18 Presentation Apps and PowerPoint Alternatives for 2020

If you’re putting together a new presentation, you’re likely looking for the perfect presentation apps to help you design, present and share it effectively.

Well, you’re in luck. We’ve put together a list of the best presentation apps for both desktop and mobile that can help you to seamlessly create and produce your presentation.

Plus, we’ve put together a list of pros and cons for each to help you determine which presentation apps are going to work best for you. After all, you don’t want to put on a boring and ugly presentation.

Jump into our list of 18 desktop and mobile presentation apps and PowerPoint alternatives to help you create a beautiful and engaging slideshow.

 

Desktop Presentation Apps

Let’s start with a few great presentation apps that you can use to design your presentation on your desktop or laptop computer.

Since putting together your presentation can be design-heavy and content-heavy, it can often be easier to manage this on your actual computer than on a mobile device on-the-go.

 

1. Visme

Visme is a cloud-based graphic design software that allows designers and non-designers alike to create beautiful and professional presentations, infographics, social media graphics and more.

It comes with millions of design assets, including stock photography, vector icons, data visualization tools, free popular fonts and preset color themes.

When looking at presentation design, you also want to make sure you’re going to come out with a beautiful and engaging slideshow. With pre-designed templates and themes with hundreds of slide layouts to choose from, you’ll find the perfect design in Visme to fit your content.

But what sets Visme apart from other presentation apps and software is that it also comes with various interactivity options, like hyperlinked elements, video embed, audio upload and recording features.

Learn more about creating a presentation in just five minutes by watching this video below:

 

Pros

• A drag-and-drop editor and thousands of templates that allow users with any level of graphic design experience to create visually appealing presentations.
• Built-in library of free icons, fonts, images, shapes and other graphic elements.
• The ability to present your slideshow online, or download as PDF, HTML5 or PPTX so you can present it without an internet connection.
• Beautiful animation and transition options that won’t overwhelm your audience.
• Brand kit feature to help you store your brand elements for later use.
• Organize your work, share custom templates and collaborate with other team members.

Cons

• Due to the large amount of design elements and slide layouts involved, there can be an initial learning curve when first using the software.

 

2. Google Slides

Everyone has heard of Google, right? So it’s no surprise that Google Slides is one of the more popular presentation apps and PowerPoint alternatives available.

But popular does not always mean best. While the service is free to any Google account holder, its slide layouts are basic at best and its design capabilities are extremely limited.

However, if you need a quick and to-the-point presentation, Google Slides can be a great option since it’s free and has next to no learning curve. If you’ve used PowerPoint, you know how to use Google Slides.

Pros

• Free for anyone with a Google account.
• Easy to use for creating a basic presentation.
• Users can collaborate in real-time and make comments and edits throughout the slides.

Cons

• Extremely limited design capabilities.
• Essentially a PowerPoint clone.

 

3. Prezi

Another popular presentation app is Prezi. The main feature that Prezi is known for is giving its users the ability to easily create non-linear presentations.

This type of presentation can be highly engaging for your audience because instead of side-to-side transitions, you can create a pan and zoom effect each time you switch over to another slide.

While this type of presentation can be a fun change of pace for your audience, Prezi’s slide design options are not very visually appealing, and non-linear presentations can still be created in many other presentation makers by linking slides.

Pros

• Can create engaging non-linear presentations.

Cons

• Can only create non-linear presentations, which can actually cause motion sickness in some viewers.
• Non-linear presentations can also be created in other presentation software, making the need for Prezi obsolete.

 

4. Canva

Canva is a well-known cloud-based graphic design software, but it's not too popular for presentations. While it still has the “capabilities” for presentation design, it's main focus is on social media graphics.

What this means is that it offers a few visually appealing slide templates and you can create designs in the correct presentation dimensions. However, the software currently does not offer a way to animate your slide elements or even add unique transitions.

There are a few static chart options and Canva also has tons of graphic elements to choose from, such as photos, shapes and icons, so that you can still create static presentations in their software.

Pros

• Beautiful premade presentation templates to choose from.
• Graphic elements like photos, shapes and icons to spice up your design.

Cons

• Not made for presentation design, so there are no animation or transition effects available.
• No content blocks or slide library available to save larger pieces of content and reuse later.

 

5. Venngage

Venngage is first and foremost an infographic maker.

Similarly to Canva, they have added basic capabilities for creating presentations, but their design dashboard isn’t nearly as robust as some other presentation apps and software on this list.

While there are a number of presentation templates available for each of their plans, Venngage also doesn’t offer any type of animation or transition features for moving from slide to slide.

When it comes to creating a presentation, Venngage is in the same boat as Canva. Both certainly can be used to create a presentation, but they aren’t ideal, and they don’t offer as many features as a presentation app meant for building slideshows.

Pros

• Well-designed templates to get you started on your presentation design.
• Icons and photos to choose from for use in your slideshow.

Cons

• Just like Canva, there are no animation and transition features available for creating an engaging presentation.
• Not created with presentations in mind, so while it’s possible to create one, it’s not ideal.

 

6. Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai is a presentation maker that was actually created to focus on presentation design, like Visme. But while it’s meant for creating presentations, it doesn’t offer full-range design capabilities.

Instead, you’re given eight different themes with about 60 slide layouts to choose from that keep elements snapped into place, regardless of how you might want to customize your slides.

While this software is a great way to “stay in the lines,” per se, with your presentation design, it doesn’t allow you to design your presentation the way you want. If you’re trying to create a slide that falls outside of their parameters, you’re stuck.

Pros

• Visually appealing templates and slide layouts to choose from in your presentation.
• Easy to use drag-and-drop editor that allows you to quickly slide your points around on your slide to re-order them.

Cons

• Don’t have full-range design capabilities on your slide. You’re stuck only designing in the areas the software lets you design in.
• Not a lot of template options.

 

7. Slidebean

Slidebean advertises itself as an AI-powered presentation maker. It allows users to separate the content and design of its slides, inputting content in one section and adjusting the slide design in a separate area.

When creating a presentation in Slidebean, once you add your content into the text boxes, you can switch over to the design section and have their AI automatically assemble your content pieces around the page in a way that makes sense.

You’re also able to refresh different AI designs until you find one that you like. Although this can be helpful for those who don’t really want to worry about their design, it is extremely limited, and they don’t have a lot of templates to choose from.

Their templates are also focused on startups and entrepreneurs, so if your presentation doesn’t have that focus, your selection is even more limited.

Pros

• Allows you to not have to worry about design at all.

Cons

• Doesn’t give you full range design capabilities.
• Has limited templates.

 

8. Digideck

Digideck is a presentation app that caters to sales reps specifically. Their platform integrates with various CRMs, allowing sales teams to track views and collect leads through their presentations.

This is useful for a sales strategy, but doesn’t provide an all-in-one presentation design software for other needs as well. They have a team of designers that can design your presentation for you, or you can choose from one of their preselects to put it together yourself.

Pros

• Integrates with CRMs, allowing users to collect leads.
• Offers analytics to show who has viewed your presentation and for how long.

Cons

• Limited only to use within sales teams.
• Doesn’t provide many visually appealing templates.

 

9. Infogram

Infogram is another cloud-based graphic design software that tries to do everything, including presentations, but really wasn’t built for that specific purpose.

There are less than 50 available premade templates and they aren’t very well designed. Redeeming qualities include the fact that there are animation and transition features available, as well as data visualization tools.

While there are icons and photos to choose from, most of them are premium and not available for use in the free plan.

Pros

• Animation and transitions available for your slideshows.
• Charts and graphs to add into your slides.

Cons

• Limited presentation templates available.
• Many graphic elements are premium only.

 

Mobile Presentation Apps

If you’re on the go, sometimes you need to be able to edit or throw together a quick design. Other mobile presentation apps can help you to click through or present your slideshow.

Here are nine mobile presentation apps that can help you with your presentation delivery as well as some quick slide design here and there.

 

10. MightyMeeting

MightyMeeting is an Android app that allows users to share, present and annotate presentations on Android smartphones and tablets.

Simply create your presentation in the software of your choice, save it as a PDF, email it to yourself and then open it in MightyMeeting from your smartphone or tablet.

You can invite other viewers, and each participant can annotate the slides, making it a great tool to use in classrooms and remote viewing settings. Once you’re finished, you can save the annotated presentation as a separate PDF and email it to participants.

Pros

• Allows you to view and annotate presentation slides made in any software.

Cons

• Android only.

 

11. Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is a web and mobile-based app that allows you to create and edit presentations. It works well for making some on-the-go edits to a presentation you’ve previously created.

You can even download the app onto your smartphone or tablet to create full presentation decks straight from your mobile device. It also syncs presentations between your computer and phone apps, making it easy to create and edit in different areas.

The biggest caveat is that its presentation template design is outdated and not very pretty.

Pros

• Syncs between your desktop and mobile apps, allowing you to create and edit in different areas.

Cons

• Presentation templates are not well designed.
• Design dashboard is outdated.

 

12. Keynote

Keynote is another app that offers both desktop and mobile versions. It’s exclusively available for iOS smartphones, tablets and computers as it’s the Apple version of PowerPoint.

You can create presentations right on your mobile device and get them ready to present on your computer, which can be handy.

You can download the app from the Apple App Store for $9.99. It does come on most Macs and Macbooks automatically, but you’ll have to purchase it for your smartphone or tablet.

Pros

• Allows you to create and edit presentations on both your mobile device and computer.

Cons

• Only for Apple devices.
• Similar to PowerPoint, so it doesn’t really focus on the design of your presentation, just gives you the ability to create one.

 

13. Flowvella

Flowvella is a downloadable desktop and mobile app that allows you to create presentations wherever and whenever you need to. While it’s a fast and efficient app, it lacks some of the features any good presentation needs.

For example, there’s no animation or interactivity options available. However, it does have one exciting perk in that it includes offline editing. Since it’s a downloadable app, users are able to work on their presentations without WiFi.

It creates an online link for you to present your slideshow from any device, and offers analytics for you to see who has viewed your presentation.

Pros

• Has offline editing capabilities.
• Has analytics for you to view presentation performance.

Cons

• Must have space on your phone or computer to download the app.
• Extremely simple technology that doesn’t offer robust presentation features.

 

14. AIO Remote

AIO Remote, or All In One Remote, allows users to turn their Android smartphone into a remote to control their presentation slides from a distance.

This can be useful when giving a presentation in front of a large audience, and you want to be able to move seamlessly around the stage. Your Android smartphone can turn into your own slide clicker.

Pros

• Allows users to move around the room and control their presentation remotely.

Cons

• Available for Android devices only.

 

15. Showpad

Showpad is another app that works well for sales teams. It allows users to put together various types of content and share it with a tablet user for them to scroll through and annotate.

This can be very useful for sales reps that are on the go with meetings and appointments, so they can easily share their screens with potential customers and walk them through the process.

The app is available on both Android and Apple devices, so there aren’t limitations to which smartphones and tablets will have access.

Pros

• Can share and annotate various types of content on the go.

Cons

• Caters to sales teams, so it isn’t an all-in-one presentation maker.

 

16. SlideShare

LinkedIn’s SlideShare app is a great way to share and view presentation content on the go. You can create your presentation in any online software, like Visme, export it and upload it onto SlideShare.

You can then use the mobile app to share your presentation and help get the word out. You can also view other presentations and learn more about a certain topic.

There are millions of professional presentations that have been published on SlideShare, so it’s a great community of slideshows to watch and save.

Pros

• Great for viewing and sharing your presentations.
• Provides an embed code for sharing on your website.

Cons

• There are millions of presentations published on the platform, so you’ll have to do a lot of self-promoting to get yours seen.

 

17. SlideIdea

SlideIdea is a free iOS app that allows users to create full presentation decks quickly from their smartphones and tablets. They offer an Express creation mode where you can simply input your content and the app will design the slides for you.

This can be a great hack when you don’t want to bother with the actual look and feel of your presentation and just need to get your content on a slide.

Pros

• Allows you to quickly prepare a presentation by inputting your content only.

Cons

• Doesn’t allow you to have any design input or design your own presentation slides.

 

18. Presentation Timer

Presentation Timer can be helpful both during your prep time and actual presentation time. This app lets you set a timer for how long your presentation will be and it will change the screen color based on how much speaking time you have left.

Using an app like this can be very helpful when you’re rehearsing your content so that you don’t go over on time, and you know which anecdotes you can fit in.

Just make sure when you’re giving your actual presentation, you can see your phone screen so you’ll know when you’re running out of time.

Pros

• Gives you a heads up when you’re getting close to the end of your speaking time.

Cons

• You have to be within eyeshot of your phone, so you won’t be able to do much moving around the stage or speaking area.

 

Choose Your Favorite Presentation Apps

Which one of these 18 desktop and mobile presentation apps is your favorite? Some are perfect for creating your presentation while others can be helpful for presenting and sharing your slideshow.

The Visme presentation app lets you access thousands of premade themes and templates, graphic elements, animations, transition effects and more to create the perfect presentation.

Sign up today for a free account and take it for a test drive!