software tools for presentation

The best presentation software in 2024

These powerpoint alternatives go beyond the basics..

Hero image with logos of the best presentation software

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 used 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 25 of the top presentation software solutions out there to bring you the best of the best.

The best presentation software

What makes the best presentation app, how we evaluate and test apps.

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 interface. 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).

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.

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, and interactive content. 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


	A free option	Free plan available; paid plans from $10
	AI-powered design	From $12/month
	Non-linear presentations	Free plan available; paid plans from $7/month
	Video presentations	Limited free plan available; paid plans from $15/month
	Collaboration	Free plan available; from $22/month for 2 users
	Conversational AI features	Free plan available; paid plans from $8/user/month
	Audience engagement	Free plan available; paid plans from $11.99/user/month
	Generative AI features	Limited free plan available; paid plans from $16/user/month

The best free presentation software

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Canva, our pick for the best free presentation app

Canva pros:

Excellent free plan

Tons of amazing templates for all use cases

Feature-rich

Canva cons:

The AI tools aren't groundbreakingly useful

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.

Canva pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $120/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 pros:

True AI design

No fussing around with alignment

Still allows for customization

Beautiful.ai cons:

No free plan

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 experience 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 more than 20 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 re-tested the generative AI feature (called DesignerBot) this year. 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 pull in relevant images.

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.

The best presentation app for conversational presentations

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's generative AI feature works ok, but it's more useful as a wireframe. When I asked it to create a presentation about the Stanley Cup Playoffs, for example, the resulting content read a lot like a student writing a term paper in the broadest strokes possible to avoid doing any actual research.

The best presentation app for video presentations

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.

The best presentation app for collaborating with your team

Pitch, our pick for the best presentation software for collaborating with your team

Pitch pros:

Google levels of collaboration

Assign slides to specific team members

Excellent generative AI feature

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 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.

Pitch also offers one of the most impressive generative AI features on this list. It still struggles to pull in relevant images, but I found the AI-generated written content and design to be top-notch.

The best presentation app for conversational AI

Gamma pros:

Creates fully fleshed-out presentations from a prompt

Conversational 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 conversational AI 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 produces a very useful jumping-off point. (Last year, it was by far the best, but this year, other apps are catching up.)

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.

The best presentation app for audience engagement

Mentimeter, our pick for the best presentation software for audience engagement

Mentimeter pros:

Tons of audience engagement features

Simple for participants to interact

Mentimeter cons:

Less granular customizability

Bit of a learning curve

If you need to engage with an audience during your presentation, Mentimeter makes that easy. The app is designed around interactive elements like quizzes, surveys, Q&As, sliders, and more (even a Miro whiteboard!).

Each of these is included in a number of different, professional-looking templates, so you can build a fully interactive presentation super quickly.

When it's time to present, your audience members can scan the QR code with their phone cameras or type in the URL and access code to participate. There's one code per presentation (so they won't have to do this on every slide), which gives access to each slide as you move through the presentation.

There are two main drawbacks to this one, though. First, there's a bit of a learning curve and less familiar editing interface (but I found it pretty easy to learn with some practice). The other drawback is that you can't get as granular with the visual customization as you can with many other presentation tools.

The best presentation app for generative AI

Tome, our pick for the best presentation software for generative AI

Top-tier generative AI features

Simple, customizable templates

Intuitive doc-style editor

There's definitely a learning curve

Tome is one of the new additions to this list that I'm most excited about. If you're looking for generative AI that just genuinely works , it's definitely worth a look. The editor is a bit more stripped down than most presentation apps but intuitive nonetheless—it's almost a cross between your standard deck editor and a Notion-style doc.

To generate an AI deck, click Generate with AI in the top right, and either write your own prompt or choose from the example prompts that cover a handful of common use cases, like sales enablement and company pitches. Edit or approve the suggested outline, then generate the full presentation.

From there, you can edit each slide as a doc via the right-hand menu—without limits on how much information you can include. During the presentation, you simply size down any slides that take up more than the standard amount of space. It's super simple but somehow feels revolutionary in a presentation app.

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.

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.

What about PowerPoint and Google Slides add-ons?

While I focused my testing on tools with full feature-sets—those that can serve as your sole presentation tool—there are a ton of add-on tools you can use atop big name tools like PowerPoint and Google Slides.

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Blog Graphic Design 12 Best Presentation Software for 2024

12 Best Presentation Software for 2024

Written by: Krystle Wong Jan 12, 2024

Whether you’re a student, professional or entrepreneur, having access to the right presentation tools can make all the difference.

When you craft a well-executed presentation , your message becomes more memorable. You’re not just sharing information; you’re weaving a story, painting a picture and leaving a lasting impact on your audience’s minds.

We’re living in the age of information overload, where attention spans are shorter than ever. A good presentation slide takes this into account, breaking down complex information into bite-sized chunks. It guides your audience through a logical flow, allowing them to digest information effortlessly and retain key points without feeling overwhelmed.

To help you stay ahead of the game, I’ve compiled a list of the 12 best software for presentations. These PowerPoint alternatives offer a combination of user-friendly interfaces, stunning visuals, collaboration features and innovative functionalities that will take your presentations to the next level.

Let’s dive in and explore these top presentation software picks!

1. Venngage

Allow me to be a little bit biased here but my top pick is none other than, you guessed it — Venngage! Venngage goes beyond just presentations to focus on data visualization and transforming complex information into visually appealing and engaging visuals.

One of the standout features of Venngage as a presentation software is the extensive library of infographic elements. Gain access to a wide range of pre-designed elements such as icons, charts, maps as well as illustrations to simplify the process of creating data-driven and visually appealing presentations.

You don’t have to be a pro when designing with Venngage. Venngage’s drag-and-drop interface allows you to customize your presentations by simply dragging and dropping elements onto the canvas. You can tweak sizes, colors and layouts with ease, making your presentations visually cohesive and personalized, even if you’re not a design wizard.

Just so you know, some of our features and templates are free to use and some require a small monthly fee. Sign-up is completely free, as is access to Venngage’s online drag-and-drop editor. Here’s how Venngage’s presentation maker can become your secret weapon in the quest for presentation success.

Vast selection of templates

Venngage boasts an extensive library of professionally designed templates, catering to a wide range of industries and presentation purposes. Whether you’re creating a marketing report, educational presentation or business pitch, Venngage’s presentation tool offers templates that provide a solid foundation for your designs.

Save 20+ hours of designing with Venngage’s fully customizable, pre-designed infographic templates. Thes e presentation templates provide a good foundation with well-structured layouts and visually appealing aesthetics.

Data visualization made easy

Venngage simplifies the process of data visualization, making it accessible to users of all backgrounds. With a few clicks, you can transform dull statistics into visually engaging charts and graphs that tell a compelling story.

Seamless real-time in-editor collaboration tools

Venngage brings teamwork to the next level with our seamless collaboration tools designed to foster collaboration across teams, departments and the entire organization. Whether you’re in the same room or across the globe, Venngage enables real-time collaboration that makes working together becomes a breeze.

Consistently brand your designs with smart Autobrand features

Effortlessly infuse your presentation slides with your brand’s colors, fonts and logos with Venngage’s My Brand Kit . Upload your brand assets and create engaging presentations by applying your branding to any template you create on Venngage.

Who is it for

Marketers, designers, educators and businesses that require data-driven and visually appealing presentations.

Key features

Infographic elements, data visualization tools, collaboration options, customizable templates.

Create your first 5 designs with Venngage for free and upgrade to a premium or business plan for $10 USD/month per user and $24 USD/month per user to enjoy premium features. For larger teams who need extra support, controls and security, the enterprise plan starts from $499 USD/month for 10+ seats.

Additionally, there are also plans available for classrooms priced at $99 USD/year for up to 35 students per instructor. Non profit organizations can also apply for a nonprofit discount to any Venngage plan.

2. Microsoft PowerPoint

Source: Screenshot from Microsoft PowerPoint

Even with dozens of presentation software and tools out there, PowerPoint presentations have stood the test of time as one of the best presentation software. In fact, 89% of people still use PowerPoint presentations over competitor services .

Whether you’re a student, teacher, business professional or just a creative soul, PowerPoint’s user-friendly interface allows both beginners and experienced users to create presentations with ease.

PowerPoint delivers captivating and engaging presentations through its advanced animation and transition effects. You can create interactive PowerPoint presentations by captivating your audience and guiding them through your content with seamless transitions and eye-catching animations.

Seamless integration with other Microsoft Office tools is another significant advantage of PowerPoint as a presentation software. As part of the Microsoft Office suite, PowerPoint effortlessly integrates with other familiar applications such as Word and Excel. This integration allows you to incorporate charts, graphs and written content from these tools directly into your presentation.

However, collaboration features in PowerPoint can be somewhat limited compared to dedicated collaboration platforms. While you can share and co-edit presentations with others, the collaboration options may not be as robust as those offered by specialized presentation tools.

Suitable for individuals, students, educators and businesses of all sizes.

Customizable templates, multimedia support, extensive slide editing options, robust animations and transitions.

You can subscribe to PowerPoint as part of your Microsoft 365 subscription with various plans tailored for businesses, ranging from $6 to $22 USD/month. Additionally, there is also the option to purchase an unbundled PowerPoint account separately, priced at $159.99 USD.

3. Google Slides

Source: Screenshot from Google Slides

Unlike PowerPoint which requires file sharing and manual syncing for teamwork, Google Slides enables real-time collaboration and easy access from any device with an internet connection.

Google Slides shines in its seamless collaboration capabilities. Multiple users can work on the same presentation simultaneously, enabling real-time editing and fostering efficient teamwork. The integrated commenting feature on Google Slides allows for shared feedback and discussions, enhancing collaboration even further.

Google Slides’ cloud-based storage and auto-saving feature ensures that your work is constantly saved, minimizing the risk of losing progress or important changes. No more panicking over unsaved slides and changes.

But that also means that Google Slides heavily relies on an internet connection for full functionality and access is more limited compared to desktop-based software. Although an offline mode is available, Google Slides has certain limitations and may not provide the same level of functionality as when connected to the internet.

Templates and customization features-wise, Google Slides also have fewer design options compared to other presentation tools. This may limit the level of visual creativity and flexibility for those seeking intricate designs or specialized effects.

Ideal for remote teams, educators, students and anyone looking for easy collaboration and access from any device.

Real-time collaboration, shared commenting, offline mode and built-in sharing options.

Google Slides is accessible to all individuals with a Google account at no cost, providing all users with access to its full range of features. However, for businesses and teams looking for additional organizational capabilities, there are subscription plans available ranging from $6 to $18 USD/month.

4. Keynote (for Mac users)

Source: Screenshot from Keynote

For Apple users, Keynote is a presentation tool designed exclusively for your Apple devices and is available on macOS, iOS and iPadOS. Keynote is known for its sleek and intuitive interface, reflecting Apple’s design aesthetics.

It offers visually appealing templates, animations, and transitions, allowing users to create polished and modern-looking presentations. Keynote users can seamlessly incorporate images, videos, audio files and interactive elements into their presentations. The presentation software also includes a wide range of animations and transitions, enabling smooth and cinematic effects that bring slides to life.

Keynote presentations is known for its seamless integration within the Apple ecosystem. It works effortlessly with other Apple applications, allowing users to combine different elements and data from various sources. Presentations created in Keynote can be easily shared and accessed across Apple devices, ensuring a consistent experience for both the presenter and the audience.

Additionally, Keynote as a presentation software offers collaborative editing capabilities, enabling multiple users to work on the same presentation simultaneously. Users can share their presentations with others, who can then provide feedback, make edits and contribute to the project in real-time.

That said, since Keynote is exclusively designed for Apple devices, it may not be accessible or fully compatible with non-Apple platforms. Hence, sharing presentations created in Keynote with users on different platforms may require exporting or converting the files to a compatible format, which can lead to potential formatting issues or loss of certain features.

Mac users, creatives, professionals, educators and anyone who wants visually stunning presentations.

Elegant templates, advanced multimedia options, cinematic transitions and collaborative editing.

Keynote is available for free on Apple devices, including macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. As it comes pre-installed with these devices, users can access and use Keynote without any additional cost.

Source: Screenshot from Prezi

Known for its distinctive zooming presentation style, Prezi revolutionizes the way you create presentations by offering a visually engaging and non-linear approach.

One of Prezi’s renowned features is its unique zooming and transition effects, allowing presenters to navigate through a virtual canvas seamlessly. This dynamic presentation style enhances engagement by creating a sense of movement and spatial relationship between ideas.

Moreover, Prezi offers cloud-based collaboration, making it easy for multiple users to collaborate on a presentation in real-time. This feature facilitates seamless teamwork, enabling users to collectively develop and refine their presentations regardless of their physical locations.

Prezi presentations also include interactive elements, such as embedded videos, images and hyperlinks. Utilizing these elements would allow presenters to create interactive presentations and engage their audience on a deeper level.

However, Prezi has a steeper learning curve compared to more traditional presentation tools. Users may require some time and practice to become proficient in navigating the canvas, creating smooth transitions and effectively utilizing all of Prezi’s features.

Creative professionals, educators and individuals who want to create visually captivating and non-linear presentations.

Zooming presentation style, interactive elements, cloud-based collaboration and reusable templates.

For individuals & business professionals

Basics: Create and share up to 5 visual projects for free

Standard: Starting at $5 USD/month

Plus: Starting at $12 USD/month

Premium: Starting at $16 USD/month

Teams: Starting at $19 USD/month per user (billed annually)

For Students & Educators

EDU Plus: Starting at $3/month

EDU Pro: Starting at $4/month

EDU Teams: Enquiry required with Prezi sales team

Source: Screenshot from Canva

One of the great things about Canva as a presentation tool is its user-friendly interface, which makes it super easy to use even if you’re not a design pro. You can simply drag and drop elements to create your presentation slides without breaking a sweat.

Canva’s vast collection of pre-designed templates caters to various purposes and occasions. The availability of these templates allows users to jumpstart their design projects with professional-looking layouts, saving valuable time and effort.

For businesses or educational institutions working on group projects or marketing campaigns, Canva also offers collaboration features that enhance teamwork and co-creation. Users can invite team members or clients to collaborate on a design project, enabling real-time feedback and efficient design processes.

While Canva does offer some basic slide transition effects, the range and customization options for transitions may be limited compared to dedicated presentation software like Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote.

Individuals, students, small businesses and startups seeking professional-looking marketing materials and presentations.

Extensive template options, intuitive drag-and-drop interface, ability to share presentations as downloadable files or online links and built-in multimedia support for adding videos , images, and audio to slides.

The free version of Canva provides a wide range of features and resources, with the only limitations being the use of premium resources that can be acquired either through separate purchases or by subscribing to the Canva Pro plan. The Canva Pro plan is available for $12.99 USD per month or $119.99 USD per year.

For collaborative purposes, Canva Teams is available at a price of $14.99 USD per month, with an additional charge of $14.99 USD per month for every team member beyond the initial five.

7. Adobe Express

Source: Screenshot from Adobe Express

As part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, Adobe Express is a presentation software that offers a simplified and user-friendly interface. With its intuitive interface, Adobe Express allows users to create visually stunning presentations with ease. Users can access both design professionals and individuals without extensive design experience.

One of the notable advantages of Adobe Express is its seamless integration with other Adobe products, such as Photoshop and Illustrator. This integration enables users to leverage the power of these industry-standard design tools within their presentations, providing access to advanced design features and a vast library of high-quality assets.

Adobe Express is also great for creating interactive presentations. Its extensive multimedia support, allowing users to incorporate videos, audio files and interactive elements to keep your audience engaged.

That being said, some of its advanced features may require familiarity with other Adobe tools, which can be challenging for beginners who are not already familiar with the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem.

Designers, creative professionals, individuals and businesses seeking professional-grade presentation design.

Professional design options, multimedia support, easy integration with other Adobe products and cloud-based collaboration.

While the free version for Adobe Express includes all the core features, users can gain access to premium templates and features when they upgrade to the Premium subscription for $9.99 USD/month.

For businesses and teams, Adobe provides tailored plans that include additional features like collaboration tools, centralized license management and enterprise-level support. The pricing for these plans depends on the number of licenses and the specific needs of the organization. It’s best to consult with Adobe or their authorized resellers to get accurate pricing information for business plans.

8. Haiku Deck

Source: Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is all about visual storytelling, offering a simple and minimalist approach to designing presentations. With its clean and minimalist templates, Haiku Deck makes it a breeze to create presentations that focus on eye-catching images.

Haiku Deck is a user-friendly presentation software that offers a straightforward and intuitive interface. It’s designed to be easily accessible on both computers and mobile devices, giving you the flexibility to create quick and practical presentations on the go.

Plus, the presentation tool seamlessly integrates with image search engines, making it a piece of cake to find and add high-quality visuals that enhance the overall look and feel of your presentation.

However,if you’re looking for advanced features like complex animations or interactive elements, you might not find them here. While the clean and minimalist templates are gorgeous, they don’t offer as much flexibility for customization.

Educators, individuals and professionals who appreciate the power of visual storytelling and minimalist design.

Image-focused templates, easy-to-use interface, cloud-based collaboration and seamless image search integration.

Haiku Deck offers a free trial that allows you to experience the software with one presentation. If you decide to upgrade, they have different pricing plans available. Additionally, Haiku Deck also offers special pricing to qualifying nonprofit organizations, students and educators.

The Pro plans are available at $9.99 per month with annual billing or $19.99 per month with monthly billing. For those seeking advanced features, the Premium plans are priced at $29.99 per month.

Source: Screenshot from Ludus

Ludus brings together the best of both worlds by offering the traditional slide deck format along with interactive and multimedia elements that take presentations to a whole new level.

The presentation software is rich in multimedia capabilities, allowing users to seamlessly integrate videos, audio and elements to create interactive presentations that captivate the audience.

Ludus offers unique presentation tools that enable users to incorporate interactive elements like clickable buttons, hover effects and embedded web content, enabling a more dynamic and engaging presentation experience.

This makes Ludus a great choice for designers, creatives, marketing professionals, and anyone who wants to create interactive and visually appealing presentations that leave a lasting impression. Collaboration is another area where Ludus excels. The software offers collaborative editing, allowing multiple users to edit presentations simultaneously.

However, it’s worth mentioning that Ludus has relatively limited templates compared to some other presentation software options. While the customization options are vast, users might find themselves starting from scratch or investing more time in creating the initial design. Additionally, for individuals new to the platform, there might be a learning curve involved in fully harnessing all of Ludus’ features and capabilities.

Designers, creatives, marketing professionals and anyone looking for interactive and visually appealing presentations.

Interactive and multimedia elements, collaborative editing, extensive design customization, real-time comments and feedback.

Ludus offers a starting price of $14.99 USD/month per user for teams consisting of 1-15 members with all features included. For larger teams requiring additional licenses, Ludus encourages reaching out for more information on pricing. It’s worth noting that Ludus provides a 30-day free trial, allowing users to explore the platform and its features before committing to a subscription.

10. Slidebean

Source: Screenshot from Slidebean

Slidebean offers a unique approach to slide design by automating the process and simplifying the creation of well-designed presentations. With its automation features, Slidebean streamlines the design process, saving users valuable time and effort.

The highlight of Slidebean is its automated slide design functionality. Using artificial intelligence (AI), the software generates visually appealing slide layouts based on the content provided. Slidebean also offers collaboration options, allowing multiple team members to work on a presentation simultaneously.

Another advantage of Slidebean is its AI-powered content suggestions. The software intelligently analyzes the presentation content and provides helpful suggestions for improving the messaging and overall flow. This feature ensures that users can effectively communicate their ideas and engage their audience.

Unlike Ludus, Slidebean may not cater to users who prefer extensive customization and control over their slide layouts. Certain advanced features are only available in premium plans, which may require an upgrade for those seeking more advanced functionality.

Startups, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and individuals who want to create polished presentations quickly.

Automated design, content suggestions, collaboration tools and pitch deck-specific templates.

The free version offers limited functionalities, but it provides a sufficient opportunity to experience Slidebean’s capabilities and understand its workflow. However, to export your presentation and access advanced features, upgrading to a higher plan is necessary.

The all-access plan is available at $228 USD/year, while additional services such as startup expert consultations and pitch deck and financial model services are available for separate purchase.

11. Beautiful.ai

Source: Screenshot from Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai aims to simplify the process of creating visually stunning and professional-looking slides with minimal effort. One of the notable strengths of the presentation software is its collection of smart templates and design suggestions.

Their templates are intelligently designed to provide visually appealing layouts, saving users valuable time and effort in creating presentations. Unlike other types of presentation software, the platform leverages AI-powered technology to offer layout optimization, ensuring that slide elements are positioned optimally for maximum impact.

Beautiful.ai also offers time-saving features that streamline the presentation creation process. The software automatically adjusts the layout and formatting as users add or modify content, eliminating the need for manual adjustments.

As the software provides smart templates and design suggestions, customization options may be somewhat limited. Users may find that certain design elements or layout adjustments are not as flexible as they would like.

Individuals, startups and professionals who want visually impressive presentations without extensive design skills.

Smart templates, automated design suggestions, AI-powered layout optimization and easy slide customization.

Beautiful.ai provides two subscription options for users. The Pro plan is available at a monthly cost of $12 USD /month, while the Team plan is priced at $40 USD/month. Both plans are billed annually. You can also subscribe to the monthly subscription for ad hoc projects and gain access to all pro features for $45 USD/month (billed monthly).

There is a 14-day free trial period that allows users to thoroughly test and explore the features and capabilities of the tool before committing to a subscription.

Source: Screenshot from Pitch

Pitch is a modern video presentation maker that stands out with its collaborative and iterative approach to presentation creation.

One of the key strengths of Pitch lies in its collaborative features. The presentation software provides robust collaboration tools that allow team members to work together in real-time. This makes it easy for users to collaborate on presentation content, provide feedback and make revisions collectively.

Pitch boasts an extensive slide library, offering a wide range of professionally designed templates to choose from. These templates serve as a foundation for creating visually stunning presentations while providing a starting point that saves time and ensures a polished look.

The availability of diverse templates caters to different industries, topics and presentation styles, allowing users to create presentations for their needs.

Seamless integration with project management tools is another advantage of Pitch. The software integrates well with popular project management platforms, enabling users to streamline their workflow by syncing tasks, deadlines and other project-related information with their presentations.

For teams, startups and businesses that value collaboration, feedback and the ability to iterate on their presentations

Collaboration tools, version control, project management integration and template library.

Users can create unlimited presentations and enjoy the starter plan for free or upgrade to Pro for $8 USD/month, billed annually.

There you have it — the top 12 best presentation tools for the year! Whether you value simplicity, collaboration, automation, design versatility or data visualization, these presentation software examples have a solution out there for your future presentations.

Got your mind set on your to-go presentation software? Great! Now it’s time to start creating your slides and ace that presentation.

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The 10 Best Presentation Software for 2023: Complete Guide

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There are literally hundreds of presentation software tools in the market today and keeping track is getting increasingly hard. Most of them have been optimized for a specific purpose or type of user from a wide range of possibilities, and it's very likely that THE ideal tool for you is actually one that you've never heard of.

We've created this best presentation software list to shed some light and to give you a comprehensive presentation software list to ensure you make the right call in the platform you select. This article is the result of several weeks of research and review of 50+ presentation tools currently available on the web.

What is a presentation software?

A presentation software is defined as an application built to display information in the form of a slide show. Any presentation tool must have three fundamental functions:

‍ A text editor: to input the contents of the presentation.
‍ An import function: to insert and manipulate images and other content.
‍A slide-show or presenter mode: that displays the content in a nice, formatted way, sometimes synced in real time with the presenter across devices.

Slide shows often consist of a combination of text, video, images and charts. Their primary function is displaying clear, readable and summarized data to an audience.

Most presentations are shared and presented on a larger screen or through a digital projector. In rare occasions, slide presentations are printed out as a replacement for text documents, but this is a really inefficient way to review data, that Garr Reynolds calls ‘ PresDocs ’ (Garr Reynolds is the author of Presentation Zen, one of the most important go-to reference for successful presentations).

Related Read: What Makes Up the Best Presentation Templates?

What makes a good presentation tool?

The functions and results of presentation programs have evolved significantly in the past decades, since the original launch of ‘Presenter’ (the PowerPoint predecessor) in 1984. In 1987 PowerPoint 1.0 was released for the Macintosh and it started a revolution in the way we prepare and consume content in meetings.

For the purposes of this article we are going to classify all presentation tools using 3 variables that we consider extremely important:

Ease of use: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This rating looks at the learning curve, or time required to learn to use the platform. An easy to use interface is fundamentally important to ensure that users feel confortable working with the platform and doesn’t require complex training to take advantage of its features. This also accounts for the average time it takes to build a presentation.

Customization: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The ability to customize a presentation to the smallest details. This varies depending on the number of advanced features in the platform, like the ability to set different transitions to each slide, the ability to add customized elements or to design/code the final outcome of the slides to the last font size and color code.

Final result: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This indicator looks at the outcome of a finished presentation, assuming the user is an average person with basic design skills and intermediate knowledge on the tool itself.

Best PowerPoint Alternatives (Death by Power Point)

As we mentioned before, PowerPoint is the most used presentation builder in the market today. It is distributed by Microsoft as part of their Office Suite, which is estimated to have over 500 million users worldwide. Microsoft has also revealed that approximately 35 Million presentations are delivered every single day, that’s a staggering 400 presentations per second.

Cartoon man death because powerpoint not bing in the list of best presentation software tools

But still, PowerPoint’s popularity has decreased significantly in the past few years. Their boring presentation templates, the large learning curve and complexity as well as the terrible slides many users end up making have started the Death to PowerPoint movement.

What presentation software is better than PowerPoint?

For this section, we summarize the top PowerPoint alternatives and examples, that is, presentation tools that work in a fairly similar manner and that provide similar (but significantly better) results. If you are an avid PowerPoint user, then migrating to these platforms should be rather easy for you.

Best 10 presentation software alternative list for 2023

(Updated December 2022)

Keynote presentation
Google Slides

1- SLIDEBEAN PRESENTATION SOFTWARE

Ease of use: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Fantastic!

Customization: ★ ★ ★ ★ - Very Good

Final result: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Fantastic!

SLIDEBEAN RESENTATION SOFTWARE is first in the list of best presentation software tools

Slidebean is an online presentation tool that uses artificial intelligence to design beautiful slides. Simply add content blocks to your presentation without worrying about formatting. Slidebean’s AI finds the best possible design for every element on your slide. This level of automation allows you to create a professional looking presentation in a fraction of the time it normally takes on PowerPoint.

When comparing it to PowerPoint, Slidebean’s interface is much easier to learn and work with, and it lets you create fantastic looking presentations really fast. The platform is web based and allows you to export to both PowerPoint and PDF format. It also lets you track viewer interactions and activity from people you share your slides with!

Slidebean also has a unique advantage which is a rich gallery of presentation outline templates. These are pre-filled decks that work for numerous purposes, like business proposals, classroom decks, thesis presentations and even startup pitch decks : all you need to do is import them and fill in your content.

You can sign up free for Slidebean here

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2- apple keynote.

Ease of use: ★ ★ ★ - OK

Customization: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Fantastic!

Final result: ★ ★ ★ ★ - Very Good

APPLE KEYNOTE is second in the list of best presentation software tools

Keynote is what PowerPoint should have been all along. Apple's version of the popular presentation tool has improved significantly in the last few years, and has recently included a cloud version that works on any browser on any computer (as long as you have at least one Apple device).

Keynote is basically an improved PowerPoint, it offers the same approach to creating slides, but offers nice and clean customizable templates, a simple interface and great details like smart guides.

The biggest issue with Keynote is the long learning process that it requires. Similar to Microsoft's tool, you'll need to sit down for a few hours to learn to use the platform, and another larger set of hours to make a professional presentation.

More info about Apple Keynote is available here

Final result: ★ ★ ★ - OK

Visme is a web based platform for building presentations. Their familiar interface is similar to PowerPoint, but they have successfully simplified a complex UI to a nicer and more understandable navigation. Still, you'll need to spend a few hours to get a good grasp of where all the customization options can be found.

VISME is third in the list of best presentation software tools

The platform offers an interesting (but certainly limited) gallery of images, but they succeed at delivering beautiful infographic elements (which they call ‘Charts and Graphs’) that you can use to add some color and make your slides much more dynamic.

You can read more about them here . ‍

4- GOOGLE SLIDES

Customization: ★ ★ - Passable

GOOGLE SLIDES is fourth in the list of best presentation software tools

Google's version of PowerPoint is hosted as part of the Google Apps suite, that you can access from Google Drive or from Google Apps for Work. Sadly, their presentation builder feels like a limited version of PowerPoint, with less features, limited fonts and very little customization options.

Still, Google's platform is available for free, has a lot of integrations and probably one of the best online collaboration systems out there. Checking it out is easy, just visit your Google Drive.

You can find a more detailed review here .

5- FLOWVELLA

Ease of use: ★ ★ - Passable

Customization: ★ ★ ★ - OK

FLOWVELLA is fifth in the listo of best presentation software tools

Flowvella is available on the Mac App Store as a desktop application. It provides a simple interface (certainly cleaner than Microsoft PowerPoint and somewhat similar to Apple Keynote) and some very nice design templates, which set good grounds so you can start building a nice looking set of slides on top of them. This is by far their biggest strength! If you want to start from scratch, however, you might feel a little lost creating something that looks good.

We found, however, that the oversimplified interface makes some basic options hard to find, like changing the color of a shape. Also, while running as a desktop app it still requires an Internet connection to download some elements, which can lead to a slower performance than a 100% desktop tool.

Update: We also read recently that they launched a tvOS app for the new AppleTV, making them, as far as we know, the first presentation tool to leverage the new platform.

You can find more details here .

Customization: ★ ★ ★ -

Pitch is sixth in the list of best presentation software tools

Pitch offers an innovative solution for fast-paced teams looking to quickly create effective, stylish presentations. With a combination of productivity features and design elements, Pitch makes it easy to get professional results—quickly

You can find more information about them here .

Final result: ★ ★ ★ ★ - Very Good!

CANVA is seventh on the list of best presentation software tools

The premise of Canva is an ‘amazingly easy graphic design software'. It lets you create anything from print design to banners and presentations. They provide an easy to use interface with a huge selection of pre-built designs that you can modify to your liking.

These pre-built elements let you quickly draft a nice presentation even if you have no design skills, but it does require you to drag and drop and arrange the content of your slide, which can become time consuming.

Canva has been gaining significant popularity in the last few years, especially after they hired Guy Kawasaki as a Chief Evangelist. Their platform is beautiful, you can find more about them here .

8- HAIKU DECK

Ease of use: ★ ★ ★ ★ - Very Good

HAIKU DECK is eighth in the list of best presentation software tools

Haiku Deck launched as an iPad app in 2011. They made a big bet towards mobile productivity and came up with a solid iPad application that allowed you to create slides in less time than the then-only alternative of Keynote for iOS.

Haiku Deck has a nice set of custom templates that you can use as a guideline for your slides, and their content input system is clear and easy to learn.

Still, we believe their approach that focused on mobile devices could only take them so far and they've since been working on a web version of their platform that works for any computer. As we mentioned, the personal computer continues to be a much more efficient productivity platform.

Slides is ninth on the list of best presentation software tools

'Slides' is a nice website that lets you create and share presentations online. Formerly slides(dot)io and slid(dot)es, they finally settled for slides(dot)com. This startup was founded by Hakim El Hattab and Owen Bossola in Stockholm, Sweden, and it makes use of the reveal.js framework that we mentioned above.

Slides has a nice web interface that encourages you to create a nice and clean presentations, however, it still depends on the user’s ability to manipulate the elements and arrange them in a nice style. Still, their pre-defined formats and their grid system help guide you to a better result.

The platform also allows for custom HTML and CSS coding, which lets experienced users with coding skills, customize their templates even further.

Some more info about them here .

Ease of use: ★ - Bad

PREZI is tenth on the list of best presentation software tools

Prezi has been around for years and they have had a huge head start compared to any other online presentation tool out there. Their unique zoom styling makes it immediately obvious to the audience that they are looking at a Prezi deck.

Prezi has the advantage of allowing you to create really stunning interactive presentations if you know how to leverage their zoomable, infinite canvas. However, this can become a double edge sword if users overuse the feature and come up with a presentation that is literally capable of making people dizzy.

Still, Prezi's biggest weakness is on its ease of use. There's a long learning curve towards dominating their interface and even if you do, you need to be a designer to make a great presentation on the platform.

This is a huge company that is not going away anytime soon. With 50+ million users, they have proven the world wants and needs a PowerPoint alternative, and we have huge respect for them for doing so.

More information about them here .

Which one to pick?

In the world of presentation software, there's a big bunch to pick from. It's kind of like a crowded market with lots of options. And guess what? The best one for you might not even be on your radar.

Our list is here to help you out. We've put together this bunch of presentation software choices after digging into over 50 of them on the internet. We're here to give you the scoop on what's out there, so you can pick the one that suits you best.

Now, remember, presentation software is like your helper to make cool slideshows. These slideshows could be for showing stuff to people, like at school or work. These helpers, or software, should be good at a few things: putting words and pictures on slides, making things look nice, and showing your stuff in a cool way on a screen.

The options we've found have different things they're good at. Some use fancy computer thinking (AI) to make your slides look great without you doing much. Others let you customize your slides a lot, which is nice if you want them to look exactly like you want. And finally, how your slides look when you're done is super important too.

Picking the right presentation tool is a bit like picking the best tool for a job. You wouldn't use a hammer to write a story, right? So, whether you want something easy, something that lets you be creative, or something that gives you good results, our list has got you covered. Your choice will help you make cool presentations that people will remember. Our recommendation is to give Slidebean a try, but is up to you to consider the options. So, pick smart and happy presenting.

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13+ Best Presentation Software to Bid Farewell to PowerPoint

Renderforest Staff

07 Dec 2023

11 min read

13+ Best Presentation Software to Bid Farewell to PowerPoint

Attention, all presenters, innovators, and knowledge sharers! Brace yourselves, because the era of boring and forgettable presentations is officially over.

We all know that presentations are the beating heart of every business, work endeavor, and educational pursuit. And let’s face it, captivating your audience is an art form that can make or break your success.

Plain slides filled with text and bullet points will no longer do the job! To grab your audience’s attention, you need to shake things up a little.

Luckily, we’ve done the legwork and compiled the ultimate list of the best presentation software in one place to help you make creative and captivating presentations.

No more dull slides. No more snooze-fest presentations.

By the time you’ll have finished reading this article, you’ll have discovered:

The 13 best online presentation tools to upgrade your presentations – their advantages and disadvantages.
How does each software compare to PowerPoint, and what are their unique features?
How to use each software to convert your ideas into strong narratives and keep your audience hooked.

Consider these presentation software gems as your trusty sidekicks, ready to transform your ideas into captivating narratives that will leave your audience begging for more.

So buckle up and join us as we explore each presentation software individually, unveiling the best presentation software for your unique needs. Let’s dive right in!

The Finest Online Presentation Tools to Try Now!

Imagine you have an important project coming up, and you need to create a cool presentation to share your ideas with others within a short amount of time. Instead of just plain slides, you can make your presentation awesome by using some really impressive online presentation tools – tools you may not have heard of before.

These tools make it easy to add pictures and videos and make your slides look super interesting as they take your regular presentation and turn it into something that will make everyone go, “Wow!”

So, let’s check out some of the best presentation software you can try right now to make your presentations stand out!

1. Renderforest

You can use Renderforest’s slideshow video maker online and completely free of charge to create videos, branding, presentations, and graphics.

If you upgrade to the lite version, you can enjoy an early-stage growth boost plan for promotional and explainer videos, powerful presentations, and graphics.

Now, if you choose to have the Pro plan, you can make use of advanced growth tools, the highest quality videos, outstanding designs, and a professional website.

For much larger projects, the Business plan gives you advanced-level solutions for teams and businesses to deliver high-end results for your campaigns.

The presentation software goes beyond the ordinary by providing you with a treasure trove of ready-made presentation templates that cater to every occasion, from personal projects to business endeavors. With just a few clicks, you can unlock a realm of visually stunning designs that are guaranteed to captivate your audience from the very first slide.

Extended Template Library

Whether you’re seeking to dazzle clients, engage students, or simply impress your peers, Renderforest has your back with an extensive library of slideshow video templates . From mesmerizing 3D animations to sleek corporate slideshows and whiteboard animations, the possibilities are limitless.

EXPLORE MORE!

Pre-Made Color Palettes

Give yourself a break from doing all the work of finding the perfect font and color palette for your presentation. Renderforest provides you with a large selection of ready-to-use, pre-designed sets that give your presentation a modern and professional look.

All color palettes align with the main design principles, so you can rest assured that your presentation is aligned.

Go to the left-side editor in your presentation template, open the color and font sections and click on your favorite mix.

GIFs, Stickers, Icons, and So Much More

Renderforest presentations are like a magic toolbox for making your presentations extra awesome. With it, you can do way more than just stick to regular pictures and words.

One of the best presentation software out there, Renderforest lets you sprinkle some fun into your slides by adding GIFs, which are short, moving pictures that can make your points pop! Not just that, you can throw in stickers and icons to make things more lively and interesting.

GIFs, stickers, and more for presentation software

All of these elements help you show your ideas without even saying a word.

Renderforest gives you all these tools to help you turn your presentation into a masterpiece that everyone will remember!

Premium Images

With Renderforest, you can access a treasure trove of amazing pictures through a royalty-free premium stock images library.

These are high-quality images that you can use in your presentations without worrying about any copyright stuff. It’s like having a secret stash of amazing pictures at your fingertips.

But here’s the exciting part – you can also bring pictures to the party! So, if you have some awesome photos you took on a family trip or nice shots you found on the internet. You can toss them into your presentation as well.

Ultimately, you have your gallery of pictures that makes your presentation uniquely yours. With Renderforest, you’re not just limited to what it provides – you can mix and match to create a presentation that tells your story in your style!

CTA banner unleash your business presentation potential

Prezi is offered in three different subscription tiers, including access to all three main parts of the suite – Prezi Video, Prezi Design, and Prezi Present.

Prezi’s Standard plan costs just $5 per month, the Plus plan costs $15 per month, and the Premium plan costs $19 per month.

The presentation software is built from the ground up to remove as many of the traditional limitations imposed by web applications as possible and enable users to create stunning, rich presentations with minimal effort and design skills.

It doesn’t take long to get used to how Prezi works and where everything is located, including some of the more advanced features of the application.

Its price is quite attractive compared to most of its competition, too, making Prezi a great offer for you in general!

General Overview

Prezi is a feature-rich online presentation suite that aims to enable anyone to create stunning presentations, including those without any in-depth knowledge of design and related practices.

It comes with various advanced tools that can help you do pretty much anything you want with your presentation, and it doesn’t take a lot of time to get used to how everything works.

It’s important to note that Prezi does have some minor flaws in its UI, but those are mostly limited to features that aren’t used that often to begin with.

There are three main tiers to Canva subscriptions. You can use it completely free to design anything, on your own or in collaboration with others, and you can choose from 250,000+ templates.

However, there are a lot of wonderful templates that are labeled as premium, as well as the option to integrate your own Brand Kit, which can only be accessed when you upgrade to the Pro plan at $12.99 USD/month.

Canva for Teams includes all the features of Canva Pro but also allows large teams to collaborate easily and efficiently together, and it is priced at $29.99 USD/month.

The key selling point of Canva is how easy it is to use, even for people with no design background. It offers a range of design options, from social media posts to presentations, all in one place.

You can create professional-looking presentations at the tip of your fingers, especially with the newly released Magic Media™ apps that use AI to help you create consistent imagery.

Instead of wasting precious time scrolling through image libraries,you can try some of the AI image generator apps in the Canva Apps Marketplace. Simply type what you’d like to see, and watch it come to life.

Canva works as a web-based tool, so you don’t have to download it. It offers many ready-to-use templates and design elements like fonts, images, and illustrations.

You can either start from scratch or use these templates to create various designs, including social media graphics, presentations, flyers, and more. It also allows for collaboration, enabling multiple people to work on a project simultaneously.

Once you sign up, you can create designs by selecting a template or starting from scratch. You can then customize your design using the drag-and-drop editor, where you can easily add and adjust text, images, shapes, and other elements.

So, whether you’re one of the many small business owners, marketers, bloggers, or creative freelancers—Canva has something for everyone!

4. Google Slides

There are free trials available. For Personal and Free Business Starter plans, it is priced at $6 USD/month per user, for Business Standard, it is priced at $12 USD/month per user, while for Business Plus, it is priced at $18 USD/month.

Enterprises can contact Google to find out about pricing details for their needs.

Google Slides is very handy if many slideshows are required for certain projects. The presentation software acts as an easier alternative to PowerPoint because you don’t need to download anything in order to use Slides.

It’s as easy as going online and opening the program, while with PowerPoint, you need to download the program to start using it.

Google Slides is a cloud-based office suite that helps create, edit, and collaborate on presentations. It has features like themes and fonts, embedded videos, animations, and transitions.

The presentation software lets users create personalized presentations using ready-to-use templates with custom fonts and styles, color schemes, animations, transitions, and background images. If you’re a larget team, you can also upload files from Google Drive or Dropbox.

5. Microsoft Sway

Microsoft Sway is free to use for anyone with a Microsoft Account (Hotmail, Live, or Outlook.com).

This presentation tool dynamically adapts online to any screen and can be shared or co-edited with a URL.

It is best for people who are too occupied with work to spend time creating presentations, as it literally helps produce interactive reports, newsletters, presentations, and other personal stories in a matter of minutes, thanks to the help of AI.

Sway helps create presentations and other documentation in minutes by adding photos, videos, and other multimedia.

It’s connected to the Microsoft account, so the users can easily add files from OneDrive, or turn their Word or OneNote documents into a dynamic Sway.

6. Beautiful.ai

The Pro plan is for individuals and is priced at $12 USD/month. The Team plan is for team collaborations and starts at $40 USD/month, while the Enterprise plan boasts advanced security, support and control and require you to contact the sales team to get a quote.

Beautiful.ai saves you time and provides everything necessary for making great presentations.

You can use the right colors, font, and logo every time with its foolproof features, and when you sign up, the presentation software unlocks millions of modern images and icons that reflect your own brand guidelines. What else could you ask for?

With the Team Plan, you can also control your brand from one account and scale productivity across all departments of your organization.

Beautiful.ai is an AI presentation maker you can use to visualize your ideas easily. It offers 50+ beautifully designed customizable templates that are enhanced with presentation design best practices to keep your projects professional and clean. Besides, you can find and add stock images and icons from the image library.

7. Keynote (for Mac users)

The software comes free with most Apple devices.

This interactive business presentation software allows you to create engaging and dynamic slides, add charts and graphs to them, edit photos, and add effects to sharpen your project.

Now, you can remove backgrounds from supported images a lot more easily. You can even remove live videos or adjust them accordingly.

The software also lets you know when people join, edit, or comment on your collaborative presentations and lets you get in touch with your team using Messages and FaceTime.

Apple Keynote is the most successful competitor of PowerPoint among other Mac free presentation software solutions.

Access your presentations either online with iCloud, with a mobile app, or download a desktop version for Mac.

8. Haiku Deck

The Edu plan starts at $5 USD/month, Pro at $10 USD/month, and the Volume plan is at $100 USD/month.

Haiku Deck helps you focus on one idea at a time, letting you choose a powerful image from a library of 40M+ royalty-free photos and applying consistent formatting across your presentation in just one click.

All presentations you create with this software are hosted online and allow for easy audio narration recording and the ability to save as videos or export to PowerPoint/Keynote format for offline viewing and editing.

Haiku Deck is labeled as the “Instagram for pitch decks” by Mashable, for a good reason!

Even if you’re not a designer, the software helps you deliver presentations that connect with your listeners, spice up your social media feed, illustrate your blog, promote your product, inspire a movement, and more. It is centered around the best practices that presentation experts are after.

You can quickly design slides that don’t look like PowerPoint, and you can find related pictures to your keywords.

You can even view what other designs people have done on the same topic and use it as inspiration for your own presentation.

9. Slidebean

The Slidebean All-Access Advanced plan for founders starts at $149 USD/year, and this includes features such as pitch deck templates, unlimited fundraising kit, sharing and exporting decks, and tracking presentation views.

There is also the Slidebean Incorporation plan at $649 USD/year, which includes everything in the All-Access Advanced plan but allows businesses to incorporate their company in the US.

Slidebean offers everything you need for a successful creation process – images, icons, fonts, to name a few.

It is very easy to use and has beautiful graphic design elements. Even if you’re not a graphic designer, Slidebean makes your presentations look great.

It also helps you create pitch decks. Through its advanced analytics section, individuals can see which investors viewed their decks and how long they viewed each slide or whether the investor finished the deck, which is very helpful information to have on hand.

Slidebean is an easy-to-use and simple presentation software that provides professional templates to present your ideas with simple styling features.

Its target market includes startups, marketers, and small and medium-sized businesses that are trying to get their powerful ideas across to professional thinkers.

Streamline the process with the help of integrated automation features. Choose the templates depending on your field to simplify the creation even more. You can see insights into how users interact with the slides.

Visme is an all-in-one online presentation maker that offers custom, high-quality templates. Pick a template and customize it according to your needs, or create a presentation from scratch.

The tool offers 50+ charts and other data visualization tools, 120+ custom fonts, stock images, and vector icons. You can add website links, emails, and pop-ups. When your presentation is ready, share it online, embed it on your website, or download it.

11. SlideDog

There are 3 plans available. The first is $19/month per 2 seats, billed monthly, and you can cancel anytime. You also have a yearly plan at $99/month (1st year) per 2 seats, $79 2nd year with a 20% renewal discount. The last option is a lifetime purchase of $299 per 2 seats, where you only pay once and can access it forever.

SlideDog is a presentation software that lets its users create playlists from presentation files and easily switch between them.

The features include real-time sharing, interactive elements, and remote control with various devices to streamline the presentation process.

12. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is completely free for individuals, while larger teams and organizations are billed $2.70 USD/month.

The tool can be used by those who need to tell a story, such as educators, authors, and business owners, helping them create and publish presentations with stunning visuals in a short period.

Choose from a variety of integrated themes designed to fit all kinds of needs. Make your slides more interactive by adding transitions and animation, using charts, tables, images, videos, and more.

Zoho Show is a dedicated online presentation tool, simplistic and easily customizable. From creating and collaborating to broadcasting and publishing, you will surely find solutions to your every need.

The tool is also available on mobile devices. To access your presentations remotely on your smartphone, simply download the app and log in.

It also lets you import your existing PPTX, PPT, ODP, PPSX, and PPS files and edit them without any formatting issues.

Gamma offers three pricing plans. Upon signing up, you get 400 credits to test the Free plan with various features and create a few documents.

The Plus plan starts at $8/month, and you get to gain access to additional features like PDF export.

The Pro plan starts at $16/month, and you receive unlimited AI creation and advanced AI models.

Gamma takes just one prompt and a bit of refining to produce a beautiful presentation.

It uses the chatbot to improve existing slides, and you can incorporate live websites and applications into your presentations. It’s a great way to demonstrate your ideas in real time.

This is an opportunity to monitor how your creations perform and if they have the ability to engage your audience.

Gamma is an AI-powered tool that lets you create impressive and engaging presentations for anyone.

Besides creating your presentations, it also offers a great editing experience where you can improve your work simply by interacting with an AI chatbot.

There is a free trial available. The Personal plan for teams of up to 15 people starts at $14.99 USD/month, and the Enterprise plan for teams of 16 people and over requires you to contact Ludus directly for a quote.

Other than being incredibly easy to use, this tool is very intuitive, and presentations can be customized as you play around with unique fonts, drawings, code, interesting transitions, and much more.

Ludus combines creativity with simplicity. Ludus is more than a presentation tool; it is also a tool for communicating, collaborating, learning, and playing.

The presentation software has many features that designers are already familiar with. You can create anything without limitations, from fonts and graphics to blending modes.

It also allows you to integrate with Unsplash, GIPHY, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc., so you can add anything you want.

Ludus is a tool that allows you to create presentations with unlimited creative possibilities.

This presentation software will solve your problems regarding sharing, compatibility, collaboration, creativity, and more.

It is recommended for everyone to use, especially for creatives and designers. Everyone can use it, too, but it has a bit of a learning curve that is worth the time if you want to use it properly.

This app might be the solution to the problems that our presentation tools have nowadays. It is not restrictive, so you can let your imagination run wild and express your creativity.

This presentation tool is affordable, especially for big teams. With remote work on the rise, Ludus is a great presentation assistant to have nearby.

Still Looking for the Best Presentation Software?

And there you have it. The 13+ best presentation software that you should bear in mind if you’re thinking of trying something a little bit different to the software you’re used to hearing about all the time – PowerPoint.

Each software has its benefits, but if you’re aiming for presentation software that offers a blend of creativity, versatility, and user-friendly features, Renderforest stands out as your go-to choice.

With a vast library of templates and the ability to add GIFs, stickers, icons, and even your own images, Renderforest empowers users to create visually stunning and uniquely personalized presentations.

Renderforest also provides different pricing plans, including a free option, making it accessible regardless of your need and budget.

So, stop wasting hours of your life trying to create your presentations manually and with predictable designs, and start taking your presentations to the next level with Renderforest, your ultimate presentation companion that goes beyond the ordinary!

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15 Best Presentation Software for 2021

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On average a presentation takes up to 20 minutes and experts say we make an impression within the first 30 seconds. That is why it’s important to “dress” our great product/idea with an equally exciting design. Most often, presentations are cooked up by non-designers, which creates a specific need – for powerful presentation software, which can help communicate a message beautifully, effectively, and to suit any user’s skill level. We hand-picked 15 of the best presentation software for 2021 , which will help you create presentations online, share them, while shining in your best light. In the meanwhile, check out some useful ideas tips to spice up your presentations .

A web-based presentation tool, which means you can access your presentations wherever you are, with an internet connection. It is known for its animations, cartoons, and infographics, which help the user to create more interactive presentations and explainer-style videos.

Example by Focusky

Best Features: Very interactive; you can create a unique to your story by combining different “frames” (slides); create your own animations within the presentation Price: Free, but heavily subscription-based Learning curve: Very intuitive, nicely organized by categories, but it would require some time to learn the animation controls Available for: Online Perfect for: Marketing and education

To summarize, this presentation tool is best for marketers and education, where the creator can get the most out of the cool animation and cartoons available. In the last years, there is an increased interest in Powtoon and RenderForest and we expect that more and more people will use them in 2021. No surprise – if you look at our article about Graphic Design Trends in 2022 , everything is moving towards animation, cool 3D-s, cartoons, and illustrations – and these are all things that this software can offer for your presentation.

Prezi is an online presentation software, which resembles a mind map. In comparison, PowerPoint offers a linear way of presenting, whereas Prezi allows you to better show relationships between different elements of your presentation, show details, zoom in and zoom out and show an overall view of your topic. Compared to PowerPoint is more interactive, but with fewer functionalities and a choice of templates.

Example by PreziBase

Best Features: Interactive presentations and interesting transitions, zoom in/out details Price: The very basic features are free, but most of the interesting ones are paid, starting from $3/month and reaching up to $59/month. They offer a free trial. Learning curve: it requires learning and going through a lot of menus and functionalities, similar to PowerPoint Available for: Online / Limited use for iOS and Android (only viewing, not creating and editing) Perfect for: teachers, businesses, more experienced designers, and specific presentations needs, but not recommended for newbies

Prezi is best in showing relationships between different parts of your presentations. There are some challenges in editing, and viewing across devices and its best features are paid for. We recommend it for quick, mind-map-like presentations without the need for ultra-special design.

3. RenderForest Presentation Maker

RenderForest is an online presentation tool, which is famous for its explainer style and whiteboard animations. The presentation templates often offer various motion/video backgrounds, which helps to grab your audience’s attention. Currently, the company is working on releasing its Graphic Design Software, which will allow users to create printables and beautiful designs for social media. This shows that RenderForest’s team knows the market well and does its best to cater to its needs!

Example by Renderforest

Best Features: Video holders with text on shapes, cool transitions Price: There is a free version, the paid ones start at $20.34 per user/month Learning curve: Relatively easy to use, the simple interface helps the user Available for: Online / iOS / Android Perfect for: Education and business

Although not one of the cheapest solutions, it allows you to create engaging and interactive presentations with lots of cool animations. That makes RenderForest a great choice for more educational and marketing explainer-type videos/presentations.

4. Mentimeter

Mentimeter is a very interesting online presentation software. It allows your audience to engage with your presentation in real-time and you can create polls, ask questions, which are then displayed to your presentation. The answers from the audience remain anonymous so people are even more encouraged to participate.

Example by Mentimeter

Best Features: Launch live, interactive polls, surveys, quizzes and create things like word clouds in real-time Price: It has a free version, but the paid plans offer most of the attractive features – the basic plan costs $9.99 per user/month and the more advanced plan is $24.99 per user/month Learning curve: Easy to use; might need to explain to a less tech-savvy audience how to connect to your presentation Available for: Online / Android / iOS Perfect for: Educators, speakers, business and competitions

An excellent choice for educators, speakers, and businesses who want to engage the audience in real-time and display the results immediately. Clean, simple designs, that help you focus on the content.

5. Libre Office Impress

Libre Office is free presentation software, an open-source alternative to PowerPoint. As you can expect from a free product, it offers only the main features of its “big brother”, but it’s a good solution for people used to Microsoft’s productivity suite. The interface is very similar to PowerPoint, which again makes it comfortable to use for a certain audience. Users who need collaboration on presentations, clean interface, and more creative design solutions should steer away from this free presentation software because it will simply not cover their needs.

Example by Theodoros Bousios

Best Features: Free, compatible with older versions (Windows XP for example) Price: Free Learning curve: It will take some time to go through all the options and to get familiar with the interface; Available for: Windows / macOS / Linux / Android / iOS. Perfect for: people who want to use a free product and people with older operation systems

To summarize, Libre is free, compatible with older versions, it can cover your basic needs for a presentation, but the options are too many and available templates too little.

6. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is also an online presentation software, which has a very friendly user interface and great collaboration features. There are many functionalities, which help you create a beautiful design, but require some time and design knowledge to get it right. The premade templates are limited and this presentation software needs an internet connection to be able to edit and present.

Image by Zoho

Best Features: Live broadcasting a presentation with live chat and commenting Price: Zoho Show is free for personal use. For business users, Zoho Show is included in the Zoho Docs enterprise pricing packages – €5 or €8 per user/month Learning curve: Available for: Online / Android / iOS Perfect for: non-profits, start-ups, personal use, teachers

To summarize, Zoho offers great collaboration features, but you need a connection to edit and present. It is suitable for quick, non-pretentious presentations, where you need some kind of collaboration.

7. ClearSlide Presenter

ClearSlide is a sales engagement platform, including an online presentation tool. Another online tool – SlideRocket, was acquired by ClearSlide and one of the differences is that ClearSlide is more costly and targeted at larger businesses. It’s a great platform for very specific needs – collaborating between sales and marketing teams, to achieve the company’s goals. It’s clear even by the interface:

Image by ClearSlide

Best Features: Analytics for costumers’ engagement, video conferencing, screen sharing Price: They offer a free trial and you can see more about the payment plans here. Learning curve: Clear and simple interface, but it requires some time to get used to the tools Available for: Online Perfect for: Sales/business, managers (for coaching); not suitable for newbies, teachers, students

To summarize, ClearSide is perfect for presenting sales pitch , graphics, collaborate in larger teams. It is somehow restrictive for a non-designer because the templates are specific.

8. Piktochart

Piktochart allows you to make infographics, presentations, and printables quickly. Primarily known for its easy customizable infographics, Piktochart also has simple presentation templates and the company is constantly trying to update its library.

Example by Piktochart Knowledge Base

Best Features: Turning data-heavy content into simple visuals; nice transitions between slides Price: There is a free version and a paid one, starting at $29 per user/month. They offer a free trial. Learning curve: It requires time to get used to the options available and to navigate through Available for: Online Perfect for: Designers, teachers; it does not offer collaboration options, which might be needed by teams, students, etc.

Compared to other online presentation software is a bit costly and we could still ask a bit more from the presentation templates. We’d recommend it to someone who often uses infographics and wants to use a single platform to combine the infographics with a presentation. But why not check our free infographics as well?

Slides is online presentation software, initially aimed at developers and covering their presentation needs. Thus said, it does not offer offline editing, but you can present offline, after exporting your presentation.

Best Features: It allows you to use your phone as a remote control; Live Present Mode allows you to control what your audience sees; drop in code, iframes, and SVGs with ease. Price: Free, with paid plans starting at $7.00/month and $14-$18/month for pro and team packages. They offer a free trial. Learning curve: friendly interface, but too many functions and options, which might overwhelm the average user and beginner Available for: Online Perfect for: developers, designers, a little bit too specific for newbies

To summarize, it’s a very cool tool, giving you complete design freedom, but that is also why we do not recommend it to teachers, non-designers, or marketers. Developers and design gurus will love it.

Canva is a web-based solution that started with a mission – to make beautiful designed content available to everyone. The whole platform is organized so that a person without any prior design knowledge can easily create graphs, images, and presentations to impress. Although it is not the best tool for data visualization, it scores high in any other category. Needless to say, it has become a popular choice amongst non-designers.

Image by Iconfinder

Best Features: Plenty of beautiful templates to choose from and Canva school has plenty of tutorials and tips for free. It offers more free functionalities compared to other competitors. Price: Free, the offer different subscription plans, starting at $9.95 per user/month Learning curve: Very easy to use, most of the actions can be performed by drag-and-drop Available for: Online / iOS / Android Perfect for: newbies, marketers (who need a unified look across all their social media), non-profits, and teachers

Canva is becoming one of the most popular tools amongst non-designers for creating beautiful unified content. You can create entire presentations, flyers, and other materials with a single drag and drop.

11. Slidebean

Slidebean is the go-to online presentation software for last-minute projects, that look original and professional. Slidebean offers clean and easy-to-use templates and keeps track of your audience’s engagement.

Source Slidebean

Best Features: It allows you to arrange your content with the help of AI, which saves time creating a beautiful layout. You just pick a template, upload content, and let the AI offer you a nice layout. Premade animations, effects, and alignments are automatically applied to your content and create a cohesive look. Price: Free, paid versions starting from $8/month Learning curve: very easy to use since everything is made to fit the premade templates Available for: Windows / Mac / Android / iOS Perfect for: financial, academic, pitch, marketing, sales; everything quick with a clear structure

To summarize, if you are in a hurry, Slidebean will offer several layouts for your slides and speed up the process of creation. The platform targets primarily sales, marketing, and financial fields, and the available templates reflect that.

12. Google Slides

Google Slides is part of the G Suite business application. Its popularity has increased in the last years since it’s a web-based platform, allowing you to store, edit, and share your presentation, without the need of installing presentation software on your computer. All you need is a Google account and you are good to go.

Image by G Suite Updates blog

Best Features: It’s free for personal use, and offers great paid features for business – for example, seamless collaboration and commenting on a presentation, converting other presentations to Google Slides. Some other great features are the wide variety of fonts available (GoogleFonts, not need installing), easy embedding, plus it’s super intuitive and easy to use! Price: It’s free for individual use. For business use, the price starts at $5/user/month and plans of $10 and $25/user/month, for unlimited cloud storage and extra features Learning curve: Simple interface, but it will require some time to pick up. Similar to PowerPoint, only a bit lighter. Available for: Windows / Mac / Online Perfect for: businesses, freelancers, who need a user-friendly app with elementary features; great for collaborating teams, not so perfect for complex designs and tools, required by big enterprises

Perfect for personal use, well synchronized across different devices, similar to PowerPoint. Maybe you are a teacher and you like GoogleSlides because it is free and easy to use? Well, we’ve gathered some awesome FREE GoogleSlides and PowerPoint templates , specially made for education needs.

If you need something along the lines of PowerPoint but need the option for collaboration – a paid plan for GoogleSlides is your go-to choice.

13. Keynote

Keynote is an Apple product, very similar to Google Slides. All you need to do is create an iCloud account (similar to a Google account) and start using Keynote from there. Running Keynote on Windows also requires an internet connection and a modern browser. The latest version can also import and export PowerPoint formats if needed. All this sends Keynote higher in the list regarding the accessibility and shareability of this presentation software.

Image by Envato tuts+

Best Features: Simplicity of design, great drag and drop functions, polished transitions and animations, easy image editing/cropping; works great with multimedia; design templates with better aesthetic than an average slide deck; Price: Free for macOS and iOS Learning curve: Pretty easy to use for Mac users, a bit of learning curve for users, having experience with other software. Available for: Mac / Windows / Online Perfect for: businesses, marketers, people with not much of a design experience

Bottom line, if you are a Mac user, you love the sleek design and you are looking for cool aesthetics – Keynote is simple to use and free, why not use it?

14. Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark is a web and mobile-based media creation application, which helps you create social graphics, short videos, and web pages. What is immediately noticeable is the clean, crisp, simple, and modern designs, which focus you on the content. If you are looking for a funky, ornate design – Adobe Spark is not the right pick for you.

Example by Cikeys

Best Features: Beautiful templates, user-friendly interface, step-by-step creation, you can add audio to your slides (narrating) Price: There is a free version, the paid on starts at $9.79. The best templates, as with the competitors, are paid. They do not offer a free trial. Learning curve: Easy to use Available for: Online / iOS / Android Perfect for: quick presentations, teachers, basic presentations without jamming them with too much cool stuff.

Adobe Spark eliminates the cluster of design options and leads you step-by-step in creating elegant, simple presentations. Ideal for basic presentations, not the best for sales and marketing.

15. PowerPoint

PowerPoint certainly is a “classic” – it’s has been the most popular tool for creating presentations so far. What first started as a component of the Microsoft Office suite, now has improved shareability and accessibility. It can be used on the web (as part of Office on the web), works with Android, and iOS, and there is a Mobile app, as well as presentation software for mac.

Example by Abris DC

Best Features: Many people are familiar with the software, a wide variety of templates; improved accessibility across platforms; extensive tools and options Price: If you want to enjoy the full features of PowerPoint, you’ll need to subscribe to Microsoft 365 – they have payment plans for personal or business use. The price for personal use starts at $5.99/month or $59.99/year, and business plans start at $12.50 per user/month with an annual commitment. You can find more information here . The mobile applications are completely free to use, of course with some limitations. You can compare the available features across different platforms here. Learning curve: Due to the variety of options and the complexity of the menus, it might take some time to master all of its features. Something that could take a lot of time is editing the text, arranging the visuals, and picking the right transitions – overall, is time-consuming. Still, the interface remained easy to navigate over time and if you trust your design sense, you can achieve satisfying results. Available for: Windows / Mac / Online Perfect for: business, medical, accounting and students; creating concise presentations; but not so suitable for teachers, educators, start-ups and marketers who want to create more interactive and story-based presentations.

To this date, PowerPoint is keeping the lead as the most popular tool for creating presentations. Some of the downsides are that sometimes it can be time-consuming to come up with a good design and PP doesn’t offer collaboration tools and compared to other platforms. But we have a solution for at least one of your problems – we’ve selected 31 Modern PowerPoint templates to set the right tone for your presentation.

We made a quick summary for you…

Ok, not that we’ve looked at the 15 best presentation software for 2021, we decided to go one step further and compare them by price and popularity. Let’s have a look first at the new-comers:

As you can see, the leaders from the uprising platforms are Canva and Mentimeter, with relatively low prices and with huge success amongst users . Powtoon, Piktochart, and Renderforest are a bit costly , but they are popular since they offer a lot of animation and interactive elements. Hey, but maybe some of the other tools are right for you? We encourage you to go on their websites, contact their support team, and see what they have to offer.

Then, let’s see how the veterans are ranking:

It’s no surprise that PowerPoint and Google Slides are at the top – people are used to their products, have familiar interfaces, and offer a lot of functionalities at a good price. Although, for quick, unpretentious results, their competitors are a very attractive solution.

Final words

We can conclude that there are many useful tools to help you create beautiful presentations. Some of them are well-known and have been here for a while, while others are uprising… No matter the case, we notice a trend for presentation tools catering not only to the designers’ needs but also to the newbies, marketers, and teachers. That way, enabling everyone to create stunning presentations in no time and share them easily.

We hope this presentation software list shed some light on different options out there and that we helped you evaluate quickly what would work for your situation best.

You may also be interested in these related articles:

12 PowerPoint Presentation Tips To Dramatically Boost Your Efficiency
35 Free Google Slides Infographic Templates to Grab Now
23 Online Collaboration Tools for Your Remote Team

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Bilyana Nikolaeva

Bilyana is an inspiring content writer and illustrator at GraphicMama with years of experience in art and design. When she’s not busy writing for the blog, you will usually see her working hard on new illustrations and graphic resources.

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Take a look at GraphicMama's Infographic Templates Collection. Over 500 premade templates for your presentations:

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The 11 Best Presentation Software to Use in 2023

best presentation software to use in 2021, presentation software list

The ability to effectively share ideas, illustrate a concept, and convince an audience is invaluable whether you’re a student or a C-level executive. These days, the presentation software you use to create presentations is just as important as your public-speaking skills.

On top of that, most companies have transitioned to remote work recently due to the current coronavirus situation, and now need to share their stories online through a virtual conference room with their distributed teams and external audience members.

That’s why we’ve come up with a list of some of the best presentation software available right now, so you can choose a compatible and innovative presentation maker that includes the best presentation tools to suit your specific needs.

Choose the best presentation software by weighing the pros and cons

You’ll see some of the most popular presentation apps: from free to paid subscription platforms, and slideshow applications to full-blown visual design presentation software with interactive features and more.

Each presentation software has its pros and cons, so it’s up to you to figure out which suits your needs best; consider the software learning curve, whether your company is made up of Mac users or Windows users and the software compatibility, if you need an enterprise account or free account, etc.

Let’s dive in!

1. Piktochart

presentation software piktochart, best presentation software

Piktochart is a presentation software that can create a variety of design visuals, from infographics to social media stories.

An area in which Piktochart shines is crafting unique presentations.

On Piktochart, users can choose from a wide range of professionally-designed presentation templates .

These custom templates include everything from monthly marketing reports to employee onboarding templates.

This broad selection of customizable templates is especially useful for those who don’t have much design experience or know-how but need to create a visually stunning unique presentation in a pinch.

Piktochart’s presentation maker also makes it easy to edit presentations and include design elements such as lists, timelines, comparisons, graphs, and different types of charts through drag-and-drop tools.

You can even make visual maps and interactive charts to keep your audience engaged throughout your presentation.

And if your company uses a Piktochart TEAM plan , you can enjoy the platform’s ability to store brand assets , color schemes, and bespoke templates. Here, replicating company-branded visuals is a breeze.

Piktochart comes with a free version but with certain limitations. Active visuals are capped at five per month and published visuals have a Piktochart watermark.

If you want features such as team template collaboration, project sharing, and annotated commenting, you’ll have to get a Team account. To sum it up:

Lots of professionally-designed templates
Good for both design professionals and non-professionals
Easy to store brand assets and bespoke templates for future presentations
Access presentation tools from anywhere via a web browser
Free presentation app version available
Might take some getting used to if you’re used to PowerPoint presentations

2. Microsoft PowerPoint

microsoft powerpoint, powerpoint presentation

Microsoft PowerPoint is often the first presentation software that comes to mind.

Once considered the “O.G.” and best presentation software available, it is still widely used and has a familiar interface—which means most users are comfortable with it.

This presentation app has everything you need to create a presentation: from animated transitions for interactive presentations to pre-installed fonts and graphic elements.

Users can also upload their own fonts, graphics, and images into their finished presentation.

Lastly, it’s available as part of the Microsoft Office software package; and you can work on your presentations via the web and mobile devices, for offline viewing as well as online.

However, PowerPoint is no longer considered the best presentation software, as it has very few templates to choose from, and these tend to fall quite flat compared to modern apps and software.

It’s easy to fall back into boring slideshow PowerPoint files if you don’t know what you’re doing.

And because most people use PowerPoint, you’re likely using the same template as the next guy.

As standalone presentation software, PowerPoint is pricey at US$139.99—and accessible through only one device unless you upgrade your package.

And while PowerPoint is primarily a slideshow application and presentation maker, its strengths are limited to this category.

So if you’re looking for the best presentation software, and bang for your buck for a robust presentation tool, you might want to look elsewhere.

Market leader in slideshow applications to create slides
Widely used and familiar interface for the presentation process
Reliable and usable on most devices as well as being a desktop app
Flat templates
Limitations with its standalone-presentation software price

3. Google Slides

google slides, presentation software example

Google Slides is a slideshow application that is very similar to PowerPoint. But there are three main differences: it’s fully online (while also allowing for offline viewing), collaborative, and free.

The great thing about Google Slides (besides the fact that it’s completely free for anyone with a Google account) is that you can log on via your browser or through its official app.

You can access all Google Slides presentations from any device (mobile, tablet, and desktop), and share them with other people so you can collaborate in real-time.

Google Drive allows all your presentations to live on the cloud, accessible to all marketing and sales teams, with unparalleled ease of use.

And there’s no need to worry about disruptions as all changes are saved as they happen, as long as you have an active internet connection.

Additionally, anyone familiar with PowerPoint will be comfortable using Google’s iteration and likely be delighted by Google Drive and the slide library available.

It’s also a lot simpler, so even those new to presentation-making will find it easy to navigate.

However, some might find Google Slides too simple as it lacks the wealth of features available on PowerPoint.

These include embedding videos from sources other than YouTube, plus adding audio tracks and sound effects, limiting the ability to create unique interactive presentations.

Some users also encounter issues with downloading and exporting to different formats, including PowerPoint.

Some slides may even turn out completely different from the original version.

All in all, Google Slides is a great option for those who are looking for a free application and only need to create simple presentations.

The free plan supports professional presentations
Web-based and collaborative to create presentations
Simple and familiar interface for an online presentation software
Too simple for advanced presentation making
Difficult to export to other formats
Limited templates and customization options for interactive content

You could say Keynote is Apple’s version of PowerPoint. It’s also a slideshow application—but in typical Apple fashion, it comes with a sleek, minimalist interface and is considered one of the best presentation apps on the market.

There are 30 different themes to choose from, which serve as templates for those who need a quick fix. And it can do most of what PowerPoint can.

Keynote’s main perk is that it’s part of the Apple ecosystem.

That means it has built-in iCloud and Apple Watch support so users can control their presentation from their mobile device or even their wrists with just a click.

This presentation app comes pre-installed on most Mac devices. Otherwise, you can purchase it from the Apple store for just US$9.99 for mobile and US$19.99 for OS X.

The big downside is that Keynote is exclusive to Mac OS.

Non-Apple users can create, upload, and sync their own Keynote presentations through their iCloud Drive, but this presentation app is only truly helpful only for those who use multiple Apple devices.

And if you’re used to working on PowerPoint, you might find Keynote a bit confusing in the beginning, especially when editing presentations.

Sleek, minimalist interface
Free with most Apple devices
No access for PC and Android devices except through iCloud

5. SlideDog

Sliding away from straightforward slideshow applications and other presentation apps, SlideDog is a web-based multimedia presentation tool that lets users combine different types of media to create and edit presentations.

This includes everything from PowerPoint decks to videos and even PDFs that can all be played side by side without any awkward transitions.

It’s also extremely easy to customize a SlideDog presentation.

You just need to upload the files into the SlideDog web browser application, and then drag and drop them according to the order in which you want them to play.

You can control your presentations and playlists from another device, and audience members can view your slideshow on their devices by clicking a link.

SlideDog has a free presentation app version that provides all of the basic features.

However, live sharing and premium support are only available with a Pro account that costs US$99 per year, and not via the free version alone.

While SlideDog is technically considered presentation software, you can’t actually create presentations on it.

You can simply stitch together different pre-made presentations in various formats into what is essentially a playlist.

Lastly, SlideDog supports only Windows devices, so Apple and Linux users can’t use it.

Supports a lot of different media
Provides live-sharing
More dynamic compared to the usual slideshow presentation
Only collates media; doesn’t create them

6. Haiku Deck

haiku deck, presentation software example

Ever come across presentations with size-eight fonts and blocks of indecipherable paragraphs on each slide?

You can avoid such an unfortunate scenario with Haiku Deck.

HaikuDeck is a web and mobile application that favors images over text.

It works by limiting the number of words users can put on each slide, and allowing them to search for images on their platform related to the slide’s main idea.

This makes it ideal for those who want to simplify their thoughts and let the images do all the talking.

Users have over 40 million royalty-free photos to choose from, plus dozens of simple slide layouts on the platform itself.

While this certainly simplifies the process of creating a visually rich presentation, it can be limiting for those who need to include more information into their slides.

It’s a great option for someone giving a TED Talk, for example.

But for others who need to pass on more facts and figures, having a built-in word limit might be too restrictive.

Simple and easy to use
Access to millions of royalty-free stock images
May be too simple for some
No Android support
Limited features

7. Prezi Business

prezi business, business presentation software

Among the other presentation software on this list, Prezi Business might be one of the most unique presentation tools.

Rather than offering a regular slideshow format, Prezi looks more like a 3D interactive mind map where viewers jump dynamically from one idea to the next.

You can zoom in on one “slide” and then zoom out for the next.

Prezi has over 100 templates to choose from and comes with a very simple interface and a drag-and-drop style of editing.

It’s compatible with both Mac and PC desktops as well as smartphones.

It’s also similar to a regular PowerPoint deck in that you can jump back and forth from one “slide” to the next.

And like SlideDog, you can send viewers the link to the presentation as you’re presenting.

Also, up to 10 people can work on a Prezi presentation at the same time, one of its main selling points.

This is great for collaboration, but having so many hands-on deck at once can get messy.

Dynamic and immersive presentations
Highly visual
Easy to use
May not be appropriate for all types of presentations

screenshot of ludus presentation software

In a world of slides and presentations, standing out is the key. Ludus brings the flair of graphic design into the world of presentations.

At its core, Ludus is the bridge between presentation tools and design software. It enables users to infuse their slides with the kind of design elements you’d typically find in advanced design platforms.

Not only can you import assets from design giants like Adobe, but its seamless integration with tools like Unsplash and Giphy makes sourcing visuals a breeze.

It’s a fairly affordable tool for all its features compared to the other paid options in this list, as users pay 12.49 euros monthly (if billed annually).

However, while Ludus’ robust design capabilities can elevate the look of your presentation, those unfamiliar with design tools might find there’s a learning curve.

Merges presentation creation with advanced design tools.
Seamless integration with popular design platforms and visual databases.
Offers a unique edge in presentation aesthetics.
Might be a tad overwhelming for non-designers
Can have a steeper learning curve for those used to more straightforward platforms

9. Slidebean

screenshot of slidebean presentation software

Crafting a compelling presentation demands not only compelling content but also a design that can captivate your audience. Enter Slidebean.

Slidebean offers an intelligent design solution, using AI to transform raw content into professionally styled presentations. This platform streamlines the design process, allowing you to focus on the message rather than fretting over aesthetics.

The basic plan is free and allows you to create a presentation. But if you want to share or download your presentations, as well as unlock the full suite of features, you’ll need to sign up for the All-Access plan priced at $199 per year.

While it provides a quick and efficient method to produce polished slides, it also offers features for sharing, collaboration, and viewer analytics, adding an edge to your presentation strategy.

However, for professionals who prioritize granular design control, the automated design might feel limiting at times.

AI-driven design ensures visually appealing presentations.
Features for collaboration and viewer insights.
Efficient design process reduces time and effort.
Might not offer the detailed design customization some users desire.
Automated choices may not always align with specific branding or style preferences.

10. ClearSlide

screenshot of clearslide presentation software

Having great visuals to drive your point home can be the difference between getting a sale across the line or customers walking away. ClearSlide stands out in this area as a presentation tool for businesses laser-focused on boosting their sales and marketing game.

At its core, ClearSlide is all about leveling up business presentations. Whether you’re marketing a new product or tracking client engagement, it’s got tools that cater to every need.

Whether it’s a PowerPoint, a PDF, or something from Google Drive or Dropbox, ClearSlide makes it simple to upload and work with these files.

The unique edge? ClearSlide’s virtual meeting space pops open with just a click. It’s all about seamless, professional presentations without the hassle.

Beyond just slides, the platform dives deep into metrics and analytics, ensuring every presentation is backed by data-driven insights. And the tool is available for $35 per month, which isn’t too pricey for medium-sized businesses.

However, its complexity isn’t for everyone. For some, the variety of features might seem a tad overwhelming, and its focus on metrics might be a bit much for those just wanting a basic presentation tool.

Seamless virtual meetings and presentations
Integrates with popular platforms
Offers insightful analytics for sales and marketing
Might feel complex for some users
Limited transition and design effects
Mobile experience could be better

screenshot of vyond presentation software

Stepping into the world of animation, Vyond, once known as GoAnimate, allows users to turn their narratives into professional animated videos. For those looking to elevate their content without diving deep into animation complexities, Vyond can be the go-to tool.

This platform is more than just drag-and-drop animations. It integrates AI capabilities with Vyond Go, which transforms text prompts into rough-cut videos.

Fancy a quick draft for your upcoming project? This AI assistant is up for the task. And if perfection is your game, take it to Vyond Studio, filled with an array of characters, templates, and backgrounds.

The Essential Plan at $25 per month is suitable for individuals on a budget. However, if you want to export videos at 1080p and above, have collaboration tools, or different export options, you’ll need to sign up for the Professional Plan at $92 per month.

As robust as the tool is, there are still some kinks to iron out. AI voiceovers might still need some tweaks, and detailed color customizations can be a bit tricky, but the tool’s strengths, especially for businesses, are undeniable.

Hassle-free video creation for beginners to experts
Generous library of pre-made assets
AI-powered video and script creation with Vyond Go
AI voiceovers might feel a bit robotic
Some customization limitations for specific props and scenes

The best presentation software is…

…completely up to you!

When it comes to presentation software, the world is your oyster.

Each of these tools either has a free or trial version for you to check out, so you don’t have to commit just yet.

When it’s time to choose, consider the following aspects to find the right presentation software for you:

Ease of use. Is it easy for you to understand or will it require lots of training before you can start creating presentations?
Accessibility. Can you access your presentation software from any device or are you limited to carrying your laptop to every presentation?
Real-time collaboration. Can multiple people work on the same project or do you have to keep downloading and emailing drafts?
Create design tools. Can you create presentations with dynamic design elements or are you stuck with the same kind of slide each time?
Template availability. Is this tool only accessible to a design professional or can anyone create stunning presentations through pre-designed and updated templates?

Piktochart , for example, would be a fantastic presentation software choice among the long list of PowerPoint alternatives for teams looking for a variety of eye-catching designs without requiring much technical know-how. Meanwhile, Microsoft PowerPoint might be the best presentation software for those who are just looking to play it safe.

Hopefully, this best presentation software list sheds some light on the tools at your disposal. Choose wisely!

7 Sales Presentation Examples for Successful Pitches

piktochart how to make a presentation 2023 guide

How to Make a Presentation (Guide With Tips & Templates)

How to Nail Your Brand Presentation: Examples and Pro Tips

Presentations that move audiences

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content quicker than ever before.

Prezi is good for business

Keep teams engaged and customers asking for more

Prezi is smart for education

Make lessons more exciting and easier to remember

Millions of people — from students to CEOs — use Prezi to grab attention, stand out, and capture imaginations

The most engaging presentations happen on Prezi

Create with confidence

Professionally designed templates.

Choose from hundreds of modern, beautifully made templates.

Millions of reusable presentations

Focus on your own creativity and build off, remix, and reuse presentations from our extensive content library.

Real creative freedom

Open canvas.

Create, organize, and move freely on an open canvas. Create seamless presentations without the restrictions of linear slides.

Ready-made asset libraries

Choose from millions of images, stickers, GIFs, and icons from Unsplash and Giphy.

A presentation that works for you

Present in-person.

Have the confidence to deliver a memorable presentation with presenter notes and downloadable presentations.

Present over video conference

Keep your audience engaged by putting yourself in the center of your presentation.

Your own ideas, ready to present faster

Prezi AI is your new creative partner. Save time, amplify your ideas, and elevate your presentations.

The specialists on visual storytelling since 2009

From TED talks to classrooms. In every country across the world. Prezi has been a trusted presentation partner for over 15 years.

*independent Harvard study of Prezi vs. PowerPoint

See why our customers love us

Prezi is consistently awarded and ranks as the G2 leader across industries based on hundreds of glowing customer reviews.

Prezi powers the best presenters to do their best presentations

8 Best Presentation Software Tools (Free and Paid) in 2023

Designing a presentation that’s engaging, informative, and aesthetically pleasing is challenging. If you’re a non-designer, you may find it even tougher to put together a visual slide deck using presentation software.

You’re not the only one either–– 45% of presenters find it difficult to design creative layouts for their presentations. But with intuitive templates, user-friendly interfaces, and effective collaboration, the whole creation process becomes easier.

To help you create effective presentations, we’ve made a list of the best presentation software available now.

What makes great presentation software?

Downloadable or cloud-based. Presentation software is no longer limited to downloadable desktop programs–today, many software options are available via your web browser. Whether you want to work offline or prefer to back your presentations up on the cloud, there are multiple options.

User-friendly. It can be easy to get caught up in all the creative possibilities of a software’s advanced features. Really, though, you need a software solution that will create professional-looking presentations and be easy for your team to use. Think about how tech-savvy the users are and which features will be most useful to them.

Device compatibility. Depending on where you’re giving your presentation, you may want the option of presenting from a tablet or mobile device. Some presentation software come with mobile-compatible apps too––enabling you to make edits on the go.

Content asset library. Top-quality images and graphics help ensure your presentation looks sharp and professional. Today, many presentation software tools come with stock image and video channel integrations to make it easier to include engaging visuals. After all, no one wants to see endless slides of black and white text.

Slideware vs. canvas-based. Conventional presentations usually follow a linear slide-by-slide presentation format. Increasingly though, presentation software tools are providing non-linear canvas-based presentation options which enable users to fly around a modular digital map. With canvas-based presentations, users are free to switch between topics without having to follow a set one-way route.

8 best presentation software options

1. zoho show.

Zoho Show is a cloud-based software that is part of Zoho’s office CRM suite. This is a top option if you’re looking for strong team collaboration features, easy-to-use design features, and robust formatting tools.

Its clean user interface is simple to navigate—making it easier to focus on building your presentation. Choose from 100+ presentation templates and quickly insert tables, charts, images, and text boxes.

Top features:

Integrations enable users to add videos via YouTube and audio via Soundcloud
Reach a wider audience by publishing slides online, sharing the link on social media, and embedding presentations on your site as an Lframe
Collaboration features enable team member tagging using “@” and contextual commenting

Limitations:

You can only create presentations from a computer—there’s currently no option to build presentations from other devices
Custom branding is only available with the top paid plan

Pricing: Zoho Show is free for individuals. For access to Zoho CRM’s full suite of tools, the Standard plan is $20/user/month.

Best for: Startups who want to use Zoho’s suite of tools for team collaboration.

New kid on the block, presentation software Prezi , has turned traditional (and sometimes dull) work presentations on their head. Instead of typical slide-based presentations, Prezi pioneers conversational presentations by giving users a single giant canvas.

Within the canvas, you can add blocks of images or text and even create mini slides. While presenting, users can fly around different sections of the canvas and zoom in to look at specific pieces of content in more detail.

Show your content alongside a live or recorded video of you presenting, an effective way of maintaining a personal connection during meetings
Choose from a library of hundreds of customizable presentation templates including quarterly business reviews, daily standup meetings, and portfolio templates
Integrate with other work apps like Slack, Google Meet, and Zoom for easier sharing and presenting of Prezi projects between team members
Charts and graphs aren’t totally customizable or editable for a more personalized appearance
With the free or lower-tiered versions, your presentations depend on the internet to be viewed
The zooming in and out movements can be confusing for users who aren’t familiar with Prezi presentations

Pricing: The Free plan enables users to create and share up to five presentations online. The Plus plan is $15/month and allows unlimited projects and offline access.

Best for: Startup founders and digital creators looking for an original style of presenting that doesn’t follow the conventional slide-by-slide methods.

You may already be familiar with Canva as a social media graphics design tool. But you might not know that you can also create visually pleasing presentation slides.

Canva is great for making slick presentations straight from your web browser. The presentation software comes with a few free customizable layouts to help you get going quickly. Alternatively, you can create your own template from scratch.

Search a library of thousands of free images to include in your presentation
Include different content elements like logos, grids, charts, graphics, shapes, and icons
Invite team members to collaborate on your presentation online or share your finished version
You can’t import presentations from PowerPoint or export presentations in a PowerPoint-editable format
You can’t simultaneously collaborate with team members on images

Pricing: The Free plan has templates, design types, and images to help you get started. A Pro plan is $12.99/month and provides more images, template storage, and a branding kit.

Best for: Users who want to create a visual presentation quickly and effectively from their web browser.

4. Microsoft PowerPoint

best presentation software - microsoft powerpoint

Created in 1987, Microsoft PowerPoint is probably the best-known presentation software on this list. Although many other companies have built more advanced presentation tools, PowerPoint remains popular due to its ease of use, and familiarity.

As the original presentation software, PowerPoint has all the main features you’d expect. Providing a menu of options for animations, transitions, and formatting, along with a library of templates, PowerPoint is suited to advanced users as well as those creating their first presentation.

Initially only available as downloadable software, users can now access Microsoft 365, a cloud-based package of productivity apps including Office 365 programs Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Use Android and IOS apps for building presentations on the go
Embed files created in other Microsoft Office apps like graphs created in Excel, or any other programs that enable Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
Extensive animation and transition options help presentations look professional
Some of PowerPoint’s templates look outdated
The free version only enables presentation viewing and no editing or collaboration

Pricing: The Microsoft 365 Personal plan is $69.99/year and allows access for one user. A Family plan enables up to 6 users and is $99.99/year.

Best for: Entrepreneurs who aren’t seeking out innovative new tools or features.

5. Google Slides

best presentation software- google slides

Part of Google Workspace, Google Slides is another app that’s freely available for both personal and business use. Just as you can create spreadsheets in Sheets or documents in Google Docs, you can create presentations in Slides.

Similar to PowerPoint in layout and features, users of the Microsoft software should be able to find their way around the software and identify the locations of key tools and settings. Like PowerPoint, Slides puts the current slide in the center, with other slides available in a vertical menu on the left side.

Using the horizontal toolbar, users can perform actions like embed videos, insert diagrams, and include animations.

Up to 100 users (with editing permission) can collaborate on a presentation simultaneously
A built-in group chat helps you track what everyone is doing
Play your presentation in presenter mode so you can preview how it will look to your audience
Exporting and importing between Slides and PowerPoint can cause messy layout changes
The template selection is limited and basic (although you can import hundreds of others)

Pricing: Google Workspace is free for personal use but if you find yourself needing more logins and storage space, you can upgrade to the Business Starter plan for $6/user/month.

Best for: Entrepreneurs already using Google Workspace who need access to an easy-to-use and effective collaborative presentation software.

6. StoryDoc

Storydoc is an online interactive presentation maker, ideal for sales teams, business owners, and product marketing. Designed as a modern-day business alternative to static slides and PDF presentations, Storydocs are proven to engage more viewers than conventional presentations thanks to an amazing interface and advanced data visualization options.

The software comes with an array of built-in templates for all business use cases from sales decks to pitch decks to business proposals, so that anyone can create a stunning and effective presentation.

Allows embedding video and social media content, sign-up forms, schedulers, and personalized outbound
Integrates with major CRMs like Salesforce and Hubspot
Presentations are designed for any device and look perfect on mobile
Tracking analytics allow you to see how and when a prospect or an investor interacted with your deck
Advanced storytelling features and slides
Use for web only
Can be pricey for single users

Pricing: Free trial for the first 14 days after which a starter plan is $40 per seat/month

Best for: Medium and large sized companies with big sales teams and the daily need for high–performance sales collateral.

7. Slidebean

Slidebean is a top choice for startup founders and entrepreneurs. Their template library features decks made for investor updates, demo day presentations, and sales plans.

Slidebean even has the original pitch deck template Airbnb used to raise their first $600,000 round back in 2009. Entrepreneurs can access this one and others to help build a slide deck to present to investors.

Track your investors’ slide activity by viewing which slides they saw, how much time they spent on each, and what percentage of the presentation they interacted with
AI helps you arrange the best possible slide layouts and configurations
Use presentation templates created by the likes of Doordash and Tesla
Fewer graphics and shapes available compared to other options like PowerPoint
Fewer templates available—and most are geared towards startup founders and entrepreneurs

Pricing: Users can access Slidebean for free. But to enable collaboration, exportation, and access to more templates, you’ll need to subscribe to the Starter plan at $8/month.

Best for: Startup founders and entrepreneurs looking to pitch their business to investors.

8. Paste by WeTransfer

best presentation software - paste by wetransfer

Paste is an intuitive and easy-to-use presentation software inspired by the modular compartments of Japanese lunch boxes.

Flexible layouts enable you to change the size of text, insert columns, and reorganize your slide without messing up the rest of the slide’s formatting.

Ever proofread your presentation so much that your eyes hurt? Eye-balling font consistency, text size, and image formatting is time-consuming and boring, to say the least. Paste does a good job of removing this task by automatically adjusting your slides using AI.

Non-designers will love how easy it is to get started, too. Simply drop in all your videos, images, and GIFS—Paste will then arrange them into a well-presented slide.

Responsive slides put your content in place as you drop it in
Multi-slide controls enable you to edit multiple slides in one go
Integrations with stock image library Unsplash, Giphy, Figma, and Google Workspace
No controls for image appearance settings, like cropping, color, or contrast adjustments
No way of inserting images and icons outside of the layout Paste provides

Pricing: Create up to three decks with the Free plan. Upgrade to the Pro plan for $12/month to get unlimited decks, real-time collaboration, and 200 GB storage.

Best for: Non-designers who need to quickly create a visually pleasing presentation.

Which is the best presentation software for you?

Don’t automatically default to using PowerPoint as your go-to presentation software. As you can see, there are loads of alternative top-notch presentation software options with innovative features.

The best presentation software for you will depend on your personal skills and business requirements. If you’re a time-strapped solopreneur, opt for presentation software with ready-to-go templates like those from Collidu , Paste, or Slidebean.

If you work as part of a team, choose Google Slides or Zoho Show for their collaboration features.

Test out a few of the options above and remember to check out the AppSumo store for all the latest software deals. We have several deals for presentation software and templates for creating an engaging presentation.

Best free presentation software of 2024

Find an alternative to PowerPoint

Best overall

Best for speed, best for functionality, best for collaboration, best user interface.

How we test

The best free presentation software makes it simple and easy to create presentations as an alternative to subscribing to Microsoft PowerPoint.

A person doing a presentation on a whiteboard.

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 .

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. Try it free for 14 days .

The best free presentation software of 2024 in full:

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Our expert review:

Reasons to buy

Reasons to avoid.

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 .

^ Back to the top

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.

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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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14 Best Interactive Presentation Software in 2024 (Free & Paid)

Discover the best interactive presentation software, including free tools for presentations, and presentation platforms for video and animated presentations.

Dominika Krukowska

14 minute read

Short answer

What are the best interactive presentation tools?

Beautiful.ai

Static vs. interactive presentation tools

Static presentation tools allow you to present information using a fixed sequence of slides and a consistent flow to guide readers. Interactive tools use a variety of multimedia elements and storytelling frameworks, letting viewers engage with content at their own pace.

While static tools ensure clarity and structure, interactive presentation tools transform passive viewers into active participants, creating a deeper involvement and boosting engagement.

Check out our resource on why static slides are bad for you .

And here's what a static presentation looks like compared to an interactive one:

Critical features in interactive presentation software

Ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of presentation tools out there? I have. But after sifting through the scary pile of interactive presentation tools, I've zeroed in on the features that genuinely elevate your content.

12 must-have features of modern interactive presentation tools:

Template galleries - Template galleries offer a quick start, ensuring your presentation looks polished without spending hours on design.

AI content creation - AI-driven features analyze your content, suggesting optimal layouts and design elements, making your slides both informative and visually appealing.

Personalization - You can tailor your presentations to resonate with specific audiences. This ensures your content speaks directly to the viewer, enhancing engagement and relevance.

Automation - From auto-populating content to personalizing presentations based on viewer data, to tracking engagement, automation tools make your job easier and more efficient.

Real-time collaboration - Teamwork makes the dream work. You can collaborate with team members in real-time, combining insights to craft the perfect presentation.

Integration with other tools - Connect your presentation software with your favorite tools, including CRM systems, prospecting, or sales enablement tools.

Narrated design (Scrollytelling slides) - Turn your slides into a compelling narrative, guiding your audience on a memorable journey.

Animations - Use animations to highlight key messages, transition between topics, or simply captivate your audience.

Annotation capabilities - Whether it's highlighting important points, on-hover labels, or adding on-the-spot insight pop-ups, annotations make your presentation a two-way conversation.

Multimedia content options - Go beyond text—enrich with videos, audios, and interactive elements for a better reader experience.

Role-based permissions - Control who can edit what parts of the presentation, ensuring your presentation remains in trusted hands and its design unbroken.

Analytics and reporting - Track viewer engagement, slide interactions, and feedback, and use these insights to make informed improvements to your presentation and create better future presentations.

1. Storydoc

Storydoc is the future of presentations, reimagined with the power of AI. This interactive presentation maker takes your deck and elevates it to a dynamic, immersive story experience.

It uses narrated design, aka scrollytelling, to challenge the norms of traditional slide-based presentations and invite audiences to explore and engage with the content at their own pace.

Storydoc also sprinkles a bit of AI magic, guiding you every step of the way. From automatically applying your branding and generating relevant visuals to making content suggestions, you can get a professional-looking presentation in no time.

Once you’re finished, you can use dynamic variables to automate any number of personalized versions of your deck at scale.

After you hit ‘send’, go to the analytics panel and watch as it fills up with real-time data, providing valuable insights about what’s resonating with your audience and what’s not.

AI-driven design and content suggestions
The ability to personalize decks at scale
Optimized for viewing on any device
Integrates with tools like calendars, lead-capturing forms, and live chats
Comprehensive presentation analytics with real-time data
Printed versions lose the charm of interactivity
There might be a slight learning curve for traditional presentation tool users
14-day free trial
Starter plan: $30/month per user (billed annually)
Pro plan: $45/month per user (billed annually)
Team plan: Talk to sales

2. Slidebean

Designed with the challenges of starting a business in mind, Slidebean offers an AI-powered platform that simplifies the pitching process.

You can draft a simple outline in the platform's intuitive content-brief and editor. Once done, Slidebean springs into action, quickly transforming the content into slides that are in line with the established best practices.

But don't mistake speed for lack of control. The AI does the heavy lifting, but you're in the driver's seat. If a slide feels off, you can tweak it. Or, if you're feeling particularly hands-on, you can dive into their fill-in-the-blank templates and craft your presentation.

Designed with the unique challenges of startups in mind
Blend of AI-driven automation and user customization
You can collaborate with a team of experts to perfect your pitch
Might feel like overkill for simpler presentation needs
Some design elements could use a fresh coat of paint
Basic plan: Free
All-Access plan: $199/year
Accelerate plan: $499/year

Visme is a solid choice for crafting presentations from the ground up. You can dive into a vast library of templates tailored for every industry, ensuring your content always feels fresh and relevant.

And if you're all about the visuals, Visme's got you covered with over 1.5 million high-resolution stock images, dynamic charts, and interactive data widgets.

Want to add a personal touch? You can customize decks with your own branded fonts and colors. Plus, with features like presentation notes and a presenter mode, you're always ready to engage your audience, whether it's in a boardroom or a virtual space.

Just a heads-up: while there are tons of design choices, some templates might be more about looking good than being super clear. But with a bit of tweaking, you can get the best of both worlds.

Intuitive content creation with a vast template library
Real-time collaboration tools for efficient teamwork
Asset management to ensure brand consistency
The variety might be a bit overwhelming for first-time users
Some features lean too much towards aesthetics
Premium features are locked behind paid plans
Starter plan: $12.25/month (billed annually)
Pro plan: $24.75/month (billed annually)
Visme for Teams: Contact sales

Ludus is a presentation software designed with teamwork in mind. Whether you're co-editing in real-time or sharing assets across teams, Ludus makes the process simple.

You can start with one of their templates or build from scratch. Ludus offers an impressive array of features, a whopping 64 to be precise, that can sometimes be a bit hidden to not overwhelm the casual user.

You can pull in content from platforms like YouTube, Unsplash, and even design tools like Figma. And, if you're looking to add a personal touch, you can record yourself speaking over your slides.

Plus, with features like live collaboration and custom blocks, you can work together with your team on designing slides. It's all about giving you the freedom to mix, match, and create the right presentation for your needs.

Seamless real-time collaboration for team projects.
Integrates easily with platforms like YouTube, Unsplash, and Figma.
Offers custom domains for a branded presentation experience.
Advanced design tools for creative freedom.
Might have a learning curve for new users.
Huge feature set might be overwhelming for users who are after basics.
Some users might notice performance hiccups with heavy content.
30-day free trial
Teams of 1-15 people: $149.99/year
Teams of 16 people and over: Contact sales

5. Mentimeter

Mentimeter is designed to turn passive audiences into active participants, making every presentation a two-way conversation.

With features like dynamic word clouds, live polling, and interactive quizzes, Mentimeter ensures that your audience is not just watching but actively contributing to the discussion.

Whether you're in a corporate setting, an educational institution, or hosting a workshop, Mentimeter promises to make your sessions productive, inclusive, and fun.

Engaging tools like word clouds, live polls, and quizzes.
Encourages audience participation and inclusivity.
Adaptable for work, education, and workshops.
Integrates with apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
Might take time for new users to learn all features.
Some may desire more template customization.
Free plan available
Basic plan: $11.99 per presenter/month
Pro plan: $24.99 per presenter/month
Campus plan: Talk to sales
Discounts for teachers and students

Vyond is a platform that helps you create top-notch animated videos that turn even the most complex of messages into relatable, engaging stories.

With a wide range of templates at your disposal, Vyond ensures you've got just the right backdrop, whether you're piecing together a corporate presentation, crafting an explainer video, or designing an educational segment.

The platform's dynamic content integration also lets you jazz up your animations with a mix of images, videos, and even 3D elements. And for those stories that need your unique voice? You can dive into Vyond's voice-over features or add customizable characters.

A rich library of templates for every narrative
The ability to enrich animations with content integrations
Tools for voice-overs and character customization
Premium features come at a higher cost
It might take some time to get the hang of it, even if you have video editing experience
The two cheapest plans only allow a single user
Essential plan: $25/month for a single user (billed annually)
Premium plan: $54/month for a single user (billed annually)
Professional plan: $92/month per user (billed annually)
Enterprise plan: Get in touch with sales

7. Genially

Genially offers tools that make your presentations, infographics, and other content types truly interactive. It comes with a vast library of professionally designed templates, perfect for every occasion, from corporate pitches to educational lessons.

But Genially's magic doesn't end there. With features that allow dynamic content integration, you can add layers of interactivity, from clickable elements to animated transitions.

And if you're looking to gamify your content? Genially’s got your back here too, ensuring your audience is not just viewing but actively engaging with your content. I mean, you can even create your own escape room right there in the editor!

A versatile platform suitable both for business and education.
Strong emphasis on interactivity.
Large template library, making the content creation process simpler.
Might be too complex for those with simpler creative needs.
No clear information on pricing.
Pro plan: $7.49/month (billed annually)
Master plan: $20.82/month (billed annually)
Team plan: $79.15/month (billed annually)
Discounts for education

8. Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai is a presentation software that uses AI-powered automation to make the process of creating slide decks quicker and easier. It offers smart templates as a starting point, ensuring you're never left staring at a blank slide.

But where it truly shines is in its real-time design adaptation. As you pour your content onto a slide, the platform's AI ensures every element is perfectly placed, every color is on-brand, and every transition feels smooth.

Whether you're piecing together a sales pitch, a quarterly report, or a startup story, Beautiful.ai makes sure it's presented in the best light with features like shared slides, universal updates, and total brand control.

AI magic that takes the guesswork out of design.
Smart templates that feel like a designer's touch.
Collaboration made easy with shared slides.
Might feel too automated for the design traditionalists.
Limited slide customization options can feel a bit formulaic.
Might not be suitable for more complex presentations.
Free 14-day trial
Pro plan: $12/month (billed annually)
Team plan: $40/user/month (billed annually)
Single ad hoc project: $45
Enterprise plan: Contact sales

Pitch is a presentation software that focuses on speed, collaboration, and design, wanting to transform the way teams create and share their ideas.

To get started, you can either pick a template or create your own. As you build, the platform offers smart editing features to guide you along the way. You can swiftly integrate photos, icons, logos, and videos, making each slide a visual treat.

Collaboration is seamless, with real-time editing and feedback loops. Sharing your work is as simple as sending a link, and with the added bonus of real-time analytics, you get a clear picture of how your audience interacts with your content.

Real-time collaboration features with editing loops
Affordable pricing makes it a great choice for individuals or small businesses
Analytics panel that provides insights into audience engagement
Limited selection of templates
No AI assistance
You’ll have to upgrade your plan to access presentation analytics
Starter plan: Free
Pro plan: $8 per member per month
Enterprise plan: Talk to sales

10. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is a presentation tool offering a modern approach to crafting and sharing presentations. With its sleek, uncluttered interface, it promises and delivers a distraction-free creation experience.

Dive in, and you're greeted with a library of over 100 templates, perfect for everything from your next startup pitch to a business proposal.

Teamwork takes center stage in Zoho Show. Features like real-time slide adjustments, instant notifications, and contextual comments all make collaboration feel seamless. Users can also bring decks to life with animations, custom shapes, infographics, and multimedia integrations.

And if you already have a presentation in another format? Zoho Show ensures a hassle-free transition, smoothly importing PPTX, PPT, and other popular file types.

Intuitive user interface
Collaboration options for real-time team interactions
Full compatibility with popular presentation formats
Completely free to use
Limited choice of templates and features
There are more advanced presentation tools out there

11. FlowVella

FlowVella is a presentation software that's all about creating interactive stories. It offers a platform where you can craft slides with rich text, high-quality images, and engaging videos.

Beyond the basics, the ability to embed interactive links and galleries allows for a more immersive experience, while the option to include PDFs makes sure that detailed data is always at your fingertips.

But perhaps its most distinctive feature is the ability to transform iPads into interactive kiosks. This makes it an ideal choice for museums, exhibitions, and other public spaces looking to provide an interactive experience to their visitors.

Easy-to-use editor
Works both offline and online
The ability to use custom URLs when sharing presentations
Free version includes FlowVella branding
The design options might feel limited to more advanced users
Premium plan: $60/year (billed annually)
Pro plan: $200/year (billed annually)

12. SlideDog

SlideDog is a presentation software that brings together various presentation elements into one seamless experience.

Imagine being able to combine PowerPoints, Prezis, PDFs, and other media without the hassle of switching between programs during your presentation. SlideDog makes this possible.

Its beauty lies in the ability to create a custom playlist for all your presentation files and media, ensuring a smooth flow from start to finish. One of its standout features is the live sharing capability, allowing audiences to access presentations in real-time from various devices.

Beyond traditional presentations, SlideDog can also be used as a digital signage solution, perfect for those ever-present screens in stores or waiting rooms that run slideshows on a continuous loop.

The ability to combine multiple file types into one presentation
Real-time sharing option to boost audience engagement
The option to control your presentation from any web-enabled device
Hard to make changes to your presentation on the spot
Not available for Mac or Linux
Monthly plan: $19 per 2 seats
Annual plan: $99 per 2 seats for the first year, 20% renewal discount
Lifetime plan: $299 per 2 seats

13. Powtoon

Powtoon is where your presentations spring to life. It's a platform that lets you craft animated presentations and videos, blending text, images, and dynamic animations.

Powtoon's drag-and-drop interface ensures that even those without a design background can create decent-looking animations. You can also add voice-overs, integrate interactive elements, or even embed videos directly into your presentation.

Those looking to truly stand out can also play the director with customizable characters, tweaking them to fit their narrative. Powtoon gives you the option to control the hair and body, and even change the outfits!

Finally, the ability to export presentations as videos ensures your message can reach a wider audience across different platforms.

The ability to shape your characters to fit the narrative
More affordable than hiring an agency to create the videos for you
Suitable for many different industries and use cases
There is no free version available
Custom characters are only available in the Business version
More advanced users might find the animations a little amateurish
Lite plan: $15/month (billed annually)
Professional plan: $40/month (billed annually)
Business plan: $125/month (billed annually)
Enterprise plans: Contact sales

Canva is not just a presentation tool; it's a design powerhouse. Whether you're a seasoned designer or someone who's just starting out, Canva's intuitive interface makes it easy to bring your ideas to life.

The platform offers a wide array of templates, not just for presentations, but for virtually any design need you can think of—from social media posts to business cards. But presentations remain one of its strong suits.

With Canva, you can craft slides that are both visually stunning and impactful in conveying your message. The drag-and-drop functionality, combined with a rich library of elements like icons, images, and fonts, ensures that every slide is a masterpiece in its own right.

But Canva's magic doesn't stop at design. It also offers collaboration features, allowing teams to work together on a design in real-time. Plus, with its cloud-based nature, your designs are accessible from anywhere, anytime.

Versatile software with 100+ design types
Doesn’t require any design or coding knowledge
You can access your designs from any device connected to the Internet
The basic version is free
Many design elements are only available to Pro users, with no option to filter them out
Some users might find the choice of designs overwhelming.
Pro plan: $14.99 billed monthly or $119.99 billed annually
Canva for Teams: Contact sales
Free for education and non-profit organizations

How can I create an interactive presentation?

Creating an interactive presentation is like piecing together a puzzle. You start with your main idea, then add images, videos, and other interactive elements to bring it to life. It's about making your audience feel involved, not just watching from the sidelines.

With the right mix, you can turn any topic into an engaging experience that sticks. And the best part is that you don't have to be a tech whiz to do it.

Dive into our guide on creating multimedia presentations to get started and see how easy it can be to make presentations that pop.

How to choose the best interactive presentation creator?

Choosing the right interactive presentation tool can feel a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. With so many options out there, how do you pick the one that's just right for you? Let's break it down based on your specific needs:

If you’re a solopreneur

As a one-person army, you need efficiency. Look for tools that are user-friendly and don't come with a steep learning curve. You'd want a platform that offers a variety of templates, so you don't have to start from scratch every time.

Canva is a fantastic choice, offering a wide range of design templates tailored for presentations. It's user-friendly, and even if you're not design-savvy, you can create professional-looking slides in no time.

If you’re in sales and marketing

Your presentations are often the first impression you make, so they need to be top-notch. You'd benefit from tools that are optimized for engagement, integrate seamlessly with CRMs, offer detailed analytics, and allow for real-time edits.

This is where Storydoc truly shines. Unlike traditional slide decks, Storydoc focuses on crafting a narrative that resonates with your audience. It has intuitive design capabilities and emphasis on storytelling, ensuring that your pitches aren't just informative but memorable.

If you’re in education

The classroom, whether physical or virtual, thrives on engagement. You'd want a tool that allows you to embed videos, create interactive quizzes, and maybe even throw in some animations to keep things lively.

Genially fits the bill perfectly. It blends creativity with technology, letting educators design interactive educational materials that keep students motivated and make learning genuinely enjoyable.

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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25 Tools for Creating and Delivering Amazing Presentations

Updated: August 10, 2022

Published: November 10, 2020

If you're in business, you need to know how to create captivating presentations. Whether you're trying to convince your boss to support a new campaign, talking with a prospect to close a deal, or building a new piece of marketing collateral, you need to know how craft a presentation that won't put people to sleep.

The best (and easiest) way to do that? Use the right tools to create and deliver your presentation.

If you're not sure which tools to use, look no further than this blog post. We’ve compiled our list of the top presentation tools for sales and marketing professionals. They’re listed below, in no particular order. But first ...

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Best Presentation Tools

Canva makes design easy -- even for marketers and salespeople who feel like they're design-challenged. The platform gives you a bunch of presentation templates to use right away, and it's very easy to customize them to your organization and presentation objective. Plus, a variety of apps that integrate with Google Drive, Instagram, and YouTube, to name a few.

Pricing : Free; Pro, $12.95/month for up to five people; Enterprise, $30/month per person

Often, being different is what attracts prospects, and Powtoon can help you do that in your presentations. Powtoon’s animation software lets you easily create videos with props, characters, and more -- which can help you differentiate your company when talking with prospects.

Pricing : Pro, $19/month; Pro+ $49/month; Agency, $89/month

3. PowerPoint

For years, PowerPoint has been the standard in presentation software, but it hasn’t remained static. PowerPoint is full of features to make sales and marketing presentations dynamic and engaging. ( Here are just a few ways you can do that .)

Pricing : Business Basic, $5/user/month; Business Standard, $12.50/user/month; Business Premium, $20/user/month

4. Slidesgo

Slidesgo is your creative companion in the world of presentation design. This website specializes in crafting visually stunning Google Slides and PowerPoint templates that breathe life into your ideas, making them shine on any screen. With a wide variety of templates ranging from business and marketing to medicine and education, Slidesgo empowers presenters of all backgrounds to engage, educate, and inspire their audiences.

Pricing: Free plan, $0; Premium, $4.99; Education, $2.99

A PowerPoint add-in, Oomfo helps sales and marketing pros create those oh-so-important interactive charts for presentations. Specialized charts, live charts from multiple files, data from cloud applications, interactive options, one-click conversions -- it’s all possible, and more, with Oomfo.

Pricing: Free

Apple’s Keynote allows users to work between their Mac and iOS devices, as well as with people who use Microsoft PowerPoint. With easy-to-use visual tools, drag and drop functionality, interactive charts, and more, Keynote is a popular choice among sales and marketing professionals.

Pricing : Free

7. SlideModel

SlideModel contains thousands of ready-made and 100% editable presentation templates to help any presenter save time creating engaging and aesthetically pleasing presentations. Their collection of presentation templates covers a variety of business purposes and even gets updated periodically to add new business and education templates. You can find a collection of visually appealing slides on the site including dashboards, creative infographics, editable Maps, funnels, timelines, mindmaps, and presentation slides depending on the need of your presentation. Their slides templates are easy to edit and are compatible with PowerPoint and Google Slides.

Pricing : Free plan, $0; One-Day Access, $24.50; Annual Unlimited, $199.90/year

8. Beautiful.ai

best presentation software: beautiful.ai

Create beautiful slides, pitches, and proposals without a team of designers. AI applies design rules in real time, and a library of free photos and icons are at your fingertips.

Pricing : Basic, $0; Pro, $12/month; Team, $38/user/month

9. Haiku Deck

Available for the web or iPad, Haiku Deck has become a favorite of sales and marketing pros. With Haiku Deck, professionals can quickly create presentations that can be "easily projected, shared, posted, embedded on a website or blog, or viewed on any web-enabled device." Though it's another tool that helps you create presentations from scratch, its ease-of-use sets it apart from the rest.

Pricing : Pro, $9.99 - $19.99/month; Premium, $29.99/month

Vyond is an online animation software that allows you to create animated videos for marketing campaigns, sales enablement, or even human resources. Use their library of customizable templates or create your own from scratch.

Pricing : Essential, $229/year; Premium, $649/year; Professional, $999/user/year; Enterprise, contact for pricing

11. Storydoc

With templates for all the most popular business use cases, Storydoc is an interactive presentation maker built to help sales teams and marketing professionals engage more prospects and boost conversion rates.

You can create amazing and engaging decks where you can embed video and social media content to tell your story the right way. Then, integrate your CRM into Storydoc decks, as well as calendars, sign-up forms, and other solutions that will make your presentation. Additionally, you have access to Storydoc's tracking analytics which shows who viewed your presentation and which components they interacted with the most.

Pricing : Free trial 14 days); Starter Plan, $40/month

Busy sales and marketing pros choose emaze because it makes creating amazing presentations quick and easy. The options abound with emaze: Choose a professionally designed template and then create a slideshow, video presentation , or 3D presentation.

Pricing : Business Plan, contact for pricing; Executive Plan, $40/month; Pro Plan, $13/month

13. Camtasia

TechSmith’s Camtasia is an amazing tool that helps you create professional videos. You can record screen movements, import HD video from another source, customize and edit the video, and then share the completed video presentation on practically any device.

Pricing : Individual, $249.99/user/year; Business $249.99/user/year; Education, $169.99/user/year; Government and Non-Profit, $223.99/user/year

14. SlideShare

SlideShare is a popular choice for sales and marketing professionals looking for a way to share their content publicly. Because it already has a built-in audience, you can easily distribute your presentation out to lots of people -- and those people can embed your SlideShares on websites and blogs, or share them on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

15. SlideDog

Sometimes, sales and marketing professionals need to be able to move between presentation tools, but it’s not always possible because of their technical limitations. SlideDog is the solution, as it enables users to switch between PowerPoint, Prezi, PDF, web pages and others.

Pricing : Free; Pro, $99/year; Pro Event, $49 for one-time payment

16. Presentation Assistant

best presentation software: presentation assistant

Presentation Assistant lives up to its name: It assists professionals by enabling them to annotate, zoom, and more during a presentation. Sales and marketing professionals can clarify and emphasize points more clearly to their audience with Presentation Assistant.

Pricing : Presentation Pointer, $29.95; Presentation Screen Master, $29.95

17. authorSTREAM

best presentation software: authorstream

Sales and marketing pros choose authorSTREAM to make their presentations dynamic and engaging. authorSTREAM allows users to share their PowerPoint presentations publicly or privately, broadcast them, convert them to video, communicate and collaborate about them, and more.

Pricing: Free or paid plans start at $4.20/month

18. Zentation

With Zentation, salespeople and marketers combine video and slides into a simulated live experience. Presentations created with Zentation become webinars, webcasts, and virtual events for prospects and customers -- all great collateral for marketing and sales.

Pricing : Free; Premium, $10 - $45/month; White-Label, contact for pricing

Sales and marketing professionals love Prezi because it is cloud-based. Prezi makes creating, editing, and presenting from your browser, desktop, iPad, or iPhone possible anywhere, any time.

Pricing : Standard, $5/month; Plus, $15/month; Premium, $59/month

20. Brainshark

Sales reps and marketers often choose Brainshark, a cloud-based presentation tool, because it allows them to create and deliver presentations live or on-demand (even using their iPad or iPhone), use on-demand video content, polls, or surveys for increased engagement, and embed presentations in websites and blogs.

Pricing : Contact for pricing

Vcasmo is a unique presentation tool -- it's a multimedia solution that enables users to synchronize a video and slideshow, side by side. Sales and marketing pros love Vcasmo because it supports playback in three forms: browser, mobile, and iPad.

Pricing : Free; Standard, $10.99/month; Professional, $16.99/month

22. ViewletBuilder

best presentation software: viewlet builder

ViewletBuilder is a different presentation tool; it captures critical screen updates and cursor position changes so sales and marketing pros can create presentations detailing how their product or sites work. With a plethora of features, ViewletBuilder allows for editing and enhancing and includes a variety of publishing and sharing options, too.

Pricing : Pro, $399; Enterprise, $599

23. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is a top pick for sales and marketing pros because it lives online, making it possible to create, access, present, and more from anywhere, any time. The simple, intuitive interface and collaboration features are just two of its beloved benefits.

24. AhaSlides

Pricing : Free; Essential, $4.95/month; Pro, $15.95/month; Annual, Monthly & One-time plans available.

Visme is an all-in-one content creation platform with a vast library of professionally designed presentation templates, each tailored to your industry and specific proposal needs. Its beginner-friendly design platform allows you to drag and drop elements into place, use dynamic fields to update all your content in one place instantaneously and integrate your tools like Hubspot or Salesforce, and more to personalize each presentation.

Pricing: Free, Starter: $12.25/month, billed yearly, Pro: $30/month, billed yearly, Visme for Teams & Enterprises.

What are you waiting for? Pick a tool and start creating. Your prospects are waiting.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in October 2014 and has been updated for freshness and comprehensiveness.

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24 Best Presentation Software Tools

By: Michael Alexis | Updated: April 17, 2024

You found our list of presentation software tools.

Presentation software allows users to create, edit, and display slideshows or presentations. For example, PowerPoint, Prezi, and Google Slides are all types of presentation software. The purpose of these tools is to help workers share ideas and information in a visually engaging way. These tools are also known as “presentation software for work” and “business presentation software.”

These presentation software are similar to team building PowerPoint topics , team meeting ideas , and all hands meeting ideas .

This list includes:

presentation software for work
top presentation software
animated presentation software
best software for presentations
business presentation software
cloud-based presentation software

Let’s get to it!

List of presentation software tools

From PowerPoint to Slidecamp, here is our list of the best software for office presentations.

1. PowerPoint

PowerPoint, developed by Microsoft, is the industry standard for presentation software. Folks love the platform’s easy-to-use interface. PowerPoint allows users to create visually appealing presentations by adding text, images, videos, and graphs. With various templates and customization options, PowerPoint encourages effective communication. Plus, this software’s compatibility with other Microsoft products makes for an efficient workflow.

Learn more about PowerPoint .

Prezi is an animated presentation software known for its dynamic approach. Unlike typical slide-based tools, Prezi lets you create interactive presentations. This format makes presentations more engaging for your audience. The zooming and panning effects help highlight important points and connections between ideas. Additionally, Prezi is cloud-based, making collaboration and sharing presentations easy. The site’s flexibility and visual impact make it a valuable tool for creating memorable presentations.

Learn more about Prezi .

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3. Google Slides

Google Slides is a popular presentation software developed by Google. The cloud-based platform allows for collaborative work. Multiple users can edit and comment in real time. This tool supports multimedia content, simplifies sharing, and offers professional templates. Notably, Google Slides is fully integratable with other Google applications like Docs and Sheets. Slides is a comprehensive cloud-based presentation software for many businesses.

Learn more about Google Slides .

Keynote is Apple’s answer to PowerPoint, known for its elegant interface and beautiful templates. Keynote offers several tools for easily making presentations. Unique features set Keynote apart, such as “Magic Move” for smooth transitions and the ability to work offline. Suitable for both beginners and design experts, Keynote is exclusive to Apple devices.

Learn more about Keynote .

5. Zoho Show

Zoho Show helps users make attractive slideshows easily. The program has a simple interface and various templates to express ideas. Presenters become dynamic with features like slide transitions, animations, and adding multimedia. Zoho Show stands out for its teamwork features, letting multiple users work on a presentation together. This collaboration makes editing smoother and more efficient. Overall, Zoho Show is a great tool for making professional presentations with ease.

Learn more about Zoho Show .

Visme blends convenience and professionalism to create great presentations. Ideal for students, teachers, and business professionals, the site offers several customizable presentation templates. Users can add interactivity, analyze data, collaborate in real time, and share or download presentations. Visme’s interface makes creation easy. This program is an excellent choice for those looking for quality, flexibility, and user-friendly design tools.

Learn more about Visme .

Canva offers an easy-to-use interface, making it a favorite among presentation software for work. This site’s library of templates, images, and icons provides endless customization options. Beyond its basic free version, Canva also offers premium features for a subscription cost. Despite its expansive offerings, it maintains a user-friendly interface.

Learn more about Canva .

Emaze is an impressive business presentation software suite that is ideal for professionals and students alike. The program’s varied features set it apart, such as 3D slides, video backgrounds, and analytic tools. Emaze supports multiple formats for importing presentations, making it a versatile choice. With a large library of templates and a user-friendly interface, creating engaging presentations becomes easy. Moreover, you can share projects with teams in real time, fostering collaboration.

Learn more about Emaze .

9. Slidedog

Slidedog is an advanced presentation tool developed for seamless slide shows. The site integrates resources from various formats like PDF, Prezi, images, or even web pages. This feature makes Slidedog a one-stop solution for presenters. Workers will love the program’s user-friendly interface and dual-screen functionality. With this feature, the presenter can see both the current and upcoming slides. Slidedog elevates every presentation, ensuring an engaging and professional delivery.

Learn more about Slidedog .

10. Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck allows you to showcase your ideas in a creative and visually appealing way. Employees can easily make engaging presentations with a simple user interface and high-quality images. The software offers various templates and themes for customization. Furthermore, Haiku Deck includes built-in tools for adding text, charts, and graphs, making it versatile for professionals in any field. In summary, Haiku Deck simplifies the process of making impactful and interesting presentations.

Learn more about Haiku Deck .

11. Animaker

Animaker helps users create captivating and dynamic presentations. The site’s user-friendly interface and wide template selection allow teams to easily bring their ideas to life. Animaker offers the necessary tools and features to engage your audience. You can benefit from animated characters, text effects, customized transitions, and audio integration. This software offers several possibilities for creating visually stunning presentations. With Animaker, you can elevate your presentations and make a lasting impact on your viewers.

Learn more about Animaker .

12. Renderforest

Renderforest helps with storytelling in presentations. Advanced design tools encourage users’ creativity. The site simplifies complex data into simple visuals, making your presentations more engaging. Tailored templates suit various industry needs. Also, Renderforest provides branding opportunities, allowing you to incorporate logos promoting business identity. This site is among the best software for presentations.

Learn more about Renderforest .

13. PowToon

PowToon helps users create captivating and animated presentations. This interface is user friendly, and it has a large collection of templates, animations, and characters. With PowToon, designing visually appealing presentations is simple. PowToon offers various features to enhance your content. This software allows you to engage your audience with customizable slide transitions to interactive elements. PowToon can take your presentations to new heights!

Learn more about PowToon .

14. Genially

Genially helps teams create interactive and captivating presentations. The site offers a wide range of templates and design tools, making it easy to customize your work. Genially turns ordinary presentations into engaging visuals. Further, the program supports collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same project at once. Notably, Genially has embedded analytics, providing valuable feedback on viewer engagement.

Learn more about Genially .

15. Pitcherific

Pitcherific is a presentation software that helps you polish your public speaking skills. The site offers templates for different types of pitches. You can customize each presentation according to your requirements. The interface is user friendly and provides real-time feedback on your performance. Additionally, the program offers tips and suggestions to improve your presentation. Pitcherific is an essential tool for preparing effective pitches.

Learn more about Pitcherific .

Ludus is a unique cloud-based presentation software. This professional and innovative toolset lets you incorporate design elements from popular tools like Sketch and Illustrator. With the ability to add media from YouTube and Vimeo, Ludus lets users create engaging presentations. Slides are highly customizable and perfect for design-savvy teams.

Learn more about Ludus .

17. Slidecamp

Slidecamp is among the top presentation software that helps teams create beautiful presentations. The program’s interface and templates make it simple for individuals to design professional presentations. Users can add text, images, charts, and videos to their slides. Additionally, the software offers collaboration features that allow multiple team members to work on a presentation at once. Slidecamp provides the tools to engage your audience and deliver an unforgettable presentation.

Learn more about Slidecamp .

18. Beautiful.AI

Beautiful.AI is a presentation software that helps you make stylish slideshows easily. The program has several features to make your presentations look great. With Beautiful.AI, you can choose from different templates and themes to give your slides a professional look. The site also helps you arrange your content neatly. You can add pictures, charts, and icons to make your points clear and engaging. Plus, the site is easy to use, even if you are not a design expert. With Beautiful.AI, you can create impressive presentations without a lot of hassle.

Learn more about Beautiful.AI .

19. Focusky

Focusky is a presentation software that helps users create dynamic presentations. The site features zooming and panning effects to keep viewers engaged. With Focusky, users can add text, images, videos, and animations to their slides. These features create visually appealing presentations. The software offers a variety of templates and themes to choose from. Plus, firms can enjoy customization options for fonts, colors, and backgrounds. Focusky also allows users to present their slides online or offline, making it convenient for sharing and collaborating with others.

Learn more about Focusky .

20. FlowVella

FlowVella is a software designed to create interactive presentations. In addition, these presentations work seamlessly across different devices. With FlowVella, users can add multimedia elements such as images, videos, and audio to their slides. These effects create engaging presentations. The software offers features such as touch navigation, embedded links, and interactive hotspots. FlowVella also provides analytics tracking to monitor presentation effectiveness.

Learn more about FlowVella .

23. LibreOffice Impress

LibreOffice Impress is a free and open-source presentation software. This program is included in the LibreOffice suite. With LibreOffice Impress, users can create slideshows with text, images, charts, graphs, and multimedia elements. The program offers a range of features for designing and formatting slides. Folks will enjoy using slide transitions, animations, and drawing tools. LibreOffice Impress also supports compatibility with Microsoft PowerPoint files. This feature makes it easy to collaborate with users of other presentation software.

Learn more about LibreOffice Impress .

24. Decktopus

Decktopus is an AI-powered presentation software. Users can create professional-looking presentations quickly and easily. With Decktopus, folks can choose from a variety of smart slide templates tailored to their presentation topic and style. The software offers content suggestions, design guidance, and customizable layouts. These features streamline the presentation creation process. Decktopus also provides real-time collaboration and sharing features. Teams can easily work together on presentations.

Learn more about Decktopus .

List of workplace presentation tips

Making engaging presentations helps convey information and keep viewers entertained.

Here are some tips for designing effective slideshows:

1. Start with a Strong Title Slide

A visually appealing title slide can capture your audience’s attention from the beginning. You can include the title of your presentation, the presenter’s name, and any relevant imagery or branding elements. The design can stay clean and professional.

2. Use Consistent Design Elements

Using the same fonts, colors, and formatting for all slides can maintain consistency. This step creates a cohesive and professional look that helps your audience focus on the content of your presentation.

3. Limit Text and Bullet Points

It is important to avoid overcrowding slides with too much text or bullet points. Instead, use short phrases or keywords to effectively share your message. Text can be brief, and you can use visuals such as images, charts, and diagrams to complement your points.

4. Ensure Readability

Audience members should be able to read text, images, and other elements from a distance. Be sure to use legible fonts and font sizes. A good place to start is 30 pt. for body text and 44 pt. for headings. Contrast between text and background colors is also important.

5. Review and Revise

Before finalizing your slideshow, review each slide carefully for clarity, accuracy, and consistency. To ensure your presentation flows well, edit and revise as needed. Consider seeking feedback from colleagues or peers for additional insights and suggestions.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right presentation software can help you share information effectively. Each tool has unique features that cater to different needs. Selecting a tool that fits your requirements and comfort level is essential. The best tool is one that helps you present your ideas clearly and impressively.

Next, check out our posts on presentation tips , team building TED talks , virtual lunch and learn ideas , and annual company meeting ideas .

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FAQ: Presentation software

Here are frequently asked questions about presentation software.

What should you consider when choosing a presentation software?

When choosing a presentation software, several factors can affect your experience.

Here are a few features to consider:

ease of use
customization options
collaboration features
compatibility with other devices or platforms
pricing plans

By taking these features into consideration, you will easily find the right program for your presentations.

How do you create interactive presentations using online tools?

Creating interactive presentations involves elements like hyperlinks, quizzes, or polls into your slides. Some tools also offer features like live audience participation or analytics.

Is there any mobile-friendly presentation software?

Several presentation programs have mobile availability. Examples include Google Slides and Keynote, which have mobile applications for both Android and iOS devices.

What are some free alternatives to Microsoft PowerPoint?

Google Slides is a great free alternative to PowerPoint, as it offers similar functions at no cost.

What is the best presentation software for work?

Some of the top presentation software programs include Prezi, Haiku Deck, and Decktopus.

Author: Michael Alexis

CEO at teambuilding.com. I write about my experience working with and leading remote teams since 2010.

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How to Make a “Good” Presentation “Great”

Guy Kawasaki

Remember: Less is more.

A strong presentation is so much more than information pasted onto a series of slides with fancy backgrounds. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others. Here are some unique elements that make a presentation stand out.

Fonts: Sans Serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are preferred for their clean lines, which make them easy to digest at various sizes and distances. Limit the number of font styles to two: one for headings and another for body text, to avoid visual confusion or distractions.
Colors: Colors can evoke emotions and highlight critical points, but their overuse can lead to a cluttered and confusing presentation. A limited palette of two to three main colors, complemented by a simple background, can help you draw attention to key elements without overwhelming the audience.
Pictures: Pictures can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably but choosing the right images is key. Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide’s text.
Layout: Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much information. When in doubt, adhere to the principle of simplicity, and aim for a clean and uncluttered layout with plenty of white space around text and images. Think phrases and bullets, not sentences.

As an intern or early career professional, chances are that you’ll be tasked with making or giving a presentation in the near future. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others.

Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist at Canva and was the former chief evangelist at Apple. Guy is the author of 16 books including Think Remarkable : 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference.

10 Best Animated Presentation Software You Should Know About

Written by: Orana Velarde

Static presentations have long been the norm, but why settle? Instead, consider creating animated presentations that have vibrant and eye-catching designs. Using animated presentation software will help make your presentations shine and stand out from the crowd.

What is an animated presentation? It’s a presentation that has moving parts inside the slides and creative slide transitions. In some cases, you can even have your animations trigger as you click on the slide.

These effects can make your presentation much more engaging for your audience. Not only that, it gives you, as the presenter, cues to move forward with the information on the slides. Sure, PowerPoint can be animated too, but there are many other, better options for animated presentation software that you should know about.

Ready to create a presentation that impresses your audience? Use our presentation software to create beautiful slide decks with smooth transitions, advanced animation, pre-animated assets and more.

10 Best Animated Presentation Software

Beautiful.ai
Linearity Move

Animated Presentation Software FAQs

An animated presentation software allows users to apply special effects to the transition between slides. Using a tool like Visme will turn your presentations into works of digital art.

The animation options are classy, easy to use and never over the top.

Visme's animated presentation templates include a staggered animation of elements right out of the box. So, even if you don’t add anything else to your slides, a finished Visme presentation will already be animated and ready to go!

If you don’t like the way this default transition works, you can change it inside the slide controls.

Below are the different animation controls available inside Visme.

Slide Transitions

As I mentioned before, Visme presentations come animated right out of the box .

But there are plenty of other options if you want to change that. Click on the gear icon in one of the slides and you’ll see the option for “slide transitions.”

animated presentation software - slide transitions

You can choose between the following:

Transition delay
Advance after
When a video is done playing

The last one only applies if you have added a video to your slide.

The default transition style is “enter from side” but you can also choose from the following:

Staggered fade
Enter from bottom
Enter from top
Simple fade

All choices can be selected for one slide at a time, or for all slides. This is practical when some slides have media, like video or audio narration.

Pro-tip: Stick to one style or at the most two. If you mix and match too many styles your presentation will look confusing and the magic of animated transitions will be lost. Also, if you add animation to your elements, these have to work together with your slide transitions!

The animation controls in Visme are available for every single element on a slide. To access them, simply click on an element, click Actions and click Animate to open the animations menu.

animated presentation software - animations animated presentation software - animations

Next, select if you want the animation as an element enters the stage or as it exits.

Then, set the timing for the animation and then pick the animation style .

You can choose from the styles below:

Fly from left
Fly from right
Fly from top
Fly from bottom

After you have added at least one animation, you’ll be able to see the animation timeline. Click on the arrow next to the timer that now appears at the bottom of your screen to look at the basic or advanced animation timeline.

animated presentation software - advanced animations

Interactivity

To level up your presentations even more, add interactive elements to your slides. Some of the interactivity features that Visme boasts includes:

External links
Video embeds
Slide linking
Voiceovers activated on click
Hotspots for pop-ups or hoverovers

To add interactivity to your presentation, click on the element that you want to make interactive, click Actions then click Actions again from the menu that’s appeared. You can choose to link that element to an external web page, a slide or another element.

animated presentation software - interactivity

Animated Illustrations

The last major animation feature that Visme has to offer is our vast library of animated illustrations, graphics and presenting cartoons. Add characters, illustrations, gestures, special effects, avatars and more that help your slides move and catch your audience’s attention.

If you want to know more detailed instructions on how to make presentations with Visme, watch our tutorial video on how to use the various features.

3D Animated Characters

Aside from the animated illustrations and graphics, Visme also offers an easy-to-use character builder you can use to create 3D animated characters .

Add these 3D characters to your presentations to instantly grab attention and boost engagement. In fact, you can also create a custom 3D character to represent your brand. This lets you design hyper-personalized presentations that strengthen your brand identity.

Customize the appearance of your character—from facial hair to skin tone—so it fits your vision. Then, choose an animation style or pose that matches your content (or keep your character static.) You can even save your custom 3D animated characters to use in other projects and presentations.

3D Data Widgets

Finally, transform boring statistics and numbers into visually engaging graphics that represent your data in the most engaging way possible. How? With Visme’s 3D Data Widgets .

Our 3D widgets are created by in-house professionals, which means you won’t find these graphics anywhere else. Show percentages, amounts and comparisons with 3D thermometers, batteries, clocks, stacks of coins and books and more unique graphics.

The best part? They’re all fully customizable. You can change the colors to fit your brand or design, and even rotate the objects in 3D.

Prezi has been the animated presentation software of choice for educators for a long time. The zoom in and zoom out effects are always a delight with students of any age.

Let’s take a look at how animations work on Prezi and their range of customization.

First of all, Prezi uses animation as the way a presentation transitions from slide to slide.

The first slide has all the topics in a layout and the presenter must click on each one to enter a set of slides. When a topic is clicked, the effect is a zoom-in visual that takes the audience on a journey inward. The presenter can then exit that slide and zoom-out to the first overview slide again.

Additionally, all slide elements can be animated to fade in or fade out. Simply click on an element and add an animation. The animations for each element can be reordered easily with a movable tab.

animated presentation software - Prezi interface

From the animation controls, you can also add a new zoom-in area to any slide, which adds another level of information to the presentation.

Finally, the main overview page can have animation controls depending on what topic has been opened, creating even more animated options.

3 PowerPoint

The most widely used presentation software, PowerPoint, also has lots of animation features.

The options for animation on PowerPoint are quite varied and can turn a boring presentation into a fun experience. But they can also turn any presentation into a big animated mess in no time .

Of course, if you use some restraint, you can create amazing animated presentations with PowerPoint. Let’s take a look at the animation options inside PowerPoint.

First of all, every single element inside each slide can be animated more than once.

PowerPoint offers around a hundred animation options; from regular slide-ins to pinwheels and color fills. When an animation is added to an element, a marker shows up next to it on the slide that shows its position in the animation timeline.

The animation timeline is on the right side and includes lots of customization options.

The timeline is unique for each slide, and the order can be rearranged by dragging the elements up or down on the timeline. Each animation effect can be given an “on click” control and also a timed value.

Slide transitions in PowerPoint also have animation controls.

There are around 20 slide transition options and they can be further customized using the controls in the top bar. You can choose how long the transition lasts and even give it a sound.

Genially has a pretty high standard for animations. When you click on any element in a slide, two tiny buttons pop up. One of them is for adding animations to that particular element.

The animation controls open on the right side of the editor and offers many customization options. What’s unique about this animated presentation software is that the effect can be continuous apart from on-entrance and on-exit. What you can’t do is control animations on a timeline or add a delay.

animated presentation software - Genially interface

When it comes to slide transitions, there are around ten style options. Choose for it to be horizontal, vertical or centered. The slide transitions can be selected slide by slide or for all slides at once.

5 Beautiful.ai

Animation controls in Beautiful.ai are available inside each slide. And if you don’t choose anything, the elements in your slides will be slightly animated on their own.

But that's the only thing that makes Beautiful.ai an animated presentation software .

animated presentation software - beautiful ai interface

Customizability is limited. If you want to change how the animations work, you can change the speed, timing and order. What you can’t do is choose how or from where the element appears on the slide.

There are some simple slide transitions, but you have no option to change them either.

Create a stunning presentation in less time

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Choose from various presentation options

Keynote is the Apple software version of PowerPoint.

There are plenty of animation options for animating elements on Keynote slides. Like most other animation software , you can animate the entrance and the exit of an element on a slide.

Additionally, you can also add an action animation to happen when you click on the slide.

The options for animation range from standard fades to bumps and light bulb spark effects. All the animation options can be customized for speed and intensity, and can also be given a specific timing.

animated presentation software - Keynote interface

Keynote also has animated slide transition effects. The controls are in the same place as the element animations, you just have to click on the slide instead of an actual object. There are over 20 transition effects, which can be customized for duration and direction.

There is one particularly special transition effect called Magic Move. This animated transition makes objects, words and characters look like they are moving from one slide to another.

In the Slides animated presentation software, you can animate all the elements in a slide with the usual fades and slides. These can be customized to work on click, on hover or automatically on a timer. The timing controls have duration and delay values that you can edit.

The slide transitions in Slides are a bit more unique than standard animated transitions.

animated presentation software - Slides interface

Transitions are separated into regular transition and background transition, and there are six options for each. The background transition effects work only when a slide has a background image or color.

However, the transitions can only be done for the entirety of the presentation, not slide by slide.

Transitions in Slides are automatically applied to the entirety of the presentation, not slide by slide. However, you can override this for specific slides by tweaking the settings for each individual slide.

8 Linearity Move

Linearity Move is the go-to animation software for designers who want to bring their projects to life. Its standout feature, Auto Animate, helps you transform static images or vector files into beautiful animations.

animated presentation software - Linearity interface

Even if you're new to animation, Linearity’s user-friendly interface makes it a breeze to create dynamic animations that look like they were made by a pro. The platform also supports high-resolution outputs up to 8K, which means you can expect sharp and polished animations every time.

And if you're working with a team, Linearity Move's real-time collaboration features make it easy to work together seamlessly.

Vyond is known for its advanced animation and transition capabilities that make it a professional video presentation maker. The software offers detailed control over each frame and seamless transitions.

With its easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, you can quickly build engaging scenes using thousands of customizable characters, templates and backgrounds.

Moreover, Vyond’s lip-sync feature synchronizes voiceovers with character mouth movements, which makes your animations feel more lifelike and engaging.

Another cool feature is Vyond’s generative AI tool, Vyond Go, which automates video creation from text prompts to produce high-quality animations in minutes.

Moovly is an intuitive platform for creating animated presentations and videos. Users can combine various media assets, including royalty-free images, videos and sounds, to create beautiful animations.

The software offers a wide range of animation effects, such as fade, fly, wipe, bounce, move, zoom,and rotate, which can be applied to any visual object like images, text or videos. You can also incorporate hand animations and transparent motion graphics to enhance your presentations.

animated presentation software - Moovy interface

Moovly supports various video formats, and users can create horizontal, square or vertical videos for different platforms. You can also add multiple soundtracks, voiceovers and sound effects to your presentations.

Finally, Moovly's text-to-speech feature converts written text into voice-over, available in over 20 languages, adding another layer of customization to the projects. You can also use the AI subtitle generator to automatically create closed captions for your video presentations.

What are the different animation styles commonly used in presentations?

Presentations often use various animation styles, like 2D, 3D, motion graphics, whiteboard and kinetic typography. 2D animations are flat and simple, while 3D adds depth and realism. Motion graphics combine text, shapes and images, and whiteboard animations mimic hand-drawn illustrations. Kinetic typography uses moving text to convey messages.

What are the types of animated presentations?

Some types of animated presentations include 2D animation videos, 3D animation videos, whiteboard animation videos, motion graphic videos, animated typography videos and stop motion videos.

Which animation is best for presentations?

The best animation style for presentations depends on the content and target audience. However, simple, clean animations that enhance the message without overwhelming the viewer are generally preferred in most situations.

It's important to choose animations that complement your presentation's tone and purpose instead of distracting from the core content.

Can you animate a PowerPoint presentation?

Yes, PowerPoint offers built-in animation tools, effects and transitions that allow users to animate the text, images, shapes, slides and other elements in their presentations.

You can also edit your PowerPoint presentations using a third-party tool like Visme to add even better, more advanced and sleek animations, interactivity and design elements.

What are the 4 types of animation in PowerPoint?

PowerPoint offers four main types of animations: entrance, emphasis, exit and motion paths.

Entrance animations determine how elements appear on the slide, such as fading in or flying in.
Emphasis animations draw attention to specific elements, like pulsing or changing color.
Exit animations define how elements leave the slide.
Motion paths create custom movement patterns for objects.

What is better than PowerPoint?

There are several alternatives to PowerPoint, but one of the best tools for creating engaging presentations is Visme. The platform offers powerful and easy-to-use tools for creating, editing, animating, presenting, sharing and downloading all kinds of slide decks.

Visme’s presentation software gives you access to thousands of ready-made presentation templates and lets you customize every aspect of the slides, use AI and branding tools, add animated elements and interactivity, embed multimedia and much more.

Do Canva presentations have animations?

Yes, Canva offers a range of animations, transitions and effects to enhance your presentations. Users can apply an animation style to the entire presentation or animate specific elements within slides.

You can also adjust duration and delay settings, and even create your own animation style. Canva also offers several transitions to create a smooth flow between your slides.

Create Stunning Animated Presentations with Visme

If you’re looking for the perfect software to help you create your own animated presentation, you don’t really need to look any further than Visme.

You can easily animate elements in a clean and seamless way without it getting overwhelming. Slide transition effects are also super effective with plenty of options for customization.

To present or share your animated presentation, use the online link and view from any device. If you’d like to present it without an internet connection, download it as an HTML5 (offline web) file or as a high-quality MP4 video.

You can also collaborate with your marketing team to put together an animated presentation in Visme. Or, take advantage of the brand kit and save your animated presentation as a template to use for your future slideshows.

Create beautiful presentations faster with Visme.

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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

The 20 best open-source alternatives to popular software on Windows

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When you use your computer for work, there are a few apps that are essential to the workload you're doing. Things like the Microsoft Office suite or Adobe Photoshop are always the first ones to come up because they're the most popular and arguably the most convenient to get. But because of that, they can also have exorbitant price tags, predatory subscription services, or generally poor practices from the large corporations that own them. That's why open-source software is so great.

There are plenty of free alternatives to these popular apps, but even then, free apps can be owned by shady companies or change their monetization strategy at any point. Some would argue that open-source software is the only way to give power back to the community of users and developers. And that's why we've compiled this list of the best open-source alternatives to popular software on Windows. When you're tired of the Adobes and Microsofts of the world, these solutions offer great functionality while being far more transparent and open than what those companies offer.

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When it comes to editing images, everyone will be familiar with Adobe's Photoshop, or even things like Illustrator, but those are also some of the most expensive pieces of software you can get. And Adobe isn't exactly known for the best practices, with its recent scandals around the usage of user projects to train AI models. But thankfully, there are some great alternatives out there.

Best apps for photo editing on Windows in 2024

Want to make your photos look even better? Here are some of the best photo editing apps you can find for your Windows PC.

One of the more popular options is GIMP, or GNU Image Manipulation Project, a raster image editing tool with a a lot of the same capabilities you'd expect from a professional photo editor, giving you options for simple retouches to more advanced composition. There's also Inkscape, which is a vector graphics editor allowing you to draw up images that can easily scale in size, making it perfect for graphic designers. And if you're an artist, Krita is an excellent drawing and illustration tool, too. All of these are excellent open-source tools to deserve all the credit they get. And of course, if you want to improve them, you can do just that.

GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

GIMP is a powerful open-source image editing tool, and a great competitor to Adobe's Photoshop, with a wide range of tools available a lot of extensibility options. It also plays nice with other apps, like Inkscape.

Krita is another great option for editing images, specifically rasterized images with set resolutions. It's also an excellent program for artists, with tons of painting and drawing tools that let you bring your visions to life.

Video editing

Adobe is also a very prevalent name in video editing thanks to Premiere Pro, though great alternatives exist, like DaVinci Resolve, which is free for personal use. Even still, if you want something that's truly open, there are also great options here, even though this is a type of app that would seemingly be more complex.

Screenshot of the Windows 11 desktop with icons for Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, and Wondershare Filmora overlaid on it

Best video editing apps on Windows in 2023

Making good videos requires skill and a lot of practice, but the right tools can also help.

One of the more popular choices for video editors of the open-source variety is Kdenlive, which offers all the features you'd expect, like multi-tack video and audio editing, color grading tools, and very in-depth capabilities for any video editor. Other great options include ShotCut and OpenShot, both of which offer a whole lot of features, with active development on both ensuring that the experience will continue to be great in the future. Both Kdenlive and OpenShot support Windows, Linux, and macOS, while ShotCut is exclusive to Windows.

Kdenlive is a great free and open-source video editor with advanced features such as multi-track editing, support for almost any file format, and a highly configurable interface.

Shotcut is a fully capable non-linear video editor with an open-source approach. It supports a lot of video and audio formats, and even some support from Blackmagic Design to provide all kinds of capabilities, such as device capture. It also has a fairly modern UI.

OpenShot is another fantastic open-source video editor with plenty of tools at your disposal and with a relatively easy-to-understand user interface. It supports unlimited tracks, video effects, 3D animations, and more.

Audio recording and editing

If you have a podcast, having the right tools to record your audio is crucial. That being said, it just so happens tha tone of the best tools for audio recording and editing is already an open-source one. It's called Audacity, and it's been around for a long time, so things have been nailed down by now. You can record from any of your microphones , use audio monitoring, adjust levels, and do things like playing a loop of only a segment of a recording.

Recently, Audacity even added some AI filters to reduce noise and enhance your audio overall. And that's on top of a lot of filters and plug-ins you can already use with Audacity, so there's a big ecosystem of tools at your disposal to make your audio clips sound as good as possible.

Audacity is one of the most popular audio recording and editing tools on the market. It has extensive plug-iin support and plenty of tools in a simple interface, and it's built with open-source code.

3D modeling and rendering

Much like with audio editing, arguably the most popular tool for 3D modeling and rendering is already open-source. Blender is a very popular tool for 3D modelers everywhere, and for good reason. This project is sustained by hundreds of people and the feature set is incredible, from basic modeling and rendering to sculpting, animating, creating VFX, and even running 3D simulations thanks to libraries like Buller and MantaFlow. If all of that isn't enough, there's even a relatively basic video editor.

Wrap all of that in a highly customizable interface, add scripting support, and you can clearly see why so many people love using Blender, from relative newbies to professionals. Even if we weren't focusing on open-source software, this would be a top recommendation.

Blender is arguably the most popular 3D modelling and rendering tool, and its capabilties go even further beyong that. From sculpting to animation and even some light video editing, this is an incredibly versatile tool.

Office suite

If you write documents, work on spreadsheets, or make slideshow presentations, you almost definitely have used Microsoft Office at some point. And while there are plenty of solid Office alternatives that are cheaper or free, not many are completely open-source. That said, one of the most popular options around is: LibreOffice.

Screenshot of various Microsoft Office alternatives running on Window 11

Best Microsoft Office alternatives in 2023

Microsoft Office is one of the most popular productivity tools in the world, but what if you don't want to pay for it or don't like the UI?

LibreOffice is a fork of the old OpenOffice.org project of the early 2000s, and it includes most of the basic tools you'd see in Microsoft's Office suite, including a text editor (Writer), spreadsheet editor (Calc), presentation maker (Impress), and database manager (Base). It also includes a graphics editor with Draw, and an application specifically for creating mathematical formulae, called Math, which can then be added into projects in the other apps, such as Writer or Calc.

Another fork of OpenOffice.org is Apache OpenOffice, which has most of the same capabilities, but doesn't have the same kind of support backing it.

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is the premier open-source Office alternative, with tools for writing documents, working on spreadsheets, making presentations, and managing databases. It's a fork of the OpenOffice.org project, which was discontinued in 2011.

Apache OpenOffice

Apache OpenOffice is a continuation of the old OpenOffice.org project, just like LibreOffice. It offers all the same tools but with a more old-school design. Community support is not as robust as LibreOffice, but it's still a great option.

Coding and text editors

Developers are spoiled for choice when it comes to text editors they can use for their coding projects, and there are a few good free apps. But if you specifically want something that's open source, then you'll want to look to options like Neovim, Pulsar, and VSCodium. That last one is fairly interesting in that it's basically a community-compiled version of Microsoft Visual Studio Code, an already free tool with an open-source base. The thing is, while VS Code is implanted with some extra Microsoft things, including telemetry data, VSCodium bypasses all of that, making for a cleaner tool that doesn't phone home to Microsoft.

Neovim is another great and popular option with a long history and tons of options and extensibility, and a lot of the same things can be said about Pulsar. Whichever way you go, these are excellent tools for working on your projects. And while you're at it, maybe you can even contribute to the development of the IDE itself.

VSCodium is a community-made compilation of Microsoft's VS Code, which removes all of Microsoft's telemetry collection. It offers a robust set of tools for coding projects, and it's based on one of the more popular free IDEs around.

Neovim is another excellent open-source IDE with excellent extensibility and comprehensive documentation to make it easy to get to grips with the software. It's a successor to Vim, and fully compatible with the Vim editing model and Vimscript v1.

Pulsar calls itself a "hyper-hackable" text editor for developers, featuring a built-in package manager, smart autocompletion, support for multiple panes, and more features useful for working on your projects.

Password managers

As internet security threats become more and more prevalent, keeping your passwords safe is also increasingly important. And you don't want to leave something so sensitive in the hands of shady companies, so an open-source solution may be the best. Thankfully, there are quite a few popular options in this field, including Bitwarden, which is already one of the more popular password managers in general. Bitwarden's basic functionality is totally free, though there is a paid tier with some extra features.

There are others, though. KeePass is another popular open-source option (there's even a fork called KeePassXC), and of course, Proton Pass, from the same team who brought us the popular Proton Mail client. These are all fairly well-known and reliable solutions that don't rely on a big corporation, so you can take whichever you prefer for a spin.

Bitwarden is a free, open-source password manager, and one of the more popular solutions out there. The free version of Bitwarden comes with all the essentials, but you can also upgrade to the paid version for some added features.

KeePass is another great open-source project for a password manager that keeps your passwords truly safe by giving the power to the user. It's a popular choice, and there's even a fork of the project.

Proton Pass

Proton is a password manager from the well-known team behind Proton Mail and Proton VPN. With this kind of pedigree, you know you can expect an extremely reliable tool that will keep your passwords safe while making it easier to remember them.

File archiving and extracting

The 7-Zip application open on a Windows PC

With the latest updates to Windows 11 version 23H2 and the upcoming version 24H2, Windows can already handle most file archives by itself, but if you want a third-party solution (which is potentially much better), then there are great options in the form of 7-Zip and PeaZip. 7-Zip is easily one of the most popular solutions around, even including options outside of open-source software. It's a super-powerful tool that can handle basically any file format you can think of, and it compresses and extracts files very quickly.

PeaZip is a more simplified tool, but still a great one in terms of performance and basic functionality. You can't go wrong with either of these.

7-Zip is arguably the best file archiving and extracting solution, supporting just about every archive format under the sun. It also happens to be almost fully open-source, so anyone can contribute to the project.

PeaZip is a more simplistic approach to file archiving and extracting, but it still provides all the functionality you'd expect, and iit's a very lightweight app with great performance.

Grammar checker

screenshot of chrome web store showing languagetool extension

With tools like Grammarly garnering some criticism for their handling of user data, finding an alternative grammar checker is important, and that's exactly what LanguageTool is. LangguageTool si free with an optional premium subscription that adds improved detection, but it's still an open-source tool with its code available on GitHub. Transparency is always great to see (pun intended).

LanguageTool

LanguageTool is a comprehensive grammar checker that can be added to your browser and avariety of writing tools, including the aforementioned LibreOffice. It's also a open-source and mostly free, though there is a premium version if you want more advanced features.

Note-taking

Finally, for those who need to take notes, we have a great alternative to options like OneNote or Evernote. Joplin is a name you might have heard before, and indeed, there's a lot on offer here. This tool lets you organize your notes into notebooks and sections and mark them with tags to make things easier to find. And the notes themselves are pretty in-depth, with options for adding checklists, tables, images, and other attachments.

An image showing OneNote app open on a MacBook.

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Organize your workflow and take notes like a pro with these OneNote alternatives

Combine all that with a fairly friendly user interface and apps for mobile devices so you can keep your notes in sync, and you have something pretty great here.

Joplin is an open-source competitor to Microsoft's OneNote, and it's completely free. It has plenty of capabilities, too, with complex formatting options, support for multiple notebooks and sub-notebooks, as well as pages and tags to organize your content.

Open-source apps for everyone

No matter what kind of work you do on your PC, you're bound to find some of these apps useful. It's great to have such a large ecosystem of users and developers maintaining all these apps and ensuring that no matter who you are, there are tools that help you get your work done without having to spend a ton of money. Paid tools can be great, but everyone deserves to have access to such useful tools, and the open-source community is happy to provide.

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Software Engineering Institute

Architecture analysis and design language (aadl), created july 2019 • updated february 2022.

As software for avionics, cyber-physical, and autonomous systems becomes increasingly complex, the cost to assure these and other mission- and safety-critical systems is growing. Software attributes that impede analysis and concerns such as performance, safety, and security are responsible for this increase.

The Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) is an SAE international standard that addresses these issues by defining guidelines for design and analysis through a Domain-Specific Modeling Language (DSML).

Abstracting Large Software for Analysis

AADL captures large designs through high-level architectural concepts built after domain expertise: component categories that describe key building blocks, such as processor, devices, threads, and rules to assemble them. Through careful abstractions, complex designs can be captured as smaller models amenable to inspection and analysis.

Analyzing for Multiple Concerns

Design teams can review AADL models, use automated tools to assess conformance to modeling guidelines, and run analyses to uncover design problems or validate a design. Since its inception, the SEI is the driving force of the SAE AADL standard. Our core team demonstrated how to implement and apply tool-supported analysis methods on complex systems. Our portfolio of analysis covers performance, safety, and security. We directed multiple pilot studies that demonstrate the efficiency of the approach on different classes of systems.

Leveraging Digital Engineering

Using SAE AADL, systems architects leverage digital engineering for the design and validation of complex safety-critical systems in two critical phases of a system design:

During early stages, SAE AADL provides early analysis capabilities to mitigate integration risks. This capability is the core of the Architecture Centric Virtual Integration Process (ACVIP) that is being transitioned to SEI customers.
During system evolutions, SAE AADL analysis capabilities allow for trade-off analysis to select the best update approach.

As a language, AADL can interoperate with other modeling notations (e.g., SysML, UML) and be integrated into larger Systems Engineering approaches (e.g., MOSA). The SEI and its partners have developed technical reports, open-source software, and teaching course to aid in applying AADL.

Model-Based Development for Safety-Critical Systems

AADL is a modeling language with an architecture-centric, model-based development approach throughout the system lifecycle. AADL is targeted at real-time, safety-critical embedded systems where components are tightly coupled. These systems need specific validation and verification capabilities to demonstrate system correctness across all dimensions: functional, performance, safety, and security.

AADL has rich semantics that can be exercised to analyze and generate the system. AADL is also a standard promoted by SAE International: AS5506C.

Benefits of Using an Open Standard

As an open standard, the AADL language is

industry-grade: AADL provides textual and graphic notation with precise semantics to model applications and execution platforms.
ready to use: AADL is supported by commercial and open-source tool solutions
unambiguous: one model can be analyzed for multiple qualities
interoperable: AADL can integrate with other modeling notations for systems modeling OMG SysML, FACE and also functional modeling like Matlab Simulink or ANSYS SCADE

Benefits for Your Organization

The SAE AADL standard lowers development and maintenance costs by

providing a standard for modeling performance-critical systems
defining precise semantics for conducting multiple analyses on the same model
supporting large-scale (multi-contractor) architectures from many aspects in a single analyzable model that can be incrementally refined and detailed architectures of subsystems
focusing on the architecture of a system to evaluate the effect of change, such as the emergent properties of integration (e.g., safety, schedulability, end-to-end latency, and security)
complementing other notations and approaches like functional simulation through the analysis of the system structure and runtime
supporting reference architectures for avionics, security or safety, and component-based or product-line development

Collaborators

Several Department of Defense projects have used AADL, including the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator, Future Vertical Lift, and the DARPA High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems program.

The U.S. Army Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) , which is helping to develop the DoD’s next-generation rotorcraft fleet (Future Vertical Lift), is accelerating its adoption of AADL after a successful shadow project by the SEI and Adventium Labs showed potential requirements and system-integration issues could be identified early in the development process.

The DARPA High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems program used AADL in its work the Secure Mathematically-Assured Composition of Control Models project to reduce security risks of software in unmanned vehicles. A red team was unable to penetrate their software over a six-week period, despite access to source code, due to their use of contract-based compositional verification, auto-code generation from verified models, and a certified real-time OS kernel.

AADL Collaborators - This image shows an entrance to the Pentagon

Flexibility in Augmenting the AADL Model

There are two ways to augment an AADL model to add characteristics other than those defined in the core language: user-defined properties and annexes.

User-defined AADL properties are a quick and simple way to add new characteristics to the AADL elements (e.g., components, features, OSATE connections) and do not need specific tool support.
AADL annexes are more complex and augment the core language with new elements. They need a specific parser, so they are not supported natively by the existing complier.

This year, a number of updates were made to the toolset, including enhancements to the graphical editor and several analysis capabilities, and the creation of a workflow layer that will extend its adoption by practitioners.

Software and Tools

Architecture analysis and design language (aadl) tool.

AADL provides a framework for analyzing system designs and supports architecture-centric, model-based development through the system...

October 2014

OSATE is an open-source tool platform to support...

Software Modeling: What to Model and Why

January 30, 2023 blog post, john mcgregor , sholom g. cohen.

This post describes modeling and analysis activities intended to achieve robust design, define the modeling chain, and effect evolution from specification to...

A Model-Based Tool to Assist in the Design of Safety-Critical Systems

March 07, 2022 blog post, "> sam procter.

The design of critical systems—those used in aircraft, medical devices, etc.—is becoming increasingly challenging as they increase in sophistication and...

ACVIP Perspective on AADL

September 13, 2021 video.

This training video reviews the Architecture Centric Virtual Integration Process (ACVIP) for model creators and model...

11 Rules for Ensuring a Security Model with AADL and Bell–LaPadula

July 29, 2021 podcast, "> aaron greenhouse.

Aaron Greenhouse, a senior software architecture researcher, discusses 11 analysis rules that must be enforced over an AADL instance to ensure the consistency of a security model....

Modeling and Validating Security and Confidentiality in System Architectures

March 19, 2021 technical report, aaron greenhouse , jörgen hansson (university of skovde) , lutz wrage.

This report presents an approach for modeling and validating conﬁdentiality using the Bell–LaPadula security model and the Architecture Analysis & Design...

Related Courses

Modeling system architectures using the architecture analysis and design language (aadl) - elearning.

Modeling and validating quality attributes for real-time, embedded systems is often done with low-fidelity software models and disjointed architectural specifications by various engineers using their own specialized notations. These models are typically not maintained or analyzed throughout the lifecycle, making it difficult to predict the impact...

AADL in Practice Workshop

The AADL in Practice Workshop combines AADL training and an AADL modeling workshop to provide practical knowledge as well as an opportunity to practice skills in a realistic setting. This Workshop will transfer expertise to participants through an effective combination of training and mentoring during practice. Organizations seeking to increase...

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Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL)
Software for mission- and safety-critical systems, such as avionics systems in aircraft, is growing larger and more expensive. The Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) addresses common problems in the development of these systems, such as mismatched assumptions about the physical system, computer hardware, software, and their interactions that can result in system problems detected ...

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