Choosing the best presentation software for your needs can mean the difference between closing an important deal and blowing the opportunity of a lifetime.
Think this is an exaggeration? Just remember how many times a badly designed presentation—with slides chock full of text and outdated animation effects—instantly made you think twice about the credibility of the person presenting their product or idea. Or how a glitch or holdup made you lose your patience.
We’ve all heard of death by PowerPoint. You don’t want to be one of those who blow it because they didn’t choose wisely. Luckily, in a post-PowerPoint world, there are a variety of options for every need imaginable.
Top 10 PowerPoint Alternatives
To help you make sense of the dozens of options out there, we’ve summarized the most important features of the best PowerPoint alternatives:
1 Visme
A cloud-based, drag-and-drop presentation software, Visme offers users all the tools they need to create not just compelling presentations, but also infographics, data visualizations, reports, product demos and resumes.
Its ready-to-use templates, with HD backgrounds and professionally designed layouts, give users a breather from the all-too-familiar PowerPoint themes.
Packed with millions of free images, thousands of vector icons, graph tools in any style and hundreds of fonts, Visme allows users to create virtually any type of visual content in Its custom design area.
Features:
Publish and share anywhere: Share URL or embed into a site.
Manage privacy: Control who can see your projects.
Present offline: Download presentation as image, PDF or HTML5.
Add animation and interactivity to any element: Insert call-to-action buttons, videos, surveys, quizzes, etc.
Quickly search for the exact slides you need from a built-in library with 900+ layouts
Analytics: Access combined statistics of project views in one place.
HTML5-based: Runs on any browser and device.
Import PowerPoint presentations.
Work as a team: Access collaboration and content management tools.
Searchable libraries with millions of images and thousands of high-quality vector icons
Create visual slides quickly using drag-and-drop blocks of content with visual stats, maps, figures and pictographs.
Price: Starting at $12 a month per user
Pros: Users can create virtually any visual content—including infographics, charts, reports and printables—in a single place; add animation, full interactivity and audio
Cons: Due to high level of flexibility and variety of options, might take some time to master all of its features
Ideal for: Marketers, entrepreneurs, educators and individuals in general; corporate teams
This cloud-based software is popular for its nonlinear presentations, which pan and zoom from one page to the next without creating the impression of moving to a new slide. It’s a favorite with a lot of students and educators, especially for its ease of use.
Features:
View and edit your presentations from any device.
Store all your presentations in the cloud.
Share and collaborate with others.
Download for offline use.
Use advanced image editing tools.
Manage privacy.
Price: Paid plans starting at $5 / month per user
Pros: Create nonlinear presentations with ease
Cons: Not fully customizable; can only create non-linear presentations; can actually cause motion sickness in some viewers
Apple’s alternative to PowerPoint, Keynote is everything you would expect in an Apple product: sleek, sophisticated and intuitive.
Packed with powerful features—such as the ability to create interactive charts, add reflections and picture frames—Keynote makes it easy to create presentations with cinematic-like transitions between slides.
After the release of the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, Keynote is even more intuitive. Presentations are stored in the cloud and available on all devices.
Features:
Access more than 30 cinematic effects for text and objects.
Make interactive and animated charts.
View and edit your presentations from an iPad or iPhone.
Easily share and collaborate.
Access more than 30 polished templates and designs.
Import and edit PowerPoint files.
Save Keynote presentations as PowerPoint files.
Use on iPad Pro with Apple Pencil.
Price: Free for all Mac computers
Pros: Compatible with PowerPoint
Cons: Desktop software, not online-based; no slide library
This cloud-based presentation software offers a solid and user-friendly alternative to PowerPoint. Its sleek editor workspace allows you to add background images, use a variety of designs and themes, collaborate easily with others and customize any of 10 default slide templates.
You can even other people’s presentations and use them as a template. Slides.com is not to be confused with Slides.ai.
Features:
Edit and access presentations from any device.
Manage privacy.
Present offline.
Access to analytics.
Fork presentations.
Access to revision history.
Display math formulas.
Define your own theme with custom CSS editor.
Add GIFs from Giphy and images from Unsplash.
Lots of Team features like branded templates and user management.
Price: Paid plans starting at $5 / month per user
Pros: User-friendly; includes beginner’s tutorial; users can copy other people’s design and layout as templates for their own content (this preference can be turned off when creating presentations).
Cons: Create only linear presentations; limited design options such as professional templates and types of slides; no graphs or infographic widgets available.
This PowerPoint alternative is a good option for all those who don’t have the time to design their own slides.
Slidebean has recreated pitch decks from big-name startups and offers them as ready-to-use templates. There are more themed templates available for users to simply plug in their content.
Features:
Ready-to-use content templates for different purposes (marketing, business, startups).
Search and insert curated images or GIFs from Unsplash and Giphy within the software.
Access to thousands of flat icons.
Import CSV data to create charts.
Share and collaborate with others.
Use the chat feature to communicate with others.
Browse curated color palettes.
Access viewers’ actions for each presentation.
Price: Paid plans start at $96 / year per user
Pros: Allows you to focus solely on the content
Cons: No animation
Ideal for: Those who want to create presentations in as little time as possible, startups
Part of a suite of online applications called the Workplace Bundle, Zoho Show provides users with a traditional presentation tool that's online-based.
Like the other PowerPoint alternatives listed here, this presentation software allows users to create and access presentations from any browser or device connected to the Internet.
Features:
Apply eye-catching animations and transitions.
Embed live tweets, YouTube videos, and Flickr images.
Use charts for visualizing data.
Publish your presentations on websites and blogs.
Import multiple file types, including .ppt, .pptx, .pps, .ppsx, .odp and .sxi.
Use collaborative tools to allow others to edit and comment on your content.
Broadcast your presentation from anywhere on any device.
Price: Paid plans of the Workplace Bundle start at $4 / month per user
Google Slides is the most popular PowerPoint alternative because it’s completely free with a Google account. When logged into Google, Slides is available at any time, even from the email dashboard.
The design process on Google slides is simple and to the point. There are hundreds of templates in different color themes to choose from.
Features:
All work is saved automatically on the Google servers.
An entire presentation can be changed as a whole with the color and theme picker.
Collaborate in real-time with team members.
Open PowerPoint slides and export finished presentations as PowerPoint files.
Plenty of templates and themes to choose from.
Helps users concentrate on the actual slides without frills.
Price: Free for everybody, as long as they have a Google account
Pros: It’s free and easy to use
Cons: Design capabilities are limited to standard features
Ideal for: people who appreciate Google products and need to create presentations with remote teams
Canva is an easy-to-use PowerPoint alternative. The presentation templates come ready with numerous slides. All you need to do is choose the slides you want to use and switch out the content.
Along with the basic presentation features, animated presentations are also possible if you purchase the Canva for Work plan.
Features:
Lots of presentation templates to choose from.
Millions of available images in the paid plan.
Presenting option right from Canva.
Download in multiple file formats, including PowerPoint.
Easy to share to social media profiles.
Millions of icons to choose from.
Price: “Free” but assets cost $1 or more to use. Canva for Work is $12.95 / month per user
Pros: Easy to use and lets you create nice-looking presentations fast
Cons: The best features are in the Canva for Work plan; complete presentations can’t be colorized as a whole.
Beautiful.ai is a PowerPoint alternative with a twist. The design of the slides is controlled by Artificial Intelligence. Their pitch is that presentations will look great every time without much work from the user. On the other hand, customization possibilities are limited.
Features:
AI-powered presentation building system.
Customizing options for each type of slide.
Color theme picker for the entire presentation.
Users can password protect presentations for private sharing.
Collaboration capabilities with an email invitation.
Export to PDF or PowerPoint.
Presenter view and speaker notes.
Price: Free. Pricing tiers to be announced sometime in 2019
Sway is Microsoft’s own PowerPoint alternative. It’s everything that PowerPoint isn’t. In fact, it is so different, you can’t really tell it’s made by the same company.
Sway is a cloud-based app, which can be accessed through any Microsoft account, such as Hotmail and Outlook.
Features:
Remix! A function that changes everything at random.
The default view is a vertical scroll; can be changed to horizontal or slide view.
Font and color customization for the entire presentation
Thousands of images available inside the program through online search.
Animated transitions with custom speed settings.
Storyline editing.
Outline and Accessibility views.
Available in multiple languages.
Price: Free with a Microsoft Account
Pros: A presentation can look like a website, a newsletter or a classic slide presentation
This is our take on the best PowerPoint alternatives out there right now. Which of these top-rated PowerPoint alternatives best suits your needs?
Your Turn
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And if you have any feedback on any of the tools listed above, we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line in the comments section below, and we'll get back to you.
Orana is a multi-faceted creative. She is a content writer, artist, and designer. She travels the world with her family and is currently in Istanbul. Find out more about her work at oranavelarde.com
47 responses to “Top 10 PowerPoint Alternatives Compared”
I’m Aarthi from Zoho. Thank you for mentioning us in the top 10 Powerpoint alternative blog.
However, the screenshots used of Zoho Show is quite outdated. Our website http://www.zoho.com/docs/show.html will have the latest images. Please do get back to us and once the changes are done (if possible) we’ll retweet it from our official account.
Thanks.
Hi Nayomi, I do a lot of presentations for agencies and video companies and I was looking around for a better presentation software for that that, your article saved me days of reviewing! Thank you so much, really thorough and helpful The one I finally found isn’t actually in your list though https:presbee.com, it’s perfect for me as it allows video backgrounds and streamed content and it has a really cool remote presenation feature. Thanks again for your help, va bene!
[…] not surprisingly, finds their own product to be the best. Visme, another company, has its own “top 10” list of PowerPoint alternatives. (Guess who’s #1?). The good folks in OCTET can offer their […]
Interesting site and impressive also, I am really liked your site that you giving or mentioned articles they fantastic. I am impressed with your thoughts and thanks for sharing this article.
The review you provided on your blogsite is amazing. I am working on a presentation project to present to trainers of county agencies in California on the various presentation tools available to them. You are so right! Everyone tends to use PowerPoint as the industry standard and I agree, it is entirely over-used. I’m not a PowerPoint hater, however, with more and more people using mobile devices and with the wonderful features of internet-based and cloud-based applications, I am so excited about the possibilities of creating a really dynamic presentation.
Thank you for the break-down of presentation tools!
CC
Hi Nayomi,
The review you provided on your blogsite is amazing. I am working on a presentation project to present to trainers on the various presentation tools available to them.
You are so right! Everyone tends to use PowerPoint as the industry standard and I agree, it is entirely over-used. I’m not a PowerPoint hater, however, with more and more people using mobile devices and with the wonderful features of internet-based and cloud-based applications, I am so excited about the possibilities of creating a really dynamic presentation.
Thank you for the break-down of presentation tools!
CC
Thanks you, Cynthia, for the wonderful feedback. I’m so glad you found this useful. I’m also not a PowerPoint hater, but with so many options out there right now, you can definitely find something that better fits your specific needs. If you’re interested in learning about the similarities and differences between PPT and Visme, here’s a visual comparison post on that: https://visme.co/blog/powerpoint-alternative-visme/
Thanks for sharing the best posts they very useful I am impressed by your site it’s amazing one you made a good site it’s interesting one you giving us such a good information I like your thoughts they very help us
[…] the stakes are this high, a simple presentation isn’t nearly good enough to get the job done. Powerpoint alternatives like Visme are mission critical in terms of not only “wowing” your investors, but […]
[…] the stakes are this high, a simple presentation isn’t nearly good enough to get the job done. Powerpoint alternatives like Visme are mission critical in terms of not only “wowing” your investors, but […]
It’s really great to see businesses who are fairly representing their competitors!
I’m just starting up the blog for our own platform over at SlideCamp and very much hope to be able to get the same respectful level as you’ve shown in this article.
That said, as number 6 – Projeqt has ceased to be around anymore, if you would consider taking a look at our platform, and popping us in instead we’d be super grateful.
We have a very simple online platform for teams to get their slides from without the fuss.
Even if you don’t put us in, thanks anyway for a great article, the blog you’ve got going on here is really awesome 🙂
Good content! I need a not-cloud-based alternative, due to absence of wifi in one place where I present. I saw some in your list.
PowerPoint is old and stiff and rigid and too much in charge. I’ll probably try Keynote first, cuzz Apple tends to be about freeing up for creativity, whereas Microsoft is always about productivity. Boring productivity….
Congratulations on your post, it is very complete. We don’t know if you have used Genially before but it is a very useful tool to create animated and interactive content very easily. We think it will be very interesting for you to take in consideration Genially in your next articles.
Kind regards
Good list- one issue with the idea that people remember only 20% of what they read but 80% of what they see. Unless you are reading braille you are seeing what you read- and there isn’t any scientific basis for the numbers quoted.
Use post. I’ve been using powepoint, but I wanted to try something else for a smaller presentation as a test.
You might need to update your list already. Projeqt is no longer active according to their website.
Thank you for your information. I love the premise of SlideDog however found operationally it was very slow and non-responsive. It would be amazing not to have to transition between the multimedia I use to teach my class and am always looking for new tech to keep students engaged and participate in learning.
Thanks for the article! Sutori is now offering a presentation mode. I recommend you check it out, I’ve had a lot of success since moving away from Powerpoint.
Thanks for the reply Payman. Yes – I tried the Zoho product but the UX was not very good. Emaze was good but I was looking for something to embed onto our own website. I’m pretty pleased with Sutori and you can view some the presentations we’ve put online
Do any of these platforms output the slides as printable audience handouts, that include areas to take notes, more information QR links, copyright notices, etc?
Powerpoint can sometimes get a bad name for itself simply because it has been around for so long and users have had access to powerpoint without any skill or training and simply been able to ‘get stuck in’. This mightve been fine 10+ years ago but Powerpoint like any other medium today has certain audience expectation levels in regards to the standard of presentation. These days you wouldnt expect to build your own website or design your own brochure if you only knew the basics – neither should you do the same now with presentations. Especially when you consider a presentation may be the first impression you leave with an audience. Powerpoint is a great tool, and it has a key advantage above those mentioned above that people ARE familiar with how it works and so any last minute changes to a powerpoint presentation before you present ARE achievable. With any other software you need to learn how to use it first.
Hi there, just became aware of your blog through google and found its very interesting and useful. I’ll bookmark this site for more affirmative articles in future. wonderful approach and amazing platform with excess of knowledge.
regards,
Hi, Orana
I’m still using powerpoint also I got more options in this post. You sharing huge website alternative to powerpoint and yes these tools are more powerful and looks good.
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[…] Sourced through Scoop.it from: visme.co/blog […]
I’m Aarthi from Zoho. Thank you for mentioning us in the top 10 Powerpoint alternative blog.
However, the screenshots used of Zoho Show is quite outdated. Our website http://www.zoho.com/docs/show.html will have the latest images. Please do get back to us and once the changes are done (if possible) we’ll retweet it from our official account.
Thanks.
Hi Aarthi. The screenshots have been updated with the ones from your site. Please take a look at them now. Thanks.
Nice content really enjoyed the articles nice write up to the blog owner
Hi Nayomi. Great list! Have you heard of: http://www.genial.ly? It is a recently launched presentation platform. What do you think?
Hi Nayomi, I do a lot of presentations for agencies and video companies and I was looking around for a better presentation software for that that, your article saved me days of reviewing! Thank you so much, really thorough and helpful The one I finally found isn’t actually in your list though https:presbee.com, it’s perfect for me as it allows video backgrounds and streamed content and it has a really cool remote presenation feature. Thanks again for your help, va bene!
Hi Francesca, thank you for the feedback. Never heard of Presbee, but I’m glad you found a tool that fits your needs!
[…] RELATED: Best Presentation Software: 10 PowerPoint Alternatives […]
[…] not surprisingly, finds their own product to be the best. Visme, another company, has its own “top 10” list of PowerPoint alternatives. (Guess who’s #1?). The good folks in OCTET can offer their […]
Interesting site and impressive also, I am really liked your site that you giving or mentioned articles they fantastic. I am impressed with your thoughts and thanks for sharing this article.
[…] >Best Presentation Software: 10 PowerPoint Alternatives […]
Hi Nayomi,
The review you provided on your blogsite is amazing. I am working on a presentation project to present to trainers of county agencies in California on the various presentation tools available to them. You are so right! Everyone tends to use PowerPoint as the industry standard and I agree, it is entirely over-used. I’m not a PowerPoint hater, however, with more and more people using mobile devices and with the wonderful features of internet-based and cloud-based applications, I am so excited about the possibilities of creating a really dynamic presentation.
Thank you for the break-down of presentation tools!
CC
Hi Nayomi,
The review you provided on your blogsite is amazing. I am working on a presentation project to present to trainers on the various presentation tools available to them.
You are so right! Everyone tends to use PowerPoint as the industry standard and I agree, it is entirely over-used. I’m not a PowerPoint hater, however, with more and more people using mobile devices and with the wonderful features of internet-based and cloud-based applications, I am so excited about the possibilities of creating a really dynamic presentation.
Thank you for the break-down of presentation tools!
CC
Thanks you, Cynthia, for the wonderful feedback. I’m so glad you found this useful. I’m also not a PowerPoint hater, but with so many options out there right now, you can definitely find something that better fits your specific needs. If you’re interested in learning about the similarities and differences between PPT and Visme, here’s a visual comparison post on that: https://visme.co/blog/powerpoint-alternative-visme/
Nice blog! thanks for writing this useful and informative article and I refer my friends to vist your site and i will be in regular updating.
Thanks for the feedback. Glad you found it useful!
Thanks for sharing the best posts they very useful I am impressed by your site it’s amazing one you made a good site it’s interesting one you giving us such a good information I like your thoughts they very help us
[…] the stakes are this high, a simple presentation isn’t nearly good enough to get the job done. Powerpoint alternatives like Visme are mission critical in terms of not only “wowing” your investors, but […]
[…] If you’re ready to break free from PowerPoint, check out this article: “Best Presentation Software: 10 Alternatives.” […]
[…] the stakes are this high, a simple presentation isn’t nearly good enough to get the job done. Powerpoint alternatives like Visme are mission critical in terms of not only “wowing” your investors, but […]
Prezi is a nice alernative. It has both, a free and a pro version.
the fact that you have taken the time to review your competitors openly.. wow, you saved up a lot of time for me. Just signed up to paid account.
Thanks for comment, Sebastian. We always appreciate feedback!
I found Haiku the best. Visme’s features & options are also appreciated.
Thank you for the best compilation.
Thanks, Yasar. Glad you found it useful!
Hi Nayomi,
It’s really great to see businesses who are fairly representing their competitors!
I’m just starting up the blog for our own platform over at SlideCamp and very much hope to be able to get the same respectful level as you’ve shown in this article.
That said, as number 6 – Projeqt has ceased to be around anymore, if you would consider taking a look at our platform, and popping us in instead we’d be super grateful.
We have a very simple online platform for teams to get their slides from without the fuss.
Even if you don’t put us in, thanks anyway for a great article, the blog you’ve got going on here is really awesome 🙂
Good content! I need a not-cloud-based alternative, due to absence of wifi in one place where I present. I saw some in your list.
PowerPoint is old and stiff and rigid and too much in charge. I’ll probably try Keynote first, cuzz Apple tends to be about freeing up for creativity, whereas Microsoft is always about productivity. Boring productivity….
Congratulations on your post, it is very complete. We don’t know if you have used Genially before but it is a very useful tool to create animated and interactive content very easily. We think it will be very interesting for you to take in consideration Genially in your next articles.
Kind regards
Good list- one issue with the idea that people remember only 20% of what they read but 80% of what they see. Unless you are reading braille you are seeing what you read- and there isn’t any scientific basis for the numbers quoted.
Use post. I’ve been using powepoint, but I wanted to try something else for a smaller presentation as a test.
You might need to update your list already. Projeqt is no longer active according to their website.
Thanks for the feedback. Have you tried any of the others on this list?
would be nice to make a link on the title of the different softwares…
I liked them all, but would like to try Emaze first.
What did you think of it? have you tried any others on the list?
Thank you for your information. I love the premise of SlideDog however found operationally it was very slow and non-responsive. It would be amazing not to have to transition between the multimedia I use to teach my class and am always looking for new tech to keep students engaged and participate in learning.
Thanks for the input. Have you tried any of the others on the list?
Thanks for writing informative article. i learn a lot from this post
thanks. glad you found it useful
Thanks for the article! Sutori is now offering a presentation mode. I recommend you check it out, I’ve had a lot of success since moving away from Powerpoint.
Thanks for the feedback, Robert. Will check it out. Have you tried any of the others on the list?
Thanks for the reply Payman. Yes – I tried the Zoho product but the UX was not very good. Emaze was good but I was looking for something to embed onto our own website. I’m pretty pleased with Sutori and you can view some the presentations we’ve put online
Do any of these platforms output the slides as printable audience handouts, that include areas to take notes, more information QR links, copyright notices, etc?
Hi Morry. Not any of these platforms no. You could try GLISSER. I think it does something like that.
Powerpoint can sometimes get a bad name for itself simply because it has been around for so long and users have had access to powerpoint without any skill or training and simply been able to ‘get stuck in’. This mightve been fine 10+ years ago but Powerpoint like any other medium today has certain audience expectation levels in regards to the standard of presentation. These days you wouldnt expect to build your own website or design your own brochure if you only knew the basics – neither should you do the same now with presentations. Especially when you consider a presentation may be the first impression you leave with an audience. Powerpoint is a great tool, and it has a key advantage above those mentioned above that people ARE familiar with how it works and so any last minute changes to a powerpoint presentation before you present ARE achievable. With any other software you need to learn how to use it first.
I visit daily some websites and information sites to read articles, however this website gives
feature based posts.
Hi there, just became aware of your blog through google and found its very interesting and useful. I’ll bookmark this site for more affirmative articles in future. wonderful approach and amazing platform with excess of knowledge.
regards,
Hi, Orana
I’m still using powerpoint also I got more options in this post. You sharing huge website alternative to powerpoint and yes these tools are more powerful and looks good.
Thanks for sharing.
Michel Joachim