Top 10 PowerPoint Alternatives Compared

Top 10 PowerPoint Alternatives Compared

Written by:
Orana Velarde

Dec 11, 2023
Illustration of a man standing next to a projector that's showcasing different PowerPoint alternatives

PowerPoint pioneered the presentation landscape, helping to shape business presentations into what they are today.

However, presentation-making has evolved; now, people want to see presentations that entertain. Interactivity, animation, bold designs and more should be core pieces of each presentation.

And while PowerPoint has basic animations, there are a number of PowerPoint alternatives—Visme included—that can easily take your presentations from boring to eye-catching.

 

Best PowerPoint Alternatives for Beautiful Presentations

  1. Visme
  2. Prezi
  3. Keynote
  4. Slides
  5. Slidebean
  6. Zoho Show
  7. Google Slides
  8. Canva
  9. Beautiful.ai
  10. Microsoft Sway
 

Quick Read

  • The top 10 PowerPoint alternatives are Visme, Prezi, Keynote, Slides, Slidebean, Zoho Show, Google Slides, Canva, Beautiful.ai, and Microsoft Sway.
  • Visme is the ultimate alternative to PowerPoint that gives you complete control over your presentation's design, layout and message flow.
  • Access 500+ presentation templates and customize them using advanced tools like presenter studio, presenter notes, charts and graphs, animations, and more.
  • Import and edit your old PPT files and export your presentations in various formats, including PPT, PDF, HTML5, and even video.
  • Use Visme's newly launched AI Image Generator to create digital art, icons, illustrations, images and any graphic you want for your presentations.
  • Sign-up for Visme's free online presentation design tool and create professional-looking presentations that will mesmerize your audience.

 

What Makes a Great PowerPoint Alternative?

We've all heard of PowerPoint, and in many schools and workplaces, it's a go-to presentation software. But does that mean it's the end all, be all of presentation making?

Absolutely not.

In fact, you might find yourself wondering, what can I use instead of PowerPoint?Because PowerPoint has basic capabilities (and can be clunky to download and use for Mac users), we've put together this list of PowerPoint alternatives to help you find a way to spruce up your presentations, keeping your audiences interested and engaged.

But not every PowerPoint alternative is built the same. To find the best one for your business, keep an eye out for features like:

  • The ability to import existing PowerPoints so you don't have to recreate all your old presentations
  • Animation and transition capabilities for dynamic slides
  • In-app graphics, shapes, lines and other assets to design your slides with
  • A library of unique templates to easily customize with your information
  • Online and offline presenting
  • Data visualization tools for making data and information easier to understand
  • Collaboration features so your team can work together

Keep these features in mind as you go through our list below to try and find the best PowerPoint alternative for your business.

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Top 10 PowerPoint Alternatives

In the quest to answer the question, "What is better than PowerPoint?", we've explored numerous options and narrowed them down to the 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

Visme logo

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, making it one of the best alternatives to PowerPoint. 

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

  • AI presentation tool: Put together any type of presentation in seconds. Just enter your prompt and select a style and the tool will generate text, images and icons for your presentation.
  • Color dropper tool: Change colors of fonts, icons, illustrations, shapes, background and almost anything. Choose from the color presets, use the color wheel, copy-paste the HEX code and even choose a color from an image.
  • Publish and share anywhere: Share via URL or embed into a blog post or web page.
  • Manage privacy: Control who can see your projects or password protect them.
  • Present offline: Download presentation as image, PDF, editable PPTX or HTML5.
  • Add animation and interactivity to any element: Animate any object you want in your presentation —including text, shapes, charts and tables. Insert call-to-action buttons, videos, surveys, quizzes, etc.
  • Customize transitions: Incorporate seamless transitions from slide to slide.
  • Extensive font library: Choose from hundreds of fonts and font pairs that make your presentation engaging and easily readable.
  • Access third-party integrations: Add forms, videos, analytics and more with the integration of YouTube, Vimeo, JotForm, Google Analytics and many others.
  • Take advantage of the slide library: Quickly search for the exact slides you need from an extensive library of professionally designed slides and templates.
A GIF showcasing how to add presentation slides to your Visme presentation.
  • Analytics: Monitor the performance of your presentations when shared online by tracking the views, unique visitors, average time, average completion, name of the visitors and more.
  • Data Visualization: Visualize any type of data using 30+ data widgets such as radial gauges, progress bars, clocks, population gauges and more. For larger sets of data, choose from 20+ types of charts and graphs, such as pie charts, bar graphs, radar charts, flowcharts and more.
    Also, integrate live data to your charts and graphs and add interactivity to them for advanced data visualization.
  • Presenter notes: Stay on message by adding speaking notes to your presentation before you go live.
  • Presenter studio: Present asynchronously by recording your presentation and sharing it with your team. The Presenter Studio is a built-in presentation recording software in Visme that allows you to record yourself presenting and sending it to your audience.  You can turn on your webcam for video or turn it off to record your voice-over audio to add to your presentation. Easily re-record or start recording from wherever you left off and always stay organized with the help of the presenter notes.
GIF of Visme's Presenter Studio
  • HTML5-based: Runs on any browser and device.
  • PowerPoint import/export: Import existing PowerPoint presentations to edit and improve then export to present offline.
  • Work as a team: Leave comments for improvements, collaborate in real time and share with your team.
  • Endless design elements: Searchable libraries with millions of images, high-quality vector icons, 3D graphics, animated illustrations and more.
GIF of adding nice 3D icons to a presentation in Visme
  • Pre-made content blocks: Create visual slides quickly using drag-and-drop content blocks with visual stats, maps, figures and pictograms.
  • AI image generator: Create images, art, 3D objects, icons, and abstracts just by typing on your keyboard.
  • Dynamic fields: Personalize and automate content by dynamically inserting variable data, such as names, numbers, addresses and more, streamlining the creation of customized visuals.
A graphic showcasing Visme's features in the editor.

Price: Free forever. Access premium features with plans starting at $12.25/month, billed annually.

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 the high level of flexibility and variety of options, it may take some time to master all of its features—but it's well worth it when you do.

Ideal for: Marketers, entrepreneurs, educators and individuals in general; corporate teams.

Other reviews: Huffington Post, ClearVoice, Crazy Egg

2. Prezi

Prezi's logo against a white background

Exploring presentation tools besides PowerPoint has become increasingly popular as individuals and organizations seek more dynamic and engaging ways to share their ideas.

This cloud-based software is an excellent example of an alternative that offers 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 among students and educators due to its ease of use.

A screenshot of the Prezi interface.

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.
A screenshot of Prezi templates.

Price: There is a completely free plan with limited features. Paid plans start at $12/month per user, billed annually.

Pros: Create nonlinear presentations with ease.

Cons: Not fully customizable; users can only create non-linear presentations which can actually cause motion sickness in some viewers.

Ideal for: Students, educators, speakers, companies.

Other reviews:  SmallBizTrends, PCMag.com, PC World

3. Keynote

Keynote's logo against a white background

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.

A screenshot of the Keynote interface.

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.
A screenshot of the Keynote templates.

Price: Free for all Mac computers.

Pros: Compatible with PowerPoint.

Cons: Desktop software, not online-based; no slide library.

Ideal for: Mac owners.

Other reviews: PCMag.com, Macworld

4. Slides

The Slides logo against a white background

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 take other people’s presentations and use them as a template. Slides.com is not to be confused with Slides.ai.

A screenshot of the Slides interface.

Features

  • Edit and access presentations from any device.
  • Manage privacy.
  • Present offline.
  • Access to analytics.
  • Access to revision history.
  • Display math formulas.
  • Define your own theme with a custom CSS editor.
  • Add GIFs from Giphy and images from Unsplash.
  • Lots of Team features like branded templates and user management.
A screenshot of the Slides templates.

Price: Paid plans start at $5/month per user, billed annually.

Pros: User-friendly; includes beginner’s tutorial; users can copy other people’s designs and layouts 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.

Ideal for: Startups, students, teachers and individuals.

Other reviews: TechCrunch, SitePoint

5. Slidebean

Slidebean's logo against a white background

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.

A screenshot of the Slidebean interface.

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.
A screenshot of the Slidebean template library.

Price: Slidebean offers a completely free plan. Their paid, all-access plan starts at $228/year.

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.

Other reviews:  PresentationPanda, TechCrunch, The Next Web

6. Zoho Show

Zoho's logo against a white background

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 alternatives to PowerPoint presentations listed here, this presentation software allows users to create and access presentations from any browser or device connected to the Internet.

A screenshot of the Zoho template interface

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.
A screenshot of the Zoho template library.

Price: Paid plans of the Workplace Bundle start at $2.50/month per user, billed annually.

Pros: Import multiple file types; conferencing option.

Cons: Limited animations and transitions; only standard presentation functionality.

Ideal for: Business users, students, educators.

Other reviews: ZDNet, Blinklist

7. Google Slides

The Google Slides logo against a white background

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. This software, similar to PowerPoint, offers a straightforward design process, with hundreds of templates in different color themes to choose from.

a screenshot of Google Slides interface

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.
A screenshot of a dark blue presentation slide open in the Google Slides presentation editor

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.

Other reviews: ConsumersAdvocate, EnvatoTuts

Create a stunning presentation in less time

  • Hundreds of premade slides available
  • Add animation and interactivity to your slides
  • Choose from various presentation options

Sign up. It’s free.

Create a <span>stunning presentation</span> in less time

8. Canva

Canva's logo against a white background

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.

screenshot of Canva interface

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.
A screenshot of graphic assets available in Canva.

Price: “Free” but premium assets cost $1 or more to use. Canva Pro is $12.99/month or $119.99/year.

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.

Ideal for: Those looking for a simple presentation that's easy to put together.

Other reviews: CMSCritic, Capterra

9. Beautiful.ai

The Beautiful AI logo against a white background

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.

screenshot of beautiful.ai interface

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.
screenshot of beauutiful.ai templates

Price: Plans start at $12/month, billed annually. Or users can pay $45 for a single, ad hoc project.

Pros: AI helps create better presentations fast.

Cons: Very limited design capabilities.

Ideal for: Students, educators, startups.

Other reviews: Techradar, ThePowerpointBlog

Create a stunning presentation in less time

  • Hundreds of premade slides available
  • Add animation and interactivity to your slides
  • Choose from various presentation options

Sign up. It’s free.

Create a <span>stunning presentation</span> in less time

10. Microsoft Sway

Microsoft Sway's logo against a dark green background

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.

A screenshot of a newsletter report presentation slide open in Microsoft Sway's presentation software

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.
A screenshot of a newsletter report presentation slide open in Microsoft Sway's presentation software

Price: Free with a Microsoft Account.

Pros: A presentation can look like a website, a newsletter or a classic slide presentation.

Cons: No tools or options to present data.

Ideal for: Students, NGOs.

Other reviews: AvePoint, Laptop Mag

 

PowerPoint FAQs

Q. What Is Better Than PowerPoint?

Visme is a better PowerPoint equivalent because it offers superior design and customization options. In addition, Visme provides enhanced flexibility, advanced collaboration features, and top-notch customer support.

Compared to PowerPoint, Visme gives users access to thousands of customizable presentation templates, design assets, animation and interactive elements. The tool also comes packed with intuitive features like the design collaboration tool, workflow, engaging form builder, multiple download and sharing options and much more.

Users also get access to AI-powered tools like AI presentation maker, AI image generator, AI text generator, AI image edit and touchup tools and intuitive video editing tools. The software's interface is accessible to both novices and professionals, with a drag-and-drop editor that makes it easy to create high-quality visual content quickly.

Visme also offers integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce and other third-party tools. Also, you can download your training materials and visual assets in LMS-ready formats like xAPI, SCORM and HTML.

Q. Is There a Free Version of PowerPoint?

The web version of PowerPoint is free and all you'll need is a Microsoft account. However, the online version is limited compared to the desktop version. For example, users cannot access advanced animations and transitions or rich formatting for text, shapes and images. Since the free version doesn’t have a presenter view, you can’t use it to make presentations.

Q. What Is the Google Equivalent of PowerPoint?

Google Slides is Google's equivalent of PowerPoint. It is an online presentation tool that lets you create and format presentations and collaborate with other people.

Q. What Is the Biggest Disadvantage of PowerPoint?

Compared to Visme, the features in PowerPoint are basic and limited—from the ready-made templates to design assets to the animations and interactive features. But if you’re looking for an easy-to-use tool that comes with premium features and allows sophisticated designs, Visme is the tool to use.

 

Get Started With Your Favorite PowerPoint Alternative

We've explored ten impressive tools with unique features and strengths, proving that you don't always need to stick to the traditional PowerPoint route to create stunning presentations.

While some of the tools we covered have fantastic capabilities, they often come with a hefty price tag and steep learning curve. On the other hand, more affordable options may not always provide the functionality necessary to make your presentations truly stand out.

But if you want our opinion, we think you should go ahead and create a free Visme account and get started with our presentation software today.

Visme perfectly balances powerful features and affordability. With Visme, you can access an extensive library of templates, customization options, and multimedia elements that can breathe life into your presentations. 

The intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes creating captivating visuals easy for users of all skill levels, while the pricing options cater to different needs and budgets.

Easily create a stunning, dynamic, interactive presentation that your audience will love. Close more sales,  get investor funding, inform your audience and more with Visme presentations.

Sign-up for Visme to access an all-in-one presentation design tool.

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    About the Author

    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