections and fine tune these effects. You can crop images to shape – an option missing from many PowerPoint alternatives. You can view and edit the slide master which means it’s easier to get consistent slide layouts and consistent design over multiple decks, and you can easily create templates. You can add hyperlinks to create interactive decks – check out our example here .

Options for editing GIFs are more advanced in Google Slides than PowerPoint. You can crop a GIF, recolour it, resize it, and much more without losing quality meaning you can create some really fun slides pretty easily. You also have access to hundreds of fonts through the Google Fonts library and it’s easy to insert content from your computer, the web, Google Drive, by URL etc. However, adding and editing custom graphics, such as vectors, is more difficult in Google Slides.

Google Slides’ animation features are fairly restricted (there are about 15 options). Though there’s no equivalent of the morph transition (a really cool animation option in PowerPoint 365) simple animations can still do a lot of heavy lifting. With Google Slides animation can be applied to text, shapes, objects, and slides. We recommend sticking to the more basic Google Slides animations, such as Fly in and Fade in, for a polished professional look.

• Very intuitive
• Easy collaboration
• Charts are difficult to edit as they are always live – which means they use data pulled from a Google Sheets document. This means that though they are super easy to create charts appear in Google as a non-editable image, which makes them difficult to customise.

Google Slides does lack some of PowerPoint’s more complex functionality but it is this learning curve that puts many people off PowerPoint in the first place. Slides is easy to use and really shines in the arena of collaborative working, so it’s no surprise that it’s a very popular tool for both businesses and individuals. If you want to learn more about Google Slides, we have loads of resources like these image editing hacks and this blog post on making the most of Google Slide’s animation features .

What is Haiku Deck?

Haiku Deck is a web-based presentation tool that focuses on helping users create simple slides accompanied by images. We have a full review of Haiku Deck on our blog too.

Haiku Deck feels pretty dated compared to many other PowerPoint alternatives. The default setting for slides is 4.3 which is a red flag – these days 16.9 is standard. Of course, if you’re using an older projector where 4.3 is required then this won’t be an issue, but it would be great to have the flexibility of multiple aspect ratios.

Pro ($19.99 per month or $119.88 per year): The Basic version plus unlimited decks, offline viewing, privacy controls, add audio, embed YouTube, branding, Zuru.

Premium ($359.88 per year): All previous plus analytics, live web playback, priority support.

Haiku Deck is incredible easy to use, it’s clear why it’s popular with educators and students. There are a handful of restrictive layouts; text and image placement is pre-set and not editable. You can choose from a selection of templates (templates set font and colours).

Zuru – available on Premium – is a tool which automatically creates presentations. We’re not sold on the idea of automatic presentation creation; a good presentation is all about story and over-reliance on AI is likely to result in a deck that’s just pretty images and bullet points which is rarely an effective strategy – read our blog post about this here .

That sums up the issue with Haiku Deck, regardless of whether you use Zuru or create slides yourself, you end up with some variation on full bleed images and short text points or statements. This isn’t necessarily bad slide design, but we find this type of slide tends to be just decorative and not do any of the heavy lifting with your story.

If you need to create slideshows with hyperlinks, videos, specific images, large amounts of information, etc. then this is not the platform for you. The decks are barely customisable. You just enter text and add images. The graph and statistic layouts look ok but are too restrictive – you can only have so much text or it gets cut off.

You can’t control font size or choose where text boxes are positioned. Typographic controls are non-existent, there are no kerning options, you can’t sub- or super-script text. You can record and add narration, add media and basic charts, and zoom in and out of images.

You can chose your background and font colours easily.

Haiku Deck are very proud of their access to 40M+ royalty free images. Keywords from your text content are used to pull images from this bank and you can easily insert them into your deck.

There are no animation options.

Nice Things

• Live Presentation mode – teachers can broadcast to student screens in their classroom or anywhere in the world.

Annoying Things

• It took a long time to load to view a small presentation.

There are glowing reviews for Haiku Deck online, but beautiful images do not an effective presentation make. It could be brilliant for school projects, but for your next sales pitch you might prefer something with a little more oompf.

What is Keynote?

Keynote is a presentation tool and forms part of Apple’s iWork suite. It can be used on Macs as well as iPads, iPhones and iPod touches.

Keynote is super streamlined and intuitive. There are around 30 themes you can pick from that are nice and clean.

The process of creating slides in Keynote is fairly similar to creating slides in PowerPoint. If you pick a theme, you can simply replace the placeholder text and graphics with your own words and images. Or you can start from scratch and add tables, charts, shapes, images, narration and video. You can ensure precise design with the rulers and alignment guides, drag and drop objects, create groups, lock objects and see a list of your objects in the Object List.

One criticism is that is can be hard to find some features in Keynote. In Keynote instead of having a ribbon – like in PowerPoint – you have a toolbar. You can customise it with the features you use most to make slide creation easier. Wish this was available in PowerPoint? Download our Quick Access Toolbar and customise it with your favourite PowerPoint tools.

Though it’s true that Keynote has fewer features overall than PowerPoint, you might not be able to create super complex sequences for example, the features that Keynote does have are realised to a polished level and bugs and glitches are rare.

You can export presentations to Microsoft PowerPoint and as PDF, QuickTime, HTML and image files.

Keynote has lots of the same customisation options as PowerPoint. A fun touch is that you can add illustrations and handwritten notes to your slides using Apple Pencil on your iPad. If you’re not artistically inclined, Keynote has over 700 customisable shapes, and you can easily edit them by tapping a shape and choosing Format then Style . You can also create Freeform shapes. You can add interactive charts, and Keynote has fully functional text and paragraph editing. You can import a variety of media files to make your slides more engaging.

You can save Keynote documents as PowerPoint files. Or import and edit PowerPoint documents directly in Keynote with most popular PowerPoint features supported. So, if you’re working on the same project as a PowerPoint user, it isn’t too tricky to collaborate.

Keynote’s animation engine is simple to use, though slightly more restrictive than PowerPoint – you can’t stack animations for example. Having said that, it has some really useful animation effects that you’re actually likely to use and fewer over-the-top options than PowerPoint. There are over 30 transitions and effects for objects and text. You can animate objects along a path using Apple Pencil or your finger on your iPhone or iPad.  Everyone has access to Magic Move, which is similar to PowerPoint’s Morph transition (only available in PowerPoint 2016). You can see a demonstration of Magic Move below:

• Real time collaboration; decks can be accessed on a Mac, iPad or iPhone
• With Keynote Live, audiences in many locations can watch you presentation in real time on a Mac, iPad, iPhone or the web
• Converting to Google Slides is not as easy as converting to PowerPoint
• There’s no scroll-wheel based zoom in/out shortcut
• You can’t hide objects

Keynote users really love this program, it’s easy to use and reliable. If you’re an Apple user Keynote is a great free PowerPoint alternative.

What is Libre Office Impress?

Libre Office is a free open source suite, compatible with Microsoft Office. Impress is its free PowerPoint alternative. LibreOffice is community-driven and developed software, and is a project of the not-for-profit organisation The Document Foundation .

Impress is very similar to PowerPoint in look and feel. If you’re a PowerPoint user, getting started will be very easy.

The process of creating slides is also similar to PowerPoint. Impress’s assets aren’t as sleek and modern as other PowerPoint alternatives; it all feels very 90s (but sadly not in a cool way)!

The templates on offer are fairly limited, even more so than PowerPoint, so if you’re looking for PowerPoint alternatives because you want nice templates then Impress isn’t for you. However, Impress slides are very customisable. Like with PowerPoint, a designer’s eye might be needed to make something that looks contemporary and professional.

You can import video and images, set your own custom colour palette. The graph options are great and can be edited within the file.

Though some of the animation options are dated there are plenty that are super useful, like motion paths, meaning you can create great animated slides. Animations can be triggered by clicks and you can add animations to individual elements. There’s no animation timeline, so it’s hard to know exactly what you’re doing with multiple animations on one slide.

• It’s free with no watermarks or Impress branding.
• Supports macros. This might not matter to the casual user but it’s great news for those a little more into their tech. Click here to learn more about the magic of macros in PowerPoint.
• PowerPoint files are (generally) compatible with Impress.
• You have to download the entire Libre Office suite to get Impress.
• It was a bit glitchy, for example when previewing animations.
• Conversion from a PowerPoint file to Impress wasn’t perfect. E.g. animations went awry and images looked less sharp.

If you want to use PowerPoint but don’t want to pay, Impress is an ideal free alternative.

What is Ludus?

Ludus describes itself as an advanced presentation tool for creative professionals.

Ludus has a clean, dark interface. They state on their website that they ‘don’t want to spend all [their] energy on providing the most advanced text editing tool, the most powerful image filters, or the most amazing transitions’, which suggests that the functionality of Ludus is limited. However, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Solo ($14.99 per month): All features and unlimited storage, unlimited presentations, one user maximum.

Team ($19.98 per month): All previous and minimum 2 users.

Special: Custom needs, custom price.

Ludus has fewer templates than many PowerPoint alternatives. Not a problem if you’re happy to create something from scratch, however, if you’re looking for PowerPoint alternatives with snazzy templates, this might not be for you.

Creating from scratch is made easier by smart guides and alignment tools. You can lock objects – a really handy feature meaning you don’t keep accidentally selecting a background image when you’re editing objects on top.  Ludus also lets you work with things in layers.

Almost everything has a keyboard shortcut clearly displayed at the bottom of the screen, so if you use Ludus regularly you could really build up speed.

There are a bunch of great features for customising your slides including text editing tools, adjusting letter spacing, line height, font size etc.

You can make icons editable objects meaning you can change the colour and outline. If you create elements that you’re particularly proud of, you can save them as Smart Blocks to your own searchable library which you can access when you’re creating presentations in the future.

A slight negative is that there are limited shape types and, though you can crop images, you can’t crop images to a shape. However, there are some really great image editing tools that set Ludus apart from other PowerPoint alternatives, and PowerPoint itself.

You can add hyperlinks to skip to different slides or external sites. There are a bunch of integrations with Unsplash, GIFy, Flickr, the Noun Project and more. Ludus is also linked to Google fonts giving you 800+ fonts at your fingertips.

11 slide transitions are available, and you can set the duration of the transition. However, you can’t animate individual objects. Ludus suggest using GIFs to add animated elements and say they are working on providing this functionality in the future. You can only view transition animations online, as presentations are exported as PDFs.

• Good collaboration options: sharable Smart Blocks, password protection, and custom URLS for sharing.
• Ludus can export to PDF, HTML, JPG, and PNG formats.
• You can only present an animated Ludus presentation online.
• Though you can choose e.g. font size you have to type in a number. There are no bigger/smaller arrows, so editing text was a bit time consuming.

It’s worth keeping an eye on Ludus. It’s being updated all the time in response to user requests, it has a few unique features and is pleasant to use. There is a 30-day free trial if you fancy giving it a go.

Paste by WeTransfer

What is Paste?

Paste was first launched in 2015 but has been recently acquired by WeTransfer who have just launched Paste 2.0. Paste 2.0 is billed as a reactive slide creator allowing users to drop content on the slides without having to fuss with formatting or layouts.

Free: 3 slide decks, custom branding, unlimited sharing.

Pro ($10 per month paid annually): Up to four members, unlimited slide decks, private slide decks, remove Paste branding.

Team ($30 per month paid annually): Everything with Pro plus up to 25 members and priority customer support.

Paste has special prices for education and NGOs on application.

First Impressions

If you sign up to Paste with a work email address, Paste automatically scans your company website to extract brand details. You can then choose to start your deck using a template or a blank project. Paste does its best to extract your brand colours and logo – it worked pretty well for me, but the colours are easily adjusted in the Brand Settings if it isn’t quite right.

There are only three templates to pick from – this was refreshing as some PowerPoint alternatives have what feels like hundreds of templates! Whichever you chose, Paste provides a short, guided tour through the various features which was helpful.

Overall, Paste was smooth, clean and nice to work in.

Creating Slides

The reason there are so few templates in Paste is that, rather than plugging your content into an existing structure, the slide reacts to your content to create a suitable layout. It’s easy to add and remove content such as text and images from slides and the slides themselves are split into columns which you can add or remove.

You can insert images from Unsplash and GIFs from Giphy – Paste will predict the type of images you need based on the content you already have.

You can also upload images from your computer and media can be pulled in from a huge variety of websites and apps. You can then move slides to adjust the layout; text and media resizes automatically.

You can’t add tables, graphs or charts which is a shame. Obviously, you can save these as images and add them that way but using images means editing the data is a huge faff.

Paste has ‘Power Layouts’ which let you select a simply layout to add your content to. You can then add and drag content around until you’re happy with it. This is an example of a 3 column power layout:

Alternatively, you don’t have to pick a layout, you can just drag files to Paste from your computer and it will arrange them in a grid.

A feature I can see being used very heavily is the media holders. These allow you to add images or video into really lovely phone or tablet holders. They look great and you can even add a 3D effect, so they react to your mouse when you’re presenting. These are great for showing websites, YouTube videos, app mock-ups and more.

One feature that needs a little work is auto colours. With this setting on, the background is meant to react to the colour of images you add. This didn’t work as automatically for me as I expect – I had to go and select auto colour again each time.

You can export Paste presentations as PDFs or embed them into web pages.

Paste will automatically add your branding to each slide preventing your team from using the wrong colours or fonts. There is some text formatting; bold, italic, bullets, numbers, and a checklist. You can set text size to small, medium and large – not as much range as I’d like but it keeps things simple and helps ensure consistency across slides. You can set the style and font for each of these levels (small, medium and large) in Brand Settings.

You can also add a logo and text watermark.

A good feature Paste has is that you can edit all slides at once. If you want to change background colour or slide layout on every slide or a selection of slides you can. This is a time saver and will help you update decks quickly.

Sadly, there is no animation in Paste. Even the ability to make each column fade in on a click would add a lot of value. You could ‘hack’ this by duplicating slides then deleting content, so it looks like a slide is building in but this would be quite time consuming.

• Good collaboration features, you can leave comments, assign slides to team members and respond to content with reactions.
• It was hard to delete the media holders

Paste could be great for very media rich decks that are mainly images, screenshots, or video.  It allows users to quickly create brand complaint good-looking content for swish follow ups to an online meeting or training session. There are also some great portfolio examples on the Paste Explore page. The lack of animation means that there are better options than Paste for creating in-person or face-to-face presentations.

What is Powtoon?

Powtoon is a video and presentation tool that comes with lots of ready-made templates. Though there are lots of video options, let’s stick to exploring the presentation creation tools. We’ve reviewed Powtoon before, check it out here .

Pro ($19 per month): 5 premium exports per month, access to pro and free content, 2 GB storage.

Pro+ ($59 per month): Unlimited premium exports, unlimited access to content, 10 GB storage.

Agency ($99 per month): All previous and 3 rd -party reseller rights, 100 GB storage, upload custom fonts.

Powtoon’s interface is a bit overwhelming. There are lots of moving parts, it’s very bright and quite distracting. However, Powtoon’s focus on animation, movement, and storytelling is missing from many other PowerPoint alternatives and is great to see.

It might take you a while to get started, there’s definitely a learning curve with Powtoon. Though a designer – or at least a Powtoon expert – could create stunning presentations, the rest of us might struggle if we decided to go it alone without using one of the pre-made templates.

Using Powtoon’s templates can help you get professional looking results. There’s a large selection of media, templates, and animation effects to choose from.

Once you’ve chosen a template, you can choose different ‘looks’ – infographic, cartoon, real – then Powtoon shows you assets that are consistent with that style. This helps you create something that looks cohesive. There are some really great assets you can pick from to give slides a bit of flair.

There are a few frustrating quirks, for example, it’s difficult to select objects if they overlap. However, there is a handy grid you can toggle on and off to help with object placement.

There are two levels of editing, edit and create . The former is more basic, allowing you to edit text and colours, swap out illustrations etc. The latter is a more detailed editor where you can access extended functionality like the animation timeline.

When changing the size of objects, both the width and height change proportionately which isn’t always what you want. The charts are a bit rubbish.

You can supposedly import PowerPoints into Powtoon. Adding some of Powtoon’s animated assets to a PowerPoint deck could be great, but this feature needs more work. You have to do a lot of editing to deal with the fact Powtoon can’t really cope with a PowerPoint file – particularly with layers as you can see in the clip below!

There are 12 animation options. It was a bit fiddly to work out how to add and place animations on the timeline. Though Powtoon says this is presentation creation, you can’t trigger animations with a click – you have to set timings instead. This is great if you want to share a copy of your deck as a video but it would be difficult to present a Powtoon live. You can see the timeline below.

• Regularly refreshed assets, for example the range of ethnicities of the cartoon figures has been recently updated.
• Powtoon is a heavy product and might make your computer work hard.
• Uploading images and videos is slow and once you’ve got the files uploaded you can’t name them, so if you put a lot of content on Powtoon it can be difficult to put your hands on what you need.

Powtoon presentations can have a cartoony feel which is difficult to achieve in PowerPoint. Their pre-animated assets – like characters – make it easy to achieve effects which would take a long time to create elsewhere. If that’s the look you’re going for Powtoon is great, otherwise it might not be worth learning how to use it.

Full disclosure , we’ve not always been huge fans of Prezi . However, one thing we can get behind is their passion for storytelling and Prezi certainly talks the talk when it comes to visual design. They claim that Prezis are more effective than PowerPoint . Let’s see how they measure up.

What is Prezi?

Like many PowerPoint alternatives, Prezi is designed for people who aren’t designers. The major differentiator is that instead of slides organised linearly, every part of a Prezi exists in a single space – on a huge blank canvas – which can be explored in a different sequence every time. Prezi call this ‘conversational presenting’.

Prezi Classic presented its users with a complete blank canvas. Prezi Next, launched in 2017, is more structured, limiting the ways users can organize their presentation by automatically programming the path taken from section to section. This path progresses by the pans and zooms that are characteristic of a Prezi presentation. For a more detailed introduction to Prezi, watch this video from the Presentation Guild .

There are pricing options for individuals, business users, and educators. Here is a selection:

Standard (£7 per month): Unlimited presentations, import PowerPoint slides, advanced privacy options.

Plus (£19 per month): All previous and premium images and icons, PDF export, offline presenting.

Premium (£59 per month): All previous plus analytics and online training.

Teams: Custom needs, custom pricing

Prezi Next is template-based and there are lots of modern and attractive templates available. If the reason you’re considering ditching PowerPoint is that the templates leave a lot to be desired, then Prezi’s templates are a real bonus.

One problem with Prezi being so template based is that once you start trying to change things it is quite easy to mess a template up. You can build a Prezi presentation from scratch though, as with PowerPoint, a little practise is needed.

It’s pretty easy to get started with a template, you just type into the text boxes, drag and drop elements, and all the movement/transitions are set up for you.

There are two ways to organise your presentation, planet or stack, narrowing down the ways you can move around the presentation. This is useful, making it less likely you’ll get confused or lose your place when presenting. The path is set and zooms from the overview to the topic, then to any subtopics then back out again. The topics add structure which is helpful for both presenter and audience.

In general, the functionality of Prezi is quite limited. Here are a few examples:

• Image editing – can’t crop and if you chose a background image, you can’t move it around.
• Lack of information about your slides e.g. what font size the text is or what the line thickness is. It’s difficult to ensure consistency.
• Can’t hyperlink
• No alignment tools.
• Can’t swap out one object for another easily e.g. if you want to change a straight line to an arrow or swap an image with a different one, you have to manually switch them out, meaning your layout could be ruined.
• Video playback – can’t edit the thumbnail or play without going full screen.
• No colour picker options.

It’s difficult to create branded content though you can send Prezi brand guidelines and they’ll create templates for you.

On the positive side, because of the canvas approach, it’s possible to create something that stands out and doesn’t feel like a typical PowerPoint. It may also encourage people to think more creatively about how they lay out and present their content. There are also some great assets, such as these lovely shape options.

A recent addition to Prezi Next is the animations tab. Though the options are still fairly limited – you can fade in and out and zoom – being able to stagger content makes Prezis much easier to present and helps the presenter tell their story more effectively. Then you have the famous Prezi pan/zoom transitions as you move around your content.

If you want the pan and zoom effects without switching to Prezi, check out SlideRide .  

• Great features for business users: smart branding, offline access, presenter view, voice over, PDF export, Prezi analytics, real-time collaboration.
• Mobile app for sharing Prezis via tablet.
• Non-linear presentations can be difficult to navigate.

We always recommend practising your presentation, but this is even truer with Prezi. You need to know the path you want to take through your content and the different options available to make the most of the conversational presenting options.

If you’re looking for a simple PowerPoint alternative, then Prezi might not be the answer. There is a learning curve, especially if you want to branch out from the pre-made templates.

You may want more functionality than Prezi offers but there’s no doubt people do create visually engaging and attractive Prezis and it’s certainly worth giving it a go to see if it suits you.

What is Slidebean?

Slidebean is presentation software powered by artificial intelligence. The system analyses your content, then makes design decisions without human intervention. Slidebean claims to be “The first truly AI-powered presentation software”.

Starter ($96 per year): 15+ starter templates, collaboration options, privacy setting, export to PDF and HTML.

Premium ($228 per year): All previous and 120+ premium templates, analytics, branding options, 2 people max, priority support.

Slidebean’s UI has two separate sections, one for design ( Design ) and one for content ( Outline ). Design should be influenced by content, so this separation could be bad news.

You can pick a template or start from scratch and content can be added in either the Outline or the Design panels. Slidebean will design the deck around the content if you chose ‘arrange with AI’. You can cycle through different layout options or move elements around the slide yourself.

Slides are built by adding Content blocks. These include text, quotes, photos, video, audio, charts and graphs and more. There is also a native image bank.

Depending on how much you care about design, you can have a completely hands-off approach or use the design panel to change images, icons, text size and style. You can add and remove content blocks, and when you move content blocks around the slide a grid appears to help you place them neatly.

You can’t alter the colour of individual objects, but you can change the colour palette. Restricting users’ use of colour is a good way of making sure the design stays looking good. However, it is frustrating that you can’t alter the colours on a chart. Apart from this, the chart and graph options in general are good and it’s easy to edit the data.

Lots of customisation options common in other PowerPoint alternatives – like typography or detailed image editing – are not available in Slidebean but the whole point of the app is that you don’t have to do any designing, so it makes sense that options are limited.

You can alter the animation order really easily by dragging and dropping under the animation tab. Each block is numbered on the slide so you can easily see what the current order is. Objects animate in on clicks which is great for live presenting – however, you can have the whole slide animate automatically. The animation options themselves are super limited, basically everything has the same animation.

• Slidebean is linked to Unsplash, the Noun Project, and GIPHY so you can use content from these sites on your slides.
• Limited colour editing options with icons.

Out of the many PowerPoint alternatives we tested, Slidebean is one of the only ones that really doesn’t require any design expertise to use but still turns out modern, sleek slides that could actually be used in an effective presentation. You can try it out for free, then upgrade to share and present.

What is SlideMagic?

SlideMagic is a web app aimed at the business community that allows users to make presentations in their web browser. Presentations can be delivered from the browser or converted to PDF or PPT files.

We first reviewed SlideMagic back in its beta phrase, now SlideMagic 2.0 is in beta.

SlideMagic has a pared back interface. The ‘Getting started with SlideMagic’ deck shows that super simple slides and large images are the name of the game.

SlideMagic is built around grids. You can change the number of columns and rows, but content can only be added within the confines of the grid. We’ve talked elsewhere on the blog about the importance of creating a good grid , and though it is restrictive, the emphasis on the grid means that SlideMagic decks are well balanced.

This emphasis on simplicity is felt throughout the application. Each presentation has just one accent colour paired with black and white. You can colour pick an accent colour from an uploaded image or enter RGB values. You can create your own layout from the grid or select a pre-made layout.

It would be great if you could drag and drop elements on the slide to easily edit the layouts. As it stands, the process of creating slides is a bit laborious.

SlideMagic is one of the most restrictive PowerPoint alternatives we looked at. On one hand, there’s less chance of messing up but on the other there’s little opportunity for creativity. A slight negative is the 4:3 slide size – this can look dated on more modern projectors or screens, though it looks like SlideMagic 2.0 has a 16:9 option.

There are basic image editing tools, such as black and white and blur, but it would be nice to have more control over, for example, how much blur is applied to an image.

There are serious colour restrictions. The background must be either black, white or the accent colour – though you can upload a background image so there are ways to bring more colour to your slides. You can’t edit graph colours. There’s no image/symbol/icon library, everything has to be pulled in as an image file.

There are a few useful editing tools, for example, you can select multiple objects and make simultaneous edits, and there’s a nice little button called Harmonise format  which standardises all text boxes to the same sized font and text placement. Great time saving tools.

There are no animation or transition options.

• Convenient speaker note/handout options
• Uploaded images saved into a library
• Presenter view
• No animation options!

Though SlideMagic’s strict grid format takes a bit of getting used to, it could be useful for non-designers. Hopefully its somewhat dated layouts are addressed in version 2.0.

What is Slides.com?

Slides is a suite of modern presentation tools, available in your browser. It prioritises collaborative working and is the only PowerPoint alternative we saw that has offerings for developers.

Lite ($5 per month): Unlimited private decks, present offline, export to PDF.

Pro ($10 per month): All Lite features and unlimited storage, 3 collaborators, custom CSS, Google analytics.

Team ($20 per month): All previous plus unlimited collaborators, custom branding, theme editor, shared media library and slide templates, clone decks, priority support.

The Slides interface is nice and simple, it’s easy to get started and the menus are arranged logically.

The default for Slides.com is to start your deck from scratch rather than using a ready-made template. The slide layout options are pretty basic, though once you’ve created your own slides, you can save these as layouts and use them again. The main menu shows everything you can put on your slides: Text, Image, Video, Shape, Line, iFrame, Table, Code and Math.

Creating slides is made easier with a grid and smart guides you can turn on or off. Not being able to zoom in or out whilst editing is a bit irritating.

Slides has lots of customisation tools, click on an object to bring up a menu of options showing how it can be edited. For a shape this includes colour, size, hyperlinking, animation, depth on the slide. For text, customisation options include line height, letter spacing, colour, opacity, padding, rotation linking, animation – you can also directly edit the HTML.

There is a customisable editor you can load with your company’s assets and colour themes to pull from again and again – a real timesaver. You can also build up your own media library with images, videos and slide templates. You can save any slide as a template and your team can have access to a shared library of slide templates.

Slides doesn’t have as many assets as some other PowerPoint alternatives. There are tables but no charts or graphs. However, you can embed content from YouTube, Vimeo, Maps, Unsplash and GIPHY and upload your own media and video content.

There are several slide transitions and you can break a slide into multiple “fragments” to reveal it step-by-step. You can control how each step animates and you can set the duration and delay of animations. You can animate individual objects, but you can’t add multiple animations to the same object. Animations can be triggered automatically, with a click on a specific object or with a hover over. This works great for kiosk-style or online presenting, but not so much for live presenting.

The animation options are certainly not the worst, and it looks like they’re being developed as we speak.

• Version history and roll back
• Collaboration options: comments, feedback and notifications
• Slides is the only presentation tool with a fully open source format. Your presentations are HTML, CSS and JavaScript. You can gain access to your presentation’s full source code and there are rich customisation options using CSS.
• No pre-made slide layouts to help create slides.

Slides.com would be great for kiosk-style presentations and for those wanting coding options. It is thoroughly inoffensive.

What is Microsoft Sway?

Microsoft Sway is another piece of presentation software from Microsoft – it’s aimed at those wanting to produce interactive presentations and content that doesn’t need a presenter. Sway is more streamlined than PowerPoint – a lightweight, cloud-only, storytelling application.

Free for anyone with a Microsoft account, premium features enabled with an Office 365 work or school account.

Sway is easy to use – it’s set up for non-designers, helping you put your content front and centre. It offers three different layout options: vertical, where the slides scroll through like a webpage; horizontal, where slides scroll sideways; and Slideshow, which is most like PowerPoint.

Though there are not many templates, those that exist come with nice built-in transitions which help presentations flow well. They feel more like a single piece of content than a series of slides. This effect would be hard to produce without a good understanding of PowerPoint animations.

Similarly to Slidebean, there are two views in Microsoft Sway. The Storyline panel, where you can add written content, and Design view, where you can see what your Sway looks like. Edits can be made in either view, and extra content added via easy drag and drop content cards.

The editing set up is very different to PowerPoint. Sway offers design and content suggestions based on what is already on your slides. For example, if you enter a topic, Sway will generate a presentation with images, definitions etc. related to this topic already inserted. Time will tell how useful this actually is. Technology like this is found in many PowerPoint alternatives and will only get more powerful in the future.

Because of the Storyline/Design split you can’t see your edits in real time. If you’re used to PowerPoint, or even one of the PowerPoint alternatives mentioned in this article, you might not like having to constantly click through to the preview mode to see what’s your end product will look like.

Sway is designed primarily for simplicity. But it’s just too simple. The colour options for the built-in layouts are a bit naff.

When you add text, it’s just displayed on a white background, very dull. Complex layouts, animations, and sequences are not possible. In fact, you have very little control over slide design at all, instead you relinquish it into the hands of algorithms. You can’t edit images within Sway or choose where text and images are placed on the slides.

You can easily embed web content, such as tweets, maps, and videos. You can’t create charts or other types of data visualisation directly within Microsoft Sway, but you can embed charts, documents, and more from other sources. This seems more effort than it’s worth when many other programs offer native graph and chart capabilities.

You can make minor changes to the way text and images appear. For example, you can choose the focus of an image so Sway knows which bits it should ensure the viewer can see.

Headings can be emphasized and accented. Large blocks of text can be bulleted or numbered (death by PowerPoint anyone?). All can be linked to external URLs.

Transitions are automatically generated within the templates. Individual objects cannot be animated.

• The layout automatically changes depending what device is being used.
• Online only.
• Sway’s can’t be shared as a file, so collaboration requires people to have access to the same account if they want to make edits.

To a presentation expert, Microsoft Sway doesn’t really appeal. It could be a great option for personal projects, like a photography portfolio or jazzing up a report or newsletter. But it’s too simple for much else. The end products are more like online magazine articles than engaging presentations.

What is Venngage?

Venngage is an information design platform that provides a range of customisable templates to help people communicate information easily and clearly, without the need for a graphic designer.

Free – a restricted selection of templates, charts, icons and export options.

Premium (USD 19 per month per user) – a few more features, including unlimited designs, additional templates, charts, icons and export options, as well as email and chat support.

Business (USD 49 per month per user) – additional features, including specific brand customisation, more templates, charts, icons and export options, as well as the ability for team members to collaborate on projects in real time.

Enterprise (custom pricing) – further options, including custom templates and account support.

Venngage seems to be predominantly geared towards creating infographics but also offers a huge library of templates for other formats, including presentations, newsletters, social media and brochures. You can filter formats according to the type of content you want to create. So, within the presentation category, you can choose between ‘pitch deck’, ‘keynote’, ‘business’, ‘creative’ or ‘engaging’ templates. There aren’t lots of templates to choose from if you’re using the Free plan, but many more are included if you upgrade.

Creating a presentation using Venngage is fairly intuitive. Once you’ve chosen a template, a tutorial pops up providing a basic walk-through of the tool’s features. This is useful if you’re not a designer, or if you haven’t used Venngage before.

Editing your template is straight-forward. It’s easy to toggle between pages in your presentation, add, duplicate and delete pages, and add speaker notes using the page manager and toolbar on the right-hand side. And you can use grids, margins, smart guides, grouping and alignment tools to help you set out, layer and distribute content neatly – yay!

Changing your slide background is also simple: you can either choose a colour from the template’s theme swatches, use a different colour, or add an image.

Navigating Venngage’s extensive photo library is straightforward thanks to the keyword search function. You can also upload your own image and drag and drop it onto the slide. (It isn’t possible to copy and paste an image from a website or another program, though – you have to upload it first, which is a bit cumbersome.)

Imaging editing is super easy and more extensive than some other PowerPoint alternatives – you can crop, resize, apply a shape, rotate and adjust the opacity using the editing toolbar. There aren’t any options to blur images or add filters, though. This functionality would be useful if you want to use images as a slide background.

Venngage’s icon library is also extensive and includes flat and outline icons (these can be edited) and multicolour icons (these can’t). A great feature is that you can add icons to your favourites, which makes finding them again faster.

Pre-designed text placeholders are available in Venngage’s library, ready to be customised. Updating the font, colour, size and line spacing with the editing toolbar is quick but harmonising font styles across multiple slides is time-consuming as there is no format painter tool , which means each font change has to be made manually.

There are lots of chart options to choose from, including line charts, bar charts, scatterplots and pie charts. You can use the editing pane to customise your data, adjust your chart’s colours, and toggle between settings to choose which chart elements you’d like to include. There are way more chart and graph features available than in many similar tools we’ve reviewed – impressive!

Adding interactive content such as YouTube videos, polls and forms is also possible, although there are no voiceover or audio options available.

Lastly, Venngage’s new My Brand Kit feature offers Business members the option to customise templates using their own brand style. You just enter your website address and Venngage extracts your company’s brand colours, logo and fonts. You can also do this manually. This would be valuable if you want to make sure your branding is consistent across multiple projects.

Venngage has no animation options, which means content remains static – this is fine for infographics, but not ideal for presentations. This is such a shame as we love some of the other features!

A user-friendly and intuitive interface and loads of template options!

The free version of Venngage doesn’t have an export function – you can’t download your presentation unless you upgrade to Premium. Premium users can export files as PNGs or PDFs, and Business users can export files as interactive PDFs, or to PowerPoint.

Venngage is best suited to static content such as infographics or handouts and has plenty of easy-to-edit templates to help you freshen up your content. It’s less suited to dynamic content like visual presentations as it doesn’t have any animation options. These would help a presenter keep their audience engaged by breaking slide content down into manageable chunks and pacing the flow of information.

What is Visme?

Visme is an online tool that allows its users to produce presentations, infographics and more. Its purpose is to help people create beautiful visuals without having to tackle complicated design software.

Visme have individual, business and education pricing options. This is the business pricing structure:

Basic (free): 5 projects, 100MB storage, JPG download, public projects.

Single ($25 per month): Unlimited projects, 10 GB storage, HTML5 download, slide library, privacy controls, folders, brand kit, record audio.

Team ($75 per month): All previous and 3 users, 10 GB storage per user, share projects and folders, set permissions.

Enterprise: Custom

Visme has a library of good-looking templates – a handful come with the free version and there are loads more available if you upgrade. Within each template you can select from a bunch of slide layouts – agenda slides, timelines, maps, charts and graphs and more.

To start you select a template and then chose which slide layouts you want to use. There are plenty of graphics to choose from, you don’t have to create your own graphics, icons, or charts. Their map slide is great – each country is named, and you can show or hide countries and change the colour.

Show object list brings up a selection pane. Here all the objects on a slide are listed, you can show, hide, and lock objects. You can also re-name them, a super handy feature if you have lots of elements of the page.

Clicking on the burger menu in the top left, gives a range of options. If you click view options, you can turn on a grid and even customize it to your own measurements. Also under the burger menu are options to change canvas size and add presentation notes. The presentation note feature could do with a bit of work: you get a pop-up window to type your notes and you can drag this around the screen but there is nowhere easy for it to pop up and down from. You have to exit and go through the burger menu to get it back, which seem a bit of a faff.

Visme has way more functionality than PowerPoint alternatives like Prezi Next. There’s all the align tools you need, the ability to change font size, swap out icons, and more. There are good customisation tools, such as text kerning and line spacing to help you create something really personalised.

Shape and image formatting are locked when you first add an object but can be unlocked. This is a great way of making the program accessible to people with less design confidence (if you don’t unlock objects it’s much harder to mess up your template) whilst allowing those who want it, more granular control. Image editing is available with a selection of filters and cropping.

Visme has some useful and simple data visualisation tools you can use in combination with their icon library. You can’t represent really complex data but it’s fine for simple facts and figures – check it out here .

If you want to make sure your presentation is on-brand you can save fonts and colour palettes within Visme.

The animations available are limited; objects can fly in and out from various places, pop, and fade. Though you can set what times objects enter, there’s no option to have them triggered by a click. This restricts live presentations but would work fine for self-running presentations.

Under the Show objects list, you can click show timeline and up pops an animation pane – hallelujah! Here you can see all the animation timings and drag things around to edit animation order. This functionality is great, why it is so hidden!?

• Handy intro videos help you get to grips with Visme
• Some features are difficult to find.
• You have to ungroup groups to edit individual objects within that group.
• 30-slide maximum

Visme slides look like PowerPoint slides. This isn’t a bad thing at all, but if you’re looking to break away from the PowerPoint look, then Visme isn’t it. Visme does offer modern, sleek layouts, easy drag and drop slide creation and some lovely templates.

What is Xtensio?

Xtensio is a cloud-based platform designed to help people create sales, marketing and strategy content. Xtensio began as a tool for start-ups but has evolved into a larger ‘toolbox’ with interactive templates intended to be of use during all stages of a company’s growth.

Free: 3 Folios. You have to pay to download Folios with the free plan but can share live web links.

There are a bunch of pricing options grouped under Individual, Business and Education. Here’s a selection:

Individual Plus ($15 per month paid yearly): 20 Folios, one user, download as PDFs and PNGs, link privacy control, create and share custom templates.

Business Team ($120 per month paid yearly): Unlimited Folios, 4-10 users, password protected links, customised links, Folio stats, 6 month data retention, collaboration and team management options, brand management options.

Agency ($500 per month paid yearly): Everything in Team plus 20 users, 12 month data retention, upload custom fonts, dedicated custom success manager and some advanced admin features.

Education Students and Educators ($40 per semester): 20 Folios, private links, PDF and PNG exports, one user, create and share custom templates.

Xtensio is a bit similar to programs like Sway (but with more features) as you build your project – called a Folio – using content blocks. It’s easy to get going and there are video tutorials and How-to guides if you’re not sure where to start.

The content blocks seem fairly comprehensive. They include text, a couple of charts, images, and videos alongside more web-friendly features like an email form and social media links.

There are lots of well-structured templates tailored to business communication e.g. customer profile, case study, proposal and more.

The templates immediately reveal one downside of Xtensio presentations, they are not at all animated. The finished product feels more like a scrollable website than a presentation – something to bear in mind when deciding which PowerPoint alternative is best for you.

In Xtensio you can create a custom template from scratch by selecting a blank Folio. When you’re happy with what you’ve done you can save it as a custom template. Alternatively, pick from one of the many templates on offer.

If you’re using the blank template, expect to spend a fair amount of time working out what you can and can’t do. It’s easy to add and remove content blocks (or modules) but getting them to sit where you want takes a bit more time. The drag and drop didn’t function in the way I expected as it only allows you to swap one module’s position with another rather than drag and drop the module to where you want it to sit on the canvas.

However, a slight learning curve is to be expected.

You can add images and video from your PC or from an URL and those images can be hyperlinked. You can insert tables and use some basic formatting features. There aren’t any alignment features, but these aren’t really necessary as all the content blocks sit on a vertical grid.

Opening up a pre-made template and editing it is very easy. You can simply type in your content, swap out the images and delete any parts of the template you don’t need.

One of the content block options are called canvases. These are clickable modules that open full-screen and are made up of other modules. You can use these to have more control over the grid/layout of modules Xtensio has pre-made canvases for user personas and business models.

Side note: You can view some sections of your Folio in Code View – if that’s your jam.

Folios can be exported as PDFs or PNGs or shared with clients and colleagues as responsive, live web pages.

There’s a decent amount of text formatting (font size, bold/italics/underlined, font, heading styles etc.) and if you’re creative you can use it to create something that looks good and is consistent across different projects. With a paid subscription you can add and manage fonts and chose your own colours (either with an eyedropper or using HEX codes) then lock these to create a consistent style guide.

You can set a background image or colour to visually break up the content. It would be great to have some basic image editing options e.g. transparency or colour editing to help bring images into line with your chosen style. At the moment image editing is non-existent but you can edit the colours and values of tables, charts and graphs.

There are great collaboration features and you can customise access levels to suit your needs.

There are no animation features. You can’t “present” Folio’s as much as scroll through them.

• Changes automatically save and sync across all devices and you can view revision history and revert to older versions.

• Password protection
• Xtensio reviewers like the fact that the templates – user personas, business models etc. – encourage them to think through their business plans/goals and organise their thoughts effectively. We know that knowing your business’s story and fully understanding what you offer over your competitors is key to a successful pitch so it’s great to see Xtensio helping their users work through these important questions.
• The undo feature doesn’t always undo actions in the way you’d expect.

I can see Xtensio being useful for non-designers who want to quickly and confidently create brand-compliant collateral such as one pagers, visually appealing reports, business plans, employee handbooks etc. The kind of content audiences consume at their own pace. Xtensio Folios could also make impressive leave-behinds or follow up documents to send out after a presentation. However, they are less appropriate for an in-person (or online) presentation as they are not designed to be presented by a presenter.

What is Zoho Show?

Zoho Show is part of a web-based online office suite containing word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, note-taking, wikis, web conferencing, and more.

For the Zoho Suite:

Individual (free)

Zoho Workplace (from £2.40 per month)

Zoho Show has a similar feel to PowerPoint. If you want new, sexy templates then the small selection on offer might disappoint. The layouts are pretty basic, but you can select from a range of fonts and colour schemes.

The process of creating slides is very similar to creating slides in PowerPoint. You can turn on grids or create your own guides (if you can figure out how to duplicate the guide line). You can align to slide and shapes. You can hide slides and lock slides from editing. All useful. There are also some useful editing tools that are missing in many PowerPoint alternatives, such as ‘find and replace’ and spell check.

You can find smart elements under the Shape tab. These are editable but automatically animate at a level that would be hard to replicate – really useful. However, the icon library is limited.

Zoho Show has good text editing options including spacing, indent, fonts, superscript and subscript. There are also lots of image editing options e.g. crop to shape, apply filters, set transparent colour, alter brightness and contrast, and more. Zoho Show has good chart and graph options which are more editable than you see in many other PowerPoint alternatives (add/remove title, data labels, etc.). You can create freeform shapes which is really cool! Boolean tools would be a great addition to help users make the most of the freeform shapes.

You can insert content from Twitter and YouTube and hyperlink elements.

Zoho Show has slide masters, like in PowerPoint, giving you more control over what is happening on your slides and helping you create slides with consistent layouts.

There are lots of animation options: motion paths, emphasis, entrance and exit animations as in PowerPoint. And like, in PowerPoint, some of the animations are a little rubbish so tread carefully. Objects can animate in on click, after previous, or with previous.

You can change the animation order, add delays and extend the duration of animations but the animation timeline is not super useful as you can’t see whether animations overlap.

The bar graphic below has a built-in animation.

• Export/import PowerPoint files
• Version history
• Collaborative work: multiple users, real-time feedback, comments
• Small comment, but the shadow effect is rubbish!

If PowerPoint is not for you, then Zoho might not be either. It offers almost the same thing with a slightly different interface, fewer tools, and a few more web integrations. If PowerPoint is too complex, Zoho is only slight less complicated – you still have to start from scratch.

Does your PowerPoint alternative play nicely?

If all you need to do is create a nice looking presentation, most of these PowerPoint alternatives will do just fine. However, with decent slide software you can do a few different things; author, collaborate, present, distribute etc. The thing is, there are huge network effects when it comes to collaborating and distributing. You’ve created a beautiful presentation, but can you send the file to a colleague? Can they open it? Edit it? Can you present offline? Where is the file stored? If dealing with the presentation is a total headache it’s unlikely you’ll convince other people to switch to a PowerPoint alternative.

The ULTIMATE guide to PowerPoint alternatives: Conclusion

One final point to make is that you can create pretty complex interactivity in PowerPoint and though some PowerPoint alternatives, like Google Slides, do have interactivity options, many do not. Just something to consider!

And that is that! Though we’ve probably missed some PowerPoint alternatives, and new options will have hit the market by the time this is published, we’ve covered the big hitters out there. Let us know if we’ve missed one of your favourites in the comments below.

It’s been a momentous journey. We’ve learnt that sometimes you don’t get on with programs that look promising and that you can be surprised by the most unlikely ones.

If you think we’ve been too harsh, don’t worry, we hold PowerPoint to a high standard too! We want our clients to have slides that work best for them and help them achieve their goals, that means we expect a lot of the software we use to create presentations.

A lot of these programs rely on the fact that people want easy to use, good looking templates. But…

It ain’t what you use it’s the way that you use it, and that’s what gets results!

Olivia Kippax Jones

Managing consultant; content marketing lead, related articles, review: power-user.

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Power-user is a PowerPoint add on that provides lots of little features every regular PowerPoint user has had day dreams about. I’m going to take you through a few of the features that I’ve found most helpful, and some that will be more helpful to those who haven’t been able to devote as much time to getting well versed in PowerPoint. Let's begin!

Review: Adobe Spark

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Adobe Spark is an online and mobile design app developed to help people with no design expertise create social graphics, web pages, and short videos with impact. We decided to check it out.

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7 Great PowerPoint Alternatives

Here’s a quick question for you:

Did you really pay attention to the last presentation you sat through?

Sure, you remember some slides, graphs with financial forecasts, and bullet points. But at some point, you probably zoned out.

What makes presentations dull is that they’re made using the same tried and trusted Microsoft PowerPoint templates that everyone has been using for years. So what happens? Every presentation looks the same. 

Don’t get us wrong. Microsoft PowerPoint is a fantastic tool, and a pioneer in presentation software for a good reason.

But if users keep creating presentations the same old way and do not utilize presentation software to its full potential and employ their own styles and customizations, they’ll likely end up with a cookie-cutter slide deck that’s been used millions of times before. 

If you’re on this page, you’re probably on the looking to create your best presentation.

Why you should look for the best alternative to PowerPoint

To create professional looking presentations is more than just piecing together text, data visualizations , and images echoed by speaker notes.

Every slide should have an impact on the audience or reader, make a key point, and catch the eyes of your audience. All your presentations need to be mindful of visual design. Color, for example, influences up to 90% of a person’s snap judgment about a product.

There are many paid and even free alternatives available in the presentation space with better, newer, and fresher templates that can punch up your next presentation.

To make things easier for you, we’ve listed seven great alternatives to Powerpoint utilizing some of the best presentation software, complete with an overview of their features and individual pros and cons.

You can also click on the links below to go straight to each alternative to PowerPoint on this list. 

• Google Slides
• Beautiful.ai
• Apple Keynote
• LibreOffice Impress
• Adobe Creative Cloud Express

Alternative presentation tools

1. piktochart.

• Wide selection of professional-quality customizable templates
• Newbie-friendly video tutorials and a blog with design resources
• Robust features for free users, with even more available for Pro users
• Collaboration features for teams

Piktochart is a web-based design application that lets you create professional-looking presentations , infographics , posters , reports , flyers , social media graphics using a simple drag-and-drop interface. 

Piktochart pros

Like a PowerPoint presentation, Piktochart offers a wide range of templates for themes and topics to suit needs for marketing and sales, financial forecasts and performance, investor pitches, and more from creating dynamic presentations.

For new users or those who want to design and share presentations from scratch, check out the platform’s Help Center, Video Tutorials, and Blog, all of which offer a wealth of resources on Piktochart and general design topics. 

Free business users will have access to plenty of design key features on a completely free basis, but more can be unlocked if you get a paid plan for more customization options.

Paid plans start at $168/year ($14/month) for Pro and $29/month.

The Pro Team plan allows teams to work on shared presentations and consolidate projects.

Finally, you can download a presentation in high-resolution pdf files to present offline, PowerPoint files, or present straight from the platform user interface as a PowerPoint alternative.

You can also design an infographic and download it as blocks to convert into presentation slides or other graphic formats. Safe to say, Piktochart’s online presentation maker is one of the best free PowerPoint alternatives available today.

Piktochart cons

Unfortunately, Piktochart does not support native video playback on presentations, which rules out interactive video presentations. It also does not have version history.

You can, however, embed videos from Vimeo and YouTube into your presentation online, share to publish it, and copy and paste the URL on a browser to view the visual. 

Also, you can now record your presentations and that’s a form of “video presentations” that you can appreciate.

You could get started right away with Piktochart by signing up for free .

2. Google Slides

• Great for users already deep in Google’s online ecosystem (e.g., Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive) and a popular PowerPoint alternative
• Free for all personal users, and accessible to enterprises through G Suite
• Presentation app accessible on browsers and mobile devices
• Supports presentations through Chromecast and AirPlay

Google Slides is a slide deck platform that’s part of Google’s web-based office suite within Google Drive.

This presentation tool lets you create and present pitch decks, training modules, animated presentations, business presentations, and project presentations among others right in your browser, with no need to install any software. 

Google Slides pros

Google Slides is great if you’re already invested in other Google tools like Docs, Forms, and Sheets.

As one of the most-used alternatives to PowerPoint, it is also arguably the most accessible to create, share, and download presentations in different file types. Not only is it free to use for all personal users (enterprises can unlock more features through G Suite), but it’s also available on both browsers and mobile devices. 

Slides’ integration with Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets means that importing audio and video files, managing presentations, and collaborating on projects with teams is a breeze. 

Google Slides cons

One of the downsides of Google Slides being widely accessible to users of all skill levels is that you don’t get more advanced features and design tools found on other platforms.

For example, Google Slides does not have a selection of templates or visual content for common types of projects and presentations, but it’s nowhere near the variety you’ll find on the other platforms on this list. 

Bottom line? Google Slides is the best PowerPoint alternative for creating basic presentations with professionally designed templates. 

But if you want more advanced key features like slide transitions and effects, it’s best to look for another PowerPoint alternative for interactive presentations.

3. Beautiful.ai

• Uses AI to recommend visual elements and layouts on your slides based on design principles
• A simple and user-friendly design tool makes it easy for newbies to create beautiful presentations in minutes
• Wide selection of presentation application, slide templates, and key features

As its name suggests, Beautiful.ai is a presentation software that leverages artificial intelligence to suggest ways to visualize your ideas and customize your designs.

Beautiful.ai pros

Beautiful.ai ’s technology is the driving force behind its Smart Slides feature. 

Smart Slides ‘understand’ the content on your slide to make the best presentation possible. From there, this presentation tool intuitively makes recommendations on what elements you may want to add later and how you may want your slide layout to appear.

For novice users with little to no design experience, this process happens automatically, with Beautiful.ai organizing ideas and visualizing content quickly — all while providing guidance every step of the way. You get professional looking presentations in little time!

Free users have more than 60 presentations to choose from, with the option of unlocking more on the basic plan for $12/month and $15/month, billed annually and monthly, respectively. 

Beautiful.ai cons

Beautiful.ai is exclusively a presentation tool, and possibly the most popular PowerPoint alternative for technically savvy marketers, which can be disappointing if you want to use it to create other visual projects like posters and infographics as it lacks these key features. This would include data visualization and visual content.

Its Smart Slides also have set parameters that leave little for customization, meaning it works best when creating a simple presentation. 

Users can only move elements to specific spots on each slide which automatically adapt, which means you can’t make the overall design of your presentation your own. 

4. Apple Keynote

• Comes built-in with Apple macOS and is available for free on iOS as a presentation app
• Tight integration with other Apple apps makes it a natural choice for Mac users
• Compatible with PowerPoint and other presentation apps
• Better transitions and effects than PowerPoint

Keynote is Apple’s presentation application software that comes included with any purchase of an Apple laptop and desktop computer. 

It’s part of the Apple iWork productivity suite, alongside Pages and Numbers. 

Keynote pros

Keynote’s tight integration with other Apple apps also makes it a natural choice for Mac users. 

If you’re already familiar with Pages and Numbers, you’ll feel right at home with Keynote’s three-panel interface, composed of a formatting panel on the right side, a large editing section in the middle, and thumbnails on the left side. 

But what makes Keynote one of the popular PowerPoint alternatives are its transitions and effects. 

In particular, the software’s impressive Magic Move transition allows visual objects to smoothly move positions from one slide to another when playing your presentation.

Keynote users can also collaborate on presentations in real-time. Additionally, you can place restrictions on who can edit and only view your presentation. 

Keynote cons

PowerPoint and Keynote are generally compatible , provided Keynote presentations are exported in .ppt or .pptx format. 

However, elements like transitions, layouts, and fonts may look off if you’re exporting from Keynote to PowerPoint. You also will not have any integrations with live services such as Google Analytics.

5. LibreOffice Impress

• The entire LibreOffice suite is open-source and free
• Software supports all PowerPoint formats: .pps, .ppt, .pptxx

LibreOffice gets a lot of love for being a free and open-source alternative to Microsoft Office. LibreOffice Impress is the productivity suite’s alternative to PowerPoint, offering many of the same features found in its Microsoft counterpart. 

LibreOffice Impress pros

LibreOffice Impress supports all PowerPoint formats: .pps, .ppt, and .pptx. 

With it, you can create all kinds of slide-based presentations using five different editing and viewing modes:

• Normal, for general editing
• Outline, for outlining text content
• Notes, for adding and editing notes attached to slides
• Handout, for paper-based materials
• Slide Sorter, for quickly finding and changing the order of slides

Impress’s UI is far from the prettiest, but it gets the job done in a no-frills way with features like animations, effects, support for audio and video files, and timed presentations. 

LibreOffice Impress cons

Impress requires installation but is available on Microsoft, Mac, and Linux. The platform is also exclusive to desktops. 

Impress has only 23 default templates to choose from, so we recommend looking for templates on third-party platforms like GitHub . 

However, you’ll need to do some digging if you want templates that are just as good-looking as the ones found on software like Piktochart.

It’s also worth noting that even if Impress supports other presentation software, you can expect to see some formatting issues when importing and exporting presentations between platforms. 

6. Zoho Show

• Ideal for users invested in Zoho Office Suite
• Free for personal use; competitive rates for enterprise users
• Promises to keep formatting and elements intact when switching to PowerPoint

Zoho Show is a web-based presentation platform that’s part of the Zoho Office productivity suite. 

If you’re already using any of the Zoho office suite apps, it makes sense to create your presentations.  

Zoho Show pros

Zoho Show’s feature set is comparable to other platforms’ capabilities. 

It offers perks like real-time collaboration and editing, transitions and effects, animations, slide review and commenting, deck downloads, and online publishing, as well as online broadcasting and discussions.

Zoho supports file types on PowerPoint and open-source platforms like OpenOffice. 

Furthermore, Zoho promises that any presentation viewed on PowerPoint will be free of issues like missing fonts, layout errors, and broken objects. 

Zoho has more than 20 presentation themes to choose from, along with 100 fonts, animations, and charts to visualize data.

Zoho is free for personal users and small teams of up to five people. 

You can also unlock enhanced security, more collaboration features, storage, and admin controls by moving from the free plan to the Standard and Premium plans for $4/month and US6.4/month (billed annually), respectively. 

Zoho does not have an offline mode; you’ll need Internet access to edit or present slide decks. 

Videos and tweets on Zoho presentations can only be viewed online. At present, there’s no support for offline content.

7. Adobe Creative Cloud Express

• Ideal for individual users and enterprises that rely heavily on the Adobe design ecosystem
• Comes with a desktop version and mobile apps for iOS and Android
• Free to use and does not require a Creative Cloud account

Adobe Creative Cloud Express is a relatively new web-based design service that lets users create presentations as well as creative portfolios, landing pages, product pages and catalogs, newsletters, and photo galleries. 

Adobe Creative Cloud Express pros

Using Adobe Creative Cloud Express built-in Presentation Maker will come naturally to you if you or your business is already familiar with other Adobe products. 

But even new users with little to no graphic design experience will pick up the click-based platform in no time.

You can also use the other tools in the Adobe Creative Cloud Express suite, like Adobe Creative Cloud Express and Adobe Creative Cloud Express, to make specialized content to make your slides more interactive. 

For example, Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video supports audio and video content. You can also upload content straight from third-party sources like your library, Dropbox, Google Drive, and even social channels.

It also offers free users a small but diverse selection of presentation templates for different projects and occasions. 

Naturally, you unlock more templates and features like branding and team collaboration if you upgrade to the paid plans instead of a free plan.

Pricing starts at $9.99/month or $99.99/year for individual users and $19.99/month or $239.88/year for teams and enterprises. 

Adobe Creative Cloud Express cons

Free users are limited to a small selection of templates, limited ability to edit presentations, and no interactive features, e.g. interactive charts; which can get old when you need to make multiple engaging presentations in a year. 

Presentations made using the free version will also include the Adobe watermark. Finally, Adobe Creative Cloud Express does not support offline editing once you download a presentation.

What to look for in PowerPoint alternatives

Just as there are many ways to make a presentation , there are also several PowerPoint alternatives to consider. Some are better than others or have more features and presentation tools designed for your needs. 

To make choosing between Powerpoint presentations and their alternatives easier, consider these criteria:

• Accessibility . Is it an operating system (OS)-based or browser-based platform? The former requires installation on your computer (as in the case of PowerPoint) while the latter means it can be accessed using any web browser. Each has its pros and cons, depending on your needs. For example, OS-based platforms don’t require an Internet connection to run. On the other hand, browser-based platforms need an Internet connection but can be accessed (along with your designs) on any browser.  
• Usability . Is the platform easy to use or does it have a steep learning curve? Look for software that comes with tutorials designed to help new users create professionally designed slides. The best presentation software isn’t just simple and easy to use, but it also supports additional media to keep the audience engaged.
• Notable features . Apart from the usual ability to add text, images, and graphics to slides, you want a presentation platform with extra features such as collaboration, robust design tools, support for audio and rich media, and a wide variety of templates for reports and presentations. You want to capture the audience’s attention!
• Price . Finally, consider the price of the presentation software. Some are a free alternative, others come bundled with the OS, while the rest are available to enterprises on a monthly and annual subscription. 

Make your best slides with Piktochart presentation templates

Using Piktochart, you can make visuals and build better presentations within minutes in various formats.

With Pro, you can also collaborate with up to 24 members, unlock custom templates and professionally designed layouts, have complete control, upload your own fonts, and get unlimited downloads.

Stop searching for PowerPoint alternatives, and get started today by signing up for free.

Robin Geuens is a writer turned SEO specialist. When he's not wondering what Google is up to next he's either reading, taking courses, playing video games, or wondering where to travel to next.

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10 PowerPoint Online Alternatives and Software for Outstanding Presentations

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By Al Boicheva

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Why talk about PowerPoint online alternatives?   There is a big number of occasions calling you to put your great ideas into a memorable presentation. You want to make it perfect, unique and crafted with a beautiful yet clean design.

That’s normal as PowerPoint has gone a long way in professional settings for more than a decade.

On one hand, it’s standard, it’s easy to use and it’s an undeniable classic. On the other, it has a linear nature that forces the speaker to reduce complex subjects into simple bullets. It’s also quite pricey and conventional.

In that case, you might be looking for more affordable, different and easy to use PowerPoint online alternatives.

There is a lot of presentation software for you to choose from.

According to your needs, some apps offer real-time collaboration, non-linear style, mobile editing, auto slides, beautiful templates, live-sharing and much more. Just think of the goals your presentation needs to achieve and let’s begin.

We selected the 10 best PowerPoint Online alternatives and software to aid your presentation crafting (as well as some honorable mentions).

10. libreoffice impress  .

Same as LibreOffice is the free and high-quality answer to Microsoft Office, LibreOffice Impress is respectively the PowerPoint alternative presentation software. The program even looks similar in terms of interface, tools, and functionality and supports all PowerPoint formats. As we already established, Impress might be the ultimate alternative if you need a similar tool for slideshows and presentations.

• Price : Free
•  very similar to PowerPoint
• free software
• easy-to-use drawing and diagramming tools
• 2D and 3D images from text
• supports multiple monitors 
• only 10 template presentation backgrounds
• inability to auto-advance existing .pptx files
• lack of new creative designs
• Ideal for: students, education purposes, personal use

For all Apple users there, Keynote is the best PowerPoint alternative. It exists as stand- alone product as well as a part of the full iWork set. It’s incredibly easy to learn and navigate and it offers numerous beautiful templates to incorporate into your presentations without putting much effort.

• Price : $19.99 or free with new Macs
• PowerPoint compatible allows the same features
• easy to learn and use, simplistic menus
• user- friendly sophisticated interface
• allows the creation of interactive animated charts
• more than 30 cinematic effects for objects
• can be accessed and edited on mobile devices
• collaborative
• free with new Macs
• allows to project the presentation via video out
• only available for Macs
• no slide library
• Ideal for: Mac users, companies, personal use

This alternative is directed towards the most creative presenters who want to fully customize their own slide themes. The web designers would love this one.  Using a handful of fonts, shapes transition animation, and modern color sets, you can craft your own unique designs and if you want to go even further, the presentation software includes pro plan for custom CSS and HTML.

• Price :  $7/month Lite, $14/month Pro(25% annual discount)
• user friendly
• access to revision history
• displaying math formulas
• editable HTML
• includes tutorial
• full editing capability
• cloud- based
• only linear style presentations
• limited templates
• Ideal for: students, educational purposes, designers, personal use

7. Slidebean

Similar to what you get with Haiku Deck and its AI tool, Slidebean is another PowerPoint alternative which grants you an automatization in terms of design. If you don’t have the time, Slidebean will create and design the slides itself allowing you to concentrate solely on the presentation content. Although it doesn’t offer much functionality, it’s quick to craft your presentation and it sports plenty of templates to suit your project. 

• Price : Free, $29/month All-Features
• access to icons and gallery within the software
• chat feature
• allows access to viewers’ actions
• easy to use
• automatic slide-creation
• no animation
• very limited customization
• Ideal for:   students, educational purposes, designers, personal use

6. Google Slides

The Google cloud-based presentation tool is quick to access in your personal Google account. Highly collaborative as every other Google tool, Slides offers real-time edits, a built-in IM function for chatting during group projects, and full access to all revisions made by your team members. The software is free and comes with mobile apps for your Android or iOS device. All you need is an Internet connection.

• Price : Free. Extra storage from $1.99/month for 100GB
• compatible with PowerPoint
• real- time collaboration
• beginner- friendly
• not suitable for heavily animated presentations
• requires Google account
• Ideal for: students, educational purposes, companies, personal use

5. Haiku Deck

The mobile alternative to PowerPoint has gained lots of popularity thanks to its strong visuals and elegant looks. The cloud-based presentation software comes with over 40 million stock photos and its signature artificial intelligence tool which has the ability to build the slides and choose images for you. The so-called Haiku Deck Zuru AI saves time and it’s perfect if you have to craft a last-minute presentation.

• Price : $19.99/month Pro, $29.99/month Premium
• over 40 million stock photos
• artificial intelligence tool to save time
• no offline work
• made mainly for image-based slide decks
• Ideal for: students, education purposes, traveling salesmen

4. Zoho Show

Another popular PowerPoint alternative is Zoho Show. As a part of the suite of the operating system for business Zoho, this presentation software helps you make and access your projects from any device connected to the Internet. Its functions vary from designing great-looking presentations, to document managing, collaboration, and sharing. The best part is the broadcast feature that allows you to remotely show your presentations live on the web.

• Price : Free; extra storage and features from $5/month
• appealing visuals
• embed YouTube videos and live tweets
• broadcast feature
• collaborative tools
• supports multiple types of files
• most similar to PowerPoint
• comes with a free- option
• no distorted and misaligned images
• limited animations or transitions to choose from
• Ideal for: students, companies, personal use

3. Slidedog

Slidedog is the most alternative of the PowerPoint Online alternatives. It’s the most untraditional presentation software out there as it serves the role of a multimedia playlist allowing you to move around and play all kinds of media files and documents seamlessly. The software gives you the position of a DJ switching smoothly and easily from slide decks to a website, from a video to a document in the middle of your presentation as you please.

• Price : Free, $19.99/month, $99.99/year (with 20% renewal discount), $299.99 one-off purchase
• multimedia presentation tool combining slide decks, presentations, videos, PDFs and etc
• real-time share
• features a companion remote mobile device app
• allows remote control from a smartphone, tablet, and PC
• featured live chat
• live polls during the presentation
• smooth transitions
• can’t design slide content
• can’t create a presentation from scratch
• Ideal for:  education purposes, personal use, and presenters who need multiple media formats

In case standard linear slideshows aren’t enough and you wish for a more vibrant story-based presentation, then PowToon is definitely the best PowerPoint Online alternative for you. The platform offers characters and cartoons to choose from, as well as cleverly made animation and transitions that would turn any presentation into a colorful animated video.

• Price : F ree, $89/month (or $228/year) Pro, $197/month (or $828/year) Pro+
• cloud-based
• rich gallery
• relatively easy to use, there are many tutorial videos
• supports rich text editing
• adds a watermark to all presentations
• no autosave
• many tools and options are only available in the upgraded subscription version
• inability to save an offline version of your work
• no live collaboration
• can’t open other presentation programs file formats
• Ideal for: youtube info videos, personal projects, students, and educational purposes.

Honorable mentions:

There are incredible options for presentation software out there and they are surely not limited to 10 only. This is why we’d like to add a few more suggestions for you to consider.

Starting at $12.25 a month per user, this alternative presentation software is actually a gulp of fresh air from the familiar PowerPoint themes. With its drag and drop style and beautiful infographics, Visme will help you craft a compelling presentation with great visuals. Similar to Haiku Deck, it offers millions of free images and lots of tweaks for the sake of creating virtually any visual content. Unfortunately, it’s not compatible with PowerPoint file formats.

Qwilr is a great option if you want an easy-to-use tool capable of producing professional-looking proposals. It includes features such as allowing you to embed spreadsheets, videos, and SlideShare presentations. As well as sending you notifications when your client views the proposal – and even allowing them to accept the job with just 1 click.  Prices run at $35 per month for a Business account and $590 for an Enterprise account. But you can give it a test run by signing up for a 14-day free trial.

Another presentation software that uses HTML5, Emaze is designed to also make video presentations within minutes. It’s strongly template-driven, but this will only allow you to focus more on your content.

Prezi is perhaps the most popular amongst the PowerPoint Online alternatives out there. With its good-looking user interface, Prezi will help you create amazing visuals for your project. The tool focuses mainly on the graphics, motions, and transition animations that will easily captivate your audience’s attention. Whether its rich motion animations are too overwhelming or not, it’s a matter of personal preference.

• Price : Limited Free version, $5/month Standard, $15/month Plus, $59/month Premium (all plans are billed annually).
• non-linear presentations
• user-friendly interface
• appealing visual cinematics
• compatible with multiple devices
• easy to learn and use
• can work offline ( offline feature requires downloading the software)
• good for teamwork and collaborations
• dynamic visuals
• limited customization, hard to repurpose
• too much motion can cause motion sickness in some cases
• Ideal for: education purposes, companies, personal use

Depending on which direction you wanna go with your presentation, each of the above PowerPoint alternatives offers something different and unique. They are easy to use and predispose your creativity in the process. With the usage of different templates, numerous stock images, beautiful graphics, and animations, you can make your projects captivating and memorable.

In conclusion, the key to a great presentation is always the visuals. The powerful graphics are vital for good design and visualizing ideas.

In fact, in a competitive business environment, making your projects noticed may be a challenge, so there’s always a need for taking the extra mile.

In GraphicMama we believe that using a suitable cartoon character with the right design might be the factor to change the odds in your favor. They are appealing storytellers and commercial protagonists.

Learn about the 5 powerful reasons to go for a cartoon character design in your next presentation.  

If you still prefer to stay loyal to PowerPoint, but you need an extra boost of creativity, check out our collection of 50 free cartoon PowerPoint templates with characters and illustrations.

You may also be interested to read these related articles:

• 7 Most Popular Software for Presentations
• 4 Invaluable Presentation Design Tips You Wish You Knew Earlier
• 70 Inspiring Presentation Slides with Cartoon Designs

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Al Boicheva

Al is an illustrator at GraphicMama with out-of-the-box thinking and a passion for anything creative. In her free time, you will see her drooling over tattoo art, Manga, and horror movies.

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The best free presentation software makes it simple and easy to create presentations as an alternative to subscribing to Microsoft PowerPoint.

1. Best overall 2. Best for speed 3. Best for functionality 4. Best for collaboration 5. Best user interface 6. FAQs 7. How we test

While PowerPoint is the market leader when it comes to presentation software, some people may be unwilling to subscribe to a Microsoft 365 subscription, especially if they don't expect to need to use it very often.

However, there are plenty of great alternatives to PowerPoint available for free that you can use. While these won't have the same advanced features as PowerPoint, they still offer a very competent platform to design most any presentation that you need.

To help you choose, we've listed below the best free presentation software currently available.

Add images to your presentations using the best free photo editor .

<a href="https://gsuite.google.com/pricing.html" data-link-merchant="gsuite.google.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Google Workspace : Collaboration + productivity apps There are many different presentation software packages but Google Workspace formerly known as G Suite remains the original cloud office software and one of the best business office suites, offering a huge range of features and functionality that rivals can't match, especially when it comes to presentation software. <a href="https://gsuite.google.com/pricing.html" data-link-merchant="gsuite.google.com"" data-link-merchant="gsuite.google.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Try it free for 14 days .

The best free presentation software of 2024 in full:

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Prezi turns the traditional approach to presentations on its head. Instead of creating slide after slide, this presentation software gives you a single giant canvas. You can add blocks of text or images, or even create miniature slides. During your presentation, you can seamlessly fly around the canvas and zoom in to look at individual chunks of content.

For how complex Prezi seems, it’s impressively simple to use the platform. The only major divergence from Microsoft PowerPoint is that you need to add animated paths from one part of the canvas to another. The tools for this are fairly straightforward, especially if you’ve ever used an animation or video editing software.

Of course, this type of presentation structure isn’t always ideal. Prezi makes it hard to visualize structured data like financials, which can make it difficult to use in business applications. Some viewers also might not appreciate the fly-around animation style that’s inherent to the presentation software.

Read our full Prezi review .

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Canva is perfect for making speedy presentations right in your web browser. This software offers a handful of free layouts to help you get your slideshow started, and it’s easy to customize the templates to fit your needs. There isn’t a huge variety of content elements to add to your presentation, but Canva makes up for this with a searchable library of more than 1 million images you can use.

Your Canva presentations live online, which makes it extremely easy to collaborate. You can invite colleagues to edit your slideshow (although simultaneous editing is not supported) or seamlessly share your finished presentation. However, beware that Canva can’t import presentations from Microsoft Powerpoint or export finished work to a Powerpoint-editable format.

Read our full Canva review .

3. LibreOffice

LibreOffice is a free alternative to Microsoft Office, and it includes a Powerpoint equivalent called Impress with nearly all of the same functionality. The only big difference you’ll find between the two slideshow creation tools is the LibreOffice lacks some modern features like built-in collaboration and integration with Microsoft OneDrive.

However, Impress does have a few advantages of its own. The software can import files from Keynote, the default presentation software on Mac computers. Plus, there are hundreds of free templates that you can download for free. Even better, there’s no limit on what fonts you can use with Impress, so it’s easy to change the look of your presentation from what Powerpoint typically allows.

On the whole, LibreOffice Impress is about as close as it gets to simply replicating Microsoft Powerpoint for free.

Read our full LibreOffice review .

4. Google Slides

Google Slides is part of Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), and it does a nice job of matching a number of PowerPoint’s capabilities. This free presentation software supports embedding videos, creating diagrams, and adding animations to your slides. While the selection of templates is somewhat limited, you can easily import hundreds of additional templates for free or create your own.

Even better, Google Slides supports the collaboration tools users have come to expect from Google. Multiple people can work on a slideshow simultaneously, and there’s a built-in group chat so you can keep track of what everyone is doing. It’s also nice that you can play your presentation in presenter mode, which allows you to preview how it will look to your audience and rehearse timing.

The only downside to Google Slides is that bloated slideshows can experience some loading delays. Also beware that while you can move between Slides and Powerpoint, the conversion often messes with the layout of your slides.

Read our full Google Slides review .

5. WPS Office Free

WPS Office Free is a Microsoft Office look-alike that fully support PowerPoint files without any layout issues during import. The WPS Presentation tool has all of the same capabilities of PowerPoint, including tons of animations, slide transitions, content effects, and video embedding. The selection of included presentation templates is also very impressive for a free software.

One of the best things about this presentation software is that the user interface will feel incredibly familiar if you’re coming from Microsoft. All of the tools are displayed in a top ribbon, with your slides shown on the left side of the screen for easy navigation. It’s simple to display your presentation right from WPS Presentation, which means there’s no unexpected troubleshooting when it’s time to show off your work.

There’s not much to dislike about WPS Presentation. However, keep in mind that the software is supported by ads. Some users find the ads annoying, but they’re not overly in the way.

Read our full WPS Office Free review .

We've also featured the best free office software .

Best free presentation software FAQs

Which alternative to powerpoint is best for you.

When deciding which alternative to PowerPoint to download and use, first consider what your actual needs are, as sometimes free platforms may only provide basic options, so if you need to use advanced tools you may find a paid platform is much more worthwhile. Additionally, free and budget software options can sometimes prove limited when it comes to the variety of tools available, while higher-end software can really cater for every need, so do ensure you have a good idea of which features you think you may require.

How we test the best free presentation software

To test for the best free presentation software we first set up an account with the relevant software platform, whether as a download or as an online service. We then tested the service to see how the software could be used for different purposes and in different situations. The aim was to push each software platform to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.

Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar .  

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Michael Graw is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Bellingham, Washington. His interests span a wide range from business technology to finance to creative media, with a focus on new technology and emerging trends. Michael's work has been published in TechRadar, Tom's Guide, Business Insider, Fast Company, Salon, and Harvard Business Review. 

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Top 13 Popular PowerPoint Alternatives in 2024 

Table of Contents

In the world of presentations, PowerPoint has been a popular choice for a long time. However, its limitations are becoming more noticeable as both presenters and audiences seek more advanced options. There’s a growing demand for presentation tools that are engaging, dynamic, and easy to use. Many people have experienced the boredom of static slides and too much information on one screen, which can make presentations feel overwhelming.

Luckily, there are now many other presentation software options available, each with its own unique features. These alternatives offer things like better design, interaction with the audience in real-time, and the ability to include multimedia seamlessly. They’re changing the way presentations are done.

This article will look at a selection of these PowerPoint alternatives, each with its own strengths. Whether you’re looking for a sleek design, collaboration features, or exciting animations, there’s presentation software out there to suit your needs. Let’s explore the world beyond PowerPoint together.

PowerPoint Alternatives: Finding The Best Option For Beautiful And Engaging Presentations 

Choosing the right PowerPoint alternative can be a bit overwhelming with so many options out there. To find the best presentation software for you, it’s important to compare features like templates, design elements, collaboration tools, and mobile support. By looking into these features, you can find a PowerPoint alternative that suits your needs and improves your presentations. Let’s dive in and take a look at some options. 

1. Google Slides

Google Slides is a web-based presentation tool included in the Google Workspace suite, enabling seamless collaboration and creation of presentations.

Key Features: Notable features include real-time collaboration, integration with Google Workspace, accessibility from any device, diverse template selection, and the ability to import PowerPoint presentations.

Advantages: It’s free to use, integrates smoothly with Google Workspace, supports multiple users editing at once, and works on all devices.

Limitations: Despite its strengths, Google Slides may lack some advanced animation and design functionalities present in other presentation software options.

Cost: Google Slides is available for free with a Google account.

Ideal Users: It is particularly suitable for teams seeking a straightforward and collaborative presentation tool that seamlessly integrates with Google Workspace.

While Google Slides is a great tool, SlidesAI can add some helpful features. Our extension uses artificial intelligence to automate tasks, suggest creative content, and recommend design improvements. With SlidesAI, you can create presentations faster and explore design options that might not have occurred to you before. It can be a valuable tool to take your Google Slides presentations to the next level.

2. Mentimeter 

Mentimeter is a platform designed to engage audiences through live polls, quizzes, and real-time feedback accessible on their mobile devices. It operates on the cloud, eliminating the need for participants to download additional apps.

Key Features:

Mentimeter offers live polls, quizzes, word clouds, Q&A sessions, and real-time feedback, and integrates seamlessly with PowerPoint presentations.

Advantages:

This platform excels in interactivity, user-friendliness, and enhancing audience engagement, making it suitable for both in-person and virtual gatherings.

Limitations:

While Mentimeter offers a free plan, customization options are limited, and consistent internet access is required for both presenters and participants.

Mentimeter offers a free plan with paid options starting at $9.99 per month. Paid plans unlock additional features such as diverse question types and enhanced customization capabilities.

Ideal Usage:

Mentimeter is ideal for interactive meetings, workshops, conferences, and classrooms where audience engagement and immediate feedback are essential.

Keynote is Apple’s well-regarded presentation software, known for its impressive graphic features and smooth animations. It’s available for Mac and iOS devices and comes with a variety of useful features including cinematic transitions, object animations, real-time collaboration via iCloud, and a range of templates.

Keynote offers high-quality animations and design options with an easy-to-use interface. It seamlessly integrates with other Apple devices, enhancing user experience.

Weaknesses:

One downside is its exclusivity to Apple devices, limiting access for users on other platforms.

Keynote is free for users of Apple devices, making it an appealing choice for those already invested in the Apple ecosystem.

Ideal Users:

Best suited for Apple users who want to create visually appealing presentations with sophisticated design and animation features.

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that moves beyond traditional slide-by-slide presentations. Instead, it utilizes a single canvas that zooms in and out on various parts of the content.

Features: Prezi offers non-linear presentations, a zoomable user interface, collaboration tools, and Prezi Video for incorporating video content into presentations.

Strengths: Prezi allows for dynamic and visually engaging presentations, seamlessly integrating big-picture concepts with detailed information.

Weaknesses: For first-time users, Prezi may pose a learning challenge, and some viewers may experience motion sickness due to its zooming motion.

Price: Prezi provides a free basic plan, with paid plans starting at $7 per month. Paid plans include additional features like privacy controls and offline access.

Best for: Prezi is ideal for presentations that require a more dynamic and visually engaging approach compared to traditional slide presentations.

Canva is a user-friendly graphic design tool with built-in presentation features, offering a wide range of professional templates.

Key Features : It includes thousands of customizable templates, a simple drag-and-drop editor, collaboration tools for team projects, and an option for more advanced needs with Canva for Work.

Strengths : Canva provides an extensive selection of design options, making it accessible to users with varying levels of design experience. It supports different types of content, such as images and videos, allowing for creative versatility.

Weaknesses: While the free version offers many features, some advanced functionalities require a Pro subscription. Additionally, Canva’s animation and transition capabilities may not be as robust as those found in dedicated presentation software.

Pricing : Canva offers a free basic version, with the Pro subscription priced at $119.99 per year, offering additional features like the Brand Kit and premium templates.

Ideal Users: Canva is suitable for users who prioritize ease of use and professional-looking designs. It caters to individuals and organizations in marketing, education, and small businesses seeking visually appealing presentations.

6. Beautiful.AI

Beautiful.AI is a presentation tool driven by artificial intelligence, designed to simplify the process of creating professional-looking slides quickly.

Key Features : The platform offers smart templates that adjust as you add content, along with AI-powered design for automated layout adjustments and collaboration tools.

Strengths : Users benefit from significant time savings thanks to the AI-powered features, making it easy to create polished and consistent presentations.

Weaknesses : Some users may find that they have less control over specific design elements compared to manual design tools, and there is a limited variety of templates available.

Pricing : Starting at $12 per month for the basic plan, users get unlimited slides and AI content generation.

Ideal User : Beautiful.ai is best suited for professionals and teams who need to create impressive presentations quickly, even if they lack extensive design skills.

Vyond is a cloud-based platform that lets users create animated video presentations. It allows you to tell stories using customizable characters, props, and scenes.

Features : Vyond offers customizable characters, a wide range of animations, voice-over capabilities, a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, and the ability to integrate with other tools.

Strengths: Vyond makes it easy to create engaging animated video presentations. It provides a variety of assets and templates, and its user-friendly interface means you don’t need animation skills to use it.

Weaknesses: Compared to basic presentation software, Vyond comes with a higher price point. Creating animations may also take more time than traditional slide-based presentations.

Price : Vyond’s Essentials plan starts at $299/year, with more advanced features available in the Premium and Professional plans.

Best for: Vyond is suitable for marketing professionals, educators, and businesses looking to create engaging animated videos for training, promotions, or explanations.

8. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is an online tool for creating, editing, and delivering presentations collaboratively.

Features: It allows real-time collaboration, works well with Zoho’s suite and other platforms, provides various themes and templates, and enables live presentation broadcasting.

Strengths : Zoho Show supports team collaboration, is accessible from anywhere, offers an easy-to-use interface, and integrates smoothly with other Zoho apps.

Weaknesses : It may lack some advanced features compared to competitors, and its range of templates might be limited.

Price : It’s free to use with a Zoho account, and additional features are available through premium plans.

Best for : Zoho Show is suitable for teams and individuals already using Zoho’s products or anyone in need of a straightforward, collaborative presentation tool.

Emaze is an online presentation software designed to help users create visually captivating presentations. It offers a diverse selection of design templates and animated effects to enhance the overall appeal of presentations.

Emaze boasts an extensive library of templates, including options for 3D designs and video backgrounds. The use of HTML5 technology ensures compatibility across various platforms. Additionally, the platform provides automatic translation capabilities and analytics tools for monitoring presentation views.

One of Emaze’s standout features is its collection of unique and creative templates, setting it apart from other presentation tools. The platform emphasizes user-friendly design, making it accessible to individuals with varying levels of technical expertise.

While Emaze offers a range of templates, some users may find the platform less intuitive compared to other presentation software. Additionally, customization options may be limited for certain templates, restricting users’ ability to tailor presentations to their exact specifications.

Emaze offers a basic free plan for users, with paid subscription options starting at $13 per month. Paid plans include additional features such as privacy settings, offline viewing capabilities, and advanced analytics tools.

Emaze is well-suited for individuals seeking to create visually striking presentations with minimal effort. It caters to a wide range of users, including those in education, business, and creative fields.

10 .  Focusky

Focusky is a versatile tool for creating presentations and animated videos, offering a dynamic platform for sharing ideas. It features unique zooming and panning effects, enhancing the visual appeal of presentations.

• 3D transition effects
• Video backgrounds
• Built-in word art
• Recording narration
• Extensive library of templates and characters

Focusky’s standout feature is its engaging zooming and panning effects, which make presentations memorable. It also offers a variety of visual assets and supports multimedia content integration.

Users who are new to non-linear presentation styles may find Focusky challenging to navigate initially. Some users may also feel overwhelmed by the abundance of features.

Focusky offers a free version with basic features. Paid plans start at $99 per year, providing access to more advanced functionalities and assets.

Focusky is suitable for educators, marketers, and creative professionals seeking a more dynamic alternative to traditional slide presentations.

11. SlideDog

SlideDog offers a distinct feature by enabling users to effortlessly combine different types of media into a single multimedia presentation.

Features:  It supports a variety of file formats, including PowerPoint, Prezi, PDFs, videos, and web pages. SlideDog also includes features for live sharing and audience interaction, along with playlist functionality for organizing presentation content.

Strengths:  SlideDog excels in its ability to integrate multiple formats into a cohesive presentation. It allows for real-time sharing with audiences and offers interactive features to enhance viewer engagement.

Weaknesses:  One drawback is that SlideDog relies on external applications for content creation and lacks built-in design tools. Additionally, managing multiple file types may pose some challenges for users.

Price:  SlideDog provides a free version, with the option to upgrade to the Pro version for $99 per year. The Pro version offers additional features such as offline playback and enhanced audience engagement tools.

Best for:  SlideDog is ideal for presenters who need to seamlessly integrate various types of content into their presentations. It is particularly suited for conferences, meetings, and educational settings.

Visme is a versatile tool designed for creating presentations, infographics, reports, and other visual content, with a focus on design and interactivity.

Key Features:  Visme offers a variety of templates and design elements, interactive features like pop-ups and rollover effects, analytics, content access control, and collaboration tools.

Strengths:  Visme stands out for its customization options, ability to create different types of content, and its emphasis on visual appeal and interactivity.

Weaknesses:  Some of the more advanced features require a paid plan, and users may find it challenging to fully utilize all of its capabilities.

Pricing:  Visme has a free basic plan, with paid options starting at $15 per month. Paid plans include access to more templates, assets, and features such as analytics and a brand kit.

Best for: Businesses

Loom provides a user-friendly platform for creating instant video recordings of screen activity, optionally incorporating webcam footage. It’s particularly useful for delivering presentations that require a personal touch or detailed explanations.

Loom offers simple screen recording, webcam integration, easy sharing via links, basic video editing tools, engagement metrics (views, reactions), and a comments section.

It simplifies the process of creating and sharing concise video explanations or presentations. Moreover, it enhances communication by adding a personal touch through video, supports asynchronous communication, and facilitates feedback collection directly on the video page.

While Loom is great for asynchronous video messaging, its interactive features for live presentations are limited. The platform is primarily designed for asynchronous communication rather than traditional interactive presentations.

Loom offers a free version with basic recording and sharing functionalities. The Pro version is available at $8 per user per month, offering additional features such as engagement insights, unlimited video length, and drawing tools.

Educators, team leaders, and professionals looking to convey concepts, provide feedback, or make announcements in a more engaging manner than text-based or traditional slide presentations. Loom is especially suited for tutorials, quick updates, and feedback sessions that benefit from visual and personalized communication.

Closing Thoughts

Presentation software has come a long way. Gone are the days of dull slides. These days, there are many tools available to help you create presentations that are both informative and engaging for your audience. Whether you’re looking for something simple and easy to use, or a platform with more advanced features, there’s an option out there for you. So explore what’s available and ditch the outdated slides for a more dynamic presentation style!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How can merge shapes be used in presentations.

Merge Shapes can be used in presentations to add depth and dimension, highlight specific areas, create diagrams and flowcharts, enhance slide backgrounds, and design custom graphics and icons.

How do I merge shapes in PowerPoint?

To merge shapes in PowerPoint, select the shapes you want to merge, navigate to the “Format” tab, click on “Merge Shapes,” and choose one of the available merge options (Union, Combine, Fragment, Intersect, or Subtract) based on your desired outcome.

Can I undo a merge operation in PowerPoint?

Yes, you can undo a merge operation in PowerPoint by pressing Ctrl + Z or selecting “Undo” from the Edit menu.

Are there any limitations to merging shapes in PowerPoint?

While Merge Shapes offers a range of options for combining shapes, some complex shapes may not merge as expected. It’s recommended to experiment with different shapes and merge options to achieve the desired result.

Why is “Merge Shapes” not available in PowerPoint?

There might not be any shapes selected on your slide. The “Merge Shapes” option appears only when you have at least two shapes chosen. Try inserting some shapes and then try merging them!

How do I merge shapes in PowerPoint using Union?

To merge shapes with Union in PowerPoint, select the shapes and choose “Merge Shapes” > “Union” under the Drawing Tools Format tab (appears when shapes are selected).

How to merge two shapes using the subtract option in PowerPoint?

1. Select two shapes (hold Shift to pick both).

2. Go to the Shape Format tab (appears when shapes are selected).

3. Click Merge Shapes > Subtract. (Subtracts second shape from first).

Can you merge 2 shapes in powerpoint?

Yes, You can merge 2 shapes in PowerPoint! Select the 2 shapes (hold Shift to pick both) and then under the “Shape Format” tab (appears when selected), choose “Merge Shapes” for a combined shape.

Save Time and Effortlessly Create Presentations with SlidesAI

The 7 Best Free PowerPoint Alternatives for Presentations

Microsoft PowerPoint is great, but what if you can't afford it? Here are the best free PowerPoint alternatives for presentations.

Microsoft PowerPoint has been around for a long while and so far it has served users well. However, because it's a paid program, not everyone can afford it.

Thankfully, there are many options available for users who want the functionality of Microsoft PowerPoint in a free-to-use package. In fact, some of them don't even require any downloads and are completely web-based.

1. Google Slides

By far the most popular PowerPoint alternative out there, Google Slides shines when it comes to collaboration. Multiple people can work simultaneously on a presentation and add new slides.

This is further strengthened by its availability. Google Slides works on your web browser and has apps for both iOS and Android.

Additionally, Google Slides keeps a record of all the changes users have made to a presentation, and you can easily restore your slideshow to a previous version. While anyone with a Gmail account can use Google Slides, G Suite users get added data protection.

Compared to PowerPoint, the number of templates, animation forms, and fonts is somewhat lacking. However, businesses tend to overlook these shortcomings on a day-to-day basis.

While Canva is primarily known as a photo editor and design tool, it is also a competent MS PowerPoint alternative.

One of Canva's main strengths is its ease of use. There are many beginner tutorial videos on the website if users do not understand something. Complete beginners can easily navigate through the minimalistic interface.

With the free version of Canva, you get access to over 8000+ presentation templates that exponentially speed up your workflow. Additionally, Canva still remains one of the easiest services to create infographics and charts in.

The only limiting thing with Canva is that it offers a basic set of tools and transitions at users' disposal. It's apparent that the company places more focus on photo editing and design aspect than anything else.

The Prezi presentation format is unique in the way that it lets you view slides. Instead of addressing multiple elements at once, Prezi gives viewers a single canvas that allows them to zoom in on different presentation parts. This provides a much more immersive experience.

Similar to Google Slides, Prezi supports the real-time collaboration of up to 10 users. Users can also add comments to indicate changes or report missing information. Prezi works on any modern web browser, and there are Android and iOS apps available as well.

Related: Powerful Google Chrome PDF Extensions and Apps

The Prezi software also has an analytics feature that helps users optimize their presentation by showing them which slides were the most viewed as well as which ones were skipped.

Even though the basic version of Prezi is free to use, it doesn't allow users to control the privacy of their presentation, which could be a dealbreaker for many. Additionally, due to the way Prezi works, there is a steep learning curve associated with it.

4. WPS Office Free

WPS Office is the closest alternative to PowerPoint when it comes to functionality and user interface. Plus, unlike the other web-based services on this list, you don't always need an active internet connection to use it.

With its complete support for PowerPoint files, users can edit existing PowerPoint documents with ease in WPS Office. They can also embed videos and animate individual objects, just like in Microsoft PowerPoint. It also offers many templates, so users can pick their favorite.

However, users should keep in mind that while the software is free, it is supported by ads, which may be a bit intrusive at times. In addition to this, collaboration is less straightforward than with Google Slides.

WPS Office is available across all major platforms such as Windows, macOS, Linux. iOS, and Android. There is a web-based version available as well. Alternatively, you can check out this handy guide to smoothen your transition to WPS Office from Microsoft .

Xtensio is one of the best options for business users. It has many templates available regarding various organization sections, such as marketing, UX design, etc.

With Xtensio's easy-to-use interface, even newbies can create professional-looking reports and presentations. Additionally, they offer even greater flexibility in terms of design. You can edit each object in a template to suit your specific needs.

But it does have some shortcomings. For one thing, users cannot export their presentations in PowerPoint format. Additionally, the free version supports only one user at a time with a storage space of 1MB.

6. LibreOffice

LibreOffice is open-source presentation software that does everything PowerPoint can do. Although it lacks functionality such as OneDrive Integration, its PowerPoint-like functionality more than makes up for it.

LibreOffice has its share of useful features, such as the ability to import Keynote files. In addition, LibreOffice has a vast collection of free templates that users can use to create their presentations.

If that's not enough, you can download additional templates from LibreOffice's online repository. LibreOffice is available across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

7. Zoho Show

There are several reasons to use Zoho Show for your next presentation. It's a great presentation tool that's similar to Google Slides, but even better. Users can also import and edit all their PowerPoint files in the online tool.

Users can create tables, infographics, and data charts within Zoho Show itself. In addition to this, the service also has in-built Google Image Search functionality that lets you search and insert images quickly.

Related: Tools to Give an Online Presentation From Anywhere

Additionally, Zoho Show supports collaboration in real-time and multiple users can edit presentations. Although there's not much to complain about in Zoho Show, many users would like to have more options when it comes to templates and animations.

Worthy PowerPoint Alternatives

Essentially, all these tools and services function the same way as PowerPoint without the cost. Furthermore, the web-based alternatives are more advanced such as automatic saving and cloud storage.

Despite this, PowerPoint remains the front-runner when it comes to presentation software. As such, it is important for users to know how to make the best out of its features.

Blog > Best PowerPoint Alternatives in 2022

Best PowerPoint Alternatives in 2022

02.26.20   •  #presentation #powerpoint #alternatives.

Whatever the reason why you're looking for an alternative for PowerPoint may be, we're here to show you 7 great programs to use instead. Here's a quick overview - you'll find more detailed information below:

Overview video

Slides is amazing! The software is extremely intuitive to use and while there are design pre-sets, it still allows artistic freedom and adjustments. You will be left with wonderful slide decks. There is a free version, and the basic plan for 5$ a month is totally affordable as well. Presenting offline is only possible in the Lite and Pro version.

Who is it for?

Slides is for everyone who wants professional looking slides while not giving up creating your own creative slide deck. Its easy interface makes it perfect for anyone who doesn't want to spend a lot of time learning to use a new program.

• intuitive and easy to use
• integration of code or math formulas
• directly insert images from Unsplash or GIFs from giphy
• design your own themes
• slide decks in the free version are publicly viewable and may include ads

Pricing and Features

Free, Lite and Pro Version for single users, Team Version; Click here to see details

2. beautiful.ai

beautiful.ai (as suggested in the name) is a presentation software that uses artificial intelligence to get the best possible slides. And the results are - well - beautiful. After a short tutorial and some time to get used to the program, playing around with slides, elements and texts and seeing how the AI assistant transforms them is actually a lot of fun! In the Pro version, there's a desktop player included. The free version is for online use only.

beautiful.ai might not be the easiest tool to use on this list, but it is definitely one of the most interesting ones! We recommend it to anyone who wants to try out something new and to people who are thrilled about AI and tech innovations.

• really fun to use and play around with
• design is always amazing due to AI
• beautiful templates
• lots of functions and slide pre-sets even in the free version
• Limit of 60 slides in the free version
• Logo branding in the free version
• takes a little time to get used to

There is a basic plan and a Pro plan. Click here to get more information .

3. SlideLizard LIVE

SlideLizard is a PowerPoint Add-on that extends its features and makes it so much better. You’ll get everything you’ve ever missed in PowerPoint in just one software – poll creation, a live Q&A feature, slide sharing, audience feedback and presentation analytics. You won’t need a PowerPoint alternative anymore – because PowerPoint will have everything you need.

Everyone who wants to engage their audience and improve their presentation skills – especially people who do presentations often.

• get anonymous Feedback easily
• create polls
• analyse your held presentations
• answer questions as they arrive
• seamless integration into PowerPoint
• PowerPoint is required

Free and PRO versions for single users, Enterprise and single event plan on request. Click here to see details .

4. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is a free tool for creating presentations. It resembles PowerPoint in use. Even though it's completely free, it contains lots of features and has everything you need to hold a basic presentation. Again, it is pretty easy to use. You do need an internet connection to create and present you presentation via Zoho Show, but it can be downloaded and opened in PowerPoint or as a PDF as well.

Since it is completely free, Zoho Show is especially perfect for students or anyone who doesn't want to spend money on a new presentation software. For free software, Zoho Show does a very good job.

• completely free
• similar to PowerPoint in function
• animation of objects and transitions
• easy to use
• collaborate with colleagues
• not that many templates available
• creating presentations may take a while

Zoho Show can be used for free with all features.

Canva offers lots of design templates and makes it possible to create visually stunning presentations within a short amount of time. It is not just a platform for creating presentations, but also for designing graphics for other purposes (eg. Social Media, Flyers,…) , so if you find also need to create content of that kind, Canva might be the perfect tool for you. You need an internet connection to create the slides, which you can download afterwards.

Canva is great for students, as the basic plan is free and completely sufficient for non-business purposes. It is great software for anyone who is looking for an easy and quick way to create professional-looking presentations and other types of content.

• huge selection of high-quality design templates
• choose from a variety of free and low-priced images, backgrounds and music
• slides can be downloaded and opened with PowerPoint
• limited storage space in basic plan
• no animation of objects (except for predefined illustrations)

There is a free basic plan, a Pro plan and an Enterprise plan for companies. Click here to see details .

Crello is similar to Canva. It is not only for creating presentations, but also Social Media posts, banners, prints and more. As for presentations, you can choose from a huge variety of templates. You basically only have to exchange the pictures and add text to finish your presentation. Internet connection is required.

Crello is the perfect tool for all designers, whether you're a beginner or already advanced. The free version offers a good deal of features, so it is definitely an option for people who do not want to spend money on software.

• lots of beautiful templates
• many features in the free version
• no animations
• no transitions

Crello offers a free basic plan and a pro plan. Click here to see details .

7. Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is a well-known alternative for PowerPoint. People like it for its user-friendly interface and for how easily you can create amazing, professional presentations. An internet connection is required while creating, Pro users can download their slides for offline viewing.

Due to the fact that you basically have to pay in order to use Haiku Deck, it might not be the best option for everyone. Presenters who don’t mind spending some dollars per month for good presentation software are likely to be satisfied.

• professional and widely used software for creating presentations
• user-friendly with lots of options for editing
• no real free version (you can only have one deck in the free one and the features are very limited)
• no Pro trial without entering payment information

Haiku Deck offers a Pro and a Premium plan. Students, teachers and non-profit organizations only pay half the price. Click here for details .

...or stick with PowerPoint instead?

While playing around with tools and alternatives is without a doubt fun, we are still huge fans of PowerPoint. It is the all-time allrounder for presentations, works offline and has so much to offer! As with most of the presented software, you can download the created slides and open them in PowerPoint as well. For anything you might miss in PowerPoint, there's probably already a great Plugin to help you. Click here to see the 5 best PowerPoint Plugins in 2020 .

What is the best PowerPoint alternative?

Unfortunately there is not THE best alternative. It depends very much on your application, which alternative is best suited for you. Our blog entry gives a good overview which software fits for whom.

Are there free PowerPoint alternatives?

Yes, there are free alternatives. These are free, for example: Canva, beautiful.ai or Crello. Our blog gives a good overview of the respective prices and features.

Related articles

About the author.

Pia Lehner-Mittermaier

Pia works in Marketing as a graphic designer and writer at SlideLizard. She uses her vivid imagination and creativity to produce good content.

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10 Best PowerPoint Alternatives in 2024

• December 1, 2023

PowerPoint has long been the go-to tool for presentations, but as we step into 2024, there’s a growing demand for more engaging and visually appealing slides. People are looking beyond the basic animations offered by PowerPoint and seeking alternatives that bring interactivity, bold designs, and a touch of entertainment to their presentations.

In this article, we’ll explore the best PowerPoint alternatives in 2024 that can effortlessly elevate your presentations from mundane to attention-grabbing. Let’s dive into the evolving landscape of presentation-making for a more captivating and effective communication experience.

What is Microsoft PowerPoint? 

Microsoft PowerPoint, a benchmark in the best presentation software category, excels in traditional presentations. It’s known for blending PowerPoint features like multimedia and design with online presentation capabilities, ideal for users who prioritize reliability and a comprehensive toolset.

This software is a hub of essential features like diverse slide templates, animations, and transitions, which are vital for any presentation. Its ability to integrate multimedia seamlessly, robust collaboration tools, and compatibility with MS Office positions PowerPoint as a leader in online and offline presentation solutions.

However, this software has been suffering from its decades of success. Users have been trying to spice up standard presentations in terms of design, workflow, and effectiveness. Although reliable, PowerPoint might not be for everyone. 

• Widely adopted in various organizations.
• Rich online learning resources.
• Stable performance and consistent features.
• Seamless integration with Microsoft tools.
• User-friendly and adaptable for different presentations.
• Simplifies video and photo integration.
• Effortless text editing.
• Performance issues with heavy content.
• Limited community template options.
• Complex real-time collaboration.
• Restricted customization and interactivity.
• Limited non-MS product integration.
• Challenges in presenting complex data.

Pricing & Plans: 

• 365 Home ($6.99/month)
• 365 Business ($6/month)
• PowerPoint Only ($159.99)

Are you looking to add more animation options or want to create presentations in seconds? Here is the list of best PowerPoint alternatives in 2024: 

• Google Slides – Best for free collaboration tool
• Prezi – Best for non-linear presentations
• Canva – Best for drag and drag design
• Beautiful.ai – Best for auto-formatting
• Apple Keynote – Best presenter tool for Mac
• Mentimeter – Best for audience interaction
• Zoho Show – Best for clean and modern interface
• Visme – Best for third-party integration
• Vyond – Best for e-learning and training
• Microsoft Sway – Best for digital story telling

1. Google Slides

As the best free online presentation tool, Google Slides excels in academic and professional contexts, including lesson planning and corporate use. Its hallmark feature is unparalleled real-time collaboration, accessible to everyone on any device, even without a Google account, perfect for teams to collaborate cost-effectively. 

Google Slides offers an array of features similar to PowerPoint, optimized for online use, including online syncing, interactive comments and suggestions, and Google Meet integrations. Users benefit from easy embedding, sharing options, PowerPoint support,  diverse templates, and YouTube video integration.

• Comprehensive features in a free package.
• Accessible, device-agnostic, real-time collaboration.
• Easy-to-manage permission controls.
• Cloud-based, with automatic saving and sharing.
• Embeddable presentations for broader accessibility.
• Intuitive for experienced presentation tool users.
• Completely free. 
• Limited in templates and advanced design.
• Basic in transitions and animations.
• Requires indirect audio file integration.
• Needs additional tweaks and add-ons.
• Performance lags with larger files.
• Free (Browser-Based)

Customer Ratings:

• G2:  4.6 out of 5 (42,222 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.6 out of 5 (6,358 reviews)

Related: 10 Best Google Slides Alternatives

Prezi transforms PowerPoint presentations with its unique, non-linear approach, ideal for dynamic business and educational settings. This tool allows users to create presentations that stand out with zooming and panning features, perfect for professionals and educators who need visually engaging and interactive content.

This tool enhances the art of creating presentations with features such as PowerPoint import, presenter view with a timer, and video embedding. Its mobile accessibility and features like zooming and free movement bring data visualizations to life, making every presentation a memorable experience.

• Seamless content and video transitions.
• Showcases connections between topics.
• Automatic timer for presentation pacing.
• Interactive and visually captivating.
• Diverse, engaging slide designs.
• It is less suitable for presentations with many slides.
• It can become cluttered with excessive content.
• Slower performance on desktop.
• Steeper learning curve than alternatives.
• Missing some traditional presentation tools.
• Only available with an annual subscription.

Pricing & Plans:

• Basic (Free)
• Standard ($7)
• Premium ($19)
• Teams ($29/user)
• G2:  4.2 out of 5 (5,193 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.5 out of 5 (2,153 reviews)

Canva is inherently not a presentation tool, but its intuitive drag-and-drop interface allows even novices to craft presentations with professional designs. This makes it an excellent choice for corporate users, marketers, and individuals seeking an accessible platform for visually compelling content.

Canva offers quick photo editing, premium content, and a vast selection of templates. Its drag-and-drop functionality simplifies design while resizing designs and branding tools, making it an excellent alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint for creating diverse content.

• Accessible for non-graphic experts.
• Extensive content and templates are available.
• Versatile for various design needs.
• Cloud-based for easy access and storage.
• Reliable editing tools like background remover.
• File size limitations for power users.
• There are occasional software crashes.
• Some issues with customer service.
• Requires active internet connection.
• It is more suited for basic than professional editing.
• Canva Pro ($14.99)
• Canva for Teams ($29.99)
• G2:  4.7 out of 5 (4,435 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.7 out of 5 (11,586 reviews)

4. Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai is a PowerPoint alternative that is popular in the fields of sales, marketing, and education. Its AI-driven design automation offers quick, professional-looking presentations with minimal effort.

This tool utilizes artificial intelligence to provide professional-looking templates and effortless auto-formatting for presentations. Creating engaging presentation templates is easy with its branding options, audio recording, and integrations with Dropbox and Slack.

• Simplifies crafting impactful presentations.
• Easy sharing and effective formatting.
• The rapid development of uniform slides.
• Streamlines collaboration across teams.
• Content-focused with helpful analytics.
• AI can occasionally be slow to respond.
• User experiences may require more customization.
• Primarily suited for marketing presentations.
• Limited capabilities for educational aids.
• Optimal for presentations with less content.
• Enterprise (Contact Sales)
• G2:  4.7 out of 5 (174 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.7 out of 5 (75 reviews)

5. Apple Keynote

Apple Keynote , a premier design tool for Mac users, excels in creating visually stunning presentations. It’s perfect for dynamic backgrounds, live video feeds, and smooth playback. This slide deck solution integrates seamlessly with the Apple ecosystem, offering users advanced design and delivery options.

Keynote stands out with its frequent updates and collaboration tools, making it a versatile choice for Mac enthusiasts. Its features, including dynamic backgrounds and live video integrations, can enhance any slide deck.

• Pre-installed, easy-to-use design tool.
• Controls via Apple Watch.
• Syncs across Apple devices.
• Streamlined slide deck creation.
• Export issues with non-Apple formats.
• Limited animations and templates.
• Free (For Mac Users)
• G2:  4.4 out of 5 (525 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.8 out of 5 (122 reviews)

6. Mentimeter

Mentimeter is a dynamic tool for engaging audiences in various settings like brainstorming, feedback sessions, and educational environments. Interactive features like Q&As, polls, quizzes, and visualizations engage audiences and provide instant feedback to presenters.

With Mentimeter, creating interactive presentations is easy thanks to its visually compelling features like live polling, word clouds, and quizzes. Blending surveys and quizzes directly into presentations enhances audience participation without leaving the slide show.

• Rolls out updates that a lot of users like. 
• Real-time polls and feedback.
• Interactive and fun for learners.
• Seamless integration and implementation.
• Excellent customer support.
• Delay in showing poll results.
• Limited integration with PowerPoint.
• Restricted customization in Word Cloud.
• No picture can be used in the free version.
• Occasional integration issues.
• Basic ($11.99)
• Pro ($24.99)
• G2:  4.5 out of 5 (115 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.5 out of 5 (87 reviews)

7. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is highly recommended for its clean and modern interface, making it a standout choice for corporate users and teams. It excels in collaboration, communication, and follow-up within a business context. This user-friendly PowerPoint alternative is cloud-based and offers an efficient way for streamlined and modern presentations.

Zoho Show simplifies presentation creation with its user-friendly interface and diverse features like data fields, add-ons, and a rich library. It facilitates real-time collaboration and broadcasting, allowing teams to work together seamlessly. 

• Wide range of templates and color schemes
• Regularly updated themes, easy to use
• User-friendly interface for presentation design
• Real-time team collaboration
• Elegant inbuilt animations
• Requires stable internet, crashes otherwise
• Slower than Google Slides
• No offline desktop application
• Online saving requires Zoho Drive
• Needs WorkDrive/WorkSpace subscription for Pro
• Zoho Show Free
• Professional Plan ($2.50) (Requires Zoho WorkDrive subscription)
• G2:  4.4 out of 5 (65 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.6 out of 5 (26 reviews)

Visme excels in blending third-party integration with a cloud-based, drag-and-drop interface, making it a top choice for creating diverse and visually appealing content. From infographics and data visualizations to dynamic presentations and reports, Visme is tailored for users looking to craft compelling visuals.

Its robust features, such as data fields, add-ons, extensive libraries, and interactive animations, empower users to create high-quality content easily. Visme’s collaboration and broadcast capabilities enhance its utility, making it perfect for producing consistent and engaging presentations and documents.

• Suitable for users with technical expertise
• High-definition templates for sharp visuals
• Simplifies maintaining document consistency
• AI tool and extensive photo library
• Versatile for various content types
• Challenges in standardizing formatting
• Animated screens resize during presentations
• Has a steep learning curve for less tech-savvy
• Occasional glitches and slow performance
• Complicated graphic management
• Starter ($29)
• Visme for Teams (Contact Sales
• G2:  4.5 out of 5 (383 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.5 out of 5 (647 reviews)

Vyond is a dynamic tool favored by trainers and educators for transforming mundane lessons into captivating, animated video experiences. It is a great tool for enhancing educational content through visual storytelling, especially for complex software demos and explainer videos.

Utilizing Vyond’s AI-driven video creation, educators can effortlessly produce animated content that resonates with their audience. The Character Creator and extensive Props Library allow for deep customization, while Automatic Captioning ensures accessibility. 

• Enhances curriculum with engaging content
• User-friendly for non-animators doing visual content.
• Simplifies complex concepts visually
• Frequent updates add new learning dimensions
• Ideal for corporate training videos
• High cost compared to similar tools
• Helpful features are limited to premium plans
• Pre-animated character motions can be restrictive
• Essential ($49)
• Premium ($89)
• Professional ($179)
• G2:  4.7 out of 5 (274 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.7 out of 5 (244 reviews)

10. Microsoft Sway

Microsoft Sway , a free presentation software, excels in crafting digital stories like newsletters and business presentations. Known for its easy-to-use, web-based interface, it offers professionally designed slides and templates, making it ideal for those who value a mix of simplicity and design in their presentation space.

As a free PowerPoint alternative, Sway’s Web-Based Canvas simplifies the creation of multimedia-rich content. Its Design Engine makes it easy to achieve a professional look, while Responsive UI and Closed Captioning make presentations accessible and engaging. 

• Offers an array of professionally designed slides
• Ideal for business and e-portfolios
• Generates visually striking content
• Free, user-friendly software
• Enhances reports and presentations
• Customization has a learning curve
• It can be slow when embedded in web pages
• Limited image resizing in templates
• Free (Requires Microsoft Account)
• G2:  4.1 out of 5 (117 reviews)
• Capterra:  4.1 out of 5 (9 reviews)

Tips for Transitioning to PowerPoint Alternatives

Here are the factors to consider when choosing PowerPoint alternatives:

• Ease of use : Look for an alternative that allows you to create more intuitively, reducing the complexity often associated with presentation design.
• Customizability : Your software choice should empower you to customize your presentation and edit your slides to fit your slides precisely to your requirements. 
• Libraries and assets : Access to extensive libraries/assets provides a variety of design elements, enriching your presentations with professional visuals.
• Price : Many alternatives are available for free, offering powerful features without the cost, making advanced presentation tools more accessible.
• Templates: With an array of design options in templates, these tools simplify the creation process while offering diverse aesthetic choices.
• Performance : Every PowerPoint alternative has specific performance capabilities, ensuring smooth operation for different presentation needs.
• Versatility : These tools’ versatility aids in everything from crafting a presentation from scratch to optimizing the design process for basic presentations.

Presentations with Ahsuite 

We’ve taken a deep dive into some of the best PowerPoint alternatives. Most of these presentation software alternatives come with a free plan, are easy to work with and offer an array of presentation templates. 

Standard PowerPoint presentations rely on external tools (Microsoft or not). However, there are instances wherein using a dedicated app can kill the momentum of information and knowledge sharing. Tools like client portals remedy this by offering a centralized hub for all documents. 

Ahsuite is a free-to-use client portal that supports iframe embedding for top presentation software. It lets your clients view slides on the go without installing additional software. 

Experience firsthand how a centralized hub can impact your and your client’s workflow for free with the Ahsuite Starter Plan . 

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The 11 Best Microsoft PowerPoint Alternatives in 2024

In an era dominated by visuals, presentations have become invaluable tools for sharing knowledge, pitching concepts, and influencing audiences. From classrooms to boardrooms, marketing campaigns to educational lectures, presentation software empowers individuals and businesses to transform ideas into captivating visual stories that resonate.

In the modern age of communication, presentation software plays a pivotal role in effectively conveying ideas, information, and messages. While Microsoft PowerPoint has been a staple for creating slideshows, it’s important to recognize that there are several other powerful options available. In this article, we’ll delve into the dynamic world of presentation tools and introduce you to the top 11 Microsoft PowerPoint alternatives that are poised to deliver impressive and captivating presentations in 2024. 

Despite its widespread usage, Microsoft PowerPoint is not without its limitations. Users often encounter challenges related to design flexibility, compatibility issues, and the task of starting presentations from scratch. It’s during these moments that exploring alternatives can provide fresh solutions.

Enter the world of Microsoft PowerPoint alternatives, where innovation meets functionality. These alternatives offer a breath of creativity, presenting unique features, intuitive interfaces, and diverse options to elevate AI presentations . Whether you’re a student, professional, or creative, there’s a presentation tool tailored to meet your specific needs and preferences.

Understanding Microsoft PowerPoint

Overview and features.

Microsoft PowerPoint, a core component of the Microsoft Office suite, is a robust presentation software that empowers users to design and deliver captivating slideshows. Its features include customizable template PPT , animations, transitions, and multimedia integration, enabling users to craft compelling narratives that engage their audiences.

Significance and Usage

With its widespread adoption across industries, Microsoft PowerPoint has established itself as a must-have tool for both individual users and businesses. Its user-friendly interface and comprehensive tools make it accessible to beginners, while also offering advanced capabilities for creating elaborate and comprehensive presentations.

Benefits and Limitations

While Microsoft PowerPoint offers numerous benefits, such as familiarity and integration with other Office applications, it does come with certain limitations. These can range from design constraints that hamper creative freedom to challenges in collaboration and compatibility across various devices and platforms.

Key Criteria for Superior Alternatives to PowerPoint

User interface.

An intuitive and user-friendly interface distinguishes superior alternatives from the rest. A well-designed interface makes it easier to create visually appealing presentations without a steep learning curve.

Visual effects, export options, and pre-built templates are essential features contributing to the effectiveness of a presentation tool. PowerPoint alternatives often offer unique visual effects, diverse export formats, and a wide range of templates catering to different presentation styles and content.

Affordability

The cost factor is another critical consideration when exploring PowerPoint alternatives. While many alternatives offer free versions with basic features, premium versions may provide advanced tools and functionalities at a reasonable price point.

In the dynamic realm of presentation software, considering alternatives to Microsoft PowerPoint can unlock a world of creative potential. These alternatives not only address the limitations of traditional software but also introduce comprehensive features that can redefine the way presentations are created and delivered.

Join us on an exploration of the 11 best Microsoft PowerPoint alternatives in 2024, and discover the tools that can empower you to craft presentations that truly stand out.

Top 11 Microsoft PowerPoint Alternatives

1. kdan brief.

If you’re seeking to revolutionize your presentations, Kdan Brief is poised to redefine your approach. Kdan Brief is a slideshow maker in the Kdan Office suite. Packed with innovative features and a user-centric design, this suite promises to reshape the way you conceptualize and convey ideas.

Achieve Higher Performance

Maximize work efficiency with Kdan Office.

Key Features

Intuitive Interface for Effortless Creation: Navigating the world of presentation design becomes a breeze with Kdan Brief’s intuitive interface. This user-friendly environment ensures that both seasoned creators and novices can comfortably craft their presentations with a minimal learning curve.

• Dynamic Visual Effects and Animation Palette: Elevate your presentations with an extensive array of visual effects and animation options. Kdan Brief’s animation palette allows you to infuse life into your slides, capturing your audience’s attention through dynamic visuals and smooth transitions.
• Empower Creativity with Powerful Editing Tools: Kdan Brief arms you with a suite of potent editing tools, designed to empower your creativity. Refine your text, finesse your images, and ensure every visual element aligns with your overarching narrative.
• Total Design Control for Visual Cohesion: Design precision takes center stage with Kdan Brief. The ability to hide or lock objects grants you complete control over your layout, ensuring each slide resonates with your envisioned aesthetic
• Diverse Sharing Formats for Effective Communication: Communication versatility is key, and Kdan Brief recognizes this. Seamlessly share your presentations in a range of formats, including text, images, and PDFs. This adaptability ensures your message reaches your audience through their preferred medium.
• Harmonious Compatibility for Collaborative Workflows: Collaboration should be seamless, not hindered by compatibility concerns. Kdan Brief excels in this regard by offering high compatibility with Microsoft Office and other office software. Adhering to the industry-standard OOXML specification ensures fluid collaboration within teams.

In a world where presentations are more than just slides, Kdan Brief is a brand-new alternative poised to set new standards. With a design-centric approach, a wealth of features, and the ability to collaborate harmoniously, Kdan Brief paints a promising picture for the future of presentations. Let your color scheme resonate, craft presentations that stun, and unleash your professionalism with designs that stand out — Kdan Brief is your canvas for presentation mastery.

2. Google Slides

Among the array of Microsoft PowerPoint alternatives, Google Slides shines as a prominent, long-standing contender. Developed by Google, this online presentation software offers a host of features designed to simplify the process of creating, sharing, and collaborating on presentations.

• Completely Free with a Google Account: One of the standout features of Google Slides is its accessibility. With a Google account, you gain access to a powerful presentation tool without any additional cost. This accessibility ensures that users from all walks of life can harness its potential without financial barriers.
• Collaboration Capabilities: Google Slides takes collaboration to the next level. Multiple users can work on the same presentation simultaneously, making it an ideal choice for team projects and brainstorming sessions, improving remote employee engagement . Real-time edits, comments, and suggestions facilitate seamless teamwork.
• Extensive Library of Templates: Creating a visually appealing presentation can be a breeze with Google Slides’ extensive library of templates. From professional business layouts to creative pitch decks, the templates cater to various themes and styles, enabling users to jumpstart their design process.
• Integration with Google Drive for Easy File Management: Google Slides flawlessly integrates with Google Drive, offering a unified platform for file management. This integration ensures that your presentations are securely stored, easily accessible, and can be shared with collaborators without the hassle of cumbersome file transfers.

In the arena of presentation software, Google Slides assumes the role of a versatile tool, catering proficiently to both personal and professional needs. It showcases the best collaborative features, boasts a plethora of templates, and seamlessly integrates with Google Drive, making it an optimal choice for individuals seeking an online medium to create compelling presentations. Whether you’re preparing business presentations, assembling pitch decks, or curating educational content, Google Slides is a user-friendly choice that empowers you to transform your ideas into vibrant presentations.

3. WPS Presentation

As the presentation software landscape evolves, WPS Presentation stands as a formidable Microsoft PowerPoint alternative. Developed by Kingsoft, this software offers a range of features designed to simplify the process of crafting captivating presentations while providing users with a familiar and user-friendly interface.

• High Compatibility with PowerPoint Formats: WPS Presentation shines with its high compatibility with PowerPoint formats. This means that transitioning from PowerPoint to WPS Presentation is seamless, allowing you to import and edit PowerPoint files effortlessly without worrying about formatting issues.
• Advanced Animation and Transition Effects: Elevate your presentations with advanced animation and transition effects that WPS Presentation has to offer. These features empower you to create visually engaging slideshows that captivate your audience, whether you’re delivering a business pitch or an educational lecture.
• Built-in Graphics and Chart Tools for Data Visualization: Effective data visualization is at your fingertips with WPS Presentation’s built-in graphics and chart tools. Transform complex data into easily digestible visuals, charts, and diagrams that enhance your message and facilitate understanding.

WPS Presentation emerges as a dependable and feature-packed choice in the presentation software arena. Its compatibility with PowerPoint formats, advanced animation features, and integrated graphics and chart tools collectively create a versatile platform. Ideal for professionals, educators, and students alike, WPS Presentation equips you with the tools to express ideas with precision and innovation.

Prezi, a trailblazing presentation software, offers a fresh approach to the art of presenting. As a web-based tool, Prezi breaks away from traditional linear presentations, offering a dynamic and interactive presentation style that captivates audiences through its unprecedented design.

• Web-Based Tool: Prezi’s status as a web-based tool provides the advantage of accessibility from virtually anywhere. With no need for software installation, you can create, edit, and present your Prezis as long as you have the fast enough internet connection .
• Non-Linear Presentations and Dynamic Presentation Style: Step out of the linear presentation mold with Prezi’s unique approach. It enables you to create non-linear presentations that allow for fluid movement between ideas, fostering a dynamic and engaging presentation style that keeps your audience hooked.
• Advanced Animation and Transition Effects: Prezi elevates your presentations with advanced animation and transition effects. These features enable you to craft visually pleasing slides that transition between topics quickly and easily, adding a layer of interactivity to your content.
• Collaboration Features for Team Editing and Feedback: Enhance teamwork and collaboration with Prezi’s features that facilitate team editing and feedback. Multiple users can collaborate on a single Prezi, making sure that presentations are refined collectively and ideas are effectively integrated.
• Download for Offline Use: Prezi recognizes the importance of accessibility even in offline scenarios. You have the option to download your Prezi and present without the need for an internet connection; your presentation remains within reach wherever you go!

Prezi disrupts traditional norms in the realm of presentation software, ushering in a new era of creative and interactive storytelling. Through its advanced animation, collaborative features, and the option to download presentations for offline use, Prezi provides an extensive toolkit for crafting presentations that leave a lasting impression. Whether your goal is to reinvent slide transitions, delve into innovative Prezi design, or leverage customizable templates and interactive elements, Prezi empowers you to deliver ideas in a captivating manner.

Canva, renowned for its versatile design capabilities, extends its prowess to the realm of presentations. This online design tool empowers users to create visually stunning and engaging presentations, infusing creativity and interactivity into every slide.

• Available on Multiple Devices: Canva offers flexibility by being available across Windows, iOS, Mac, and Android devices. This versatility ensures that you can craft and present your designs seamlessly, regardless of your preferred device.
• Interactive Elements, Including Polls, Quizzes, and Live Q&A: Step into the realm of interactivity with Canva’s incorporation of polls, quizzes, and live Q&A features. These interactive elements transform your presentations into engaging experiences, encouraging audience participation and enhancing overall impact.
• Integration with Social Media and Third-Party Apps: Extend the reach of your presentations beyond the confines of the presentation room. Canva’s integration with social media platforms and third-party apps enables you to easily share and showcase your work to a broader audience.
• Thousands of Templates and Millions of Stock Images: Unleash your creativity with Canva’s extensive resources. Choose from thousands of professionally-designed presentation templates and millions of stock images to customize your slides!

In the landscape of presentation software, Canva emerged as a multifaceted tool that marries design expertise with presentation prowess. Notable features include accessibility across various devices, interactive elements that engage your audience, integration with social media, and an array of templates and stock images. Whether you’re looking to redefine presentation templates, harness a versatile design tool, or infuse your presentations with a touch of interactivity, Canva offers a canvas for innovation and creativity that knows no bounds.

6. Beautiful.ai

Embrace the power of Artificial Intelligence in presentation design with Beautiful.ai. This innovative platform leverages AI-driven design to transform your ideas into beautiful presentations that captivate your audience and communicate your message effectively.

• AI-Driven Design Recommendations for Aesthetics: Beautiful.ai harnesses the capabilities of AI to offer design recommendations that enhance the aesthetics of your presentations. This ensures that your slides are not only visually appealing but also convey a professional and polished look.
• Automated Slide Formatting for Consistent Style: Maintaining a consistent style throughout your presentation has never been easier. Beautiful.ai automates slide formatting, making sure each slide aligns perfectly with your chosen design, typography, and color scheme.
• Data Visualization Tools for Impactful Charts and Graphs: Presenting data in an impactful manner is crucial, and Beautiful.ai empowers you with data visualization tools that create complex charts and graphs. From bar charts to pie graphs, these tools allow you to communicate complex information with clarity and precision.

In the world of presentation software, Beautiful.ai is a testament to the possibilities of AI-powered design. With its AI-driven recommendations for aesthetics, automated slide formatting, and data visualization tools, Beautiful.ai transforms the way presentations are created.

Enter the world of Keynote, Apple’s presentation application tailored for Mac and iOS devices. This sleek and user-friendly tool offers a seamless platform for crafting beautiful presentations that align with Apple’s design philosophy. What’s more, it comes to you at no cost, making it accessible to a wide range of users.

• Easy to Use: Keynote prides itself on its intuitive interface, designed to make the presentation creation process a breeze. Whether you’re a seasoned presenter or a newcomer, you’ll find that Keynote offers a user-friendly experience that simplifies every step.
• Dynamic Backgrounds: Inject life into your presentations with Keynote’s dynamic backgrounds. These moving and interactive backgrounds add a layer of depth and engagement to your slides, captivating your audience and enhancing the visual experience.
• Elegant Design Themes and Animations: Elegance and sophistication define Keynote’s design themes and animations. Choose from a range of beautifully crafted themes and animations that elevate the aesthetic appeal of your presentations.
• Powerful Image and Media Embedding Options: Bring your presentations to life with the seamless embedding of images, videos, and other media. Keynote’s powerful options enable you to integrate media seamlessly, enriching your content and making your presentations more dynamic.

Keynote emerges as an embodiment of Apple’s commitment to elegant design and user experience. With its user-friendliness, dynamic backgrounds, elegant design themes, and robust media embedding options, Keynote empowers you to create beautiful presentations that resonate with your audience. Whether you’re a Mac enthusiast, an iOS user, or simply seeking a platform that reflects the essence of beautiful design, Keynote offers a canvas for presentation excellence.

8. Zoho Show

Step into cloud-based presentation software with Zoho Show. This platform offers a modern approach to presentation creation, allowing users to craft, collaborate, and share presentations over the cloud.

• Integration with Other Zoho Productivity Apps: Zoho Show stands as a part of the Zoho suite of productivity apps, seamlessly integrating with other Zoho tools. This integration streamlines your workflow, enabling you to leverage a comprehensive suite of productivity features for a holistic presentation creation experience.
• Commenting and Chat Features for Seamless Communication: Effective communication is at the core of successful collaboration. Zoho Show provides commenting and chat features that facilitate real-time communication among team members, helping feedback, suggestions, and discussions take place seamlessly within the presentation environment.
• Libraries for Brand Consistency: Zoho Show takes brand consistency seriously. With the ‘libraries’ feature, teams can store branded colors, logos, and fonts. This ensures that presentations are aligned with the brand’s visual identity, resulting in a polished and professional look across all slides.
• One-Click Lock for Slide Editing Prevention: Maintain control over your presentation’s integrity with the one-click lock feature. This prevents accidental edits to slides so that your content remains consistent and error-free, even when multiple users collaborate on the same presentation.
• Hide Individual Slides for Audience-Specific Customization: Tailor your presentations to different audiences with Zoho Show’s feature that allows you to hide individual slides, enabling you to customize presentations for specific groups without the need to create separate documents.

In the world of presentation software, Zoho Show takes presentation creation to the cloud while fostering seamless collaboration and customization. With its integration with Zoho productivity apps, communication features, brand consistency tools, slide editing prevention, and audience-specific customization options, Zoho Show offers a comprehensive platform that empowers teams to create and deliver impactful presentations that resonate with their audience.

Discover the world of Visme, a versatile presentation tool that goes beyond the ordinary. With a focus on visual storytelling, Visme empowers users to create interactive presentations that stand out and resonate with their audience.

• Extensive Library of Templates and Customizable Assets: Visme understands the power of a strong visual foundation. Its extensive library of templates and customizable assets allows users to choose from a range of professionally designed templates, ensuring that each presentation starts on the right foot.
• Animation and Interactivity for Engaging Visuals: Elevate your presentations with dynamic animation and interactivity. Visme offers features that bring your visuals to life, creating engaging and memorable slides that capture your audience’s attention and keep them engaged.
• Infographic and Data Visualization Tools for Clarity: Effective data communication is essential, and Visme equips you with tools for clear infographic and data visualization. Turn complex data into easily digestible visuals, ensuring that your message is understood and retained.
• Work on Any Device with Browser Access: Flexibility is at the core of Visme. With browser-based access, you can work on your presentations from any device with an internet connection, ensuring that your creativity knows no bounds.
• Privacy Control with Password Protection: Privacy matters and Visme recognizes this. Protect your content with password protection, ensuring that your presentations are accessible only to the intended audience, providing you with control over your work’s visibility.

Visme encourages engaging presentations with its extensive template library, animation and interactivity options, infographic and data visualization tools, device flexibility, and privacy control, Visme empowers you to create presentations that leave a lasting impact. Whether you’re aiming to deliver engaging visual narratives or make data understandable at a glance, Visme is your canvas for crafting presentations that captivate and resonate.

10. Powtoon

Enter the realm of dynamic content creation with Powtoon. This versatile platform is available across the web, iOS, and Android, offering users a range of tools to create engaging video presentations and slide decks that stand out.

• Animation and Video Creation for Dynamic Content: Powtoon excels in turning static slides into dynamic visual experiences. With animation and video creation capabilities, your presentations come to life, ensuring that your message is conveyed with impact and creativity.
• Automatic Timing Adjustment for Seamless Flow: Say goodbye to manual timing adjustments. Powtoon’s automatic timing feature ensures that animations and transitions sync perfectly with the content displayed on each slide, maintaining a seamless flow.
• Ready-to-Use Templates for Various Industries: Save time without sacrificing quality by utilizing Powtoon’s ready-to-use templates tailored for different industries. Whether you’re creating educational content, business presentations, or marketing materials, you’ll find templates that fit your needs.
• Voiceover Recording and Syncing Capabilities: Enhance your presentations with personalized narration. Powtoon allows voiceover recording and syncing, enabling you to add your voice to your slides and connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Powtoon transforms traditional slide decks into captivating video presentations with its unparalleled animation and video creation features, automatic timing adjustment, industry-specific templates, and voiceover capabilities. Whether you’re aiming to break free from traditional presentations or looking to enhance your slide decks with dynamic video content, Powtoon offers the tools to make your presentations truly remarkable.

11. Haiku Deck

Last but not least, introducing Haiku Deck, a cloud-based software that brings a straightforward approach to crafting presentations. With its focus on simplicity, Haiku Deck redefines the presentation landscape.

• Simple to Use: Haiku Deck keeps things simple with its user-friendly interface. Navigating the platform is intuitive, making presentation creation a hassle-free experience. The platform also offers a vast collection of high-quality images and templates, providing ample resources for your design needs.
• Effective and Concise Communication: The standout feature of Haiku Deck is its emphasis on concise text and impactful visuals. Each slide is optimized for clear communication, allowing your message to shine without clutter. Whether you’re a professional or an educator, Haiku Deck provides a platform for creating effective and straightforward presentations.

In the world of presentation software, Haiku Deck stands out for its commitment to simplicity. If you’re in search of a tool that prioritizes easy navigation, quality visuals, and clear messaging, Haiku Deck is here to simplify your presentation journey.

Embrace the Evolution of Presentation Software

In this dynamic landscape of Microsoft Powerpoint software alternatives, Kdan Brief emerges as an innovation-driven powerhouse, redefining the design process with user-centric features. While each alternative showcased offers unique strengths, Kdan Brief stands out as a tool that empowers users to create interactive and creative presentations that captivate audiences.

Whether you’re a student, entrepreneur, or professional, these alternatives go beyond traditional boundaries, offering immersive experiences, advanced animations, and customization options. By embracing the innovative spirit of Kdan Brief, you can reimagine your presentation design process and craft compelling visuals that engage and resonate with your audience.

As you navigate the journey of visual communication, consider the possibilities presented by these alternatives. Elevate your presentations to new heights, captivate your audience, and leave a lasting impact in the realm of visual storytelling.

Kdan Office

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10 PowerPoint Alternatives: Features, Pricing and Insights

Are you considering improving your presentations with PowerPoint alternatives? Your concern is evident as  47% of the presenters put in more than 8 hours to create their presentation. PowerPoint is one of the first tools we have worked on to make presentations. As students or working professionals, familiarity with this old friend brings us back to it whenever we think about creating slides. 

However, if you depend solely on PowerPoint, you will miss out on more dynamic presentation options. Whether you are a presenter, educator, or working professional, it’s time to elevate your presentations with top 10 PowerPoint alternatives. 

This article will delve into a comprehensive guide on the alternatives to PowerPoint with exclusive features, usability, and pricing. From dynamic interactive features to collaboration tools, these alternatives offer diverse presentation assets that cater to your needs. In addition, get crucial tips for choosing the best PowerPoint alternative to your needs.

Table of Contents

• Free PowerPoint Alternatives

Tips for Choosing the PowerPoint Alternatives

Free powerpoint alternatives .

Presentations have evolved over the years. Your audience is always looking for visually appealing and interactive slides. Let’s explore the alternative presentation tools to PowerPoint.

DocHipo is a modern and dynamic graphic design tool that helps entrepreneurs, marketers, and content creators create beautiful documents. This graphic design software is your one-stop center for creating business essentials, general purpose, web banners, social graphics, and advertisements with the help of customizable templates. You can create anything within a few minutes with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor. Let’s explore what makes DocHipo a unique PowerPoint alternative.

Why is DocHipo the Best PowerPoint Alternative Software?

DocHipo has a variety of design assets to help you create stunning presentations. Here are the most exclusive features:

1. Hundreds of Stunning Presentation Templates for All Purposes

DocHipo offers a well-organized layout with an easy-to-use interface. Get presentation templates for diverse categories like business, marketing, pitch deck , sales, etc. These eye-catching slide templates have captivating layouts and well-planned slide content.

Explore premium templates designed by professionals for various purposes and industries, such as food, business, beauty, clothing, accessories, and more. The slides will elevate your presentations with high-quality graphics, images, and typography.  

Also, learn How to Make a Presentation: A Step-by-Step Guide with Engaging Templates .

2. Rich and Convenient Design Widgets Library

DocHipo editor is your creative space to customize your template with the help of versatile design widgets . Get plenty of shapes, icons , lines, stickers , illustrations , stock images , etc, for your niche. 

Also, experiment with different backgrounds, colors, fonts, and effects by selecting various design elements in the editor. 

3. Advanced AI Capabilities 

DocHipo offers a range of AI-powered tools to help you with your presentation. Let’s explore how these tools make your job easier.

• AI Background Remover

Craft your presentation with finesse by seamlessly blending images on the slides. With the background remover, you can remove the background from any image with a single click.

Once you have removed the background, adjust and align the image for an eye-pleasing slide. 

Learn to remove the background in DocHipo with this video.

• AI Image Generator

You don’t have to search endlessly for the perfect picture, as the DocHipo image generator can generate your desired image. Select Pictures from the design widget library and choose AI images. Further, enter the text prompt for the image.

Now, choose the style of the image as per your need.

Wait for a few seconds, and Voila! You can upload the AI-generated images to the slide. 

Explore more about text-to-image generator in DocHipo.

Want to add text to your presentation? Leave this job to DocHipo’s AI writer. Describe the topic for which you require text, as shown in the image below.

Also, choose the tone of the text content that will support your presentation. 

Once you have the output, select the add to canvas option to add text to your slides.

Explore what an AI Writer can do for you with this video.

• AI Translate

Translate your slides into any language with the AI translate tool from DocHipo. With this feature, you can select the number of slides you want to translate.

Now, select the language you want to translate your slides. 

Translate your designs into over 100 different languages with AI Translate.

4. Streamlined Integrations for Embedding Images, Videos, and Forms

There is a lot more that you can do with your presentation using DocHipo integrations. Get your hands on royalty-free, high-quality images with stock photo libraries in the DocHipo editor.

Learn all about integration with the stock images library.

Also, get stock videos to add a dynamic touch to your slides. 

Enjoy seamless sharing with email integration. 

The email-sharing option lets you directly share your presentations with the recipient’s email ID.

Learn to share documents via email in DocHipo.

Similarly, you can save your designs to Mailchimp with a single click.

You can also attach Forms at the end of your presentation for feedback from your team members.

5. Brand Kits and Themes to Align Slides with Your Brand

Align your slides using the brand kit and themes for various color combinations.

Also, upload your unique color palette using the brand kit or select from various themes to change the layout of your presentation.

Learn to apply color themes to your designs in DocHipo.

6. Smooth Page Transitions

With the Page setup option in the DocHipo editor, you can bring exciting transitions to the slides.

Just like PowerPoint, get dozens of transitions and set the speed of the transitions.

Watch how page transitions work in DocHipo.

7. Real-time Collaboration with Access Control

Create slides with your team members using real-time collaboration in DocHipo. Moreover, share your slides with access control using Read Only, Read Write, and Full Access options. Select team members and enjoy creating presentations with crucial feedback and inputs.

Check out the real-time collaboration in DocHipo.

8. Download or Present Directly via DocHipo 

After making a stunning presentation, you can download your slides in various formats like JPG, PDF, PNG, MP4, or GIF. Moreover, DocHipo also offers you a pagewise download to download selected document pages.

Check out the page-wise download feature in DocHipo. 

Present in DocHipo while switching between the slides effortlessly. Also, present with the help of a pointer to indicate important information on the slides.

Explore DocHipo to create gorgeous slides for free as long as you want. It offers beautiful layouts for customization and downloads without any watermark issues. 

For long-term use and access to more premium templates, you can upgrade to the paid plan at an affordable rate of $7.5/month per user, billed annually.

Moreover, you can subscribe in your local currency as DocHipo offers the Pro plan in 15+ currencies with country-specific pricing.

DocHipo caters to entrepreneurs, creators, marketers, and individuals who wish to create stand-out documents. It is a powerful PowerPoint alternative for beginners seeking a substitute for creating presentations.

Creating Presentations with the PowerPoint Alternative DocHipo

After discussing the many versatile features of DocHipo, let’s explore how you can successfully create a presentation. For this purpose, sign up for free with DocHipo and follow these three simple steps:

1. Choose a Template

After signing up, choose a presentation template category from the available options.

Now, select your favorite template to get started with customizations.

2. Customize Your Template

In the DocHipo editor, you can edit slide layout color and font and add shapes, icons, stickers, etc. 

 Further, add stock images and widget effects to make your slides eye-catching.

While editing, remember to apply transitions to all the pages to create a dynamic slide show.

3. Download or Present Your Design

After making all the changes, click on the three dots at the upper right corner and select the download or present option.

2. Google Slides

Google Slides is a resourceful PowerPoint alternative with diverse presentation templates. The user interface is close to PowerPoint, making it an easy tool for beginners. You can easily access Google Slides with your Google account. Moreover, the online software autosaves works to Google for easy access from anywhere in the world. Present your slides effortlessly as the software supports presentation in Chrome Cast and Google Play.

As a PowerPoint alternative, Google Slides offers exciting features like theme builder, audio, video upload, and real-time collaboration. Although a great presentation maker, Google Slides can introduce advanced AI capabilities for a better experience.

Google Slides is entirely free for personal use. However, if you wish to use Google Slides for business, you can access it through the paid plan at $12/month per user, billed annually.

It is suitable for people well accustomed to the Google ecosystem to enjoy the seamless accessibility of Google apps. The template collection is ideal for entrepreneurs, educators, and professionals.

Despite plenty of PowerPoint alternatives, Prezi stands out for creative and non-linear presentations. Non-linear presentations are highly appealing as they move smoothly by zooming in without breaking the presentation into slides. Along with eye-catching visuals, Prezi offers advanced image editing, sharing, and collaboration options with access control on your documents.

Overall, Prezi gives you an edge over conventional slide-oriented presentations but will not work for people looking for slides in the presentation.

You can try Prezi for free with limited features. 

Prezi provides various paid plans for its users:

• Plus plan: $12/month per user, billed annually.
• Premium plan: $16/month per user, billed annually.

Prezi is suitable for students, educators, and businesses.

We will inevitably come across Canva as an alternative to PowerPoint. Canva is a popular option that many people prefer to use for its user-friendliness. The software offers numerous presentation templates for several categories. You can stand out with Canva’s cinematic presentations to add a unique touch to your slide show. Also, Canva is a powerful alternative to PowerPoint with abundant icons, shapes, stock images, and advanced features.

Moreover, you can collaborate and present directly from Canva. Overall, Canva offers a lot of robust capabilities, but users may note that many of them are behind the paywall.

Canva has a free plan. 

It also offers paid plans to access premium templates and robust features:

• Canva Pro: $119.99/ year per person.
• Canva for Teams: $300/ year total for the first five people.

If you are a beginner at creating PowerPoint presentations, Canva can be your perfect tool. The templates are suitable for creators, marketers, and educators.

5. VistaCreate

VistaCreate is an online graphic design tool that helps you create business-related content, social media, marketing, or advertising. This PowerPoint alternative is a handy option with hundreds of premium presentation templates. Creating slides in VistaCreate is a cakewalk with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor. Further, you can utilize many creative assets like animation, stock images, videos, and audio files. Create on-brand presentations with brand kit and style options to customize the color palette of the slides. The software also offers convenient sharing options on multiple social networks.

VistaCreate can introduce advanced capabilities to provide a holistic design experience to its users. Also, the collaboration option is behind the paywall.

A free plan is available with limited access to features and storage.

The Pro plan is at $10/month per user for complete access to all the design assets, billed annually. 

VistaCreate presentation templates are ideal for stakeholders, colleagues, professionals, etc.

Pitch is an all-around presentation maker and analytical tool. The software aims to provide an end-to-end solution for all the presentation-related issues. Among all the PowerPoint alternatives, Pitch makes a mark with an AI presentation maker that works as per your instructions. Moreover, users get numerous high-quality presentation templates, stock images and videos, multiple sharing options, and collaboration with access control. 

Also, get streamlined integrations with Google Analytics and Google Sheets for easy access to your data. In addition, you can present directly via Pitch along with a speaker view setting. Pitch can introduce additional tools to help the users, such as an image generator, background remover, etc.

Pitch offers a free plan for individuals and teams.

The paid plans include:

• Pro plan: $20/month for two members, billed annually.
• Business plan: $80/month for five members, billed annually.

Pitch is a suitable presentation maker tool for businesses, websites, and professionals.

7. Piktochart

If you want a minimalistic PowerPoint alternative, Piktochart should be your first choice. It is simple and well-organized for making data-rich presentations. Piktochart specializes in creating infographics, presentations, and reports. The software assists you with various charts, maps, and graphs to represent information in a visually appealing manner. Also, it takes care of the privacy of your documents by providing access control while sharing documents.

Being a minimalistic software, Piktochart lacks many advanced features. Further, users may note that most assets are behind the paywall.

Piktochart offers a free plan for its users.

Moreover, there are different paid plans:

• Pro plan: $14/ month, per user (billed annually) with 100 GB storage.
• Business plan:  $24/month, paid per user(billed annually) with 250 GB storage
• Custom pricing for Enterprise depends on the utility of the software.

Business professionals and entrepreneurs can use Piktochart to create data-driven slides.

8. Apple Keynote

Apple Keynote is an essential PowerPoint alternative for MAC users. While Apple users struggle a lot while searching for alternatives, Keynote enhances the accessibility and connectivity across various Apple devices. Further, it makes creating presentations easy with dozens of gorgeous template layouts. The software also offers real-time collaborations for teams. You can also experiment with backgrounds, charts, image galleries, etc. 

Additionally, you can use advanced tools like built-in image editor and background remover. Although it is a robust software, it is only accessible to people with Apple ID.

The software is entirely free for Apple users.

People who primarily use Apple products will enjoy the Keynote experience while making presentations.

9. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is an online presentation maker tool in the Workplace Bundle suite. With minimalist and contextual UI, you can create and upload your presentations on Zoho. Zoho offers various animations and transitions to revamp your presentation. Like other alternatives to PowerPoint, Zoho provides stock images, icons, graphs, and videos for your slides. Also, you can easily collaborate and broadcast presentations with others.

The software is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. The diverse range of integrations with Jira, Confluence, Slack, and Zapier make it a versatile presentation tool.

Zoho is highly focused on business professionals and corporates and thus offers only standard presentation functionality.

The software is free for individuals.

Zoho offers a professional plan for teams and organizations at $2.50/ month per user, billed annually.

Zoho is most suitable for corporates, business professionals, and educators.

Last but not least, this PowerPoint alternative offers much. With hundreds of presentation templates for diverse categories, you can find templates for anything with Visme. To enhance your slides, Visme offers several images, videos, GIFs, mockups, etc. Furthermore, you can present data with eye-catching charts, graphs, maps, diagrams, etc, with Visme’s extensive collections of data widgets. 

Working with a team is easy with this software as it offers real-time collaboration. 

Visme offers a free plan and two paid programs:

• Starter Plan- $12.25/month per user, billed annually.
• Pro Plan- $24.75/ month, billed annually.

Visme’s presentation templates are suitable for businesses, marketers, and entrepreneurs.

After so many alternatives for creating presentations, you might feel confused about choosing one. Here are some tips to help you find a suitable PowerPoint alternative.

1. Check out the Features and Functionality

All the alternatives have a free plan where you can try the features and functionalities of the tool. Notice the overall collection of templates, accessible tools, and assets like collaboration. 

Also, consider whether you need animation, video embedding, collaborative editing, etc.

2. Ensure the Ease of Use of PowerPoint Alternatives

After getting a hang of the presentation tool, you can ensure that it is user-friendly or has a complex interface. User-friendly alternatives will help you to create excellent presentations in a short span of time.

3. Check the Compatibility and Accessibility

Depending on your device and operating system, the PowerPoint alternative should be compatible with it. Moreover, ensure the accessibility and connectivity of the tool by exploring the sharing options.

4. Explore the Templates and Customization Options

Check whether the template collection aligns with your taste and the purpose of the presentation. 

Also, check the level of customization the software allows. You should keep an eye out for all the design assets available with the software that can enhance the visual appeal of the slides.

5. Check the Pricing Structure

For long-term use, set a budget, and consider the pricing structure of the software. Also, consider the features and assets available for free and in the paid plan. 

7. Ensure Privacy and Security of the PowerPoint Alternative

Your presentation can hold sensitive information about your business. Therefore, ensure that the software offers robust security for your documents while storing or sharing documents.

8. Reviews and Recommendations

You can rely on reviews and recommendations about the software from the people in your field. Take note of what they point out about the strengths and weaknesses of the software.

Further Reading

• 10 Canva Alternatives: Features, Pricing, and In-Depth Analysis
• 10 Fotor Alternatives: Features, Pricing, and Selection Guide
• 10 Visme Alternatives: Features and Pricing with Selection Guide
• 10 VistaCreate Alternatives: Features, Pricing and Selection Tips

Getting Started with the PowerPoint Alternatives

We have explored many PowerPoint alternatives, their features, pricing, and suitability. Some have advanced capabilities, while others can be a pinch in your pocket. But you have to start with an advanced yet affordable alternative. Go ahead with DocHipo! Sign up for free and try all the features that too at an affordable price. Easily create interactive and dynamic presentations with DocHipo to make a lasting impression.

What is better than PowerPoint?

Many PowerPoint alternatives have better or similar capabilities, like DocHipo, Prezi, Google Slides, Pitch, Zoho Show, VistaCreate, etc.

How much does PowerPoint cost?

You can buy PowerPoint at $159.99 or get a monthly subscription for Microsoft 365 at $6.99/month.

Is There a Free Version of PowerPoint?

You can access the free version of PowerPoint with a Microsoft account by using Microsoft 365 in the browser. You are required to buy the app to download it to your desktop.

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The best AI image generators to try right now

If you've ever searched Google high and low to find an image you needed to no avail, artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to help. 

With AI image generators, you can type in a prompt as detailed or vague as you'd like to fit an array of purposes and have the image you were thinking of instantly pop up on your screen. These tools can help with branding, social media content creation, and making invitations, flyers, business cards, and more.

Also: ChatGPT no longer requires a login, but you might want one anyway. Here's why

Even if you have no professional use for AI, don't worry -- the process is so fun that anyone can (and should) try it out.

OpenAI's DALL-E 2 made a huge splash because of its advanced capabilities as the first mainstream AI image generator. However, since its initial launch, there have been many developments. Other companies have released models that rival DALL-E 2, and OpenAI even released a more advanced model known as DALL-E 3 , discontinuing its predecessor. 

To help you discover which models are the best for different tasks, I put the image generators to the test by giving each tool the same prompt: "Two Yorkies sitting on a beach that is covered in snow". I also included screenshots to help you decide which is best. 

Also: DALL-E adds new ways to edit and create AI-generated images. Learn how to use it

While I found the best overall AI image generator is Image Creator from Microsoft Designer , due to its free-of-charge, high-quality results, other AI image generators perform better for specific needs. For the full roundup of the best AI image generators, keep reading. 

The best AI image generators of 2024

Image creator from microsoft designer (formerly bing image creator), best ai image generator overall.

• Powered by DALL-E 3
• Convenient to access
• Need a Microsoft account
• In preview stage

Image Creator from Microsoft Designer is powered by DALL-E 3, OpenAI's most advanced image-generating model. As a result, it produces the same quality results as DALL-E while remaining free to use as opposed to the $20 per month fee to use DALL-E. 

All you need to do to access the image generator is visit the Image Creator website and sign in with a Microsoft account. 

Another major perk about this AI generator is that you can also access it in the same place where you can access Microsoft's AI chatbot, Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) . 

This capability means that in addition to visiting Image Creator on its standalone site, you can ask it to generate images for you in Copilot. To render an image, all you have to do is conversationally ask Copilot to draw you any image you'd like. 

Also:   How to use Image Creator from Microsoft Designer (formerly Bing Image Creator)

This feature is so convenient because you can satisfy all your image-generating and AI-chatting needs in the same place for free. This combination facilitates tasks that could benefit from image and text generation, such as party planning, as you can ask the chatbot to generate themes for your party and then ask it to create images that follow the theme.

Image Creator from Microsoft Designer f eatures:  Powered by:  DALL-E 3 |  Access via:  Copilot, browser, mobile |  Output:  4 images per prompt |  P rice:  Free 

DALL-E 3 by OpenAI

Best ai image generator if you want to experience the inspiration.

• Not copyrighted
• Accurate depictions
• Confusing credits

OpenAI, the AI research company behind ChatGPT, launched DALL-E 2 in November 2022. The tool quickly became the most popular AI image generator on the market. However, after launching its most advanced image generator, DALL-E 3, OpenAI discontinued DALL-E 2. 

DALL-E 3 is even more capable than the original model, but this ability comes at a cost. To access DALL-E 3 you must be a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, and the membership costs $20 per month per user. You can access DALL-E 3 via ChatGPT or the ChatGPT app.

Using DALL-E 3 is very intuitive. Type in whatever prompt you'd like, specifying as much detail as necessary to bring your vision to life, and then DALL-E 3 will generate four images from your prompt. As you can see in the image at the top of the article, the renditions are high quality and very realistic.

OpenAI even recently added new ways to edit an image generated by the chatbot, including easy conversational text prompts and the ability to click on parts of the image you want to edit. 

Like with Copilot, you can chat and render your images on the same platform, making it convenient to work on projects that depend on image and text generation. If you don't want to shell out the money,  Image Creator by Designer  is a great alternative since it's free, uses DALL-E 3, and can be accessed via Copilot.

DALL-E 3 features: Powered by:  DALL-E 3 by OpenAI |  Access via:  ChatGPT website and app |  Output:  4 images per credit |  Price:  ChatGPT Plus subscription, $20 per month

ImageFX by Google

The best ai image generator for beginners.

• Easy-to-use
• High-quality results
• Expressive chips
• Need a Google account
• Strict guardrails can be limiting

Google's ImageFX was a dark horse, entering the AI image generator space much later than its competition, over a year after DALL-E 2 launched. However, the generator's performance seems to have been worth the wait. The image generator can produce high-quality, realistic outputs, even objects that are difficult to render, such as hands. 

Also: I just tried Google's ImageFX AI image generator, and I'm shocked at how good it is

The tool boasts a unique feature, expressive chips, that make it easier to refine your prompts or generate new ones via dropdowns, which highlight parts of your prompt and suggest different word changes to modify your output.

ImageFX also includes suggestions for the style you'd like your image rendered in, such as photorealistic, 35mm film, minimal, sketch, handmade, and more. This combination of features makes ImageFX the perfect for beginners who want to experiment. 

ImageFX from Google: Powered by:  Imagen 2  | Access via:  Website |  Output:  4 images |  Price:  free 

DreamStudio by Stability AI

Best ai image generator for customization.

• Accepts specific instruction
• Open source
• More entries for customization
• Paid credits
• Need to create an account

Stability AI created the massively popular, open-sourced, text-to-image generator, Stable Diffusion. Users can download the tool and use it at no cost. However, using this tool typically requires technical skill. 

Also :  How to use Stable Diffusion AI to create amazing images

To make the technology readily accessible to everyone (regardless of skill level), Stability AI created DreamStudio, which incorporates Stable Diffusion in a UI that is easy to understand and use. 

One of the standouts of the platform is that it includes many different entries for customization, including a "negative prompt" where you can delineate the specifics of what you'd like to avoid in the final image. You can also easily change the image ratio -- that's a key feature, as most AI image generators automatically deliver 1:1. 

DreamStudio features: Powered by:  SDXL 1.0 by Stability AI  | Access via:  Website |  Output:  1 image per 2 credits |  Price:  $1 per 100 credits |  Credits:  25 free credits when you open an account; buy purchase once you run out

Dream by WOMBO

Best ai image generator for your phone.

• Remix your own images
• Multiple templates
• One image per prompt
• Subscription cost for full access

This app took the first-place spot for the best overall app in Google Play's 2022 awards , and it has five stars on Apple's App Store with 141.6K ratings. With the app, you can create art and images with the simple input of a quick prompt. 

An added plus is this AI image generator allows you to pick different design styles such as realistic, expressionist, comic, abstract, fanatical, ink, and more. 

Also :  How to use Dream by WOMBO to generate artwork in any style

In addition to the app, the tool has a free desktop mobile version that is simple to use. If you want to take your use of the app to the next level, you can pay $90 per year or $10 per month.

Dream by WOMBO f eatures: Powered by:  WOMBO AI's machine-learning algorithm |  Access via:  Mobile and desktop versions |  Output:  1 image with a free version, 4 with a paid plan |  Price:  Free limited access

Best no-frills AI image generator

• Unlimited access
• Simple to use
• Longer wait
• Inconsistent images

Despite originally being named DALL-E mini, this AI image generator is NOT affiliated with OpenAI or DALL-E 2. Rather, it is an open-source alternative. However, the name DALL-E 2 mini is somewhat fitting as the tool does everything DALL-E 2 does, just with less precise renditions. 

Also :  How to use Craiyon AI (formerly known as DALL-E mini)

Unlike DALL-E 2, the outputs from Craiyon lack quality and take longer to render (approximately a minute). However, because you have unlimited prompts, you can continue to tweak the prompt until you get your exact vision. The site is also simple to use, making it perfect for someone wanting to experiment with AI image generators. It also generates six images, more than any other chatbot listed. 

Craiyon f eatures: Powered by:  Their model |  Access via :  Craiyon website  |  Output:  6 images per prompt |  Price:  Free, unlimited prompts 

Best AI image generator for highest quality photos

• Very high-quality outputs
• Discord community
• Monthly cost
• Confusing to set up

I often play around with AI image generators because they make it fun and easy to create digital artwork. Despite all my experiences with different AI generators, nothing could have prepared me for Midjourney -- in the best way. 

The output of the image was so crystal clear that I had a hard time believing it wasn't an actual picture that someone took of my prompt. This software is so good that it has produced award-winning art .

However, I think Midjourney isn't user-friendly and it confuses me. If you also need extra direction, check out our step-by-step how-to here: How to use Midjourney to generate amazing images and art .

Another problem with the tool is that you may not access it for free. When I tried to render images, I got this error message: "Due to extreme demand, we can't provide a free trial right now. Please subscribe to create images with Midjourney."

To show you the quality of renditions, I've included a close-up below from a previous time I tested the generator. The prompt was: "A baby Yorkie sitting on a comfy couch in front of the NYC skyline." 

Midjourney f eatures: Powered by:  Midjourney; utilizes Discord |  Access via:  Discord |  Output:  4 images per prompt |  Price:  Starts at $10/month

Adobe Firefly

Best ai image generator if you have a reference photo.

• Structure and Style Reference
• Commercial-safe
• Longer lag than other generators
• More specific prompts required

Adobe has been a leader in developing creative tools for creative and working professionals for decades. As a result, it's no surprise that its image generator is impressive. Accessing the generator is easy. Just visit the website and type the prompt of the image you'd like generated. 

Also: This new AI tool from Adobe makes generating the images you need even simpler

As you can see above, the images rendered of the Yorkies are high-quality, realistic, and detailed. Additionally, the biggest standout features of this chatbot are its Structure Reference and Style Reference features. 

Structure Reference lets users input an image they want the AI model to use as a template. The model then uses this structure to create a new image with the same layout and composition. Style Reference uses an image as a reference to generate a new image in the same style. 

These features are useful if you have an image you'd like the new, generated image to resemble, for example, a quick sketch you drew or even a business logo or style you'd like to keep consistent. 

Another perk is that Adobe Firefly was trained on Adobe Stock images, openly licensed content, and public domain content, making all the images generated safe for commercial use and addressing the ethics issue of image generators. 

Adobe Firefly f eatures:  Powered by:  Firefly Image 2 |  Access via:  Website |  Output:  4 images per prompt |  P rice:  Free 

Generative AI by Getty Images

Best ai image generator for businesses.

• Commercially safe
• Contributor compensation program
• Personalized stock photos
• Not clear about pricing
• Not individual-friendly

One of the biggest issues with AI image generators is that they typically train their generators on content from the entirety of the internet, which means the generators use aspects of creators' art without compensation. This approach also puts businesses that use generators at risk of copyright infringement. 

Generative AI by Getty Images tackles that issue by generating images with content solely from Getty Images' vast creative library with full indemnification for commercial use. The generated images will have Getty Images' standard royalty-free license, assuring customers that their content is fair to use without fearing legal repercussions.

Another pro is that contributors whose content was used to train the models will be compensated for their inclusion in the training set. This is a great solution for businesses that want stock photos that match their creative vision but do not want to deal with copyright-related issues. 

ZDNET's Tiernan Ray went hands-on with the AI image generator. Although the tool did not generate the most vivid images, especially compared to DALL-E, it did create accurate, reliable, and useable stock images. 

Generative AI by Getty Images f eatures:  Powered by:  NVIDIA Picasso |  Access via:  Website |  Output:  4 images per prompt |  P rice:  Paid (price undisclosed, have to contact the team)

What is the best AI image generator?

Image Creator from Microsoft Designer is the best overall AI image generator. Like DALL-E 3, Image Creator from Microsoft Designer combines accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness, and can generate high-quality images in seconds. However, unlike DALL-E 3, this Microsoft version is entirely free.

Whether you want to generate images of animals, objects, or even abstract concepts, Image Creator from Microsoft Designer can produce accurate depictions that meet your expectations. It is highly efficient, user-friendly, and cost-effective.

Note: Prices and features are subject to change.

Which is the right AI image generator for you?

Although I crowned Image Creator from Microsoft Designer the best AI image generator overall, other AI image generators perform better for specific needs. For example, suppose you are a professional using AI image generation for your business. In that case, you may need a tool like Generative AI by Getty Images which renders images safe for commercial use. 

On the other hand, if you want to play with AI art generating for entertainment purposes, Craiyon might be the best option because it's free, unlimited, and easy to use. 

How did I choose these AI image generators?

To find the best AI image generators, I tested each generator listed and compared their performance. The factors that went into testing performance included UI/UX, image results, cost, speed, and availability. Each AI image generator had different strengths and weaknesses, making each one the ideal fit for individuals as listed next to my picks. 

What is an AI image generator?

An AI image generator is software that uses AI to create images from user text inputs, usually within seconds. The images vary in style depending on the capabilities of the software, but can typically render an image in any style you want, including 3D, 2D, cinematic, modern, Renaissance, and more. 

How do AI image generators work?

Like any other AI model, AI image generators work on learned data they are trained with. Typically, these models are trained on billions of images, which they analyze for characteristics. These insights are then used by the models to create new images.

Are there ethical implications with AI image generators?

AI image generators are trained on billions of images found throughout the internet. These images are often artworks that belong to specific artists, which are then reimagined and repurposed by AI to generate your image. Although the output is not the same image, the new image has elements of the artist's original work not credited to them. 

Are there DALL-E 3 alternatives worth considering?

Contrary to what you might think, there are many AI image generators other than DALL-E 3. Some tools produce even better results than OpenAI's software. If you want to try something different, check out one of our alternatives above or the three additional options below. 

Nightcafe is a multi-purpose AI image generator. The tool is worth trying because it allows users to create unique and original artwork using different inputs and styles, including abstract, impressionism, expressionism, and more.

Canva is a versatile and powerful AI image generator that offers a wide range of options within its design platform. It allows users to create professional-looking designs for different marketing channels, including social media posts, ads, flyers, brochures, and more. 

Artificial Intelligence

Google and mit launch a free generative ai course for teachers, google photos users will soon get the best ai editing tools on pixel devices for free, dall-e adds new ways to edit and create ai-generated images. learn how to use it.

5 Free Ways To Remove An Image Background On Windows 11

E ven if you're not a professional photographer or graphic designer, you'll encounter everyday situations where you might need to remove the background from your images. Say you're creating a class presentation and want to add the school logo to the page. If it had a transparent background, it would blend onto the slide more seamlessly. The same goes if you're designing a brochure. Transparent backgrounds for the products make more sense since they would make things look cohesive, as opposed to the images awkwardly standing out with white backgrounds.

When it comes to removing image backgrounds, most folks' immediate thought is to use Photoshop. But although it's an essential app for photographers , not everyone is ready to shell out $22.99 a month just to use it for erasing the background from images. Fortunately, you don't need to spend even a single cent to accomplish that task especially if you're on a Windows desktop. Here are five free ways to remove image backgrounds on Windows 11.

Read more: Major PC Monitor Brands Ranked Worst To Best

Using The Photos App

One thing you probably don't know you can do on the Windows Photos app is remove the background of images. This feature was introduced to Windows Insider participants late last year and is yet to roll out to all users. To access it, you'd have to sign up for the Insiders program (which is free and easy to set up) and get the updated version of the Photos app from the Microsoft Store. After doing so, follow these steps to remove your image background in Photos:

• Use Photos to view the picture you need to remove the background.
• Click the Edit option in the top left.
• Select the Background tab on the upper left. The tool will then automatically identify which part of your image is the background.
• Add more areas to your background. Select Add mask and adjust the brush size to your liking. Brush over the areas you need to turn into the background.
• Deselect selected areas from the background. Hit Remove mask. Change the brush size as needed before covering the parts you want to remove. Zoom in to the area for better precision.
• Once you have your chosen background ready, press Remove to make it transparent.
• (Optional) Add a solid color as the background by selecting Replace instead. Then, choose your hue from the color picker or enter its hex or RGB code.
• Press Save options > Save or Save as copy to save your photo.

Using Paint

When you want to draw or create simple graphics on Windows, you typically turn to Paint. But more than just a graphics tool, Paint is also a basic photo editing app for desktops, and it comes complete with an image background remover for your convenience. However, this feature is only available to Windows Insiders users, so you'd first need to join the program. Once you have your PC set up with the Insiders build, here's what you need to do to remove an image background with Paint:

• Open your photo in Paint.
• Press Fit to window on the bottom-right corner (next to the zoom controls) to get a full view of the image.
• In the Image section on the ribbon, select Remove background. This will automatically delete the background and leave it as transparent.
• (Optional) Replace the transparent background with a solid color.
• Choose your color in the Colors section. You can select one of the preset colors or click on the color picker to add a custom shade.
• Select the Fill icon in the Tools section.
• Click on the transparent background to fill it with your chosen color.
• Save your image as PNG to keep the transparent background. Navigate to File > Save as > PNG picture. Otherwise, just hit Ctrl + S to save your changes.

Using Paint 3D

While Paint 3D is designed for making 3D art and models, it also has a hidden tool called Magic Select that allows you to remove the background from photos. Magic Select is actually for separating selected objects from the background, but you can also use it to cut your object out of the picture and then delete the background afterward. This functionality is available to all Windows users. Here's a how to remove image backgrounds using Paint 3D's Magic Select tool:

• Launch Paint 3D.
• Press Open.
• Open your image of choice.
• Click Magic select on the top-left of the screen.
• Drag the selection outline to surround the object you want to keep.
• Hit Next. Paint 3D will automatically separate the object from the background.
• (Optional) If the initial cutout isn't to your liking, click Add to include the missing parts or Remove to delete selected parts that shouldn't be included. Then, draw an outline around the parts you want to select/deselect.
• Once you're happy with the object selection, press Done.
• Click on the cutout you just made.
• Drag it to the side, outside of the background.
• Select the remaining background by left-clicking on the upper left corner and dragging the selection window to the image's bottom right corner. Make sure not to select your object cutout.
• Click on delete on the right-side panel.
• Reposition the cutout on the empty canvas.
• Resize it as needed.
• Press Ctrl + S.
• Under Save as copy, select Image.
• Change the "Save as type" to PNG.
• Check the box for Transparency to turn the background transparent. Otherwise, keep it unmarked to have a white background.

Aside from the built-in apps, there are also photo editors you can install to remove the background from your image. One of them is GIMP , which is best known as a free alternative to Photoshop . Here's how to use the app to erase your image background:

• Install GIMP on your PC if you haven't already.
• Launch the app.
• Open your picture by pressing Ctrl + O and selecting it from your local storage.
• Navigate to Layer > New Layer.
• In the New Layer dialog box, make sure the "Fill with" option is set to Transparency.
• Go to Image > Merge Visible Layers.
• Hit Merge in the Merge Layers dialog box to proceed.
• Select the Bucket Fill tool in the left-side panel.
• In the Bucket Fill options that appear, change the Mode to Erase, Opacity to 100.0, Fill Type to BG color fill, and Affected Area to Fill similar colors.
• Click the background on your photo. You may need to repeatedly click on the image to remove all traces of the background. For more precision, zoom into the image by clicking the percentage at the bottom of the image and selecting up to 800%.
• To save the edited picture, select File > Export As. Then, change the Select File Type to PNG image before pressing Export. In the Export dialog box, hit Export again.

Using Online Image Background Removers

If you're not into installing and using apps, there's a host of image background removers you can access right from your browser. Here's a rundown of how to use two of the most popular options:

• Visit the Adobe Express image background remover page .
• Press Upload your photo.
• Click the browse section.
• Choose your image from your local storage. Adobe Express currently only supports JPG, JPEG, and PNG formats with a maximum of 40 MB file size.
• Wait for the tool to delete the background from your image.
• Hit Download. You'll need to sign in with your Adobe account or create a new one to proceed.
• Head over to the remove.bg website.
• Add your photo to the browser by clicking on Upload Image. You can also opt to drag and drop the picture, paste it from your clipboard, or use the image's URL.
• (Optional) Press Add background to replace the transparent background with a photo, color, or a blur effect.
• (Optional) Click on Erase/Restore if you want to remove areas in the remaining object (and make them part of the background) or restore parts of what was initially removed to include them in your object again. Change your Brush Size and turn on Magic Brush. This automatically selects objects for you without having to tediously brush over the entire area. Press Done to save your changes.
• Select Download to save your edited photo. Note that this has a lower resolution than your original image. If you want to get the same high-quality image, press Download HD then sign up. However, only your first download is free. For your subsequent edits, you'd have to either buy credits or avail of the subscription plans.

Read the original article on SlashGear .

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2024 Conference "Alternative Spiritualities of Celebration, Resistance, and Accountability"

Registration now open for in-person and virtual participation, dates: april 24-27, 2024.

Registration Link

Harvard Divinity School’s Program for the Evolution of Spirituality is delighted to announce that our spring 2024 conference will be organized around the theme of “Alternative Spiritualities of Celebration, Resistance, and Accountability: Engaging Our Colonial and Decolonial Contexts.”

We're excited to announce that the conference schedule is now live! We've curated a diverse array of sessions designed to foster learning, discussion, and community. We encourage you to review the schedule and plan your conference experience accordingly. The full schedule can be accessed through this  Conference Schedule Link.

Our conference will explore the many ways in which spiritual practices, especially those from beyond the religious mainstream, mirror and resist the imperial contexts in which they are rooted. Given the pervasiveness of imperial, extractive and settler colonialist systems, we assume that all spiritualities have colonial dimensions and, as such, have possibilities for anti-colonial or decolonial responses. 

We are pleased to announce that registration for the conference is completely free. It is important to highlight that lodging is not included with your registration, and all participants are responsible for their own accommodation arrangements. 

While to conference remains free, we regret to inform you that we have reached our limit for meal availability. We encourage you to register at your earliest convenience to secure your participation and take advantage of the full conference experience. 

For registration, please visit our  Registration Link . 

Volunteer Opportunities for the 2024 Conference

As we gear up for an enriching conference experience, we invite you to play a more involved role. We're seeking volunteers for key positions to help ensure the event runs smoothly. This is a fantastic opportunity to engage more deeply with the content and speakers. Detailed instructions for volunteers will be provided closer to the conference date.

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Room Chair (In-person Registrants Only):  Introduce speakers, manage session flow, and cater to in-person audience needs.
• Zoom Chair (Virtual & In-person Registrants) : Manage the Zoom audience, include virtual participants in discussions, and oversee Zoom recording.
• Tech Support (HDS Affiliates Only) : Manage technical setup, ensure tech functions smoothly, and join the tech rehearsal on Monday at 4 PM in Sperry Room.  Attendance at the rehearsal is highly recommended but not required.  Volunteers serving as Tech Support for 3 sessions will be compensated with meals even if you did not register previously.

Interested in volunteering? Please complete this  Conference Volunteer Google Form  to express your interest and availability.

Hosting Opportunities:

Are you local to the Cambridge area? In a few weeks, HDS will be hosting scholars and spiritual leaders from around the world as part of the annual Program for the Evolution of Spirituality conference. Many of these conference goers are coming on a limited budget, and it is our goal to make participation as affordable as possible. Accordingly, we are now seeking members of the HDS community to host them, thus avoiding the high cost of hotels near Cambridge.

If you have space in your home to host one or two people between April 24 and April 27, we’d love to hear from you. And we’d also love for you to spread the word to others who might be able to do this.

We are asking potential hosts to fill out this  Host Information Form . You’ll be asked to detail the kind of accommodations you’re willing to provide. We are hoping to match guests to hosts by Wednesday, April 10, so if you are able to complete the form in the next few days, that would be wonderful. If you have any questions, please write to Russell Powell ( [email protected] ).

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How can I view the eclipse without glasses? Here are some safe, alternative ways to see it

Watching the light pass through tree leaves. Peering into a modified cereal box. Angling a kitchen colander. You can view the partial solar eclipse on Monday using these safe, alternative methods and more.

If you weren't able to travel to totality, professors at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville have tips on how to  view the eclipse in fun, safe alternative ways  no matter where you live in Tennessee.

Solar eclipse 2024: Here's where to watch it in Mississippi

While this will be a total eclipse in many states in North America, it won't be in Mississippi.  Memphis  will see maximum coverage of around 97% at 1:57 p.m. CDT.

If you were not able to travel or get the special glasses needed to see the eclipse, here are seven alternative ways to view it.

Tree leaves project mini partial solar eclipses

A fun way to view the eclipse is by watching the light pass through tree leaves. Sunlight will project mini eclipses onto the ground as the light passes through gaps in the leaves.

You will be able to track the progress of the eclipse from start to finish, and see a cool natural effect.

Use a colander to show the partial solar eclipse

Similar to leaves, you can use a colander to project mini eclipses. The light will pass through the small holes in a colander to create a dazzling sight of tiny eclipses on the ground or on a canvas.

Senior lecturer and astronomy coordinator at UT Sean Lindsay likes this method as it's a more direct and safe way of showing the progress of an eclipse.

Create a pinhole projector to see the partial solar eclipse

With a  pinhole projector , sunlight travels through the pinhole to create a small image of the sun. The projector makes it safe to observe the partial solar eclipse if you don't have eclipse glasses.

All you need to do is take a piece of cardboard, cut an inch square in the middle, tape foil over the square and poke a small hole in the foil. Afterwards, angle the cardboard so the light travels through the hole and onto another piece of cardboard to show an image of the sun.

Warby Parker provided a guide on how to  DIY your own pinhole projector , or check out  NASA's video tutorial .

How to turn a box into a pinhole projector to view the eclipse

Another way to make a pinhole projector includes a box, tape, scissors, foil and paper.

Find a cardboard box you can comfortably place over your head. Cut a square hole on one end of the box and tape the foil over it. Poke a small hole in the foil. On the opposite side, tape a piece of paper inside the box.

Once its ready, turn your back to the sun and place the box over your head. Angle the box so the light goes through the hole and projects onto the paper. Now you can see the eclipse.

Convert a cereal box into a partial solar eclipse viewer

You can also make a pinhole projector using a cereal box.  NASA provides instructions  on how to craft one.

Empty the contents of the box and place a white piece of paper or cardboard at the bottom. Cut both ends of the top leaving just the center flaps. Tape the center to keep it closed. Cover one of the openings with foil and poke a small hole into the foil, but leave the other side open.

Once the cereal box is ready, you will need to turn away from the sun, angle the box so sunlight goes through the hole and peer into the box from the opening. The light will project an image of the sun onto the bottom of the box.

Turn a shoebox into a partial solar eclipse viewer

The cereal box method  works with shoeboxes , too.

Cut a small hole on one end of the shoebox and tape foil over it. Poke a small hole in the foil. Tape a small piece of paper inside the shoebox on the other end.

You can cut a hole to look into either on the foil side or on the long side of the shoebox near the paper for a closer view. When it's ready, close the shoebox and angle it so the sunlight passes through the pinhole, down the length of the shoebox and onto the paper. It will project an image of the sun inside.

Use your hands to view the partial solar eclipse

Take both hands and  overlap your fingers  with one hand vertical and the other horizontal. Your fingers should cross over each other and form square gaps.

Now, angle your hands so sunlight hits them. Sunlight will pass through the gaps like pinholes, projecting mini eclipses onto the ground or a canvas.

What time is the solar eclipse on Monday? What will it look like?

See when the eclipse will be visible based on ZIP code or city in the search box below.

Keenan Thomas is a higher education reporter. Email  [email protected] . X, formerly known as Twitter  @specialk2real .

No solar eclipse glasses? Use a Saltine or Ritz cracker, pasta strainer or slotted spoon

If you don't have solar eclipse glasses for april 8, 2024, check your kitchen if you have crackers, a pasta strainer or slotted spoon, you can see the eclipse..

• In Florida, expect to see a thin or fat crescent shape Monday, April 8, 2024, during the Great American Eclipse.
• In Florida, it's referred to as a partial solar eclipse, which starts at 12:35 p.m. CDT through 4:20 p.m. EDT Monday, April 8, 2024.

Before your eyes spy the Great American Eclipse or  Total Solar Eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024 , be sure to protect them.

Though Florida is not in the path of totality for the April 8 celestial event , the eclipse can still be seen via protective solar eclipse glasses, shadows on the ground or other creative (and safe) means . Interestingly, you can find some items in your kitchen pantry or the kitchen utensil drawer.

Experts warn people should not look up directly at the sun to avoid blindness or damage to the eyes.

Below is a safety guide on what to do and what not to do to protect your eyes when watching the Great American Eclipse and creative means to view it if you don't have solar eclipse glasses .

When is the Great American Eclipse 2024 ? What are the major eclipses in the US?

The much-anticipated Great American Eclipse is Monday, April 8, 2024, and times vary for max viewing opportunities all across the U.S. (see graphic below).

In case you’re wondering, there are three notable solar eclipses viewable from the U.S., and two of them happened already: the Great American Solar Eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017 , the Great American Eclipse or “ ring of fire ” that occurred Oct. 14, 2023, and now the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024 . Florida was not in the path of totality for any of these. However, and this will be true for the April 2024 eclipse, skywatchers from hundreds of miles outside the path were still able to see a partial solar eclipse from the 2017 and 2023 astrological events.

Can the Great American Eclipse, Total Solar Eclipse 2024 be seen in Florida?

Though Florida is not in the path of totality for the April 8, 2024, Total Solar Eclipse, the eclipse can still be seen via protective solar eclipse glasses, shadows on the ground or other creative (and safe) means.

In Florida, it's referred to as a partial solar eclipse, which starts at 12:35 p.m. CDT through 4:20 p.m. EDT Monday, April 8, 2024,  according to timeanddate.com .

What time can I see 2024 solar eclipse in Florida?

Weather permitting, to see all phases of the total solar eclipse, you must be within the path of totality. According to a map on  greatamericaneclipse.com , the U.S. path of totality for the Monday, April 8, 2024, eclipse covers parts of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The total eclipse will not be visible from Florida — unless you watch it virtually from a livestream.

In the U.S., totality will begin in Texas at 1:27 p.m. CT and will end in Maine at 3:35 p.m. ET on April 8, 2024. The state of Florida should have a 45% to 75% chance of "maximum partial eclipse," according to Great American Eclipse online. Expect to see a thin crescent shape to a thicker crescent shape.

Florida is not in the path of totality. Is it still called the Great American Solar Eclipse or Total Solar Eclipse?

In Florida, it's referred to as a partial solar eclipse since the Sunshine State is not in the path of totality.

Are 3D glasses the same as solar eclipse glasses?

No! 3-dimensional glasses will not protect your eyes during an eclipse. Do not wear them and look at the sun during an eclipse.

Can I watch the 2024 Great American Eclipse using a cracker?

Yes! Use a buttery round cracker (think Ritz) and a white sheet of paper. With your back toward the sun, hold the cracker up to the paper. Your eyes should be looking away from the sun, which is what’s required for safe, indirect viewing, experts say. The solar eclipse will filter through the tiny cracker holes. Reporter tip: If you don't have a Ritz cracker, a Saltine cracker works just as well.

Can I watch the Great American Eclipse using a slotted spoon?

Yes! Use a slotted spoon with round holes in it. Again, with your back toward the sun, hold up the spoon to the sheet of paper and watch the solar eclipse project an image.

Can I watch Great American Eclipse using a colander or bowl?

Yes! According to Dennis Ward, retired president of Longmont Astronomical Society in Colorado, “Another great projection viewing device is a colander or pasta strainer with holes, not slots.“ Same instructions apply, stand with your back toward the sun, and hold up the colander to the sheet of paper to see the eclipse.

I don't have solar eclipse glasses, a cracker or a slotted spoon. How can I watch the solar eclipse?

If you don't have a pair of solar eclipse glasses, a Ritz or Saltine cracker, a colander or a slotted spoon (serving spoon with holes in it), don't despair. Look to the ground, particularly a white or gray sidewalk, and check out the shadows made by tree leaves. Miniature crescent moon shapes (fat crescents and thin crescents, depending on max viewing time) will show up. You can see this in the Tallahassee Democrat photo above.

Can I wear sunglasses and watch the solar eclipse?

No! We can't stress this enough. It is not safe to look up at the sun during a solar eclipse while wearing sunglasses, no matter how dark the lenses are.

Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on  Twitter  or Instagram at  @byjensangalang . Support local journalism.  Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper .