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The 11 Best Presentation Software to Use in 2023

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

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 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 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 

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

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

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

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

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

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! 

Other Posts

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How to Nail Your Brand Presentation: Examples and Pro Tips

Presentation Design: A Step-by-Step Guide

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Best Presentation Software of 2024

Table of Contents

• Best Presentation Software
• Things To Consider When Buying
• How We Chose

Everyone has a message to share in some form. With presentation software, you can communicate that message a little easier and with more spark. If you don't have design and animation skills, don't worry; apps like Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint make it easy to craft a slideshow that helps people understand the concepts you're trying to convey.

Many of the apps in this buyers' guide are geared toward business presentations since that is often the primary use case. However, a few provide some slick tools for educators, entrepreneurs, community groups, and even family members to make a photo slideshow for a family reunion. Read on for the best presentation software available today.

• Best Overall: Google Slides »
• Most Compatible: Microsoft PowerPoint »
• Best For Mac Users: Apple Keynote »
• Most Flexible: Prezi »
• Best Budget: Visme »
• Best For Entrepreneurs: Slidebean »
• Most Powerful: Canva »

Best Overall: Google Slides

Highly integrated With Other Apps

Totally free

Not integrated with Microsoft products

Minimal support

When Google Slides debuted in 2006, it took the world by storm. That’s because it was integrated even back then with Gmail, Google Docs, and other popular Google apps many of us use in business, at school, and in our personal lives.

Google Slides is entirely free, and there are no hidden costs or upgrade plans. What’s surprising, though, about Google Slides is that it is a highly capable app for presentations – easy to use, with plenty of templates, fonts, animation options, and integrations.

Apart from that, the key feature here is real-time collaboration. Other users can join you as you create and edit slides. They can comment and make suggested changes, or simply start editing the slides on their own. (You can decide if other users can suggest changes or make them directly.) You also can view speaker notes on a laptop when you run the slideshow on an HDTV or projector. Google Slides integrates nicely into the online meeting app Google Meet, and it can open Microsoft PowerPoint files and export in that format as well.

Overall, Google Slides wins extra points because of how intuitive it is. There’s hardly any learning curve with the app, and since it runs in a browser window, everything you create and edit will be saved automatically. For business users, teachers, or just about anyone in a hurry to share a complex message, creating a Google Slides presentation is a snap – which is why it is our overall top pick.

Specifications:

• Operating systems are supported: Windows, Mac, Web, iOS, Android, Linux
• Number of templates and designs available: 23
• Integrated apps: Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox, Box, LumApps
• Collaboration features: Live editing, suggested edits
• Multimedia supported: Photos, videos, audio, GIFs, and stickers
• Export options: PDF, PowerPoint, Webpage, JPEG
• Customer support options: Google Workspace only
• Added features: Google Duet AI
• Interface enhancements: Real-time editing and collaboration

Most Compatible: Microsoft PowerPoint

Highly compatible

Online and desktop versions

Easy to use

No free version

Templates are not as trendy

Microsoft PowerPoint is the app you want for compatibility with other apps and programs. Released in 1990, this presentation app is well-known in business circles and runs on just about any computer in the world. Because it’s so compatible, you will likely not have any trouble running the app on your phone or a tablet, in a browser, or even on seriously outdated PC laptops and desktops.

While apps like Prezi add slick animations and transitions that make a presentation come to life, PowerPoint is more like a trusted business partner; it works on just about any computer, the interface is well-known and straightforward, and it’s likely that everyone you know and collaborate with is already familiar with the app. Every other presentation app we reviewed also supports PowerPoint in terms of directly opening or importing the file, and exporting as a PowerPoint file.

You'll need a Microsoft 365 Personal Edition subscription to use PowerPoint. It may be an app that’s already installed and included with a new computer, at least for a trial period.

• Operating systems are supported: Windows, Mac, Web, iOS, Android
• Integrated apps: Adobe PDF, Shutterstock, YouTube, and many others
• Multimedia supported: Photos, videos, audio
• Export options: PowerPoint, XML, PDF, JPEG, and many more
• Customer support options: Personal or business support
• Added features: Integrated live camera, Microsoft Teams integration
• Interface enhancements: Microsoft Copilot, speaker coach

Best For Mac Users: Apple Keynote

Exceptional designs

Desktop only

Graphic designers love Apple Keynote, mostly because the included templates and design options are so stellar. Your presentation will really come to life, helping you communicate about even complex subjects with flair and a trendy look.

Using the app feels a bit like you're the late Steve Jobs creating an award-winning presentation that will grab an audience. Jobs had a way of captivating those in the audience, and Keynote helps you do that with some of the best presentation templates around. For example, there are 40 templates to choose from, many of them full of color and using the trendiest fonts. Keynote also includes 100 transitions and animations to liven up a presentation. The app also includes 700 different shapes and icons that will help you enhance your slides.

Apple Keynote is powerful enough for any user, but it’s important to know the limitations. For starters, Keynote only runs on Mac computers. That makes it less compatible with Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint. You can export the presentation from Keynote as a PowerPoint file, which is fine, but it means no one can edit the Keynote slides directly; they will have to use PowerPoint.

Keynote also only runs as a desktop app. That means you won’t benefit from the live editing and commenting features of Google Slides, where you can collaborate with anyone in real time on the same file. Instead, Keynote is more static, as slideshows can't be edited as a group in a browser window. It’s still incredibly powerful and intuitive but with a few key downsides.

• Operating systems are supported: Mac, iOS
• Number of templates and designs available: 50
• Integrated apps: FaceTime, WebEx, Zoom, iCloud
• Collaboration features: Collaborate through iCloud
• Multimedia supported: Video, audio, images, 3D objects, stickers
• Export options: PDF, PowerPoint, Movies, animated GIFs, images
• Customer support options: Online help, support communities
• Added features: Cinematic transitions, Keynote Remote on iPhone
• Interface enhancements: Inspectors help with formatting

Most Flexible: Prezi

Unique concept

Trendy visuals

Unique design templates

Harder to learn

There’s something very compelling about Prezi, the presentation app that provides the most flexibility in terms of the message you are communicating. For starters, this is an app that knows it’s all about the message, whether you're an educator, business owner, entrepreneur, or even a scientist or engineer. Instead of a slideshow, you create a “canvas” with topics and subtopics. Think of it as a way to augment what you are saying with animated annotations, swoosh effects, and charts.

Prezi is the best at guiding you to the most powerful design features and giving you the tools to make even a complex subject more interesting and easier to understand. Part of this extreme flexibility has to do with how you're not creating slides at all, but enhancing a topic. Another way to think of Prezi is more like an animated whiteboard; when you show a presentation, it can come to life as you speak through a webcam.

All of this flexibility means you aren't limited to a boring slideshow, although there may be times when you are asked to make a slideshow and nothing more. For example, a school assignment or a boss might dictate that you need to create basic slides, not an animated whiteboard session. This is where you have to decide if Prezi matches the goals of the message you are communicating about.

• Pricing options and plans: Standard ($7/month), Plus ($15/month), Premium ($19/month)
• Operating systems are supported: Windows, Mac, Linux
• Number of templates and designs available: 210+
• Integrated apps: Google Drive, Slack, Canva, Zoom
• Collaboration features: Real-time editing, comments
• Multimedia supported: Photos, icons, video, GIF
• Export options: PNG, JPG, PDF, GIF, and MP4.
• Customer support options: Knowledgebase, online support
• Added features: Offline mode, analytics
• Interface enhancements: Broadcast link, tool tips

Best Budget: Visme

Free version available

Added visual tools

Good overall value

It takes more time to learn

Expensive pro plans

Visme is the best budget option because there is a free version that still provides many of the features you might need. It’s also a good value, because (similar to Canva) you can access all of the graphic design features to create infographics, brochures, logos, and rich documents all without paying for the premium version.

Even more important, Visme is a good value if you do choose the Starter or Pro plans because you can then unlock advanced features you might only find in Adobe Visual products. For example, at the Pro level, you can create an entire brand kit for a company including logos, brochures, and flyers that all have the same look.

While it's called an all-in-one marketing design platform and has hints of Canva, the first tool you would likely use is for creating presentations (e.g., It's the most prominent tool listed on their site). Because everything is geared more toward marketing and sales, Visme templates emphasize things like growth metrics, charts, and bullet points used to explain a product or service. Visme is also meant more for a group of business users. You can collaborate in real-time, leave comments on presentations, and even follow a workflow to mark presentation tasks as in progress or done.

Like Canva, because the Visme app is part of a suite of visual design products, it might take a little more time to learn all of the added tools. The presentation tool is just one of many included, even if this tool alone is easy to learn.

Visme is an extensive product with an upgrade path that unlocks more templates, customer support, and more supported file formats. Overall, it’s a good value because you can still create presentations without having to pay extra.

• Operating systems are supported: Mac, PC, iOS, Android
• Number of templates and designs available: 13,000
• Integrated apps: Google Drive, Vimeo, Dropbox, Survey Monkey, and many more
• Collaboration features: Real-time collaboration, assign tasks
• Multimedia supported: Photos, videos, audio, GIFs, 3D graphics
• Export options: JPEG, PNG, PDF, MP4, GIF, PPTX, HTML5
• Customer support options: Email, chat, in-app
• Added features: AI features, forms
• Interface enhancements: Tool tips, video training

Best For Entrepreneurs: Slidebean

Design for entrepreneurs and salespeople

Unique features

Not as powerful as some

Not as well-known

Most presentation software is flexible and powerful enough for any message and for any purpose. However, Slidebean focuses on a more narrow segment. The app is designed to create a “pitch deck,” which is something an entrepreneur or salesperson uses to pitch a product.

For example, let’s say your company sells a new widget. Using Slidebean, you can explain the features and benefits, include a slide about pricing, and use the tools that are intended more for selling a concept than perhaps merely explaining it.

Once you finish creating the pitch deck, you can share it as a link for others to view. You can then measure how much time people spend viewing the slides, including time spent on specific slides in the presentation. Another major differentiator with Slidebean is that you can work with professional designers and writers (for a fee, of course) who will create the pitch desk and write all of the copy for you.

• Operating systems are supported: Windows and Mac browsers
• Number of templates and designs available: 160
• Integrated apps: None
• Collaboration features: Editing (not simultaneous), sharing
• Multimedia supported: Images, icons, GIFs
• Export options: PPT, PDF, and HTML
• Customer support options: Knowledgebase
• Added features: Consult with experts, finance templates
• Interface enhancements: Startup video lessons

Most Powerful: Canva

Thousand of templates

Integrates with other Canva tools

Limited export options

Known as an “online graphical design platform” for everyday users, Canva provides plenty of tools for creating logos, brochures, postcards, and presentations.

Because these tools are all integrated, Canva is powerful enough for any message you want to communicate. It’s ideal for business, personal use, and schools. If you decide to build a presentation, you can also incorporate logos, fonts, clip art, and animations that are built into Canva. It means the palette for creating a presentation is more flexible because all of the other design tools are right at your fingertips. Let’s say you want to create a pitch deck about a new startup. You can create the logo, choose the colors and fonts, and then create the slideshow. Most presentation apps in our buyers' guide other than Visme don’t provide this level of flexibility and power in one online app.

Canva lets you run the presentation from within Canva itself, or you can export the slides and use them in Microsoft PowerPoint. There are thousands of templates available. Once you select a look and feel for your presentation, you can pivot and use those same graphics, fonts, and designs in a brochure or other material.

With all of this power in terms of visual design software comes a slight learning curve. Canva is intuitive and the interface is well-designed, but there are so many tools available that it takes some time to learn them all.

• Operating systems are supported: PC, Mac, iOS, Android, browser
• Number of templates and designs available: Thousands
• Integrated apps: Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, HubSpot, and many more
• Collaboration features: Real-time editing, whiteboards
• Multimedia supported : Photos, icons, graphics, data visualizations, media elements
• Export options: PDF, JPG, PNG, PPTX, MP4
• Customer support options: Email
• Added features: Magic Switch, Magic Write, Magic Animate
• Interface enhancements: Search for designs, generate with Magic Design

The Bottom Line

If you're short on time and just need to create a presentation without a lot of hassle, Google Slides is the app for you. It’s completely free without any trial versions of “pro” upgrades, yet it's also quite powerful and intuitive to learn. Google Slides is also our top pick because it integrates into other Google apps like Gmail and Google Docs, is widely used and highly compatible, and still gets the job done when the main goal is to finish a slideshow and share your message.

Things To Consider When Buying Presentation Software

Features and functionality: When it comes to presentation software, it’s all about the templates. As you are considering which app to use, it’s a good idea to evaluate which templates are available and if they meet your needs. We’ve also noted how many templates are included with each app. Beyond that, look for the supported file formats since that will determine who can use and open the presentation. Collaboration features are also important, making it easier to work on a presentation within a group and make comments for everyone to see.

Ease of use and user interface: Creating a presentation shouldn't feel cumbersome. When you start the app, it should be easy to create the first slide from a template, add more slides, fill in the text and images, and finish the entire project without having to learn complex features. Apple Keynote is a good example of an app that's intuitive at first, and then you can always explore more advanced features later on.

Compatibility with different file formats: The most well-known presentation app is Microsoft PowerPoint. So it’s important that the app you choose supports the popular PowerPoint format. Beyond that, look for software that also supports PDF files in case you want a printed version of your slideshow or to share it online.

Collaboration and sharing capabilities: With presentation software, being able to work on a slideshow with a group of people all at the same time can be a time-saver but also produce better results. It should also be easy to leave comments for others to review. Once you're done with the presentation, it should also be easy to share the file or an online version of the presentation with others.

Customization options for design and branding: Visme and Canva allow you to customize the graphics and even make logos and experiment with a variety of fonts. All presentation apps provide ways to edit graphics, resize photos, and even incorporate video into your slideshow. Not every app makes it as easy to edit graphics as Google Slides does, however.

Availability of templates and pre-designed layouts: As with many software programs, templates save time and effort. An app like Microsoft PowerPoint includes pre-designed templates and graphics you can use to enhance a slideshow. Visme is a good example of an app with extensive templates (it has thousands built-in). While Apple Keynote doesn't have as many templates, the ones that are included tend to be more well-designed and trendy.

Pricing and licensing: Most presentation apps offer a monthly subscription to help you get started making a slideshow. In some cases, such as Visme and Slidebean, there’s a basic free version to help you experiment with the app right away. Only Google Slides is entirely free with no extra pricing options. Microsoft also offers a fully licensed version of PowerPoint as opposed to paying for a monthly subscription. The full licensed version costs $159.99.

Customer support and training resources: Microsoft is arguably one of the best companies to choose if you're interested in customer support. Because the product costs a little more – especially if you purchase the full licensed version – it includes extensive technical support. That said, even though Google Slides is free and customer support can be hit or miss, there are so many people using that product that you can usually find answers to questions by doing a simple Google search or asking on public support forums. Also, training videos are more readily available for Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint because they're both so popular.

Integration with other software and tools: Integration is key when it comes to presentation software because you want to be able to access important graphics, photos, and videos easily. Canva is perhaps the most integrated option for that reason alone. It's a graphics platform for creating graphics and other design materials, so when you make a presentation, you can easily find what you need.

Security and privacy features: Security and privacy might not be the first concern when it comes to presentation software, since you might be making a simple how-to for employee orientation or a photo slideshow of your vacation. However, for a business creating a new product or for a new startup that has not launched yet, be sure there is a way to protect your presentation from prying eyes.

How We Chose The Best Presentation Software

Our contributor John Brandon poured over specifications and features for the best presentation software around. He’s used presentation apps since the debut of Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides. He also consulted with business owners who have started companies and need to communicate about their firms. This includes David Ciccarelli, an entrepreneur who started a company called Voices (an audio and video tech startup) and is the CEO of Lake , a vacation rental business. He also tapped Stephen Gagnon, a web designer with the search engine optimization company Web Scour , who has visual design and branding experience.

WHY SHOULD YOU TRUST US?

John Brandon worked in the corporate world for 10 years, often creating presentations for large teams and at corporate functions. He worked as an Information Design Director at Best Buy Corporation. Since then, he has tested and reviewed thousands of tech products including presentation apps, Wi-Fi routers, televisions, office products, and everything in between. His writing has appeared in Wired magazine, Inc. magazine, FoxNews.com, LAPTOP magazine, and many others.

For anyone who wants to communicate about a new product or service, help new employees with onboarding, or even share photos from a recent vacation, presentation software helps you communicate visually. The basic idea is that you can create a slideshow that augments and enhances what you have to say.

Presentation software is designed to help you communicate a message to an audience, either in a classroom, a conference room, or at home. You create a slideshow, insert graphics, photos, and videos, and then run the slideshow full-screen. When you run the presentation, you can click the mouse button or press the arrow keys on a computer to go back and forth in the slideshow.

Most modern presentation apps charge a monthly fee, usually around $8 or $12 per month. Google Slides is the exception to this rule since it is entirely free. Typically, with higher costs for the pro and premium plans, you gain access to more templates, more graphics, and the ability to export in more file formats, such as HTML or video files. At the high end, Microsoft PowerPoint also offers a fully licensed version, as opposed to a monthly charge.

The classic, tried-and-true presentation apps like Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote are available as a desktop version you install. In most cases, you will sign up for the app and then download the installation file and run that installer. However, more modern apps like Google Slides and Canva run in a browser window and don't require any installation.

PowerPoint is sometimes included on a Windows laptop. However, if you're looking for a fresh start with new templates and features for animation and video that go beyond PowerPoint and Keynote, you might consider upgrading. Also, presentation tools are now included in apps like Canva and Visme, making them more integrated.

U.S. News 360 Reviews takes an unbiased approach to our recommendations. When you use our links to buy products, we may earn a commission but that in no way affects our editorial independence.

The best presentation software in 2024

These powerpoint alternatives go beyond the basics..

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

If, like me, you've 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Related reading:

This post was originally published in October 2014 and has since been updated with contributions from Danny Schreiber, Matthew Guay, Andrew Kunesh, and Krystina Martinez. The most recent update was in April 2024.

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Kiera Abbamonte

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

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The 9 best presentation software platforms in 2023

You’re in the middle of a busy work week, and you‘re winding down after a particularly productive day. There’s still a lot more to accomplish, but you’ve got momentum and you’re making good progress. As you check your calendar for the following day, you see a two-hour morning time slot blocked out for a company-wide meeting. What’s your gut reaction?

Is it something like “I can’t wait—this is going to be so fun and interactive!” Or is it something more like “Ugh—I’ve got so much to do, and this is going to be such a long presentation. Maybe I can get some actual work done while it’s on in the background.”

If your inner monologue sounds more like the second example, you’re not alone. Research from Zippia shows 65% of employees believe meetings inhibit them from getting their work tasks done and that people are multitasking in at least 41% of meetings.

With so many potential distractions lurking in inboxes, Slack channels, and smartphones, meeting leaders must do everything they can to make their presentations interactive and engaging.

Fortunately, many presentation software platforms offer powerful tools to help presenters tell more captivating stories. Let’s take a look at a few of the factors that separate good apps from great ones.

What makes a great presentation app?

From pitch decks to progress updates, presentation apps have countless uses within the modern business environment. But regardless of the content being shared, there are a few things the best presentation software all has in common.

Intuitive, user-friendly interfaces

If an application is loaded with incredible features that are difficult to use, most users will prefer to take the path of least resistance rather than spending hours Googling how to accomplish their goal. Best-in-class presentation software makes it easy for users to learn the basics and get started, often with built-in tutorials.

Easy customization

Platforms that make it easy to plug in your logo, colors, fonts, and photos create polished presentations that wow internal and external audiences alike. Look for an app with a variety of tweakable templates that allow teams to share different types of information while sticking to your brand and identity standards.

Visual storytelling

If you’re squeezing several hundred words onto each presentation slide and then reading them all aloud, your audience’s attention is likely to wane. Research has long shown people absorb a combination of visual and verbal content much better than spoken lectures alone. All the best presentation software streamlines the use of visual aids to help your audience retain information more effectively.

Sharing and collaboration features

As asynchronous work becomes increasingly common, it’s important for your presentation software of choice to streamline collaboration between teams who may not be in the same location (or even the same hemisphere). When done well, sharing and collaboration features can save time and confusion regarding the latest versions or revisions.  

Integrations with other apps

Software that plays nicely with its binary counterparts can elevate a typical presentation into something compelling and visually stunning. Apps which enable embedding and presenting interactive features make outstanding add-ons that improve audience engagement while using your main slideware or communication tools.

1. Poll Everywhere

A versatile and customizable software platform for engaging your audience and encouraging participation, Poll Everywhere adds interactive elements to your presentation like polls, surveys, quizzes, word clouds, and much more. Made to turn dry lectures into two-way conversations, Poll Everywhere makes it easy to set up a variety of interactive activities for audience members. People can share their input via text, smartphone app, or web browser, which is then reflected on the screen in real time (don’t worry, there are moderation features for open-ended text responses).

Not only does Poll Everywhere enable more interactive presentations, it’s also a useful tool for things like employee surveys, group brainstorms, or submitting questions and agenda items ahead of meetings. It’s intuitive for new users to pick up and enables more open communication and team collaboration at every level of your organization.

For larger organizations, Poll Everywhere’s Enterprise plans let you customize the platform to reflect your company’s branding, logos, and colors (and remove the Poll Everywhere branding to give your presentations a more bespoke look). You also get additional features like Shared Activities for cross-team collaboration, upgraded security protocols, and robust reporting tools to translate audience responses into actionable insights.

• Easy integration with most industry-standard slideware and communication apps
• Encourages audience participation and engagement
• Wide variety of functions and activities
• Paid plans required for audiences larger than 25 people
• Audience members must have Internet or cellular access to participate

Poll Everywhere offers a free plan that allows polling limited audience sizes and paid plans starting at $120 per year. Higher-tier plans include additional users, greater audience sizes, and increased moderation and support tools. Custom enterprise solutions for large organizations are also available.

Powtoon takes your presentations to the next level by helping you create polished, professional-looking videos that are more captivating than your traditional text on a screen. Users edit “slides” similarly to how they would with most presentation software, except when you’re done, your deck becomes a seamless video complete with animations of your choosing. The software even figures out the correct timing based on how much content you add to each slide.

In addition to making your presentations sparkle, Powtoon is also useful for creating other marketing or social media assets. You can orient your videos to fit different dimensions and publish your finished creations directly to YouTube, Meta’s Ads Manager, and other platforms.

• Makes your presentations more captivating and memorable
• Useful for creating all types of videos
• Wide variety of templates, animations, and characters
• Limited templates on free version
• Paid plan required for MP4 downloads

Powtoon’s free offering is somewhat limited, though paid plans start at a reasonable $20 per month. Premium plans include more storage space, unlimited exports, and the ability to customize characters and add your own branding.

3. Genially

In the era of remote teams working across different time zones, not every presentation needs to have a presenter. Genially makes it easy to create interactive, self-led presentations that engage your audience much more than simply sending them a deck or a document to review. A huge variety of templates include predefined interactive elements, or users can customize their own.

A well-planned assortment of content blocks lets you showcase everything from image galleries to data visualizations. And while it takes a bit of work upfront, you can also create your own template using your organization’s branding and then have anyone on your team use it to create their own presentations.

• Anyone can create entertaining and interactive self-led presentations
• Solid variety of templates, even on free version
• Unlimited creations for all tiers, including free version
• Paid subscription required to view presentations offline
• Variety of options can be overwhelming at first

Premium plans range from $7.49 per month to $80 per month. As you go up the pricing tiers, you get access to more privacy and personalization features, plus integration with other platforms like PowerPoint and Google Analytics.

A software platform that’s shaking up the linear-presentation model, Prezi takes users out of the sometimes stifling flow of traditional slide deck design in favor of a more free-flowing approach. Prezi users list out ideas or topics they want to cover before threading them together into a compelling, visually striking presentation that’s more conducive to group conversations.

Prezi integrates particularly well with video conferencing tools, making it a great option for remote-first teams. You can even build your presentation as a Zoom overlay, which means your audience can see you and your slide content at the same time. It’s a nice way to maintain a human touch in video presentations, where audiences often miss out on seeing the presenter’s body language and facial expressions.

• Can inspire more creative thinking when developing content
• Robust library of templates and features
• Excellent integration with video conferencing platforms
• Can be a challenging transition for people used to the traditional slide deck model
• Free version limited to five projects

While you can create five projects for free, paid plans starting at $19 per month include much greater import and export options. The $59 per month Premium plan includes phone support, presentation analytics, and advanced training tools. Custom enterprise packages are also available for large teams.

5. Google Slides

Truly free presentation software—not just a free trial or a limited feature set—is increasingly difficult to come by. However, anyone with a Google account can use the full version of Google Slides, with no recurring subscriptions or trial periods to speak of. And because it’s fully cloud-based, teams can collaborate on the same presentation without having to keep track of multiple versions.

While its offerings of features and premade templates may not quite equal some of its subscription-based peers, Google Slides remains a viable solution due to its simple interface and easy integration with the rest of Google Workspace. You can also add powerful third-party add-ons to make your presentations more interactive and visually appealing.

• Cloud-based platform enables easy collaboration
• Shorter learning curve than some other platforms
• Can utilize add-ons to supplement the simple functionality
• LImited templates and transition effects
• No built-in asset library

The full version of Google Slides is free to use for anyone with a Google account.

If you need to create a beautiful presentation really fast, Canva is a fantastic software option. Its free plan offers some of the best-looking templates around, and because it’s a self-contained solution, you won’t need other apps like Photoshop to create eye-catching visuals. Drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to add your own content and visual assets, or you can pick from an extensive library of free photos and graphics (even on the free version).

While it’s an excellent tool for creating polished presentations, Canva has other uses too. It’s incredibly helpful for creating marketing materials like videos, social posts, and even logos. While it’s not a replacement for your design team, it can free them up for other tasks while empowering anyone in your organization to embrace their creative side.

• Simplifies the creation of eye-popping presentations
• Massive variety of templates, even on free version
• Versatile platform for creating all types of materials
• Can be difficult to make complicated charts or graphs
• Cloud-based platform has limited offline functionality

Canva’s free version is excellent, though cloud storage space is limited. Paid plans start at $120 per year and include 24/7 support and an even bigger library of templates, photos, animations, and audio.

7. Beautiful.ai

If you’re the hawk-eyed type who spends just as much time fixing those annoying spacing issues as you do developing the actual content of your presentation, Beautiful.ai could be the software you’ve been looking for. As you might suspect from the name, it’s an AI-enhanced presentation platform that automates many aspects of layout to keep your slides looking professional and visually pleasing.

To help you get inspired when first starting a new project, you can browse through a number of slide types to find a layout you like, which then automatically applies to the rest of your presentation-in-progress, even on slides with other types of content. While templates and themes are somewhat limited compared to other platforms, all the included options are clean, modern, and well-designed.

• Automated layout for polished and professional designs
• Clean and intuitive user interface
• Helpful tutorial videos to minimize the learning curve
• Template, theme, and color options are somewhat limited
• Bare-bones collaboration features on the free version

Individual subscriptions start at $12 per month and unlock most of the app’s best features. Monthly Team plans with added customization and collaboration tools start at $40 per user, and large–scale enterprise plans are also available.

8. PowerPoint

We’d be remiss if we didn’t include this category-founding behemoth in our list, as it’s still one of the most popular presentation softwares in use around the globe. (There’s a reason many other presentation apps feature PowerPoint integration as a selling point.)

With a wide variety of templates, effects, animations, and customization options, experienced PowerPoint users can create presentations every bit as compelling as you’ll get with any other platform. And with useful extension apps available for both Mac and Windows versions, you can integrate additional interactive elements to make your next meeting more memorable.

• Compatible with the world’s most popular software suite
• Solid selection of templates and effects
• Easy to get started creating simple presentations
• Steep learning curve for advanced features
• Can take longer to create visually stunning presentations

PowerPoint is included in the Microsoft 365 software suite with plans starting at $6.99 per month. Standalone licenses are also available at a flat rate of $159.99.

If your organization makes heavy use of Apple products, Keynote is an excellent free presentation software option that rivals PowerPoint in terms of rich functionality. The interface is mostly intuitive, though perhaps slightly more complicated than the ultra-stripped-down feel of Google Slides (which makes sense, given Keynote’s additional features).

Built-in templates and asset libraries are plentiful, and in keeping with Apple’s brand aesthetic, help you create contemporary-looking presentations that wow your audiences. And while PowerPoint may have a wider variety of add-ons, Keynote still works with numerous third-party apps to incorporate interactive elements like polls, quizzes, word clouds, and more.

• Excellent variety of templates and built-in assets
• Creates clean, modern, and polished presentations
• Mobile, desktop, and web-based platforms
• Requires some time to master
• Few truly unique features

Keynote is free to use for all Apple users.

When done well, presentations are still one of the best ways to inform and invigorate an audience and align everyone regarding goals, priorities, and progress toward achieving them. With so much user-friendly presentation software available in 2023, there’s no need to host boring, lecture-style meetings that test your attendees’ attention spans.

If you’re looking for more ideas about how to make your presentations more engaging and interactive, check out our free guide detailing best practices for prese nters .

Related articles

Best presentation software of 2023

Let’s put on a slideshow.

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Whether you’re a student or a working professional, everybody has to make presentations from time to time and that usually involves presentation software. But when you’re frantically Googling around to refresh your PowerPoint knowledge, it’s only natural to wonder what is really the best presentation software out there. Yes, everybody knows that Microsoft’s the biggest player in the slideshow game but there are actually a lot of alternatives to explore. If you expand your horizons, you may find another app that makes more sense for you. Expand your office app horizons and see how the best presentation software can make your job a little easier.

Best overall: Microsoft PowerPoint

Best for professionals: canva, best for zoom: prezi.

• Best for Mac: Apple Keynote  

Best for students: Beautiful.ai

Best budget: google slides, how we chose the best presentation software.

As a journalist with over a decade of experience, I know how to present information to all sorts of audiences effectively and efficiently. Over the years, I’ve worked with a variety of clients to craft copy for presentations, as well as the slideshows themselves. I’ve used the best software in the business, as well as quite a lot of the bad stuff, so I know what will work for you and your needs. 

In making this list, I relied on my own firsthand experience with presentation software, as well as consulting professional tutorials and critical reviews. I also personally created a number of sample slideshows using prebuilt templates and custom layouts of my own in order to put the programs through their paces. I used both the stalwart software suites that everyone knows, as well as a number of lesser-known alternatives that have emerged over the past few years. If an impressive new program hits the block, we will update this list accordingly once we get some hands-on time with it.

Things to consider when buying presentation software

There has been an explosion of presentation software over the past few years, and each of the program’s developers has their own pitch to lure people away from PowerPoint. The most important things to consider when choosing presentation software will vary from person to person. A small business owner putting together a professional presentation with original branding may need different tools to make an appealing pitch, versus a student building a last-minute slideshow for a group project to present the results of their research in Econ class.

There are a wide variety of bells and whistles that presentation building programs boast as their killer features, including brand kit integration, easy social media sharing options, offline access, seamless collaboration, AI suggestions, and analytics. These extra features will seem very helpful to enterprise customers, but the average person should realistically prioritize more traditional factors like ease-of-use, customizability, and cost. There are, however, a few elements that every single person who uses presentation software needs, so let’s walk through the fundamentals.

Ease of use

No one wants to spend hours learning how to make a basic slideshow. While all of these programs take time to master, some of them are easier to pick up quickly than others. An intuitive piece of software grabs your attention and allows you to perform basic actions like adding slides and assets without time-consuming tutorials. The more professional-grade programs out there might take a little more time to master, but they’re rarely difficult to use.

Prebuilt templates

The number one thing that you want from a presentation software is a good-looking final product, and templates help you achieve that goal quickly and easily. All of the competitive presentation software suites out there have a library of pre-built templates that let you plug in information quickly. Quality and quantity separate the good programs from the great ones, though. Some apps have more templates than others, and some templates look better than others. On top of that, some programs lock their best templates behind a premium subscription, which leaves you relying on the same basic structures over and over. 

The truly professional-grade software also includes a selection of prebuilt art assets to help you bring a personal touch to the presentation. If a program doesn’t have an impressive set of templates, it isn’t worth using.

Customizability

While most people want to start building their presentations with a template, you need to change some things around if you want to keep things looking fresh. Professionals, in particular, will probably want to customize every aspect of their slideshows, from the color of the background to the exact pixel position of images. This obviously increases the amount of time it takes to craft a presentation, so it’s important that the systems for making those tweaks are intuitive and easy to use. Not every user is going to need the level of customizability, but it’s definitely something worth considering.

Who’s it for?

Every presenter needs to build a slideshow for their audience. They should probably ask that question when they pick which presentation software to use as well, as it can help determine what software they should use. Students might need the expansive collaboration tools of certain platforms but might not need the pinpoint design controls in others. While the presentation software listed below can all make a great slideshow with enough time and effort, your own use case and the intended audience will have a big impact on your choice.

Cost & affordability

Very few presentation builders have a simple, one-time price tag. Most operate on a subscription model, where you can buy a month’s use for a certain amount, or save money by buying a year at a time. A few are free, though many appear to only offer a free trial or stripped-down version that will allow you to put together something basic before quite literally buying in.

If you’re looking to build just one or two presentations a year, it’s probably best to stick to one of the free options. However, if you have to build slideshows on a regular basis, it’s probably worth sinking your money into a subscription to the program you really like.

Generally speaking, as you might expect, the more impressive and in-depth software costs more than the more traditional fare. However, because many of the most popular programs in the space (such as Microsoft PowerPoint) come as part of a suite, you will need to weigh the benefits of not only the presentation software but also the other programs that come along with it. If you’re a die-hard Microsoft Word user, for example, you’re already paying for the Microsoft Office suite, but the calculus gets more complicated if you prefer Google Docs.

The best presentation software: Reviews & Recommendations

By now, you probably have a good idea of what you should be looking for in presentation software, so now we’ll get into the interesting part. As mentioned above, we’ve broken down our picks based on a few common use cases, as well as the criteria we mentioned above. Regardless of which one you decide on, all of these programs are powerful tools that can produce a slick slideshow with a little time and effort, and you’d be well served by any of them.

MobiSystems

Why it made the cut: Whether you’re a broke student or a busy professional, Microsoft PowerPoint can do whatever you need. It’s also reasonably priced.

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web
• Suite or standalone: Microsoft Office 365 Suite
• Special features: Designer, MS Office integration
• Free version: Yes
• Well-known interface imitated by competitors
• Powerful and accessible
• Good templates
• Part of a popular software suite
• Slight learning curve

Even after testing more than a dozen programs, Microsoft PowerPoint remains the go-to presentation software for most people. Setting the industry standard, it offers great templates, an accessible interface, an impressive library of prebuilt art assets, and plenty of tools for building a slick slideshow. It also supports real-time collaboration, offline editing, and third-party content embedding. At $70 a year, PowerPoint is significantly cheaper than most of its competitors and it’s part of Microsoft Office, a software suite that most companies pay for and workers can’t live without. 

Of course, it isn’t perfect. PowerPoint makes it very easy to make a basic presentation, but it will likely take you longer to make something that looks polished and professional in PowerPoint than with design-forward programs like Canva or Prezi. Even top-flight presentations are achievable, though, in a reasonable timeframe. PowerPoint might not be the best presentation program for every situation, but it’s certainly the best for the average person.

Why it made the cut: Canva creates beautiful, professional-grade presentations faster than its rivals, and it’s easier to use than most.

• Platforms: Web, Windows, iOS, Android
• Suite or standalone: Standalone
• Special features: Amazing templates, very customizable
• Excellent free version
• Extremely easy to use
• Makes beautiful presentations fast
• Eye-catching templates
• Harder-to-use advanced features
• Limited offline use

If you need to make a striking business presentation in an hour, Canva is absolutely the software for you. Designed from the ground up for business professionals who don’t want to have to use another program (i.e., Photoshop or GIMP) to create visually compelling content, Canva delivers on this promise in spades. 

Canva’s gorgeous templates are the best of any of the programs we tested, and its free version is far more robust than you’d expect for a costless trial. Unlike many of these other programs, it creates virtually any marketing material you can imagine, including videos, logos, social media posts, and even resumes. It also includes splashy features that most people won’t use, like brand kit support and easy sharing to social media.

Canva’s simplicity has drawbacks, too, though. It can be a bit difficult to get it to make complicated charts, tables, or diagrams, and it lacks the familiar (but clunky) customizability of PowerPoint. However, if you’re looking to make the most beautiful presentation you can, Canva is a great choice for your business.

Why it made the cut: Prezi is a strong program that structures its basic features in a completely different manner than its competitors. It also has very good Zoom integration.

• Platforms: Web
• Special features: Zoom integration, unique structure
• Free version: No (Two-week free trial)
• More creative structure than competitors
• Intuitive interface
• Expansive feature set
• Doesn’t work for everyone
• Must pay more for advanced features

If you’re really tired of the straight-line structure mandated by other presentation software, Prezi gives you a little more freedom to build things your way. Prezi uses a topic-oriented form that allows you to easily string your ideas in an order that makes sense to you. The basic idea behind Prezi is that you create bubbles of individual content, and then you thread a path through those ideas to create a presentation with a physical form that’s more enticing and conversational than just a linear succession of slides.

While this unique approach makes Prezi a worthy alternative on its own, the app also boasts plenty of specialized features you’d want in a premium program, including a large asset library, social media integration, and collaboration support. 

Though any presentation software can work with Zoom via the screen-share function, Prezi features a very useful video call-focused mode, Prezi Video, which allows you to build a presentation as an overlay that appears in your Zoom window so people can see you and your slides.

Prezi’s freeform structure isn’t going to work for everyone, but if Powerpoint feels stifling, it might open new doors for you.

Best for Mac: Keynote

Why it made the cut: Apple’s answer to PowerPoint might not be as popular as its competitor, but it’s still pretty powerful in its own right.

• Platforms: macOS, iOS, Web
• Suite or Standalone: Apple Software Suite
• Special features: iCloud support, multiple formats
• Free version: Yes (with an Apple account)
• Familiar to most Mac users
• Better asset library than most
• No-frills feature set
• Lacks unique selling points

If you’re a Mac user , you’ve probably at least considered using Keynote to put a presentation together. While all of the other programs on this list work on a Mac as web apps, Keynote is the only app made specifically for the platform.

Like PowerPoint, Keynote is a wide-reaching program designed to help anyone make a sharp-looking presentation, from students to professionals. It has a more robust feature set than other PowerPoint competitors–including better default templates, a bigger asset library, and desktop support. It doesn’t quite have the versatility of enterprise-facing apps like Canva, but you can put together a great-looking slideshow for school or a recurring meeting.

On the other hand, it can be a little tricky to pick up: The interface isn’t quite as intuitive as Google Slides, which is also free. If you have access to both, you get a choice: Build a more striking presentation in Keynote, or put something together quickly in Slides.

Beautiful.ai

Why it made the cut: Beautiful.ai’s AI-powered presentations allow you to make a sharp slideshow in no time flat, and its generous free trial gives time to try it out.

• Special features: AI integration
• Clean interface
• Modern features
• Simple and effective
• Expensive for what it is
• Limited assets and templates

Looking to build a clean, modern presentation in as little time as possible? Beautiful.ai uses AI to help you build a visually stunning presentation in no time flat. While it’s less of a household name than our other picks, it’s the choice of many tech companies for its uncluttered interface, eye-catching templates, and overall no-fuss approach. 

Compared to PowerPoint or Canva, Beautiful.ai does not have a rich feature set or an infinite variety of template options. What the content library lacks in volume, it makes up for in style, though. Its appealing, elegant content elements lend themselves to clean, modern presentations. More importantly, the program’s AI assistant knows how to use those assets. It automatically tailors your slideshow’s design to fit the information you want to present, so you’ll wind up with something thoughtfully prepared before you know it.

Why it made the cut: Google Slides is not only an excellent presentation program—it’s also one of the only ones actually free with no strings attached.

• Platforms: Web, iOS, Android
• Suite or standalone: Google Workspace
• Special features: Easy collaboration, Google integration
• Free for anyone with a Google account
• Familiar interface
• Easy to share and collaborate
• Decent templates
• Somewhat basic in functionality
• Clunky for some users

When it comes to software, there’s “free to use,” and then there’s free. Most of the software on this list offers either a restricted free mode or a time-limited trial. Google Slides is actually free, fully free, for another with a Google account. And it holds its own, even compared to its premium competitors.

Google Slides feels like a simplified version of PowerPoint. It’s a little easier to learn the basics, but also offers fewer templates, screen transitions, and content. It also lacks a built-in asset library to fill dead space, though the program’s Google Drive integration makes it easy to add your own. Like most Google programs, it also supports add-ons that give it enhanced features, like the ability to solve equations within the slideshow.

If you’re looking to make an extremely sharp presentation, Google Slides will take a bit more effort than most. If you need to make a basic slideshow and you grew up on earlier versions of PowerPoint, you’ll feel right at home using Slides.

Q: What are the three most popular presentation software options?

Based on our research, the three most popular programs are Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote, roughly in that order. PowerPoint is far more popular than the other two, though. All three are good options, depending on what you’re looking for. All things being equal, though, we recommend PowerPoint.

Q: How much does presentation software cost?

Generally, most of the programs listed here cost between $7 and $15 a month for their premium packages. However, Google Slides and Keynote are free, so we recommend those for customers on a budget.

Q: Is Canva better than PowerPoint?

Canva and PowerPoint are both great programs that offer about equal value. It’s much easier to create a beautiful, eye-catching presentation in Canva, but PowerPoint’s advanced features give you more options. If you need to make slick-looking professional presentations on a frequent basis, we recommend Canva for its superior ease-of-use.

Q: Does Adobe have presentation software?

Adobe had its own competitor to PowerPoint, Adobe Presenter. The company recently ended support for Presenter on June 1, 2022.

Final thoughts on the best presentation software

While everyone wants to use the best program for the job, the truth is that all presentation builders have a lot in common with each other. If you’re familiar with one, it often makes sense to stay put. Despite all the similarities, it can take some time to learn a new system. If you’re constrained and frustrated, or are using presentation software for the first time, you should consider a wide range of options beyond PowerPoint.

Though alternatives like Beautiful.ai, Canva, or (especially) Prezi cost a bit more, they each have strong features that may work better for your purposes. That said, sometimes the most popular presentation software options are the best. If you don’t have specific expectations or need to clear a high bar for design, PowerPoint and free options like Google Slides should work well, and have the benefit of wide adoption in corporate workplaces.

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Best presentation software of 2024

Make perfect slides for speeches and talks

Best overall

Best for branding, best for marketing, best for themes, best for media, best unique.

• How we test

The best presentation software makes it simple and easy to create, manage, and share slideshow presentations.

1. Best overall 2. Best for branding 3. Best for marketing 4. Best for themes 5. Best for media 6. Best unique 7. FAQs 8. How we test

Presentation software runs at the heart of business sales, management, and development, so it's important to ensure you have the best presentation software for your needs. This is especially when looking to share ideas, concepts, and workflows, and the ability to present these in a simple and understandable way is essential.

However, while presentation software has been traditionally limited to text and images, it has widened its ability to work with different media such as video and audio. 

Therefore it's important for the best presentation software to not simply be easy and simple to use, but also be able to support additional media so that presentations can be more engaging, lively, and ultimately serve their purpose in educating and updating their intended audience.

Below we've listed the best presentation software currently on the market.

We've also listed the best free presentation software .

The best office software in the world is: Microsoft 365 There are many different office software suites out there, but Microsoft Office remains the original and best, offering an unsurpassed range of features and functionality that rivals just can't match.

Even better, Microsoft 365 - previously branded as Office 365 - is a cloud-based solution which means you can use it on any computer, mobile device, or smartphone, without having to worry about compatibility. All your files are saved in the cloud and synced between devices, so you can begin work on a document at home or in the office, then continue working on it on the go.

You can sign up to Microsoft 365 here .

The best 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.

1. PowerPoint

Our expert review:

Reasons to buy

For most people, Microsoft 's PowerPoint remains the original and best of all the presentation software platforms out there. While other companies have managed to catch up and offer rival products worthy of consideration, the fact is that PowerPoint's familiar interface and ubiquitous availability means it remains a favorite for the majority of people.

On the one hand, it's long been a staple of the hugely popular Microsoft Office suite, meaning that for most users this is going to be the first - and last - presentation software they are going to need to use.

Additionally, Microsoft has made PowerPoint, along with their other office products, available as free apps (with limited functionality) on both iOS and Android for mobile use, meaning it's even harder to avoid them. And this is before we even consider the inclusion of PowerPoint in Microsoft's cloud-based Microsoft 365.

It does everything necessary that you'd expect of presentation software, allowing you to add text and media to a series of slides, to accompany a talk and other presentations. There are easy-to-use templates included to help spice things up a little, but even a general user with little experience of it is likely to find themselves able to use PowerPoint without much trouble at all.

Overall, it's hard to go wrong with PowerPoint, and although Microsoft 365 has a nominal cost, the apps are free to use even if they do have more limited functionality.

Read our full Microsoft PowerPoint review .

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2. CustomShow

Reasons to avoid.

Branding says a lot about a business, and it’s something firms need to get right from day one – from a good logo to a suitable font. CustomShow is business presentation software that puts all these elements of branding first.

Using the system, you can design and present customized, branded presentations that reflect your company and the products you offer, featuring the aforementioned logo and custom fonts. As well as this, you get a slide library and analytics to ensure your presentations are a success.

What’s more, you can import presentations into the software, and use it to tweak them further. There’s also integration with SalesForce , and because the platform is cloud-based, you can access your presentations on computers, tablets, and smartphones. 

Considering the focus on branding, this offering could be good for marketing and sales teams, and it's used by major companies such as HBO and CBS Interactive.

3. ClearSlide

Just like CustomShow, ClearSlide has a niche focus for companies. The platform is targeted at firms looking to generate successful marketing campaigns, pushing sales via presentations (and more), not least through a range of analytics and metrics to work for sales and marketing.

With the product, you can upload a range of files, including PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF, and Excel. ClearSlide is integrated with other platforms, including Google Drive, Dropbox, and Salesforce.

This system is pretty complex and may offer too many irrelevant features for some businesses, but you can create customized content that reflects your company and the message you’re trying to get out to customers. There are also some good metrics and analysis features, and you can sign up for a free trial before making any decisions.

The real strength of ClearSlide comes from its focus on sales and marketing data, not least being able to track user engagement alongside other metrics.

4. Haiku Deck

Any presentation app will allow you to personalize your slides to at least some extent, but Haiku Deck goes one step further than the competition. It comes with a wide range of themes suited to different needs, and you also get access to 40 million free images from the Creative Commons collection.

When it comes to creating a presentation, you have the option to do so on the web, which means your presentation is accessible across a range of mobile devices as well as desktops. Regardless of the device used, you’re able to select from a variety of different fonts, layouts, and filters to make the perfect presentation.

The great thing about these various customization options is that they’re categorized into different industries and use cases. For instance, you’ll find themes for teaching, cooking, real estate, and startups. Most of the features require you to be online, but hopefully, you’ll have a sturdy net connection wherever you go.

5. SlideDog

It’s all too easy to end up creating a presentation that’s unappealing, and the last thing you want to do is make the audience fall asleep. SlideDog lets you combine almost any type of media to create a rich presentation that’s sure to keep the viewers’ peepers open, avoiding the ‘cookie cutter’ look that makes presentations seem dull.

Marketed as a web-based multimedia presentation tool, it gives you the ability to combine PowerPoint presentations, graphics, PDF files, Prezi presentations, web pages, pictures, videos, and movie clips. You can drag these into custom playlists and display them to your audience with ease.

You’re able to remotely control your presentations and playlists from your smartphone, the web, or a secondary computer, and there’s also the option to share slides in real-time. Audience members can even view your slide from their own devices by clicking a link. That’s a handy feature if you’re looking to create an immersive presentation experience.

SlideDog is probably the cheapest of the presentation software featured, with a free account that will cover the essential features. However, for live sharing and premium support, you need to upgrade.

Read our full SlideDog review .

Prezi is one of the more unique presentation tools. Instead of presenting your graphics and text in a slide-to-slide format, you can create highly visual and interactive presentation canvases with the goal of “emphasizing the relationship between the ideas”.

Presentations can also be tailored to the specific audience, as this is a flexible platform that’s capable of skipping ahead, or veering off into a side topic, without having to flip through all the slides to get to a particular bit.

For business users, there are a variety of handy tools available. By downloading Prezi , you can build and edit presentations with your colleagues in real-time, which is perfect for companies with teams based around the globe.

When you have created a presentation you’re happy with, you can present it live (in HD) and send a direct link to viewers. There are some analysis tools here, too – you can see who’s accessed your presentation, which parts of it, and for how long. The app is available for Mac and Windows devices.

Read our full Prezi review .

Other presentation software to consider

Google Slides  is part of the Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) office platform intended as an online alternative to Microsoft Office. It may seem a little limited by comparison to PowerPoint, but as it's browser-based that means cross-platform compatibility. Additionally, it allows for collaborative work, and Google Slides really works well here. On top of the fact that it integrates with the rest of the Google Workspace apps, not least Google Drive, and you have a contender. 

Zoho Show  is another of the many, many tools and apps that Zoho has made available for business use. It also operates in the cloud so it's accessible to any device with a browser, and it also allows for collaborative work. You can also easily share the link for users to download, or provide a live presentation online. The updated version has a simpler and easier to use interface and comes with a free version and a paid-for one with expanded features.

Evernote  is normally thought of as just note-taking software, but it does provide the option to create a presentation you can share online or with an audience. In that regard, it's a little more limited than the other options in not being dedicated presentation software. However, as an easy and handy way to pull together a presentation quickly, it could serve as a backup or last-minute option, especially if Evernote is already being commonly used by you.

LibreOffice Impress  is part of the open-source suite offered as a free alternative to Microsoft Office, and comes with a powerful array of tools and editing options for your presentation, not least working with 3D images. It's supported by a large community, so it's easy to find an array of additional templates. If there is a limitation it's that it's software you download and install rather than web-based, but any presentations created should be easily portable to the web if needed.

Adobe Spark  does things a bit differently, as rather than just use images it's geared toward video as well. This makes for potentially more powerful multimedia presentations, especially as Adobe also has a big selection of photos and images available for its users. There is a free tier for core features but requires a subscription for custom branding, personalized themes, and support.

Slides  comes with a lot of features in an easy-to-use interface, and involves setting up presentations using drag and drop into an existing grid. It's also internet-based so there's no software to download, and it only requires a browser to use and access. 

Presentation software FAQs

Which presentation software is best for you.

When deciding which presentation software 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 for your presentation needs.

How we tested the best presentation software

To test for the best presentation software we first set up an account with the relevant software platform, whether as a download or as an online service. We then tested the service to see how the software could be used for different purposes and in different situations. The aim was to push each software platform to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.

Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar .

We've also featured the best alternatives to Microsoft Office .

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7 Presentation Software Options to Knock ’em Dead

They say that power corrupts, and PowerPoint corrupts absolutely. At least, most of us aren’t at our happiest when we sit down to create a presentation. Public speaking is bad enough without also worrying about what’s behind you. Enter our list of the 6 best presentation software options.

When you give a pitch or a briefing, there’s so much more than just what you say. In fact, a large part of the success of your presentation will depend on how you come across in general.

That includes the presentation itself. Visual elements, transitions and the overall feel of your slides will contribute greatly to how you are perceived. In short, a well constructed presentation could be the difference between people taking you serious or not.

What are the Best Presentation Software Options?

OK, a few years ago the answer would have simply been ‘PowerPoint’. Maybe the last couple of years Google Slides too. If you were really serious about design you might have considered Photoshop or these Photoshop alternatives . But there’s a host of new kids on the block trying to make creating awesome presentations that bit easier.

Typically, they’re more focused on usability, and creating the most professional looking presentations in the shortest time possible. Some presentation software platforms will then throw in some extra features like collaboration or broadcasting.

The question is can any of these up-starts dethrone the existing big wigs? Let’s have a quick look at the pros and cons of each;

So, there’s not a massive variation in prices, but you’ll notice all the presentation software options seem to be aimed at slightly different niches. That in mind, let’s take a look at which presentation tool might be right for you!

First up we have Prezi. Starting from $5 per month, this was one of the early alternatives to the major presentation tools. It also has a very distinctive, non-linear visual style. Rather than flipping between static slides, you sort of zoom in and out of particular elements on one master slide.

But don’t think this is a gimmick. There are some really neat enterprise features too. I particularly liked the ‘Smart Branding’ feature. This allows you to upload your logo, and Prezi bases the colour palette for your presentation around what suits your brand identity.

With a one off fee of $29, Deckset takes a different approach to presentations again. Indeed, it’s aimed more at design-phobes. The idea is you simply input your notes as text document and Deckset does the rest.

This works with a series of built in templates. Key aspects of these can then be edited, including fonts and color schemes. It’s very easy to get a workable presentation in a few seconds, but the trade-off is a little bit less flexibility.

Starting at $9.99 per month, Haiku Deck is the priciest of today’s presentation tools. However, I was a big fan of it in terms of use for both online and in-person presentations. To that end, you can record a voiceover and export the presentation as a video file.

The real selling point for me is the inclusion of over 40 million stock images. When you’re trying to create presentations, quite often sourcing decent visuals can quickly become costly, so this is a real asset.

At $96 per year, automation is the name of the game with Slidebean. This is another tool which is more geared towards people who want to work with templates, rather than creating their entire presentation from scratch.

You really just have to input your headings and body copy and then select a theme. The presence of real-time collaboration means that Slidebean could be a very good option for larger organizations, with multiple people working on different elements of a given presentation.

Zoho Show is created Zoho. They have a suite of online tools that incldes an online form builder and webinar software . Show offers a free version, but it should be noted that for business use you’ll be charged per user per month. Of course, whether or not this is right is highly dependent on your business.

In terms of use, it will feel very familiar to PowerPoint veterans. Although the UI is a little bit more stripped back. What really sets Zoho Show out though is the ability to broadcast your presentations live online, which means it could also be used for the likes of webinars or remote training sessions.

Last up there’s Swipe. Again, there’s a free version on offer, but unlimited usage will set you back at least $15 per month. The idea here is slightly different to your normal presentation tools.

The focus is mainly on creating interactive online presentations. Another great option for webinars, as you can create polls and ask for feedback in real time. It’s also completely browser based, so your viewers won’t need any extra software to take part.

Storydoc is an interactive AI presentation maker that starts at $30 per month. It’s a business presentation tool, ideal for product marketers, business owners, and sales teams. It has a unique scroll-based design, populated by interactive elements such as infographics, charts, and tabs. You can embed any content type into your presentation, and even add calendars to book meetings.

But perhaps the most important capability of Storydoc, if you aim to make highly effective presentations, is its analytics panel that offers immediate insights on how your content is being read, engaged with, and shared, letting you continuously improve your content as you go.

Presentation Tools: Final Thoughts

There we have it. Of course, which of these presentation tools is right for you is highly dependent on your individual business. Personally, I’ve always been a big fan of Prezi , both as a presenter and a viewer. However, if I was pressed to go for something a little more traditional, I think it’d have to be Haiku Deck .

For more useful tools for online business owners, check out our guide to the best Instagram marketing tools , and the best social proof software . You might also want to check out our roundup of the best Facebook Messenger chatbot software .

Hope you like our content. If you feel you have a solution that should be on this list, shoot us an email. We want to make our articles as comprehensive as possible.

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Top 10 presentation software programs

This article has gathered popular presentation software and compared them with their key features. We hope the presented information will help you choose the best service with no additional time lost.

Let’s Take A Look Over Best of Them

Apple keynote, microsoft powerpoint, google slides pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages of powtoon.

• Free use is possible, but templates or pictures with no Free sign shall be paid $1 unless you pay $9.95 one-month subscription fee.
• Simple use. Use Canva as a construction kit: combine fonts, photos, icons, and diagrams in one presentation.
• Out of all services presented in this review, Canva offers the largest number of templates.
• Modern templates reflect the latest design tendencies.

Disadvantages

• Practically no standard templates.
• You cannot change the image size.

General Impression

If you want to create a nice presentation , this presentation software is your choice. With the help of this service, you can create modern and beautiful slides. Canva is convenient and pleasant to use.

• From $3 to $59 monthly.
• Collaborative work on presentation available.
• Software is available offline, too.
• Slides from PowerPoint can be uploaded and further processed here.
• During the registration for a trial package, payment information is required.
• Created presentations take much disk space.

In Prezi, work is done not on the separate slide but on the whole work zone, where you can put elements (pictures, texts, icons and videos) as you wish to. After you get some kind of construction, you can make a separate slide out of it and set the way of transition to other slides.

• 30 beautiful themes created by designers from Apple.
• Possibility to take ready styles for text or use your own settings for designing slides.
• Synchronization with all your Apple devices: you create your presentation on one device, and it automatically appears on the rest of them.
• Only for Mac, iPad, iPhone or iPod users.

Keynote contains everything necessary for creating a solid presentation. Creating slides is equally easy using your computer, tablet or smartphone. It is a perfect solution for Apple users.

• From $9.99 to $29.9 billed annually.
• Maximum intuitive interface.
• Numerous nice templates and over 35 million of stock photos.
• The service works fast. When you open the editor, you can immediately draft headlines, pictures and texts to your slides.
• Even if you want to use the trial period, you need to indicate your credit card details when registering.
• Limited possibility of changing or adjusting slides.

This presentation software allows for the creation of elegant and minimalistic presentations. Notwithstanding its simplicity, Haiku Deck contains all necessary functions and the richest library of templates, pictures and diagrams.

• Free with limited features.
• The full features are available starting from $99 yearly or at $49 for a one-time payment.
• The app allows for creating interesting presentations that can contain video pictures, web pages, text or Excel files in addition to the slides themselves.
• Possibility to demonstrate your presentation to colleagues or partners.
• You should install the application on your computer.
• Only Windows is supported.

The app differs from the familiar PowerPoint or Google Slides. Here, you upload different types of files (pictures, videos, presentations) and make a playlist out of them. This is what will make your presentation. The software is easy to master. One of SlideDog’s features is the free use of paid tools for 15 minutes per visit.

• From $5 to $20 monthly.
• Free use of the service is possible, but all presentations created will be available for public viewing and use.
• Pop-up windows with explanations will help you get acquainted with the service faster.
• A large set of tools for presentation editing.
• Poor selection of templates.
• Getting acquainted with the service takes more time when compared to, let’s say, Canva or Prezi.
• No mobile version.

The work with this presentation software is done online, with no local installation. The Slides’ Interface is complicated and takes time to be mastered, though it contains the whole range of basic tools for creating presentations.

• From $8 to $149.
• There is a free plan.
• Online support.
• Very easy to use: you add text and pictures, while the software transforms this into a slide.
• Works on any device.
• Long template loading.
• Limited possibility of customizing the service to meet your preferences.

The peculiarity of Slidebean is a separation of design from content. You mess around with the presentation’s content while Slidebean takes care of the design. This is convenient for those willing to quickly prepare a nice and neatly designed presentation without deep diving into technical stuff. Select your template, add text and pictures for each slide into special fields — and your presentation is ready.

• PowerPoint is a part of the Microsoft Office package.
• It costs from $69.99 to $99.99 per year.
• Otherwise, you can pay $149.99 once.
• Universal availability: the Office package by Microsoft, which contains PowerPoint, is installed on almost all computers running Windows.
• Popularity. You must have created something using PowerPoint or at least heard of this app.
• The significant number of instruments.
• Because of the app’s popularity, PowerPoint templates are very recognizable.
• This is why slides can sometimes look boring and stale.

PowerPoint is classics among services for presentation preparation. It was created back in 1990. Because of the initial releases’ complexity and clumsiness, the presentations created using it often looked harmless. But lately, PowerPoint has changed. Now, using this app, you can create modern, stylish slides, even if you are no designer at all.

• Using Google Slides is possible on computers, smartphones and tablets.
• You can work either online or offline with no live Internet connection.
• Collaborative work available: create or edit presentations together with your colleagues.
• To use the service, you need the Gmail account.
• The app does not contain any templates. You can create different themes changing the slide’s background, as well as the suggested font.
• No support. You will have to look for answers to your questions online yourself.

Using this presentation software is simple — its interface resembles a standard text editor. Though it does not have templates and its functionality is quite limited, still, you can create a laconic and easy to perceive presentation.

• From $19 to $89.
• Free package available.
• 24/7 online support.
• A large collection of interesting templates, diagrams, sound effects.
• Working with software is very simple.
• For instance, you will not be able to create standard static slides here.
• The presentation will resemble a video rather than a standard presentation.

PowToon is designed to create animated presentations and videos. With this tool, you can craft captivating and visually stunning presentations.

So, we have covered 10 presentation software. The services are very diverse in terms of tools, approach to creating presentations, templates, price. We have spoken about the pros and cons of each of them. Now, you choose.

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7 Golden Benefits of Presentation Software in 2024

Anh Vu • 08 April, 2024 • 10 min read

What are the benefits of Presentation Software ? What is presentation software? Finding someone who hasn’t presented at school or work is scarce whether a sales pitch, a TED Talk or a chemistry project, slides and exhibitions have always been a significant part of our academic and professional growth.

As with most things, the way we do presentations has undergone a significant facelift. No matter what type of presentation you’re doing, whether in a remote or hybrid environment, the importance and benefits of presentation software are undeniable.

If you’re looking for presentation software’s features, uses and challenges, this article is for you!

Table of Contents

• Changes in Presentation Software Field

7 Benefits of Presentation Software

3 cons of presentation software.

• Free Templates
• More Tips with AhaSlides

Tips for Better Engagement

Besides the benefits of presentation software, let’s check out the following:

• Complete Guide to Interactive Presentation
• Types of presentation software

Start in seconds.

Get free templates for your next interactive presentation. Sign up for free and take what you want from the template library!

Changes in the Presentation Software Field

PowerPoint and presentations have been synonymous for decades now. This is not to say that indications didn’t exist before PowerPoint; there were chalkboards, whiteboards, hand-drawn posters, flip charts, and slide decks for all purposes.

However, the rise of technology gradually helped companies replace hand-drawn slide decks with computer-generated slides, which finally led to PowerPoint – one of the most popular pieces of presentation software of all time. It’s been years since PowerPoint revolutionised the game, and now there are plenty of alternatives evolving the industry in their own way.

PowerPoint and similar software allow the presenter to create a digitised slide deck with editable text and graphics. The presenter can then present that slide deck to the audience, either directly in front of them or virtually through Zoom and other screen-sharing software.

So, are you ready to take the step to modern presentation software? Don’t worry; it’s nowhere near as intimidating as you think!

Start by checking out some benefits of presentation software has been a real game-changer for presenters and presentations all over the world.

#1 – They’re Engaging Visual Tools

Did you know that 60% of people prefer a presentation full of visuals , while 40% of people say it’s an absolute must they’re included? Text-heavy slides are relics of presentation dinosaurs; the new way is graphics.

Presentation software gives you so many opportunities to illustrate your topic with the help of visual cues, such as…

• Transitions between slides
• Backgrounds

This choice of elements is a treasure trove for traditional presenters. They can really help you grab your audience’s attention when you’re giving your presentation, and are great aids when it comes to telling an effective story in your presentation.

#2 – They’re Easy to Use

Most presentation software is relatively easy to learn and use. The tools were originally designed to mimic how a traditional presenter presents their slides; over time, they’ve become more and more intuitive.

Of course, with the vast customisation options they offer, there’s a chance that newbie presenters can get overwhelmed. Still, each tool usually has a plentiful help section and contactable customer service team to combat that, as well as communities of other presenters who are ready to help with any problems.

#3 – They Have Templates

It’s a standard nowadays for presentation tools to come with several ready-to-use templates. Usually, these templates are a few very well-designed slides that look fantastic; your only job is to replace the text and maybe add your images!

These eliminate the need to create your presentation templates from scratch and can save you entire evenings agonising over every element within your presentation.

Some established presentation software has got over 10,000 templates to choose from, all based on slightly different topics. You can be fairly assured that if you’re looking for a template in your niche, you’ll find it in the template library of some of the big names in presentation software .

#4 – Benefits of presentation software – They’re Interactive

Well, not all of them, but the best ones are!

An interactive presentation creates a two-way dialogue between the presenter and their audience by allowing the presenter to create questions in their presentation and allowing the audience actually to answer them.

Usually, the audience will join the presentation and answer the questions directly from their phones. These questions can be in the form of a poll , word cloud , live Q&A and more, and will display the audience’s answers visually for everyone to see.

Interactivity is definitely one of the biggest benefits of presentation software, and one of the biggest free tools in the interactive presentation game is AhaSlides . AhaSlides lets you create a presentation full of interactive slides; your audience simply joins, contributes their ideas and stays engaged throughout the show!

# 5 – They Work Remotely

Imagine trying to present something to an audience around the world if you didn’t use presentation software. The only thing you could do is hold up your A4 slides to the camera and hope that everyone could read it.

Presentation software makes the whole process of broadcasting your slides to your online audience so much easier. You simply share your screen and present your presentation through the software. While you’re talking, your audience will be able to see both you and your presentation fully, making it just like real life!

Some presentation tools let the audience take the lead, meaning anyone can read and progress through the slides themselves without the need for the presenter. This is a great way to make the traditional ‘presentation handouts’ available for audiences wherever they are.

#6 – They’re Multimedia

As well as being visually appealing, the ability to add multimedia to our presentations makes them super exciting for both you and your audience.

3 things can elevate your presentation to no end…

Each of these are directly embeddable as slides within the presentation and doesn’t require you to jump between platforms while you’re trying to get into your flow. They help stimulate your audience’s senses and keep them involved and in tune with the presenter.

There are several types of presentation software that allow you to access large GIF, video and sound libraries and drop them straight into your presentation. Nowadays, you don’t have to download anything at all!

#7 – They’re Collaborative

The more advanced presentation software is collaborative for a smooth remote work environment.

They allow multiple people to work on a presentation simultaneously and allow individual members to send the representations to each other for editing in their own time.

Not only that, but some of the interactive presentation platforms even let you collaborate with your moderator, who can ensure that the questions you’re getting in a Q&A are savoury enough.

Collaborative features were developed to help create and present team presentations more effectively.

For all the benefits of presentation software, they do have their drawbacks. You also need to be aware of a few challenges when you use presentation software for your next presentation.

• Going Overboard – Presenters’ most common mistake with their presentation is to include too many multimedia effects . It is quite easy to get experimental when presented with a vast range of options, and you might end up drowning a slide with too many results, animations, and font customisations. This dilutes the primary purpose of your presentation – to grab the audience’s attention and help them understand your topic.
• Cramming – Likewise, when you can make everything tiny, you might experience the temptation to pack your slides with information . But far from filling your audience with more information, it becomes much more difficult for them to take anything meaningful away. Not just that; content-heavy slides also sap your audience’s attention, which eventually makes it harder to get them to look at your slides in the first place. It is better to include your primary thoughts as headings or bullet points on the decline and describe them in detail throughout your speech. The 10-20-30 rule can help with this.
• Tech Issues – The fear of Luddites everywhere – what if my computer crashes? Well, it’s a valid concern; computers have been hit many times before, and many other inexplicable tech issues have arisen at the worst possible times. It could be an unstable internet connection, a link that doesn’t work or a file that you could have sworn you attached. It’s easy to get flustered, so we recommend you have backup software and a backup of your notes for a smooth transition if something goes wrong.

Now that you know the pros and cons of presentation software, it will be infinitely accessible to create a compelling presentation for your next audience. Until you do so, check out the variety of interactive templates available at AhaSlides and use them for free to create your next power-packed presentation.

Tips to Engage with Polls & Trivia

More from AhaSlides

Keynote Reviews

Review Highlights

Overall rating, ratings breakdown, secondary ratings.

Ease-of-use

Customer Support

Value for money

Functionality

Pros and Cons

Have you used Keynote and would like to share your experience with others?

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1-25 of 128 Reviews

Religious Institutions , 11 - 50 employees

Used more than 2 years

OVERALL RATING :

Reviewed June 2022

Keynote - great for pastors!

Verified reviewer

Computer Software , 11-50 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

EASE OF USE

VALUE FOR MONEY

FUNCTIONALITY

Reviewed March 2022

Helps to focus on the story telling

There's no alternative if you own a Mac. It's not receiving annual updates and it has started to look old, but I love it and use it every month.

How user-friendly it is. Super easy to add images and details, align them, and create various slides. Creating visuals is not my strength and I use Keynote to create posters too. I started using Canva recently but I still feel more comfortable with Keynote.

It would be great if it had more templates and more styles. I've purchased some PowerPoint template and it works ok with Keynote, but I'd rather have access to more default templates when creating a new file.

Architecture & Planning , 2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Reviewed November 2022

Everything and anything...

It's great, It's a day-to-day go-to for me for all sorts of creative projects. I use it for diagrams, illustrations, digital assets, book figures, and images, and believe it or not I even sketch out architectural plans (more or less to scale - by importing a scale drawing into the background and tracing over it) it's so much quicker that firing up CAD packages and software, and it does the job perfectly. I even export these slides and use them, as textures in my renderings. I unashamedly use it for anything and everything. It's a multi-functional tool, and surprisingly powerful and fast even when I have hundreds of slides. I use it for training decks for my online financial courses. I work to try and make the content engaging and not just dry and all about the numbers. So I include GIFs and videos and various animated transitions. I've been using it for years and shall continue ad infinitum!

I love that you can export a slide by dragging and dropping it into another package. It automatically creates an image of the slide. It's great for compiling reports from presentations, but also using the slides in the non-fiction personal development, business, and money books that I author and self-publish.

For what keynote is - a presentation slide show software - there's little I don't like about it. It seems to me there's a plethora of simple, easy-to-use tools that when combined and understood can create pretty much whatever you want. I err toward keeping it simple and clean so I rarely hit any roadblocks in terms of features or functionality. In fact I can't remember the last time I had any issues.

Reason for choosing Keynote

I didn't really enjoy using the Powerpoint or Sheets. There was something 'less pretty' about them. The word clunky comes to mind.

Reasons for switching to Keynote

I found that of course keynote is primarily Mac but as far as I know it can work well with the competitor solutions. That said it's simple, clean, not overly complicated or trying to do too much (even though it can!) and fits nicely with my workflow. For whatever reason I used to struggle with the others.

Marketing and Advertising , 1 employee

In 2022 you would not want to use it

I used it when it was my only option but I tend to steer clear of it due to its many limitations

The one and probably only pro I can think of is that it is readily available on your laptop, even if you have no internet connection.

It does nothing better than Google's presentation software and its being limited to mac and Apple ecosystem users is very limiting when it comes to sharing and cooperation

Human Resources , 2-10 employees

Reviewed May 2022

More over Poser Point

I have been using Keynote since 2005. The adaptation period (coming form PowerPoint) was about 3 weeks. Never looked back. Each time I have to use PowerPoint because a client want to use the presentation on a PC reminds me how awful PP is compare to Keynote. Keynote is a professional presentation software and anybody I know who has used it does not want to go back to Powerpoint

Very sophisticated yet easy to use User interface is vastly superior to Powerpoint Easily convertible to Ppt format if required. Compatible with ppt format Super animations Fully compatible with the rest of the Apple suite Using Keynote with a projector is a breeze!

File size is surprisingly high. Some bullet are not reproduced adequately when importing to ppt format Imported files for ppt format sometimes have to be rearranged Font compatibility between ppt files

Keynote is Free with he purchase of a Mac. Updates are free and so are upgrade. Amazing product with it usability and most importantly the end results : presentations are stunning!

Retail , 1 employee

Reviewed December 2022

More than a presenation program, yert also a kick-a** presentation program

I did a light-hearted presentation for my Rotary club a while back that really exemplifies the power of Keynote. I used just about every feature the program has to create a presentation that looked more like a custom video than something from a presentation program. When finished, I had video producers asking me what program I used. I loved seeing their expression when I said 'Keynote!". :-)

Keynote lets me design and create with a freedom and quality of product that is hard to match. As a graphic designer, I'm used to having control over all things and using programs that don't think for me. Yet, if you want a beautiful presentation program with high-end animation capabilities, you'll love Keynote too.

My files get pretty large in size and occasionally that can slow processing.

More capabilities and customization for Keynote.

Ability to share the program with other contributors without version issues. Massive step up in the quality appearance of the presentation.

11-50 employees

Reviewed January 2023

Keynote: one solution for all your presentations

However, my total experience as a designer for 10 years is very positive: for all my presentations I always rely on Keynote, because it halves any of my working time and always manages to give me new ideas with all its tools.

If you too never know where to start for your slide presentations from today you can worry no more, Keynote takes care of it!Templates, guides, animations: with Keynote anyone can make beautiful and functional presentations, it is a thousand steps ahead of all other presentation programs with its always fresh and cool templates.

Unfortunately there are few templates available and the interface is not so intuitive, only by really using the software a lot will you know how to find all the features, otherwise some things are so hidden that you think it doesn't have them.

Because within it there are templates, animations, shadows and effects already set to the best: I can think less and render much more.

10,000+ employees

Reviewed August 2022

Slides on the move.

I used it on my iPad and iPhone. So it was really useful and fun to edit presentation on my phone without using computer. I create and share slides for my colleagues for education.

I like it comes free with my iPad and my iPhone. My presentations are saved on iCloud. So it is accessible between all Apple devicea and family. It’s free so I don’t have to pay. I can create and share presentations on my iPhone. Usage and interface is very basic and easy.

It’s not easy to send presentations to other platforms. I need to convert format for other platforms.

I bought Apple devices. So Apple software work perfect on Apple devices

Reviewed April 2022

Just a Little Bit Nicer Than the Others

Keynote helps me look more professional than my solopreneur operation would naturally allow. I can quickly turn out great looking pieces of content. Keynote appears to be less known or used which is to my advantage because I often get compliments and requests to know what I used that leads to more client engagement.

The templates are top notch and make it really easy and intuitive to put together a classy, high quality presentation easily. As most of my work world moved to Zoom (and is planning to stay), being able to quickly create backgrounds, visual cueing and information sharing has been critical. There are lots of slide presentation apps but Keynote's taste and layout suggestions are just a bit nicer. I consistently get feedback and requests for "tips" about how I got my slides to look so good.

Converting Keynote slides into Google Slides takes a couple of steps to work around. You can covert directly in app to PowerPoint, .pdf, .gifs, etc but not Slides yet, which is the most common request from my end users.

I preferred the templates and felt the app was easier to use overall.

Food & Beverages , 51-200 employees

Transition from my youth

Love it. Glad to have it included with my Mac. I definitely wouldn't purchase Powerpoint. I would consider buying keynote if it didn't come free.

I am a die hard apple fan. I have only ever owned a Mac desktop or laptop. That being said, I grew up on Powerpoint. I like the cleaner look than the old versions of powerpoint I used to use. Even using powerpoint on a Mac, always had a very "PC" vibe to it. Creating slides is very simple. I don't have much of a need for presentations now, but I think it would be very easy to hit the ground running.

My only con completely contradicts my pros. When I was in school, we used a lot of powerpoint. I was constantly looking for the old features instead of getting used to the new, cleaner layout. I think it would just take a presentation or two for a long time Microsoft user to get used to Keynote.

Keynote came free with my laptop. Microsoft product do not. That being said, I have never liked Microsoft but it just always came with computers I have owned or worked on until recently.

Reviewed October 2022

My go-to presentation tool

I use keynote to quickly whip up a presentation that looks good and is super stable.

Apple's Keynote software offers me everything I need in my presentation software. It's easy to style my slides and I can quickly build out a presentation deck. The best part is that it's free to download for Mac users.

I miss some of the more deeper technical settings that some other competitors might have.

It's easy to get quickly started with a presentation, and it's free to download with Mac

Management Consulting , 11-50 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Powerful presentation tool!

It's a great tool to work and collaborate.

As many Apple software solutions the user interfase is very intuitive and allows people get done fast with their presentations.The feature that we love most is online collaboration because it allows several people to work on the same presentation so you don't have to share the file over and over by email getting to the perfect presentation.

It only work in Apple devices, but if you have one you are wasting money by using other software.

Since is included with the Apple family you can save lots of money by not purchasing additional tools involving licensing and maintenance.

Professional Training & Coaching , 1 employee

Keynote: The king of presentation software

I am a Keynote fan knowing that I have not tapped into ½ of its capabilities. It's a workhorse!

I love the ease of working from multiple documents and being able to add parts of each of them into my presentation. This software is my favorite. I even like it better than Pages because of the drag and drop capabilities. I even use it to think and process workshops I develop before I build the presentation. It's an awesome tool!

Adding video and making it work every time. That some companies don't use it and want to transfer it to PowerPoint - it never is a flawless transfer in either direction.

I bought a Mac and once I used Keynote, I NEVER looked back.

Education Management , 51-200 employees

We use Keynote often in our environment. I came from a PowerPoint world and was able to adapt to Keynote fairly quickly. Being a MAC School, I love having a product that I can use without having to pay for PowerPoint

This is an easy software to learn. Ports over easily from PowerPoint. I love the drag and drop features

I don't see many Cons with this software once you get past the learning stage

We are a Mac School, plus cost considerations

Entertainment , 2-10 employees

Used weekly for less than 6 months

Keynote time

It has been useful for my short presentation that I needed it for and I use it a lot for my overlays and animated images on Imovie project. plus it is free.

I have been a powerpoint user for a long time. But this is the first time I can stay on mac programs and not rely on Microsoft products. I can put together a presentation and send it to my Iphone or Ipad and be ready to go. I started to use IMovie and I found out the people use Keynote to make overlays for their Imovie projects.

There are a few things that Keynote lacks from Powerpoint. But It is better than google slides.

It came with Imac Operating system upgrade in the APP Store

Publishing , 1 employee

Great for slide show presentations

Easy to use and lots of templates to help you start your slide show

I have not found anything about Keynotes that i dislike

Using Apple computers it came with Keynote and when I started using Keynote I found it just as good if not better

Chemicals , 10,000+ employees

Reviewed July 2022

A perfect tool for amazing presentations

I can create amazing documents through Keynote, but I need much storage on my computer and in my iCloud.

This is the only software I know that allows the creation of such beautiful documents, with several features available to use creativity and leave an impeccable design in my creations. In addition, through it, I can also share documents and make changes with other people.

Unfortunately, Keynote uses a lot of storage, which is a big downside, making my iCloud more expensive as a result. Another negative point is that it is a limited-use software since only Apple users can enjoy it, making it difficult to share files.

Marketing and Advertising , 11-50 employees

my favourite tool for creating presentations

I use Keynote for all of my work presentations. I've tried PowerPoint but it just never felt intuitive to me. With Keynote, it's so easy to add in multimedia and make changes quickly - which is really important when you're making a presentation. The other thing I like about Keynote is the ability to customize it by adding in your own personal theme.

I dont have any negatives to report. Apple has done an amazing job like they always do.

better features and functionalities

Higher Education , 501-1,000 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Simple and practical!

Is practical and very intuitive, you can have all your thougths in the palm of your hand.

I love the fact that I have easy access to an app that keeps my notes in order, where I can edit or upgrade new data.

IOS's apps not always are useful when you used in microsoft software.

Higher Education , 1,001-5,000 employees

Reviewed February 2022

Keynote Review

This software proved to be an easy to use and efficient platform to create content for presentations. Notes, images and audio are easy to be added. It provides cool animations and smooth transitions.

No noteworthy issues have been identified so far.

Switched to a MacBook

1,001-5,000 employees

Incredible animations

You can achieve the best quality animated presentation with this “entry level” software. Using the transitions, animations plugins and tools you can obtain amazing results

Is hard to use it out of IOS enviroment. You will have many troubles exporting this file to a .ppt and using it in a PC. If your presentation will be not showed in a Mac, please don’t use it

Marketing and Advertising , 2-10 employees

an amazing software that offers beautiful templates to create presentations to pitch your services

I've been using Keynote for a couple of years now and it's a fantastic software to create flawless presentations. It offers a huge variety of templates, allowing you to customize your presentation in any way possible. Not only does it offer beautiful templates to help you create professional presentations, but it also has great features, such as making your slides interactive and linking them to your audio files. I can't recommend this software enough!

It should be accessible on devices other than Apple.

Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing , 1,001-5,000 employees

Reviewed June 2023

Keynote is Microsoft powerpoint but with good visual style

It is just beautiful, it's like mixing Canva with all its features with Powerpoint. It is created exclusively to make stunning presentations and beautiful and interactive animations.

If you have to work with other non-Apple devices, then it's a bit messy and some plots are not shown correclty

Cosmetics , 1 employee

Used monthly for less than 2 years

Reviewed July 2023

Keynote is a well put together program, it is easy to use and works well when presenting.

I don't think there is anything I didn't like about their product.

Because I bought an Apple computer.

Medical Practice , 2-10 employees

Best tool for presentation

Offers best tool for create immersive presentations.

it would be useful to have Keynote for Windows as well.

Home » Pros and Cons » 10 Pros and Cons of Powerpoint Presentations

10 Pros and Cons of Powerpoint Presentations

If you need to make a formal presentation, one of the best supportive tools you can use to create visuals for those attending is Microsoft PowerPoint. It can be found in Office 365 subscriptions for both personal and business use.

The primary advantage of using PowerPoint is that visual representations can help to reinforce the key points you’re speaking about. Humans are visually orientated when learning new skills or ideas, so having a graphic representation of what you’re speaking about makes it easier to retain the information.

The primary disadvantage is that it takes time to learn how to use this software. For those unfamiliar with visual presentation software, the process can become difficult. It may even cause some to give up trying to learn it. Here are some of the other pros and cons of PowerPoint presentations that are worth thinking about as well.

What Are the Pros of PowerPoint Presentations?

1. It is easy to download and use virtually anywhere. PowerPoint is considered a standard product in many professional settings. This allows you to take your user license virtually anywhere to be able to create the graphics needed for your presentation. It is so expected, in fact, that you may create a negative first impression if you don’t have a PowerPoint presentation to offer.

2. It can make a presentation more interesting. Even interesting presentations can grow long and boring. With an animated presentation or interesting quotes or other fun slides, you can bring people back from their boredom.

3. It is easy to customize each slide to meet specific needs. Images on a slide can be decreased or increased in scale to fit your needs. It only takes a few clicks to insert, alter, and align images to create a needed visual representation. You can even use arrows, pointers, or other shapes to highlight key areas of information you want people to know about.

4. It is a simple process to create follow-along hand-outs. You can print each slide directly from PowerPoint. Then you can copy those slides to become a helpful hand-out that can be given to each presentation participant.

5. It is reasonably affordable for most professionals. Business plans for Office 365 start at just under $10 per month. This gives you 1 license to use on a computer of your choice. For $15 per month, you receive 5 computer licenses to use.

What Are the Cons of PowerPoint Presentations?

1. There’s always the chance of running into technical difficulties. Even tech-savvy individuals can run into presentation issues when the technology doesn’t work as intended. Maybe the computer stops working. Or you lose power to your outlet. Or the overhead display doesn’t work right. This can alter the positive first impression of a presentation very quickly.

2. Slides with too much information on them can become overwhelming. Because there are so many options that can be included on a PowerPoint presentation, it can be easy to go overboard on the number of colors, sounds, shapes, and other items that can be used. By adding to many things, you can detract from the information that needs to be shared.

3. It isn’t a substitute for what a presenter must do. Many who use PowerPoint tend to rely on the information on the slide instead of providing a learning narrative. It is easy to become too reliant on this software and forget that there is an actual presentation that needs to be completed.

4. Costs are always ongoing. Because it is part of the Office 365 package, you no longer receive a proprietary software license for one specific cost. You must pay a monthly or annual subscription cost, which over time can add up to more than what the proprietary license once offered. You must also download the software to each computer, which consumes data that may be capped for some small business owners.

5. Some participants may tune out your narrative. If your PowerPoint is very detailed, some participants in your presentation may focus on your handouts and slides more than your actual narrative. This may make it difficult to make the call to action that you want participants to follow at the end of the day.

The pros and cons of PowerPoint presentations show that with careful planning, any narrative can be enhanced for those who are participating in the event. Without that planning, the presentation may do more harm than good to the narrative.

Do you use Microsoft PowerPoint for your presentations? What helpful tips do you have to refine the presentation creation experience?

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Presentation

Exploring the 'Advantages and Disadvantages of Presentation,' this blog explores how presentations can effectively communicate ideas yet sometimes hinder creativity. It discusses the ease of conveying complex information visually and the potential for engaging audiences but also considers the challenges of over-reliance on visuals and potential misinterpretation.

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Table of Contents  

1) What is a Presentation: A brief introduction 

2) Advantages of Presentations 

3) Disadvantages of Presentations 

4) How to make a successful Presentation? 

5) Conclusion 

What is a Presentation: A brief introduction  

A Presentation refers to a method of conveying information, ideas, or data to an audience using visual aids and spoken words. It is a formal or informal communication tool used in various settings, such as business meetings, educational environments, conferences, or public speaking engagements. 

During a Presentation, the presenter uses visual elements like slides, charts, graphs, images, and multimedia to support and enhance their spoken content. The goal of a Presentation is to engage the audience, effectively communicate the message, and leave a lasting impact on the listeners. You can ace your presentation skill by understanding various presentation skills interview questions and answers . It will expand your horizon to elevate your skills. 

Presentation Skills can be used to cover a wide variety of Presentations, from business proposals and academic research to sales pitches and motivational speeches.The success of a Presentation depends on the presenter's ability to organize the content coherently, engage the audience, and deliver the information in a clear and compelling manner, showcasing strong principles of presentation skills. Therefore, it is essential to understand the elements of presentation .

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Advantages of Presentations  

Effective communication  

One of the primary advantages of Presentations is their ability to facilitate effective communication. Whether you're addressing a small group of colleagues or a large audience at a conference, Presentations help you to convey your message clearly and succinctly. By structuring your content and using visuals, you can ensure that your key points are highlighted and easily understood by the audience. 

Visual appeal  

"Seeing is believing," and Presentations capitalise on this aspect of human psychology. The use of visuals, such as charts, graphs, images, and videos, enhances the overall appeal of the content. These visual aids not only make the information more engaging but also help reinforce the main ideas, making the Presentation more memorable for the audience. 

Engaging the audience  

Captivating your audience's attention is crucial for effective communication. Presentations provide ample opportunities to engage your listeners through various means. By incorporating storytelling, anecdotes, and real-life examples, you can nurture an emotional connection with your audience. Additionally, interactive elements like polls, quizzes, and group activities keep the audience actively involved throughout the Presentation. 

Simplifying complex information  

Complex ideas and data can often be overwhelming, making it challenging to convey them effectively. However, Presentations excel in simplifying intricate information. By breaking down complex concepts into digestible and interconnected slides, you can present the information in a logical sequence, ensuring that the audience grasps the content more easily. 

Persuasive impact  

Presentations are powerful tools for persuasion and influence. Whether you're convincing potential clients to invest in your product, advocating for a particular cause, or delivering a motivational speech, a well-crafted Presentation can sway the audience's opinions and inspire action. The combination of visual and verbal elements enables you to make a compelling case for your ideas, leaving a lasting impact on the listeners. 

Versatility in delivery methods  

Another advantage of Presentations lies in their flexibility and versatility in terms of delivery methods. Gone are the days when Presentations were limited to in-person meetings. Today, technology allows presenters to reach a wider audience through various platforms, including webinars, online videos, and virtual conferences. This adaptability makes Presentations an ideal choice for modern communication needs. 

Enhanced understanding and retention  

When information is presented in a visually appealing and structured manner, it aids in better understanding and retention. Human brains process visuals faster and more effectively than plain text, making Presentations an ideal medium for conveying complex concepts. The combination of visual elements and spoken words create a multi-sensory experience, leading to increased information retention among the audience. 

Professionalism and credibility  

In professional settings, well-designed Presentations lend an air of credibility and professionalism to the presenter and the topic being discussed. A thoughtfully crafted Presentation shows that the presenter has put effort into preparing and organising the content, which in turn enhances the audience's trust and receptiveness to the information presented. 

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Disadvantages of Presentations  

Time-consuming  

Creating a compelling Presentation can be a time-consuming process. From researching and gathering relevant information to designing visually appealing slides, a significant amount of effort goes into ensuring that the content is well-structured and impactful. This time investment can be challenging, especially when presenters have tight schedules or are faced with last-minute Presentation requests. 

Technical glitches  

Presentations heavily rely on technology, and technical glitches can quickly turn a well-prepared Presentation into a frustrating experience. Projectors may malfunction, slides might not load correctly, or audiovisual components may fail to work as expected. Dealing with such technical issues during a Presentation can disrupt the flow and distract both the presenter and the audience. 

Overdependence on technology  

In some cases, presenters may become overly reliant on the visuals and technology, neglecting the importance of direct engagement with the audience. Overloaded slides with excessive text can make presenters read directly from the slides, undermining the personal connection and interaction with the listeners. This overdependence on technology can lead to a lack of spontaneity and authenticity during the Presentation. 

Lack of interactivity  

Traditional Presentations, particularly those delivered in large auditoriums, may lack interactivity and real-time feedback. In comparison, modern Presentation formats can incorporate interactive elements; not all Presentations provide opportunities for audience participation or discussions. This one-sided communication can lead to reduced engagement and limited opportunities for clarifying doubts or addressing queries. 

Public speaking anxiety  

For many individuals, public speaking can be a nerve-wracking experience. Presenting in front of an audience, especially in formal settings, can trigger anxiety and stage fright. This anxiety may affect the presenter's delivery and confidence, impacting the overall effectiveness of the Presentation. Overcoming public speaking anxiety requires practice, self-assurance, and effective stress management techniques. 

Not suitable for all topics  

While Presentations are an excellent medium for conveying certain types of information, they may not be suitable for all topics. Some subjects require in-depth discussions, hands-on demonstrations, or interactive workshops, which may not align well with the traditional slide-based Presentation format. Choosing the appropriate communication method for specific topics is crucial to ensure effective knowledge transfer and engagement. 

Accessibility concerns  

In a diverse audience, some individuals may face challenges in accessing and comprehending Presentation materials. For instance, people with visual impairments may find it difficult to interpret visual elements, while those with hearing impairments may struggle to follow the spoken content without proper captions or transcripts. Addressing accessibility concerns is vital to ensure inclusivity and equal participation for all attendees. 

Information overload  

Presentations that bombard the audience with excessive information on each slide can lead to information overload. When the audience is overwhelmed with data, they may struggle to absorb and retain the key points. Presenters should strike a balance between providing adequate information and keeping the content concise and focused. 

How to make a successful Presentation?  

Now that we know the Advantages and Disadvantages of Presentations, we will provide you with some tips on how to make a successful Presentation. 

1) Know your audience: Understand your audience's needs and interests to tailor your content accordingly. 

2) Start with a strong opening: Begin with an attention-grabbing introduction to captivate the audience from the start of presentation .

3) Organise your content logically: Structure your Presentation in a clear and coherent manner with a beginning, middle, and end. 

4) Limit text on slides: Keep slides simple and avoid overcrowding with excessive text; use bullet points and keywords. 

5) Use visuals effectively: Incorporate high-quality images, graphs, and charts to enhance understanding and engagement. 

6) Practice, practice, practice: Rehearse your Presentation multiple times to improve your delivery and confidence. 

7) Be enthusiastic and confident: Show passion for your topic and maintain good eye contact to build trust with the audience. 

8) Tell stories and use examples: Include relevant anecdotes and case studies to make your points more relatable and memorable. 

9) Keep it interactive: Encourage audience participation through questions, polls, or discussions to keep them engaged. 

10) Manage time wisely: Respect the allotted time for your Presentation and pace your delivery accordingly. 

11) End with a strong conclusion: Summarise your key points and leave the audience with a clear takeaway or call to action. 

Conclusion  

All in all, Presentations have altered the way we communicate and share information. While they offer numerous advantages, such as effective communication, visual appeal, and persuasive impact, they also come with their share of disadvantages, including technical challenges and public speaking anxiety. By understanding the advantages and disadvantages of presentations and employing best practices, we can Improve Presesntation Skills , create engaging and impactful presentations that leave a lasting impression on the audience.

Want to master the art of impactful Presentations? Explore our Presentation Skills Courses and elevate your communication prowess!  

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8 Best Trial Presentation Softwares for Lawyers

• by Community Connect November 16, 2023

Digital tools play a crucial role in enhancing courtroom presentations and maximising the impact of legal arguments. From veteran solutions like TrialDirector to innovative options like TrialPad, we’ll explore eight standout software choices, highlighting their unique features and pros and cons. Whether you’re a seasoned litigator or a newcomer to the courtroom, this guide aims to equip you with the knowledge to choose the right trial presentation software for your needs.

Let’s dive in and discover how these tools can elevate your advocacy and ensure your clients’ voices are heard loud and clear.

Top Trial Presentation Software for Lawyers:

1. trialdirector.

TrialDirector is software that gives lawyers a way to clearly and concisely display their proof so the jury can understand. It makes a difference and sorts out documentary and tribute proof for easy presentation and gives advanced functionality and workflows that best assist lawyers in preparing for trial or elective dispute resolution. In other words, framed within the reality of the courtroom, TrialDirector is the workhorse that will offer assistance you win.

What makes it standout?

– Comprehensive Evidence Management: TrialDirector offers robust tools for managing, organising, and presenting evidence in the courtroom. Users can import a wide range of multimedia formats, including documents, images, videos, and audio recordings, and easily organise them into case folders for quick retrieval during trial.

– Intuitive Interface: With its user-friendly interface, TrialDirector is designed to be easy to learn and use, with a short learning curve. Users can quickly become proficient in navigating the software, annotating exhibits, and presenting evidence to judges and juries.

– Powerful Presentation Tools: TrialDirector provides a variety of presentation tools, including annotation features, exhibit highlighting, and exhibit callouts, allowing users to emphasize key points and enhance the clarity of their presentations.

Pros & Cons:

– Robust Feature Set: TrialDirector offers a comprehensive suite of features tailored specifically for legal professionals, providing all the tools necessary to organise, annotate, and present evidence effectively in the courtroom.

– Seamless Integration: TrialDirector seamlessly integrates with other legal software solutions, such as case management systems and document review platforms, allowing for the seamless import and synchronisation of case-related information and exhibits.

– Cost : While TrialDirector offers robust functionality, it may come with a higher price tag compared to some other trial presentation software options, making it less accessible for solo practitioners or small law firms on a tight budget.

– Learning Curve: Despite its user-friendly interface, TrialDirector may still have a learning curve for users new to the software, requiring some time and effort to become proficient in navigating its features and functionalities.

2. Sanction by Lexisnexis

The software is a part of the Lexisnexis Business Suite which is one of the leading legal software. Sanction can be used to enhance your case presentation with audio and video testimony, animations, and other vivid demonstrations. It also has handy organisation and layout tools that make it easy to do all this quickly. You can also save money by creating your own presentations without hiring a graphic designer.

You can quickly assemble all documents, exhibits transcripts, visuals, and videos in one place. No matter what time it arrives, seamlessly incorporate new evidence into your project. Clear, polished, and compelling presentation materials can be used in mediations, arbitrations or trials, settlement conferences, Markman hearings or summary judgment hearings, and even client meetings. You can simultaneously play audio and video, as well as images, timelines, animations, and documents.

Standout Features:

– Versatile Multimedia Support: Sanction supports a wide range of multimedia formats, including documents, images, videos, and audio recordings, allowing users to import and present evidence in a visually compelling manner.

– Synchronised Deposition Clips: One of Sanction’s standout features is its support for synchronised deposition clips, which allows users to play back deposition testimony alongside corresponding exhibits during trial, enhancing the clarity and impact of their presentations.

– Timeline Creation: Sanction offers tools for creating timelines and exhibit lists, enabling users to organise case materials chronologically and present evidence in a clear and logical sequence.

– Collaboration and Sharing: Sanction facilitates collaboration among team members, allowing multiple users to work on a presentation simultaneously and share case materials with each other securely

– User-Friendly Interface: Sanction boasts a user-friendly interface with customisable layouts, making it easy for legal professionals to organise and present evidence effectively during trial. Smooth Integration with

– Veritext Services: Sanction offers seamless integration with Veritext deposition services, allowing users to import synchronized deposition clips directly into their presentations, enhancing the clarity and impact of their arguments.

– Excellent Customer Support: Sanction provides excellent customer support and training resources, ensuring that users have access to the assistance they need to maximise the software’s functionality

– Limited File Compatibility: Sanction may have limited compatibility with certain file formats, potentially requiring users to convert or reformat exhibits before importing them into the software.

– Higher Pricing for Smaller Firms: While Sanction offers robust functionality, its pricing structure may be higher for smaller firms or individual users, making it less accessible for those on a tighter budget

3. ExhibitView

This software provides all necessary tools readily accessible, eliminating the need for bulky exhibit boards and last-minute exhibit adjustments. ExhibitView facilitated the playback of an expert video during the case presentation and allowed for the use of bookmarked excerpts during closing arguments.

Despite previous apprehensions about cost and ease of use, ExhibitView proved affordable and easy to master, with proficiency achieved within a week of trial preparation. It is the most intuitive trial presentation software on the market. Organise and display every type of demonstrative evidence. ZOOM easy with ExhibitView for depositions or other virtual proceedings. Get a free trial today. NOBODY has better customer support/Coaching than we do! “ExhibitView was key to our trial presentation & victory” – Terry Wood, Esq. Wilson, Hinton & Woo

Some Special Ingredients:

– Wide Format Support: ExhibitView supports a wide range of file formats, including documents, images, videos, and audio recordings, making it easy for users to import and present evidence in various forms.

– Annotation Tools: ExhibitView offers intuitive annotation tools, such as highlighting, underlining, and text markup, allowing users to annotate exhibits and emphasise key points during presentations.

– Demonstrative Exhibits: Users can create demonstrative exhibits and timelines to help clarify complex concepts and present evidence in a visually compelling manner.

– Ease of Collaboration: ExhibitView facilitates collaboration among team members, allowing multiple users to work on a presentation simultaneously and share case materials with each other securely.

– Affordable Pricing: ExhibitView offers affordable pricing compared to some other trial presentation software options, making it accessible for solo practitioners or small law firms on a tight budget.

– Intuitive Interface: With its intuitive interface and easy-to-use annotation tools, ExhibitView is designed to be user-friendly, allowing legal professionals to create and present compelling trial presentations with minimal effort.

– Excellent Customer Support: ExhibitView provides excellent customer support and training resources, ensuring that users have access to the assistance they need to maximise the software’s functionality

– Limited Advanced Features: While ExhibitView offers robust functionality, it may lack some advanced features found in more expensive trial presentation software options, potentially limiting its suitability for complex or high-stakes cases.

– Limited Integration: ExhibitView may have limited integration with other legal software solutions, potentially requiring users to manually input or duplicate case-related information across multiple platforms.

4. TrialPad

Organise and clarify all your proof, and make capable and successful proof introductions at hearings, mediations, assertions, or trials with the top-rated trial introduction app on the App Store: TrialPad ! It is a full-featured court introduction device. Callout and highlight segments of archives, compare records side by side, alter and appear video clips, include display stickers in archives, look at report content, and much more.

TrialPad can be coordinated with any stage or workflow, is just as powerful, far simpler to utilize, and could be a division of the toll of Windows or cloud-based programs, all while being portable and efficient. TrialPad has been granted various grants, such as “The Finest Trial Introduction App” with an A+ TechnoScore by LitigationWorld.

What makes it different?

– Mobile Presentation: TrialPad is designed as a mobile solution, allowing users to create, organise, and present evidence directly from their iPad devices, making it ideal for use in the courtroom.

– Easy Import : TrialPad offers easy import of exhibits from various sources, including cloud storage services, email attachments, and file sharing platforms, enabling users to quickly access and present evidence during trial.

– Annotation and Highlighting: The software also provides robust annotation and highlighting tools, allowing users to annotate exhibits, add callouts, and highlight key points to emphasise during presentations.

– Flexible Presentation Options: It offers flexible presentation options, including wireless mirroring to external displays, allowing users to present evidence in a visually compelling manner to judges  and juries. 

– Portability : TrialPad is a mobile solution designed for use on iPad devices, making it ideal for legal professionals  who need to present evidence in the courtroom while on the go.

– Intuitive Interface: TrialPad offers an intuitive interface optimized for touch-screen devices, allowing users to create and present compelling trial presentations with ease.

– Offline Access: TrialPad offers offline access to case materials, ensuring that users can access and present evidence even in environments with limited or no internet connectivity

– Limited Compatibility: TrialPad may have limited compatibility with non iPad devices, potentially limiting its accessibility for users who prefer to work on other platforms.

– Limited Feature Set: While TrialPad offers robust functionality, it may not offer as extensive a feature set as some desktop-based trial presentation software options, potentially limiting its suitability for complex or high stakes cases. 

CaseMap, developed by LexisNexis, is case analysis software that helps with case organization and investigation. It provides tools to assist you in tracking and constructing a case strategy. In CaseMap, you can organize basic data about facts, reports, and issues.

As you sort out what you know about each case, you gain a thorough understanding of the arguments and approaches for supporting case contentions. CaseMap also helps you quickly create case reports for case staff, your client, and the court.

CaseMap cases can be accessed by multiple case staff simultaneously. The case created should be stored in a shared location on your network to ensure that all users can access it. This way, all case users can collaborate to organize critical information about the facts, the cast of characters, records, and the issues regarding the case.

Highlighting Features:

– Case Analysis and Organization: CaseMap is a case analysis software that assists legal professionals in organizing and managing case-related information, including facts, documents, and evidence, within a centralized database.

– Timeline Creation: CaseMap provides tools for creating timelines and chronologies, enabling users to visualize case events and sequence evidence in a clear and logical manner.

– Customizable Databases: CaseMap allows users to customize case databases to meet their specific case requirements and personal preferences, offering flexibility in organizing and accessing case materials.

– Integration with Other Legal Software: CaseMap seamlessly integrates with other LexisNexis legal software solutions, such as Lexis Advance and Lexis for Microsoft Office, enabling users to import case-related information and exhibits directly into their case databases.

– Seamless Integration with LexisNexis Solutions: CaseMap integrates smoothly with other LexisNexis legal software solutions, enabling users to import case-related information and exhibits directly into their case databases. This streamlines the trial preparation process.

– Flexible Customization Options: CaseMap offers flexible customization options, allowing users to tailor their case databases to meet their specific requirements and personal preferences. This provides a high level of flexibility and adaptability.

– Excellent Customer Support: CaseMap provides excellent customer support and training resources, ensuring that users have access to the assistance they need to maximize the software’s functionality

– Learning Curve: Despite its user-friendly interface, CaseMap may have a learning curve for users who are new to the software. It may require some time and effort to become proficient in navigating its features and functionalities.

– Not Specifically Designed for Trial Presentation: While CaseMap offers robust case analysis and organization features, it may not be specifically designed for trial presentation. This could mean it lacks some of the advanced presentation tools found in dedicated trial presentation software options.

6. Propresenter

ProPresenter is a multimedia presentation software often used in churches and events, but it can also be adapted for trial presentations, particularly in smaller cases or non-legal settings. ProPresenter is a versatile multimedia presentation software initially designed for use in churches and events but has found applications beyond these settings, including in the legal field for trial presentations. With its intuitive interface and robust feature set, ProPresenter offers legal professionals a powerful tool for organizing, annotating, and presenting evidence in the courtroom.

– Multimedia Support: ProPresenter supports a wide range of multimedia formats, including images, videos, and slideshows, enabling users to create dynamic and engaging presentations that capture the attention of judges and juries.

– Customizable Presentation: ProPresenter offers customizable slide layouts, transitions, and themes, allowing users to create visually appealing presentations tailored to their specific case requirements and personal preferences.

– Live Video Integration: ProPresenter seamlessly integrates with live video feeds, enabling users to capture and display courtroom proceedings in real-time. This enhances the presentation’s interactivity and provides a dynamic viewing experience for participants.

– Portability : ProPresenter can be adapted for use on portable devices, such as laptops or tablets, making it a convenient solution for legal professionals who need to present evidence on the go.

– Flexible and Easy-to-Use Interface: ProPresenter provides a flexible and user-friendly interface suitable for users with varying levels of technical expertise. This enables the creation of professional-looking presentations with minimal effort.

– Affordable Pricing: ProPresenter offers competitive pricing compared to other trial presentation software options, making it accessible for solo practitioners or small law firms with limited budgets.

– Cross-Platform Compatibility: ProPresenter is compatible with both Mac and Windows systems, allowing users to seamlessly work across different platforms. This provides flexibility and convenience for users who use multiple operating systems.

– Limited Legal-Specific Features: While ProPresenter offers robust functionality, it may lack some specialized features tailored specifically for legal presentations. This could potentially limit its suitability for complex or high-stakes cases.

– Limited Support Resources: ProPresenter may have limited support and resources available for legal professionals compared to dedicated legal software solutions. This might require users to rely on third-party resources for assistance and training.

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that offers a unique zooming interface for creating dynamic and engaging presentations. While not specifically designed for trial presentations, it can be adapted for use in legal settings.

Prezi provides legal professionals with a powerful and visually compelling tool for creating trial presentations that effectively convey their arguments and evidence to judges and juries. With its engaging presentation style, intuitive interface, and collaborative features, Prezi is a valuable asset for enhancing courtroom advocacy and making a lasting impression on participants.

Top Features:

– Zooming Interface: Prezi’s zooming interface allows presenters to navigate through presentation content in a nonlinear fashion, providing a more interactive and engaging viewing experience for judges and juries.

– Visual Storytelling : Prezi enables users to create dynamic presentations that combine text, images, videos, and animations to convey their message effectively. This enhances the clarity and impact of their presentations.

– Cloud-Based Platform: It is a cloud-based platform, enabling users to access and edit their presentations from anywhere with an internet connection. This facilitates collaboration and enables seamless sharing of presentations with colleagues and clients.

– Customizable Templates: The software offers customizable templates and themes, allowing users to create professional-looking presentations with minimal effort. These templates provide a starting point for users to customize their presentations to suit their specific case requirements and personal preferences.

– Unique and Visually Engaging Presentation Style: Prezi offers a unique and visually engaging presentation style that can capture the attention of judges and juries. This allows for the creation of dynamic and memorable presentations.

– Easy-to-Use Interface : Prezi boasts an easy-to-use interface with intuitive design tools for creating professional-looking presentations. This allows users to create visually compelling presentations with minimal effort.

– Limited Offline Functionality: While Prezi offers cloud-based access to presentations, it may have limited offline functionality compared to desktop-based trial presentation software options. This limitation could potentially restrict its accessibility in environments with limited or no internet connectivity.

– May Lack Legal-Specific Features : While Prezi offers robust functionality for creating presentations, it may lack some features specific to trial presentations found in dedicated legal software solutions. This could potentially limit its suitability for complex or high-stakes cases.

8. PowerPresentor

PowerPresenter is a trial presentation software designed for legal professionals, offering features for organizing, annotating, and presenting evidence in the courtroom. With its robust feature set and user-friendly interface, PowerPresenter provides legal professionals with a powerful tool to enhance their courtroom presentations and streamline their trial preparation process. While PowerPresenter offers competitive pricing compared to some other trial presentation software options, it may still represent a significant investment for solo practitioners or small law firms on a tight budget.

Special Ingredients:

– Comprehensive Evidence Management: PowerPresenter offers robust tools for managing, organizing, and presenting evidence in the courtroom. Users can import a wide range of multimedia formats and easily organize them into case folders for quick retrieval during trial.

– Intuitive Interface: With its user-friendly interface, PowerPresenter is designed to be easy to learn and use, with a short learning curve. This allows users to quickly become proficient in navigating the software, annotating exhibits, and presenting evidence to judges and juries.

– Powerful Presentation Tools: PowerPresenter provides a variety of presentation tools, including annotation features, exhibit highlighting, and exhibit callouts. These tools allow users to emphasize key points and enhance the clarity of their presentations.

– Seamless Integration: PowerPresenter seamlessly integrates with other legal software solutions, such as case management systems and document review platforms. This integration allows users to import case-related information and exhibits directly into their presentations, streamlining the trial preparation process and ensuring that all relevant evidence is readily accessible during presentations.

– User-Friendly Interface with Easy-to-Use Annotation Tools: PowerPresenter features a user-friendly interface that allows for intuitive navigation and easy access to its annotation tools. These tools enable legal professionals to annotate exhibits, highlight key points, and emphasize critical evidence effectively during presentations.

– Flexible Licensing Options for Firms of All Sizes: PowerPresenter offers flexible licensing options, making it suitable for law firms of all sizes. Whether a solo practitioner or a large firm, users can choose a licensing plan that aligns with their needs and budget.

– Seamless Integration with Other Legal Software Solutions: PowerPresenter seamlessly integrates with other legal software solutions, streamlining the trial preparation process. This integration allows users to import case-related information and exhibits directly into their presentations, saving time and reducing the risk of errors.

– Limited Integration with Other Legal Software Solutions: While PowerPresenter offers seamless integration with some legal software solutions, it may not offer as extensive integration with other platforms compared to some competitors. This limited integration could require users to manually input or duplicate case-related information across multiple platforms, potentially increasing the risk of errors and inefficiencies.

– Availability of Support Resources May Vary: The availability of customer support and training resources for PowerPresenter may vary depending on the vendor. Some users may find that they have limited access to support and training materials, potentially hindering their ability to maximize the software’s functionality and effectiveness in the courtroom.

Wrapping Up

These are just a few examples of trial presentation software options available to legal professionals, each with its own unique features, strengths, and weaknesses. When choosing trial presentation software, it’s essential to consider factors such as the specific needs of the case, budget constraints, and the technical expertise of the legal team. Additionally, many vendors offer free trials or demonstrations, allowing you to evaluate the software and determine if it meets your requirements before making a purchase decision.

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