best presentation animation software

16 Best Animation Software for 2024 (Free and Paid)

Here's our compiled a list of the best paid and free animation software out there to help you make the right decision for your animation needs!

Computer animation has come a long way since inception in the year 1960. The fundamentals of animation software or animation tool can be traced back to the time when William Fetter, a computer graphics designer made a diagram of a human body inside an airplane cockpit. Although the intention was to maximize the efficiency of Boeing’s cockpits, it paved the way towards more sophisticated process flows and thus, towards animation generated by computers. The credit for the first animation software, however, goes to Ivan Sutherland, an MIT graduate. His program Sketchpad (developed in 1963) drew lines that looked like recognizable figures. Little did he know that his idea would become a multibillion-dollar industry in the years to come.

Slowly and steadily, more progress was made in the field. The movie Tron which was released in the year 1982, was one of the first movies to use computer-generated graphics. Movies like the Terminator, Jurassic Park, Toy Story, the Matrix, and Avatar further refined the process, adding more details and sophistication to computer animation. The animation software industry grew to great heights within this period. 

Fast forward to 2024, we have a plethora of examples to celebrate the genius of CGI or computer-generated imagery. There are a variety of animation software available in the market, widely used by professionals at animation studios. Depending on the medium you choose —hand-drawn or 2D, 3D, or stop-motion and the price range, there are plenty of options to get started. A well-built animation software provides intuitive controls and flexibility that can be easily understood by a beginner but also has vastly superior tools for an experienced user. 

Browse through this list of quality animation software, and select the one that best suits your requirement. We hope it will help you hone your foundation skills, practice animation styles, and help you get professional results.

How we reviewed the list of best animation softwares

In our selection of the best animation software, we emphasize tools that balance ease of use with powerful capabilities, perfect for aspiring animators and seasoned professionals alike. These programs offer intuitive interfaces, extensive animation features, and flexibility across various styles, from traditional frame-by-frame animation to cutting-edge 3D modeling. Our list is continually updated to ensure you're equipped with the latest advancements in animation technology, enabling you to bring your creative visions to life with efficiency and flair.

Here is a list of the best 16 Animation Softwares

Top paid animation softwares.

• Adobe Character Animator
• Toon Boom Harmony
• DigiCel Flipbook
• Cartoon Animator 5
• Stop Motion Studio

Top Open Source & Free Animation Softwares

• Synfig Studio

What are the Best Animation Softwares of 2024?

1.  adobe character animator.

This animation software comes from one of the biggest development companies in the world and serves up to the hyped expectations. One of the recent additions to the Adobe family, this simple animation software uses facial recognition, gesture recognition , etc. to animate cartoon characters. The Character Animator is a real-time animator that uses your facial expressions, hand movements, full-body motion capture, and various other inputs to animate characters. It is extremely smooth and fast and you can live stream your development process to share work with team members or your audience. Just plug in your microphone, web camera and start animating! You can also create a character from your artworks in a few mouse clicks using the built-in Adobe Sensei . 

System Requirements:

To run Adobe Character Animator, you'll need Windows 10 or macOS 11.0 or later, at least 8GB RAM, and a GPU with 2GB VRAM.

Adobe Character Animator is one of the best animation software and is used by many Hollywood film houses. The software offers a huge variety of options for animating. You can also use the built-in puppets to begin animating as soon as you open the software. Animation options include breathing, walking, blinking, behaviors, etc. It is a great animation software for beginners as well as experienced professionals.

The free trial lasts for 7 days after which you can buy the paid versions of this simple software for animation. You can buy all the Adobe applications (creative cloud) for around 54.99 USD per month, billed annually. Adobe has created different packages for individuals, businesses, schools, and professionals. You can check this link out for more information on pricing.

2.  Toon Boom Harmony

Toon Boom by Harmony is a cartoon animation software for beginners as well as for professionals. The software allows the user the flexibility, fluidity, and the smoothness of traditional animation. The learning curve is moderate since the software is meant for newbies as well as for professionals. The software has been used by leading animation studios for more than 25 years.

 GitHub illustrator and animator, Tony Jaramillo writes in his testimonial, “Harmony makes it possible to level up our animation productivity without sacrificing quality...we're big fans”.

Some of the most famous users of Toon Boom are Universal Studios, Fox Studios, Cartoon Network, Ubisoft, and Lucas Film.  

To run Toon Boom Harmony, you'll need Windows 10 or macOS 10.13 or later, 8GB RAM, and a modern OpenGL graphics card.

New features that came with the latest update include a stabilizer for lines, stylus pressure responsiveness, and tilt and angle responsiveness. Standard features include a brush engine, traditional paperless animation, deformers, cut-out animation, 2D/3D integration, export to game engines, and pipeline integration. It is also easily integrable with software such as Adobe Illustrator, and extensions such as PSD, PSB, PDF, and Bitmaps.

Pricing options come in different packages that include this animation software. Harmony Essentials cost 25 USD per month, billed annually. Similarly, Harmony Advanced is 63 USD per month and the Harmony Premium is 115 USD per month . You can use the software for free for 21 days; a duration that is good enough to understand and explore this amazing animation software. 

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3.  digicel flipbook.

This 2D animation software is easy-to-use but don’t let the simplicity fool you. You can do a lot of things with this animation software although it is intended for beginners. Developed by DigiCel, FlipBook runs on both Windows and macOS. You can also call this a frame by frame animation software since the method it employs deals with designing one frame at a time. Since the learning curve is smooth, you can directly dive into animating. The software lets you easily scan your artworks from paper directly onto the software. You can also make stop motion videos if you want. 

To run DigiCel FlipBook, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.10 or later, and a graphics card with 512MB VRAM.

Some of the features of FlipBook include a multiple-frame work desk , lip-sync support , pan, zoom, rotate, blur options, import and export capabilities, and scanning options. The software is efficient and super-smooth. The speed is amazing as well. You can make changes while the animation is running and the changes are visible the next time the loop runs! As aforementioned, the animation software is simple to use. However, some big names have complimented the software and recommended it to their followers. Disney’s Animation Director, Eric Goldberg calls it a great program and praises the draw tool provided by the software.

DigiCel’s Flipbook is priced according to four different packages that are Lite, Studio, and ProHD. If you use the free version of this animation software, all published exports are watermarked. The Lite version is listed at 98 USD but is currently at a sale price of 19 USD! The package offers 2 columns, 300 frames, and 800x600 screen capabilities. As the packages advance, so do their features. A complete pricing list can be seen here .

4.  Moho Debut 13.5

The Moho Debut is an animation software suitable for beginners interested in learning the art of animation. The interface is easy to understand and allows you to animate real fast. The simplicity does not, however, undermine the strength and the robustness of this software. The tools offered by Moho Debut are powerful and can be used to convert your strangest imaginations into an animated story. The software comes with multilingual support and has the capability to handle English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese.

To run Moho Debut 13.5, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13 or later, 4GB RAM, and OpenGL 2.0 graphics.

The software runs on both macOS and Windows and offers advanced and sophisticated freehand tools. Features such as bone rigging, pen pressure support for tablets, animated effects for shapes and layers, brushes that can be used to easily edit and animate, PSD support, and keyframe options are available. Advanced masking options and an auto freeze tool are also available. 

The software is priced at 59.99 USD. The free trial can be availed for 30 days.

5.  Movavi

Movavi Video Editor & Animation tool is great software for novice editors and enthusiastic video content creators. It features a simple UI with short tutorial hints to help you get started quickly. It also supports drag and drop, which is perfect for quickly blending multiple video clips into a comprehensive work. You can create everything from gaming videos for YouTube to video tutorials and slideshows.

To run Movavi Video Editor, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13.6 or later, 2 GB RAM and a 1.5 GHz dual-core Intel, AMD, or compatible processor.

The animation tool offers more than just basic video editing tools. Users can take advantage of advanced tools like panning and zooming, animating an object , creating stop motion , applying slow motion, and tracking moving objects. The program also provides plenty of creative transitions and animated titles, which can be used to create eye-catching videos.

Movavi Video Editor offers a 7-day free trial period, so you can try the software before deciding to commit to it. The paid version is priced at 54.95 USD per year or 79.95 USD for a one-time payment. The bestselling version often comes with a huge discount and includes the video editor plus effect packs including gradients, LUTs, and VHS effects.

6.  Moho Pro 13.5

The Moho Pro is the advanced version of its lighter version, the Moho Debut. The user base is more professional and advanced. The software is costlier but has more features that can be used to create better animations. This 2D animation software includes all the features of Moho Debut. The latest version Moho Pro 13 integrates the best animation technology with the most sophisticated tools. 

To run Moho Pro 13.5, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13 or later, 4GB RAM, and a modern OpenGL graphics card.

Moho Pro offers a bone rigging system, physics engine, dynamic bones, and smart bones to control complex movements, frame by frame capabilities, vector tools with Bezier handles, accurate SVG, AI, and EPS import, 4K video export, vector export, motion blur, and multilayer and multi-channel control. The newest update adds bitmap frame by frame capabilities, bitmap freehand drawing tools, custom bitmap brush creation, 3D objects light manipulation, 3D objects material properties support.

This animation software is priced at 399.9 USD with a free trial that lasts for 30 days. You can also purchase add-ons to improve the experience. The 100 Brush Pack, for example, is priced at 39 USD. Other add-ons include the Retro Space Pack, School Days Pack, Content Pack, and the Puppets Pack. 

7.  Flipsnack

Flipsnack is a web based flipbook animation software that allows users to create and share publications with a realistic page flip effect. With this tool, you can transform your static documents into all sorts of animated publications such as magazines, catalogs, presentations, portfolios, brochures, you name it, without any effort whatsoever. This software comes equipped with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and a plethora of fully customizable templates, therefore it is suitable for every type of user, whether you’re tech-savvy or not. Flipsnack is constantly updating and developing new assets but when it comes to interactivity, some of its key features at the moment are the following: photo slide-shows; GIFs; audio and video elements; map embedding, and social media buttons integration.

If you want to share your animated content, there are various ways in which you can do it, be it publicly, unlisted, or private, with Flipsnack you can select and manage your audience according to your needs. Moreover, if you want to track the performance of your animated flipbooks, you can do that using Flipsnack’s integrated option, which offers insights about every impression, view, share, and average reading duration for each publication. However, for a deeper understanding of your audience and content performance, you can also connect your account to Google Analytics.

In terms of pricing options, Flipsnack offers a free trial that allows you to create up to 3 catalogs of 30 pages each, a Starter plan for 14$/month; a Professional 35$/month; a Business plan for 79$/month, a Business plan for 207$/month and an Enterprise plan for 355$/month.

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8.  Cartoon Animator 5

Cartoon Animator 5 is a 2D animation software intended for both beginners as well as for professionals. You can design characters and digitally animate them via expressions and lip-sync capabilities. The Cartoon Animator 5 community is a strong one and materials for learning the software are easily available. Much like Adobe’s Character Animator, you can use your facial expressions and your voice to make animations. A few examples of videos made using this animation software are given here; The Curious Child , a TV series by Eon De Bruin , and an Animated comic by Fransesco .

To run Cartoon Animator 5, you'll need Windows 10 or later, 2GB RAM, a modern CPU, and a graphics card with 1GB VRAM.

Key features of this amazing animation software include webcam and iPhone facial mocap, hand tracking and digital puppets, full-body motion capture, sprite-based facial system, audio lip-syncing, precise FK/IK system, smart motion retargeting, stretch animation, and so much more. If you want to explore all the features of this superb software, head to this link for a detailed view. The software also lets you integrate your work with Adobe Photoshop and allows you to use PSD templates for designing. Pipeline features include capabilities to import 3D motions into 2D artworks and to create custom and unique elastic motion libraries. Finally, you can work with a huge number of file extensions without any trouble. It supports up to 4K resolution monitors.

The free trial is for 30 days after which you can buy the pro edition for 149 USD, edition with dynamic character design for 199 USD, or avail special bundle discounts.

9.  Stop Motion Studio

An animation software for beginners, Stop Motion Studio helps to create high-quality stop motion videos. Adopting the frame by frame animation technique, this software can help you make 4k stop motion videos with ease. The software is cross-platform and cross-device and can run on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. Your projects are accessible from all the devices where you have your account.

To run Stop Motion Studio, you'll need Windows 10 or macOS 10.15 or later, 1GB RAM, and a graphics card with 512MB VRAM.

You can use your phone camera to click the single frames or you can even hook up your digital camera to your device. You also have the option to use a second phone to add more perspective to your videos. Editing these images is also easy and just requires a few touches or clicks. You can add audio clips, titles, credits, and filter effects to your videos as you click the frames. There is also the option to add looping to your videos using in and out set points. The software has built-in sound clips that you can use in your videos and you can directly record our voice and apply it on the video as you work your way through the project. Other features include grid and onion skinning options, paint tools, magic eraser, and import of images, audio, video files, etc.

This animation software costs just a dollar and 9.99 USD Windows & macOS. The mobile application costs 5.99 USD

10.  Animaker

Animaker is a browser-based animation software that can be used by beginners, professionals, and animation enthusiasts. It is a great tool for making handcraft videos, whiteboard videos, short marketing bits, animated infographic videos, and educational videos. Used by huge brands such as Amazon, Nokia, Siemens, and Dell, Animaker’s buffed-up client base speaks for itself. With Animaker, you can make 2D and 2.5D videos via a variety of tools and features. You can choose from different plans based on your needs.

To run Animaker, you'll need a modern web browser with WebGL support, 512 MB of RAM and Windows 7 or higher OS.

Animaker supports full HD and both horizontal and vertical layouts. Animaker provides great features for animation such as record, curve, camera in/out, multimove, transition effects, and enter/exit effects. Along with these, the animation software also has a deck feature that allows users to use animations as videos or presentations. The software also has some amazing audio features such as text-to-speech, preloaded background tracks, sound effects, voice recording, etc. You can also use libraries for pre-defined templates.

With the free package, you can download your animations with a watermark. The free package also lets you work with HD support. The basic pack is priced at 10 USD per month supports creation of 5 custom characters & HD quality videos. The starter pack is priced at 19 USD per month and is intended for individuals and startups. Supports full HD and you can download 10 premium animations without the watermarks. The business pack is priced at 49 USD per month and has all the features that this great animation software has to offer.

11.  Powtoon

Another browser animation software that is free to use, Powtoon is intended for beginners but can also be used by more advanced animators. It can be used to make dynamic video presentations. Used by brands such as Microsoft, IBM, Google, Adobe, Coca Cola, eBay, Cisco, and Starbucks, Powtoon is a trusted software that can be used to develop engaging infographic videos and marketing bits. 

The official website describes Powtoon as a platform for visual communicatio n. Hopping on the visual communication description, the animation software is a great means to talent acquisition, change management, internal communications, and marketing. Schools and universities can also use Powtoon to make infographic videos and educational tutorials to teach their students. In fact, during times such as these when the world is fighting against COVID-19, such a tool can come in handy to reach out to colleagues and team members.

With Powtoon’s free version, you can export YouTube videos, Facebook videos, Vimeo videos, and PDFs, and Powerpoints. The version also offers customs styles and you can change the aspect ratio as well as sizes. You can implement image files and animate and make GIFs. Once you get past the beginner level, you can choose from the various packages based on your requirements. Powtoon is one of the best animation software that you can use to learn about animation. You can import themes from Microsoft Powerpoint as well in case you don’t want to start working from scratch.

The three paid packages that come with this animation software are Lite, Pro, and Business. At 15 USD per month, you can buy the Lite package which gives you access to free content and 5 premium exports per month. The Pro is priced at 40 USD per month and gives you access to all PRO templates and Unlimited premium exports. With Business, the cream package, you get all the features of Powtoon with 3rd-party reseller rights at 125 USD per month.

12.  Terragen

Terragen is a free animation software for Windows. You can use it to make CG animation. It is meant for moderate level users but can be used by beginners who are interested in learning animation. The learning curve is moderate and it requires some time to get the hang of it. The newest feature, the ray-traced preview is great for animation. It can be installed on all Windows devices and is an amazing animation software for 3D animation. Developed by Planetside Software, Terragen 4.4, the latest update is feature-rich.

To run Terragen, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.12 or later, 4GB RAM and a 2Ghz Dual Core CPU.

Besides ray-traced preview, some of the other features include photo-real clouds, ozone simulation, faster rendering (almost double), lens effects, and new shaders and enhancements, etc. Terragen Pro comes with FBX, render layers and AOVs, spherical cameras, full 3D motion blur, and stereo cameras. The drawback of this animation software is that its interface looks very complicated. However, with use and understanding, you can work on it effortlessly.

The creative edition starts from $15 per month & professional edition for $38 per month. The complete price list of Terragen can be found here .

Open Source & Free to Use Animation Softwares

1.  pencil 2d  (open source animation software).

This is a great free animation software for people who are into traditional hand-drawn animation. The software allows you to work with both raster as well as with vector graphics. The minimal design of the interface makes it easy and smooth to work with. The clutter-free UI/UX experience is one of the selling points of this free software. 

Pencil2D is a cross-platform software that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The software is open-source which has allowed a great and helpful community to develop around this product.

To run Pencil 2D, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.12 or later, and ICore-5 (3rd Generation or Above) or comparable CPU. 4GB of RAM

The software has a variety of handy animation tools and options. You can also upload your Pencil 2D project to aid in the development of the software; one of the plus points of being open-source. You can import GIFs and export them as well. The latest version, v0.6.6 released on year 2021 with several new tweaks and adjustments. Bug fixes and patches were also part of the update. 

The biggest disadvantage of using Pencil2D is that the software requires you to fill in your preferences every time you open it.

2.  Synfig Studio  (Open-source 2D Animation Software)

Another open-source 2D animation software that comes free of cost. If you are not comfortable with a frame by frame animation software, this is the perfect tool for you. You can run this free animation software on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Since the software is open-source, you can make changes to the source code and submit enhancements and upgrades.

To run Synfig Studio, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13 or later, or a Linux system with a modern OpenGL graphics card.

One of the main features of Synfig Studio is vector tweening; you can convert any vector graphic into another form easily . The software offers powerful tools to help you achieve that. Synfig also provides more than 50 layers to make artworks and animations. Some of the layer types are geometric, transformations, gradients, filters, distortions, fractals, etc. The bone system is also full of options and is a powerful tool on its own. The software also provides an additional skeleton distortion layer. Finally, you can connect different layers via mathematical expressions. With the help of this, you can make characters, puppets, and complex dynamic structures. The software has a steeper learning curve for beginners.

3.  Blender  (Free and Open Source 3D creation suite)

Probably the best free animation software on this list and one of the most recommended software for animation by professionals, Blender is an open-source software that runs on different platforms with ease. It is one of the few 3D modeling and animation software that is free of cost, yet it does not lack any power or robustness of its paid counterparts. In fact, it might just have a slight edge over them. This animation software is suitable for beginners as well as for professionals. With the help of Blender, you can develop animations, games, animated models, animated movies,  renders, and other types of 3D prints . It is available on macOS, Linux, and Windows. 

To run Blender, you'll need Windows 8 or later, macOS 10.13 or later, or a Linux distribution, with 8GB RAM and a graphics card that supports OpenGL 4.3 or higher.

Blender is a pretty good animation software when it comes to the features it offers. Blender provides real-time viewport review as well as CPU and GPU rendering. With Blender, you have PBR shaders and HDR lighting support. Other features include VR rendering support, advanced modeling, sculpting, and UV tools, advanced rigging and animation tools, powerful visual effects, auto-tracking, manual tracking, camera reconstruction, drawing in 2D mode оnto the 3D viewport, onion skinning, etc.

Blender is one of the best free animation software that you can use at all levels. Blender has some amazing open projects where you can contribute. Ever since the year 2005, the Blender Foundation has tried to invite developers and animators to contribute to open projects to promote creativity and innovation in Blender. The first such project was called ‘Elephants Dream’, which won the best short film award. Here is the official link to all open projects started by the Blender Foundation. If you are an advanced animator, make sure to check these out. 

Some of the drawbacks are that the learning curve is very steep and it would take beginners a lot of time to learn to use this software. It is also not easy to make image animations since the software aims more at 3D animation.

4.  OpenToonz  (Open Source)

OpenToonz is a free animation software that you can use to make cartoon animations. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. OpenToonz was customized by Studio Ghibli and is in use by the same for many years. It was first used in the making of the famous film, ‘Princess Mononoke’ by Studio Ghibli. Since it is open-source, you can contribute to its source code as well.

To run OpenToonz, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.14 or later, and a 64-bit CPU with at least 4GB RAM.

OpenToonz has all the features required to make a great animated film. Its unique features have been specifically customised to meet those requirements of the production staff. The scanning tool or 'GTS’ for instance, that specializes in animation. OpenToonz also comes with an effects development kit developed by Dwango. The SDK is a plug-in effect for image processing. Other features include digital drawing tools such as vector and bitmap drawing tools, indexed color palettes, animated special effects, and composite scene, scripting, motion tracking, frame-by-frame animation, motion tweening, bones character animation, particle systems for dust, rain, and similar effects, etc.

It can be used free of charge for both commercial and non-commercial videos. In case you face any issues, you can post your query in the developers’ forum or any community blog. The plug-in effects of this animation software are, however, very limited.

5.  TupiTube  (Free animation tool for children and teenagers)

Here’s a treat for Mac users; a free animation software with amazing features and lots of content. The software was developed by animators who wanted to allow people to make and edit videos without having to pay for them. The learning curve of this software is moderate and you can create quality 2D videos once you get the hang of it. You can contribute to the Tupi source code as well and tweak it in case you require specific customizations or would like to help the community.

To run TupiTube, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.9 or later, or Ubuntu 18.04, and OpenGL 2.0 compatible graphics.

Features of TupiTube include support for vector illustrations, adding shapes, filling areas, import raster images, export all your finished images into different file formats, support for tweeting positions, etc. You can also make lip-sync animations using TupiTube. The software also supports vector illustrations and different file formats. The official website contains lots of resources for animators of all levels. It features an extensive resource base of examples and tutorials. One of the drawbacks of Tupi is that it cannot be used to make 3D videos.   

Although the list of animation software is exhaustive, we have tried to put together the best intuitive software programs, and we hope it'll give you a good start.

You might want to check out our list of the best graphic design software . For Tech-savvy creatives read our review on the best drawing and art apps .

As you get creative with your animation portfolios, do remember to create your portfolio website to showcase your work. Your design portfolio represents a window for the world to view your work and judge your talent, skills, and experience. 

So, if you haven’t built a website to showcase your design portfolio, start today with Pixpa. Here are some great examples of graphic design portfolios created on Pixpa for your inspiration. Explore all features that make Pixpa the perfect choice for creative professionals. Get ready to express yourself in stunning new ways and create awesome animation clips with ease and efficiency!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. where can i animate for free.

You can use open source or free to use software like Pencil 2D, Synfig Studio, Blender or OpenToonz to animate for free. Of these Blender is a highly recommended free to use software while OpenToonz is an open source program developed by Studio Ghibli.

2. What is an example of an animation software?

Adobe Character Animator is an example of a popular animation software used to create computer based animations. 

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Best Animation Software of 2024

Table of Contents

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

Great animation software makes it easier to turn your vision into a reality. It offers all the tools you need to manipulate your objects and characters easily and without too much of a learning curve.

There are a number of options out there, and they’re not all created equal. In creating this list of the best animation software, we considered the common features that animators require and consulted with a number of experts in the field.

• Best Overall: Adobe Animate »
• Best Budget: Blender »
• Best For Beginners: Adobe Character Animator »
• Best 3D Animation Software: Autodesk Maya »
• Best For iPad: Procreate »
• Best Basic Web-Based Animation Software: Animaker »

Best Overall: Adobe Animate

Works with other Adobe apps

Relatively intuitive interface

Flexible toolset

Not made for 3D animation

Limited sharing options

Adobe Animate is the best all-around tool for animation, offering an intuitive interface and flexible toolset, along with the ability to work well with other Adobe apps. Animate can also be bundled in with other Adobe software like Photoshop. It has tools for all kinds of different animation techniques, including tools for freehand drawing and transforming the objects in your scene.

It’s not ideal for every situation, though. Adobe Animate doesn’t have dedicated tools for 3D animation, so you’ll want to consider a different platform if you’re planning on animating in 3D. Also, it costs more than some competitors. But if you want powerful animation software for 2D animation, then Adobe Animate is the way to go.

Specifications:

• Editing tools: Bone tools, camera movement, freehand drawing, transform tools, and more
• Motion capture tools: No
• Special effects: Graphic effects, graphics filters for object effects
• Pricing model: Monthly subscription

Best Budget: Blender

Free and open-source

Full-featured

Very powerful

Learning curve

Can be confusing at times

Not everyone wants to spend the kind of cash required to get Adobe Animate, and those who want a great animation software option on a budget should go for Blender. Blender is an open-source animation solution that offers a huge selection of features, including features that are purpose-built for 3D animation. That makes it an excellent choice for all kinds of animation purposes. It’s also free – so if you’re on a budget, it’s worth trying out before you pay for a different option.

Blender is free and open-source, but the trade-off is that it comes with somewhat of a learning curve. You’ll want to ensure that you have the time and patience to learn the tool before you really commit to adopting the software. Even after you learn it, you may find that it can be a little confusing at times, too. Still, if you are looking for great animation software that doesn’t cost as much as some of the competition, Blender is the way to go.

• Editing tools: Transform, duplicate, move, rotate, extrude, and more
• Motion capture tools: Yes, with third-party plugins
• Special effects: Composition effects, motion tracking effects, and more
• Pricing model: Free

Best For Beginners: Adobe Character Animator

Very easy to use

Free for Starter mode

Cross-platform

Cool basic motion capture tool

Quite limited animation toolset

Payment is required for many features

Beginners who want basic animation tools should consider Adobe Character Animator. Character Animator removes the need to program animation manually; instead, it tracks the user’s motion for animation. In other words, Character Animator has the user act out the animations they want to see, then applies those movements to the character in the software. The Starter plan is free, and the Pro plan is included in some bundles with other Adobe software.

This tool really is for beginners, so more advanced users should keep looking. There’s a very limited selection of editing and special effects tools built in, and experienced animators will find the software to be far too basic.

• Editing tools: Create custom characters, set editing triggers, and more
• Motion capture tools: Yes, basic motion capture built-in
• Special effects: Limited effects built-in
• Pricing model: Free for starter plan, Pro plan available for a subscription with other Adobe apps

Best 3D Animation Software: Autodesk Maya

Excellent modeling tools

Very flexible and customizable

High learning curve

AutoDesk Maya is a 3D animation software that’s perfect for professionals. Maya isn’t cheap, so it’s really built for those who want the highest-end tools and are making enough money from their craft to be able to pay for it. That said, you’ll get an incredibly powerful, customizable software solution with great modeling tools that can help bring your animated creations to life.

Although it’s pretty expensive, you do have the option of paying monthly, yearly, or every three years. Maya comes with a high learning curve, so if you don’t already have a firm grasp on the different tools available to 3D animation platforms, you’ll need to dedicate some time to learning how to use it.

• Editing tools: Time editor, graph editor, rendering tools, and more
• Motion capture tools: Motion library, motion capture collection tools
• Special effects: CGI effects tools for smoke, snow, and more
• Pricing model: Monthly, annual, or three-year subscription

Best For iPad: Procreate

Works on the iPad

Relatively easy to use

No Windows or Android support

Tools are somewhat basic

Procreate is the best animation software for iPad, offering the ability to freehand draw and edit different frames, as well as add effects to images. The software is quite easy to use and affordable, as there’s no monthly subscription – just a one-time payment from the app store.

There are some downsides to Procreate. For example, the software's animation tools are pretty basic, so consider it more of a drawing platform. (Apple has said it will soon release dedicated animation software called Procreate Dreams.) Another disadvantage is that Procreate is only available on iOS. Still, it’s a great iPad solution and a whole lot of fun to play around with.

• Editing tools: Freehand drawing tools, set framerate, and more
• Motion capture tools: None
• Special effects: Blur tools, noise tools, sharpen, more
• Pricing model: Single payment from the App Store

Best Basic Web-Based Animation Software: Animaker

Free to use

Tons of presets and objects to use

Basic tools only

Practically, you’ll probably need to pay

Web-based tools are getting more powerful, the best of which is Animaker. Animaker is built for simple, easy-to-use animations. If you’re looking to make simple animations for presentations or wider videos, it is worth trying. You can do so for free – though if you do decide to use the platform and want to download more than three videos per month or download any videos without a watermark, you’ll need to subscribe.

Animaker is a great solution for basic animation, but its built-in tools are limited. Advanced users should probably look elsewhere. Still, there’s really no downside to trying out the software, considering that it’s free to use.

• Editing tools: Built-in templates, large asset library, facial expression editor, and more
• Special effects: Simulated camera effects, preset animations, and more
• Pricing model: Free for basic use, monthly subscription for advanced users

The Bottom Line

The best animation software gets out of the way, allowing you to quickly and easily turn your ideas into full, polished animations. Great animation software offers advanced tools for those who need them, but still remains relatively simple to navigate. The best animation software overall is Adobe Animate, but in some cases, you may want to go for a different option, like Blender or Procreate, depending on the kind of animation you do and your skill level.

Things To Consider When Buying Animation Software

Compatibility with Operating System:  There’s no use in getting software that doesn’t work with your operating system. Lots of the options on this list work on both Windows and Mac computers. Some, however, only work with certain operating systems. For example, Procreate is meant for iOS on an iPad, so you won’t be able to use it on your Mac or Windows computer. Some animation software is web-based, meaning that it works in your web browser, and you’ll be able to access it on any operating system.

User-Friendliness:  Before you buy animation software, think about your skill level and whether or not you’re willing to spend lots of time learning new software, or if you’d prefer software that you can more or less use out of the box. “What makes the good animation software for my needs ultimately boils down to software that is responsive and fluid, with immediate feedback to iterate quickly on,” says Jackson Hayes, a professional virtual production stage operator.

Animation Techniques:  Animation is either 2D or 3D, and specific animation software is usually reserved for one or the other. Depending on the kind of animation you do, you’ll want to ensure that the software you get supports that style. Adobe Animate, Procreate, and Animaker, for example, are really meant for 2D animation, while software like Blender is built for 3D animation and object modeling.

Available Templates and Assets:  Consider animation software with most of the templates and assets you need built-in, so you don’t have to start from scratch every time you want to create a new object or character. Templates can speed up your animation process, allowing you to spend less time on the mechanics of animation and more time being creative and building new scenes.

"Many great animation programs allow users and developers to create and install third-party plug-ins that further speed up an animator’s workflow and expand the capabilities of both the software and the animator,” says Jared Norby, a professional 2D animator.

Pricing and Licensing:  Animation software usually comes at a monthly subscription between around $5 and $30. Some of the more advanced, professional-level software can cost hundreds of dollars per month. Flat-fee animation software can also vary widely – some basic software is only $10 or less, while other software, again, can be hundreds of dollars. Most of the software on our list is subscription-based.

How We Chose the Best Animation Software

Our contributor, Christian de Looper, consulted a number of experts on animation software, including Jackson Hayes, a professional virtual production stage operator, and Jared Norby, a professional 2D animator. He then conducted thorough research and some hands-on testing to narrow down the options. He also considered things like the type of animation the software could handle (2D or 3D), the kinds of tools available, pricing, and consumer reviews.

Why Should You Trust Us?

Christian de Looper has a decade of experience writing about technology, including various different software and platforms. He has a deep understanding of what makes software well-designed and easy to use, and what makes other software not so easy to use.

There are plenty of reasons you might want animation software. Perhaps your career revolves around animation, in which case animation software is a requirement. Alternatively, perhaps you produce other videos and could enhance the quality of your videos with animation software. Or, maybe you’re just curious about the process of animation and interested in a new hobby. In that case, it’s well worth considering picking up animation – it can be a lot of fun. “[Great animation software] has a variety of tools and features that speed up your workflow, automate mundane tasks, and improve the overall look of your animations,” Norby says.

Animation software allows you to create the movement of digital art. At its most basic, animation software allows you to create motion by editing individual frames of your project, however, more advanced animation software will involve creating 3D objects and modeling things like light, sand, water, and so on.

Animation software varies widely in cost. Some are free, while the most advanced can cost hundreds of dollars per month. If you’re a beginner, it’s worth looking for free or relatively cheap animation software to get you started. Professionals who make money from animation software will want to spend more.

Installing animation software is as easy as installing any other software. You’ll usually head to the website of the developer of the animation software, and then download the installation file. Once it has been downloaded, you’ll double-click on the installer file and then follow the on-screen instructions to install the software onto your computer.

You’ll know it’s time to start looking for a new animation solution when you find that your current animation software doesn’t offer the tools and features that you need to get your projects done.

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.

7 Best Animated Presentation Software You Should Know About

When you’re preparing a presentation for a business conference or smaller audience of students, you probably think about making it more interactive and attention-grabbing. One of the best ways to create such a presentation is to make slides animated.

Fortunately, there’s a huge number of applications for any operating system that offer animations for presentations. Some of them are even free and cross-platform. Let’s check the most popular ones.

Content Table

Microsoft PowerPoint

Back in the day, the words PowerPoint and presentations would be used interchangeably. This software is known worldwide and is mostly used on Windows computers and laptops.

PowerPoint has a lot of animation options, transitions, and settings to customize the duration, delay, motion, and other key parameters. You can also add a sound to transitions.

Presentations are saved in PPTX format, which is the international standard. That means your file will be compatible with virtually every computer.

All these features and even more advanced ones for editing presentations are included in Microsoft’s desktop office suite . The prices start at $6 per user/mo for businesses and $69 per year for individual use.

Focusky is positioned as software for HTML5 business presentations and therefore a good option for business teams.

Focusky offers advanced animations, including free 3D transition effects — for example, zooming, panning, and rotating. The product provides users with more than 300 animation effects, numerous motion paths, animated backgrounds, and GIF characters.

The solution works on Windows and Mac computers. There’s even a free plan, but it applies a watermark on presentations and restricts import to PPTX and access to templates. All the best options are available within the Professional plan for $99 yearly.

Keynote is the Apple software for presentations, which is normally pre-installed on every Mac and iPhone. As the entire Apple office suite, Keynote is free.

In Keynote , you’ll find enough templates for presentations, as well as animation options for objects and text. Transitions for slides are also available. The design of animations in Keynote is really unusual and impressive for viewers.

Except for the omnipresent PPTX format, you can save your slides as a GIF file, set of images, PDF, or even a movie. Keynote definitely offers a bit more than some other free applications. If you have Apple devices or Mac computers, this app would be a solution to most presentation-related tasks. 

Visme is an online service that offers presentation editing, animations, and design. The key advantage here is a template library — no need to start design courses to draft a professional presentation.

Source: Visme

Whatever field your company is active in, Visme has presentation templates. Technical or financial teams, nutrition blogs, education — there are designs for creating a perfect look and feel of a presentation. 

You can add classy transitions and animations, save the final version of a presentation as JPG or PNG slides, PPTX or PDF files, or even as a video with sound. Such features are great for anyone who needs truly professional slides on a nearly daily basis.

Visme is an online-based solution, so you’ll need an Internet connection to work there. The pricing starts at $297 per year for 1 user.

Prezi is one of the most popular presentations apps. No doubt, the best about it is the intuitive and clear interface. Any user can navigate and work in Prezi easily without additional expertise.

Just like Visme, Prezi offers a template library. However, it provides only 200+ designs — it’s enough in most cases, though. Also, animation choice is pretty much limited to fading and zooming in and out.

Thanks to the desktop app, Prezi can run on Windows and Mac computers without the Internet. In fact, this software is perfect for an occasional presenter. 

There’s a free plan, but the best features and functionalities are available in the Plus plan, which costs $12 per month.

Genially is another feature-rich and user-friendly presentation service. Fully online-based, it provides you with numerous templates and animation choices.

In Genially, you have 4 motion paths and several animation options for each one. Start, speed, and direction can be easily customized in the settings.

Moreover, there’s integration with popular stock image websites, such as GIPHY or Pixabay, the ability to insert the so-called smart blocks (charts and infographics), and interactive elements. With these functionalities, Genially is rather a good alternative to Visme or Prezi.

The output presentation can be shared online or downloaded as JPG, PDF, and even HTML. The standard PPTX format isn’t really at the core of Genially, so the best idea would be to deliver the presentation right from the browser. 

The Pro plan unlocks necessary features and costs 7.49 EUR per month.

Final thoughts

Presentations play a crucial role in today’s business routine and education. They’re a nice way to deliver thoughts to prospects, colleagues, or students in an understandable way. Animations are perfect to win the attention of your audience.

Each of the numerous presentation editing software has animations and transitions for interactive slides. However, the set of features is different in all applications and hence the pricing may vary.

Choose a suitable app based on how often you need presentations, whether advanced animations and templates are important for you, and certainly the cost.

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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Nicholas Fearn is a freelance technology journalist and copywriter from the Welsh valleys. His work has appeared in publications such as the FT, the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, The Next Web, T3, Android Central, Computer Weekly, and many others. He also happens to be a diehard Mariah Carey fan!

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12 Best Animation Software for Beginners (Premium, Free, and Online)

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Updated: May 13, 2022

Investigating which is the best animation software for beginners? Check out this selection of animation software including some of the most popular and preferred products on the market , as well as less-known but still very good animation tools available today.

In this post about the best animation software for beginners, you will find premium, free and open-source products, as well as online tools for animating. No matter if you are just making your first steps in animating , search for an alternative to the software you are using right now or want to experiment with a completely different type of animation (e.g. traditional frame-by-frame, Flash-style animations, stop motions, 2D and 3D animations, etc.), this post will help you sort out your options. Let’s begin!

Article overview: – Premium animation software for beginners – Open-source & Free animation software – Easy online video animation tools

Premium animation software for beginners… Who aim big!

A selection of the best animation software available on the market right now and preferred by all levels of users. These products are armed with rich arrays of functions and tools that will allow you to create powerful animation projects. Each of these software products come with subscription plans or as one-time purchases with free trials or free versions included. If you are a complete beginner, don’t worry – all of these programs come with tons of tutorials to start with!

1.  Adobe Character Animator

Animate in real-time. really..

• automatic lipsyncing and animation of facial features like mouth, eyes, and eyebrows;
• support of real-time animation and live streaming;
• in-app template puppets;
• streamline recording and editing;
• scene snapshots which act like onion-skinning;
• walk cycles, behaviors, breathing, blinking, and other animation options;
• replays, magnets, and more functions.
• Perfect for online education, game streaming, live chat and more.

Pricing plans:

• Free trial – 7 days
• Creative Cloud All Apps – $52.99/month billed annually
• Students and teachers – $19.99/month billed annually
• Business – from $33.99/month billed annually

If you are interested in the software, check out these  16 Tutorials to Learn Adobe Character Animator . And if you are ready to go with the software – grab these free Character Animator Puppets .

2. Cartoon Animator 4 (formerly CrazyTalk Animator 3)

Professional 2d creativity and animation design.

Cartoon Animator 4 is software for all levels of users – suitable for beginners as well as professionals who want to create engaging high-quality animations.

The software allows you to create custom 2D characters, choose characters from the huge database, and import PSD character templates.  You can easily make any static image move by applying different motion templates provided in the library, even 3D motions.

The software also comes with a bone rigging tool, and supports audio lip-syncing, facial detection, and many more simple and advanced features, depending on the edition you are using. Pretty much, Cartoon Animator 4 allows you to have full control over your 2D characters and create professional animation.

• 4K video support;
• library of pre-made character templates and motion templates;
• tools for creating 2D characters including rigging and bone tools;
• tools for animating characters including elastic and bouncy curve editing, facial free form deformation, audio lip-syncing;
• tools for creating talking heads and employing them on any character;
• easy to import PSD files as character templates, and export them to PSD for graphic editing;
• live facial motion capture – from any angle;
• head driven body movements;
• up to 360 degrees head-turning;
• supports many popular images and video formats;
• plus many more advanced animation features.
• Pro Edition – $99 (+80 motions), discount available
• Pipeline Edition – $248 (+80 motions), discount available
• Special bundle discounts
• Free trial – 30 days

3. Stop Motion Studio

Stop-motion animation software for beginners.

An app perfect for beginners in video making. Stop Motion Studio will help you create amazing 4K stop-motion animations that can easily be mixed with 2D style drawings painted directly onto the image.

With the frame-by-frame editor enriched with super handy features, you have a powerful and affordable app for your device. Stop Motion Studio can be installed on iPhone, iPad, macOS, Android, and Windows , and you can easily open the same project on different devices.

• 4K ultra HD videos;
• runs on iPhone, iPad, macOS, Android, and Windows;
• manual or automatic control of the focus, exposure, ISO, white balance
• DSLR camera support;
• green screen option and background library;
• import of images, audio, video files;
• frame-by-frame view and easy editing;
• grid and onion skinning options;
• connect a remote camera as a second device;
• paint tools, sound effects, magic eraser, and more handy tools.
• for iOS – $4.99
• for Mac – $9.99
• for Android – $4.99
• for Windows – $9.99

4. DigiCel FlipBook

Easy to use and powerful enough to create great 2d animations.

Considered as one of the easiest 2D animation software on the market , DigiCel FlipBook allows you to create traditional frame-by-frame animation. You can draw directly onto the software or scan your paper drawings – it’s completely up to your personal preferences! The software also allows you to create stop motion animations if that’s the type of animation you are looking for. Boosted with very useful features, DigiCel FlipBook is a powerful and easy-to-understand tool for traditional 2D animation.

• shoot and scan your drawings or draw right into the software;
• lipsync support;
• work on one or multiple frames at a time;
• pan, zoom, rotate, blur, dissolve;
• import/export functions, and more;
• runs on macOS and Windows.
• Free version with a watermark
• FlipBook Lite:  $19.99*
• FlipBook Studio:  $49.99*
• FlipBook ProHD:  $99.99*

*promotional offer

5. Moho (Anime Studio) Debut  &  Moho (Anime Studio) Pro

Complete 2d animation software.

While Moho (Anime Studio) Debut is aimed at beginners, even for kids , it includes powerful features that allow you to realize your vision into an animation. The revolutionary tools are combined with an easy-to-understand interface. Once you get the hang of it, you can try the Pro version which is quite more pricy, in fact, but it comes with powerful features that will help you create professional animations.

Features for the Debut version:

• available for Windows and macOS with online or offline activation;
• multilingual support: English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese (Simplified), and Japanese;
• advanced freehand tools;
• advanced bone rigging, plus pin bones;
• tablet support with pen pressure support;
• animated effects for layers and shapes;
• easy to edit and animate brushes;
• support for images and layered PSD;
• keyframe options: additive cycle, stagger, bounce, elastic;
• advanced masking options, auto freeze tool, and more.
• Free trial: 30 days.

Features for the Pro version:

• all features included in the Debut version;
• advanced bone rigging system, plus a Physics engine, Dynamic bones, and Smart bones to control complex movements;
• smart wrap for images and vectors;
• frame by frame capabilities;
• vector tools with bezier handles, plus accurate SVG, AI, and EPS import;
• 4k video export, vector export;
• realistic motion blur;
• easy control of multiple layers and channels, and even more.

6. Toon Boom Harmony

The most powerful software for animation production..

• runs on Windows and macOS;
• advanced vector/bitmap drawing technology;
• advanced palettes and painting tools providing effective control over texture and color;
• a toolset for traditional frame-by-frame animation;
• integrating 3D elements with 2D characters;
• special effects including volume and lighting effects to characters with auto toning;
• different camera angles and control over the composition;
• cut-out animation with master controllers;
• integration with other software: multilayer PSD and PSB files, Illustrator, PDF, bitmaps, audio;
• easy export to game engines.
• Harmony Essentials: $25.50 per month or $209 annual subscription
• Harmony Advanced: $64.50 per month or $500 annual subscription
• Harmony Premium: $117.50 per month or $954 annual subscription
• Free trial: 21 days.

Open-source & Free animation software… To test the waters!

A selection of free animation software for beginners and not only! These completely free software products allow coding gurus from around the globe to contribute and enrich them with even more powerful features. The listed software options are some of the best ones to start learning animating. The suggestions include software for 3D animation, software for traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation, as well as software for Flash-style animations.

8. Pencil2D

Light and easy to use tool for 2d hand-drawn animations.

If you are into traditional hand-drawn animation , then maybe Pencil 2D is a great software to start your animation project. This free software lets you use both raster and vector graphics and you can switch easily between the two types of artwork. Pencil 2D is a cross-platform tool and lets you focus on animating even when you are on the go. Since the software is completely free and open-source, users can have access to the source code and add features.

• runs on Windows, Mac OSX, Linux & Free BSD
• supports raster and vector images;
• includes various handy tools;
• includes distortion and light effects;
• import/export as a GIF is available;

9. Synfig Studio

Open-source 2d animation software.

Very easy for those of you who have worked with Flash and are looking for a similar animation software instead of frame-by-frame animation software. Synfig is based on vectors and allows you full control of editing the vector artwork in the animation. You also have advanced control over your characters, as well as the option to create character puppets.

Luckily, Synfig is 100% free and you can use it on Windows, Linux, and Mac. Since the software is open-source, you also have the option to access the source code.

• full-control vector editing which allows automatic calculation of frames;
• a variety of over 50 layer types including geometric, gradients, filters, distortions, transformations, etc.;
• control over your character by using a bone system and complex deformations;
• advanced controls for creating character puppets and other dynamic structures.

Online video animation tools… To create videos in seconds!

Maybe becoming a professional animator isn’t a part of your plan and you just want to create quick animations, let’s say, for your brand. There are many great tools available on the web that will help you realize your ideas.

10. Animaker

World’s largest animated library.

Animaker is an online tool for animation that offers plans for all kinds of users – from beginners to enterprises. Each version comes loaded with features and assets to help users create amazing animated videos in a diversity of styles. With Animaker, you can create 2D and 2.5D videos, animated infographic videos, handcraft videos, whiteboard videos, typography animations, and more.

• 6 styles of videos: 2D, 2.5D, infographics, handcraft, whiteboard, typography;
• horizontal and vertical video layouts;
• full HD video support;
• animated infographic maker with over 100 charts, 1000 icons, and 3000 maps;
• advanced features for animation such as record, multimove, curve, camera in and out, transition effects, enter/exit effects;
• a deck feature allowing you to use the animation as a video or an animated presentation;
• audio features: text-to-speech, background music tracks, sound effects, voice recording, plus the option to import your custom sounds;
• a library of pre-designed templates.
• Basic – $10 per month billed annually
• Starter – $19 per month billed annually
• Pro – $45 per month billed annually
• Enterprise – you have to contact Sales

The easiest way to create  professional animated videos.

Vyond Studio offers an online animation-making tool suitable for people of all skill levels to make great professional animations including explainer videos, whiteboard videos, and more kinds of animated videos. Enriched with handy features, this online tool for video animation allows you to build animations based on characters, make engaging data visualizations, and more.

• a convenient drag-and-drop tool;
• a rich library with pre-built templates and assets;
• import images and MP4s;
• an array of enter and exit effects for static images;
• automatic lip-syncing;
• a library of characters available for full customization;
• camera tool – pan zooms and camera angles;
• team collaboration.
• Free trial – 14 days
• Essential –  $299 per year
• Premium – $649 per year
• Professional – $999 per year
• Enterprise – contact Sales

A cool online tool for creating animated videos for different purposes: social media, advertising, explainer videos, whiteboard videos, presentations, and more. The tool is perfect for users of all levels , as well as big and small businesses. Easy to work with, Moovly provides a library of templates, as well as images, video, and audio files to choose from.

• user-friendly drag and drop interface;
• a library of templates, images, video clips, and sound files;
• upload your own media easily
• download and sharing options
• Pro – $24.92/month billed annually
• Max – $49.92/month billed annually
• Enterprise – custom pricing

Bonus software:  Wideo

Online animation software for all levels of users.

A great online tool for animation that doesn’t require any previous experience in animating. With Wideo, you can create animated videos for different purposes: explainer videos, data videos, promotional videos, animated presentations, videos for e-commerce, business, real estate, and more.

To help you get started easily, the guys from Wideo have provided very useful  lessons  for beginners that explain the basics of working with the tool.

• HD and full HD support;
• a library of scene templates suitable for videos for all kinds for purposes;
• a library of graphic assets;
• music soundtracks;
• video length and storage capacity depending on your plan;
• YouTube upload, and more.
• Basic – $19/month billed annually
• Pro – $39/month billed annually
• Enterprise – $79/month billed annually

Ready to make your first video animation?

We hope we’ve been helpful with this selection of animation software for beginners. The good thing is, that all software products offer free versions or free trials. So, you will be able to try before you buy.

Have a favorite animation software for beginners that are not listed on this page? It would be awesome if you share it with us in the comments below.

You may also be interested to continue with:

•   The Best YouTube Thumbnail Makers For Great Video Thumbnails
• Animation Trends in 2022
• How to Learn Animation At Home: Beginner’s Guide

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Iveta Pavlova

Iveta is a passionate writer at GraphicMama who has been writing for the brand ever since the blog was launched. She keeps her focus on inspiring people and giving insight on topics like graphic design, illustrations, education, business, marketing, and more.

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The Best Presentation Software of 2023 – Free and Paid Alternatives

Discover the best free, freemium, and paid presentation software options for 2023. From Canva and Haiku Deck to Genially and Beautiful.AI, these are the tools you should check out! Short on time? Peruse our comparison table!

Dag Hendrik Lerdal

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Although this list, just like our competitors, is made to pique your interest in SlideDog , we won’t list 50+ PowerPoint “alternatives,” bashing Office PowerPoint and claiming it’s dead with no other reason than it being a mature, stable, and the de-facto slide creation tool for grown-ups. 

And we will not list every “presentation-related” software we can find . That means no listing of animation software like “PowToon,” sales & marketing software like “CustomShow,” and publishing platforms like “SlideShare (LinkedIn).”

Instead, we’ll show you an opinionated and prioritized list that’s comprehensive (but not bloated) and focused 100% on slide creation software that we consider real alternatives to PowerPoint. 

Plus, we are going to keep this list up to date.

The Best Presentation Software in 2023, Compared

A note on slidedog.

SlideDog is not a real PowerPoint alternative, but it is a great supplement.

SlideDog presents your files seamlessly and professionally to the audience at meetings, events, sales presentations, conferences, lectures, and more. It’s a Windows app that lets you switch between various presentation media such as PowerPoint, PDF, Prezi, video, and web pages. 

It’s perfect for people who use multiple forms of media in their presentations and a great tool at events where you have multiple presenters.

To learn more about SlideDog and its other features, such as Live Sharing, Audience Interaction, and the SlideDog Remote App, check out the features and download the free version .

PowerPoint Alternative #1: Microsoft Sway Presentations

If you want to stay within the Microsoft ecosystem, you’ll want to check out Microsoft Sway . Although it’s technically designed for presentations, you can use it for newsletters and other media storytelling.

Microsoft Sway Core Features

• Integration with the O365 suite, as well as OneDrive, YouTube, and Twitter, for easy content embedding.
• Templates, interactive and dynamic presentation elements, such as navigation buttons and embedded web content.
• Collaboration features.
• Cross-platform accessibility, supporting desktop, web, and mobile (iOS and Android) versions.
• Analytics and tracking.
• Automatic layout and design suggestions.

Microsoft Sway OS

Desktop and web.

Microsoft Sway Pricing

Microsoft Sway is available if you already have a Microsoft 365 subscription (starting from $6.99/month). You can also use it for free with limited features. 

Is Microsoft Sway a Replacement for PowerPoint?

Not really. Sway lacks presentation control features like remote control or presenter view. Still, it’s a good tool for mini-presentations and interactive documents.

Microsoft doesn’t seem to be investing a lot into it (it even dropped out of the iOS store), so don’t lean on it as your main presentation tool.

PowerPoint Alternative #2: Google Slides – The Best Workhorse Presentation Software [Free]

Google Slides is the new PowerPoint, or so they say. In any case, it’s a handy, widely-used presentation tool, so if you want to use it company-wide, you won’t struggle with user adoption. Plus, it’s very beginner-friendly and integrates with the rest of your Google ecosystem.

Google Slides Features

• Converts PowerPoint Files to Google Slides and vice versa.
• Smart Compose AI feature for creating presentations faster. 
• Real-time collaboration (including chatting, comments, and reviews).
• Templates, videos, gifs, images, graphic assets. Plus, add-ons to include audio and more. 
• Beaming to a secondary screen using Chromecast and AirPlay.
• Presenter View with notes and upcoming slides enabled by a secondary browser window.
• Built-in audience interaction , allowing Q&A that will show up in Presenter View.
• Remote control via an iOS or Android device.
• Google Meet remote presentation.

Google Slides  OS

Web-based app, mobile app.

Google Slides Pricing

Free. Paid Workspace plans at $12/user/month for meeting recordings, group policies, and online support.  

PowerPoint Alternative #3: Apple’s Keynote Is One of the Sleekest Presentation Software [Free]

Keynote is mainly used by people committed to the Apple ecosystem. Although you can export your Keynote slides to PowerPoint , it won’t guarantee that everything will be presented the same way. Still, you can also use Keynote on a PC, provided that you use iWork, and it’s definitely one of the sleekest presentation tools. 

Apple Keynote Presentation Features

• Open, edit, and save PowerPoint files. Existing Keynote presentations can be exported to PowerPoint. (Beware of glitches caused by the file type conversion.)
• Built-in live collaboration.
• Control the presentation from an iOS device using Keynote Remote.
• Presenter view with notes and a preview of the next slide.
• Present remotely to an audience with Keynote Live using an Internet-connected Mac, iPad, or iPhone.
• Templates, effects, animations, graphic assets + Apple Pencil additions. 
• Live video feeds and YouTube and Vimeo videos. 

Desktop + Mobile (iOS & Android) + Web (requires iCloud account).

Keynote Pricing 

Keynote is free.

#4 LibreOffice Impress: The Simple Open-Source Presentation Software [Free]

LibreOffice is a community-driven, free, and open-source office suite. It comes with Impress, a desktop software for creating and editing slide presentations, similar to Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote. In general, it can get clunky like most open-source tools, but it’s still a good option for simple presentation software.

LibreOffice Features

• Open, edit, and save PowerPoint files. Beware: not all of PowerPoint’s features are implemented in LibreOffice, so fonts, images, and drawings may appear scrambled or not at all.
• A server version with Live Collaboration features.
• Remote control with tablets and phones with Impress Remote for iOS and Android devices.
• Animations, templates, effects, 3D models.
• Presenter view.

LibreOffice OS

LibreOffice works on Windows, iOS, Linux, as well as Android. 

LibreOffice Pricing

LibreOffice is 100% free.

#5 Slides: The Best Overall Presentation Software [Paid]

Slides sets itself apart with a minimalist approach, as opposed to the complex PowerPoint interface. And with the rise of AI, it also incorporates OpenAI’s features to help you create presentation content faster. 

However, a unique feature of Slides is that the slide decks are pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, so they can be self-hosted and customized down to the last line of JavaScript.

Slides Features

• Import PDFs and PowerPoints, turning them into a Slides presentation, but won’t translate all fonts and media correctly.
• Live streaming.
• Remote control.
• Presenter view. 
• Click, tap, and hover interactivity.
• Use code blocks and Developer Mode for custom features.
• AI for slide generation, content, etc.
• Templates, (auto)animations, media library, integration with Unsplash and GIPHY, and video support.
• Collaboration and team features. 

Slides works as a web-based app.

Slides Pricing

Slides pricing starts from $5/mo.

#6 Our Take on ZohoShow’s Presentation Software [Free]

If you’re already in the Zoho ecosystem, it might be worth considering ZohoShow . Some of the happiest users of ZohoShow I know are sales professionals looking for tools to create more engaging proposals and pitches. 

ZohoShow Features

• Import and export PowerPoint files.
• Real-time collaboration and co-editing.
• Remote control via phone or smartwatch using Zoho Show’s mobile app.
• Templates, themes, and design elements.
• Analytics and insights.
• Interactive elements, including charts, tables, and multimedia content.
• Apple TV and Android TV apps let you beam your presentations to a conference room.

ZohoShow OS

Web app, Android, iOS. 

ZohoShow Pricing

ZohoShow is free.

The Best Presentation Software #7: Prezi [Paid]

Prezi is one of the more, if not the most, innovative alternatives to PowerPoint, loved by presenters who prefer delivering information organically (and not with a scripted path). Rather than traditional slide-based presentations, this presentation software offers a zoomable canvas where users can create visually engaging and interactive presentations.

Prezi Features

• Import PowerPoints, turning them into a Prezi presentation. You mostly get the correctly formatted content of the slides, but you have to turn it into a proper zoomable mind-map Prezi on your own.
• Dynamic zooming and panning functionality for a more engaging and cinematic presentation experience.
• Real-time collaboration.
• Integration with multimedia content, including videos, images, and audio.
• Templates, design elements, infographics, and more.
• Present over video.
• Analytics. 

Desktop, web, and mobile (Android and iOS).

Prezi Pricing

Prezi starts from $5/month.

#8 Visme [Freemium]

Visme is a versatile presentation software you can use for (obviously) presentations, as well as documents, infographics, data visualizations, designs, and videos. It’s used by companies, schools, and more!

Visme Features

• Import PowerPoint files and export presentations to PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, and more.
• Drag-and-drop interface with a library of customizable templates, charts, icons, images, and multimedia assets.
• Collaboration and co-editing features.
• Animations, transitions, and interactive elements
• Integration with third-party platforms, including Google Drive, Dropbox, and YouTube.
• Pre-designed slide layouts and smart templates.

Visme Presentation Software OS

Desktop, web, and mobile.

Visme Pricing

Visme offers a free option, and the paid plans start from $12.25/month.

#9 Ludus Presentation Software: The Best Option for Figma Fans [Paid]

The founders describe Ludus as: “It’s like Sketch and Keynote had a baby in the cloud,” and I will admit that it looks sleek. (But maybe it’s just the dark mode!) If you’re looking for the best presentation software for designers , Ludus offers features like layer blending and more! 

Ludus Presentation Features

• Figma-style editing, complete with layers, colorization, cropping, and more.
• Add code to your slides.
• Boost your efficiency with keyboard shortcuts.
• Real-time collaboration (with a chat).
• Interactive and animated elements, reusable Smart Blocks, gifs, videos, and more.
• Presenter view (called the Speaker View).

Ludus works as a web-based and desktop app. 

Ludus Pricing

Ludus starts from $14.99/month/user.

#10 SlideBean [Freemium]

SlideBean is a presentation software that aims to simplify the presentation creation process by providing users with automated design tools and smart templates. These days, it specializes in helping founders build pitch decks , but it’s spreading like wildfire among startup teams, too.

The big caveat is that you can’t export the free presentations. If you want to do that, you’ll need to upgrade to their All-Access $228/year package (with an investor CRM and other startup goodies). 

SlideBean Features

• AI-powered presentation creation, where users input content, and SlideBean generates a design.
• Real-time collaboration features.
• Smart slide templates and design recommendations.
• Remote control via phone.

SlideBean OS

Slidebean pricing.

Free, but you’ll need the All-Access $228/year package to export presentations. 

#11 Is Canva a Good Presentation Tool? [Freemium]

Ahh, Canva ! It’s been helping SMBs create decent graphics for years. While not exclusively a presentation software, Canva offers a wide range of design templates and customization options suitable for various purposes, including presentations. I can’t count all the times I’ve seen startup founders run their pitch deck presentations on the web app. 

So, is Canva one of the best presentation software options in 2023? Let’s check out the features!

Canva Presentation Features

• Extensive library of presentation templates, graphics, and design elements.
• Drag & drop interface.
• AI tools for composing content, syncing music, etc. 
• Save presentations as PPTX, PDF, JPEG, and more.
• Live chat during the presentation with Canva Live .
• Magic shortcuts for special animations (think: the letter C for confetti rain).
• Many, many more features with the Canva suite (logo design, social media graphics, flyers, proposals, etc.).

Web-based, Android app, and iOS app.

Canva Pricing

Canva offers a free plan, with paid plans starting from $12.99/mo/user.

#12 Beautiful.AI [Paid]

Is it beautiful? Is it AI? Definitely! When we’re discussing the best presentation software in 2023, we can’t omit the fact that AI is making the rounds (as you’ve noticed with all the Smart features in the previous contenders on the list).

And with Beautiful.AI , you get end-to-end enhancement, from smart templates to formatting and content!

Beautiful.AI Presentation Software Features

• AI presentation features galore: Smart templates, auto-adapting slides (smart formatting), automatic animations, and more.
• Photo, video, and icon gallery. Plus, charts, graphs, and other data visualization options.
• Export presentations to PowerPoint and edit them in PowerPoint on the Beautiful.AI Pro plan.

Beautiful.AI OS

Web-based and desktop.

Beautiful.AI Pricing

Beautiful.AI starts from $12/month for individuals and from $40/mo/user for teams.

#13 Genially: The Interactive Presentation Software Option [Freemium]

Genially is a presentation software that focuses on creating interactive and immersive presentations, infographics, and other visual content. The interface is pretty similar to PowerPoint, but it’s smoother and offers a simpler experience. 

Personally, looking at it, I think it fits educational presentations well , while you might feel underwhelmed when using Genially for business presentations.

Genially Features

• Import your PowerPoint slides and share or download your presentations as .MP4s, PDFs, HTML, and other formats. 
• Template and graphic assets gallery.
• Interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, and hotspots.
• Animation and transition effects.
• Multimedia content support (including websites, videos, and audio).

Genially OS

Genially pricing .

Genially is hiding its pricing behind the sign-up page (an immediate no-no from me), but it offers a free plan. 

#14 Haiku Deck [Paid]

Rooted in the idea that you need to get rid of clutter and step into the flow zone to create beautiful presentations, Haiku Deck ’s understated presentation software might be a good choice for the PowerPoint convert.

HaikuDeck Features

• Templates, fonts, image filters, and stock image gallery.
• Simple (and a bit underwhelming) editor.
• Embed videos from YouTube into your presentation.

HaikuDeck OS

Web-based, Windows, iOS app. 

HaikuDeck Pricing

HaikuDeck starts from $9.99/month. 

#15 FlowVella Presentations Review [Paid]

In addition to presentations, FlowVella also specializes in digital signage , with plenty of its customers using it to power their iPad kiosk apps.

You’ll also see quite a few real estate agents using it for listing presentations. And while the design looks more similar to PowerPoint than most of us would like, there’s no doubt it’s a handy presentation software option!

FlowVella Features

• Interactive features such as navigation buttons, links, and interactive hotspots.
• Integration with multimedia content, including images, videos, PDFs, and audio files.
• Presentation templates and image gallery.
• Kiosk mode.

FlowVella OS

Native mobile app for iOS, desktop, and web.

FlowVella Pricing

FlowVella starts from $10/month.

#16 Pitch.com Presentation Software [Freemium]

Finally, the last contender on our list of the best presentation software is Pitch – a tool primarily built for startup teams. The visuals are pretty sleek, too, and it has all the features you’d need to collaborate with your team.

Pitch Presentation Software Features

• Collaborative editing and real-time teamwork features.
• Brand kit features for consistency.
• Template gallery & reusable templates and components.
• PDF and PPTX exports.

Desktop and mobile apps, web-based.

Pitch Pricing

Pitch has a freemium plan, and the paid options start from €8/member/month.

Summary & Final Thoughts

The struggle to find a PowerPoint alternative and the best presentation software is neverending. However, remember that you have to find the tool that works best for your use case, team, and budget.

When it comes to our favorites, we built SlideDog to meet our multimedia demands (even if it’s not strictly a presentation tool). However, we love Google Slides for its level of integration with the Google ecosystem, and Pitch.com is a fantastic option for startups. 

On the other side of the equation, if you’re doubling down on AI, you might just find a good fit with Beautiful.AI.

But no matter what, remember that your ideal tool is here to enable your ideas . Put them front and center, and your presentation will be amazing!

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5.0 ( 4 reviews )

Adobe Creative Cloud

Animations are important for storytelling. Whether you’re in the gaming, entertainment, retail, architecture, or engineering industry, you can use animations to create attractive visuals for marketing your products or services. Animated videos also find an application in the e-learning industry to help visualize concepts and make learning easier for students.

Creating animations, however, is a time-consuming and complex process, and the complexity varies based on your desired animation type (e.g., 2D, 3D) and quality. Several underlying functions, even in simple animations, are effort-intensive. These include generating character skeletons, creating transitions, and assembling animated frames.

That’s where animation software comes into the picture. It offers features such as prebuilt templates, automatic light and color scheme adjustment, motion capture, and rendering to help automate the process of creating animations.

In this buyers guide, we explain the features and benefits of animation software as well as the considerations and market trends you should keep in mind when purchasing the software.

Here's what we'll cover:

What is animation software?

Common features of animation software, what type of buyer are you, benefits of animation software, market trends to understand.

Animation software is a software tool that automates the process of creating animated feature films, cartoons, GIFs, whiteboard animation videos, and other media. It allows design artists to create an animated video frame by frame, either from scratch or by using a prebuilt template. It also lets them import media files from other applications to add music or additional effects to their animations.

The software automates functions such as rendering videos, adding transitions, adjusting the background, syncing the audio, and creating bone structures to help reduce the time and effort required to create animations. It’s used in various industries including education, entertainment, advertising, marketing, manufacturing, and medical.

Prebuilt animation templates in Vyond ( Source )

It’s easier to select software when you know what its common features are. Let’s look at some of the common features of animation tools.

Before evaluating animation program options, you should assess the kind of buyer you are. The majority of buyers in this market belong to one of these categories:

Buyers looking for a professional-grade tool: These buyers include professional animation artists who need advanced software to create high-quality content. They need an animation app that can help create virtual reality scenes, animated films, motion graphics, animated characters, and graphical environments. These buyers should opt for an advanced animation tool that supports 3D modeling, rendering, character animation, bitmap drawing, and simulation, among other features. These advanced features will help them develop high-quality, professional-grade animations, which may be difficult to achieve with a regular tool.

Buyers looking for a tool suited to beginners: These buyers include animators or artists who’re just starting out. They need an animation maker that has basic functionality and will help them learn the ropes of designing animations. These buyers can opt for a free or low-cost animation tool that provides educational materials or training on creating animations. 2D animations, vector graphics, prebuilt animations, motion tracking support, and built-in character templates are some recommended features for this buyer category.

Here are the key benefits of choosing an animation platform:

Reduced time: Animation software tools help reduce the time it takes you to create animated media. Features such as prebuilt animation templates, character templates, and built-in transitions automate the process and make it easier to develop high-quality media, such as 2D animation, 3D animation, motion graphic, and stop motion animation.

Better quality: An animation software tool helps improve the output quality by letting you adjust lighting, shades, background colors, visual effects, and more. You can edit the animations for enhancing keyframes, scenes, or characters. You also have an option to highlight details; enhance the color schemes; and add music, audio, or voice-over to further enhance the animation quality.

Here are the latest animation software market trends that you should be aware of:

Collaborative cloud-based workflows are improving communication among teams. Producing animated movies requires as much teamwork as any other activity. Collaborative cloud-based workflows help ensure animation projects and related files can be easily shared within the team as well as with other departments. They allow for more efficient and easier access to resources, which facilitates collaboration. They also support digital communication via features such as instant messaging and live chat.

Increasing use of artificial intelligence in animation production. Artificial intelligence is being increasingly used as middleware for animation tools. The process of creating animations is time-consuming and involves a steep learning curve. Artificial intelligence technology can speed up the process by introducing a middle layer that automates much of the groundwork that goes into creating animations. It can, for instance, develop the skeleton of characters for human motion simulation to reduce the time and effort required to create animations.

Note: The application selected in this article is an example to show a feature in context and is not intended as an endorsement or a recommendation. It has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.

World’s 1st Avatar Powered Presentation Software!

Make a lasting impression on your audience with avatars, animations, gifs and more, animaker is trusted by some of the world’s leading brands, a presentation software that’s loaded to the brim with cool features, go beyond the obvious and spice up your online presentations up with countless industry leading features.

Don’t want to create characters on your own?

No worries animaker deck comes pre-loaded with hundreds of pre-built characters.

Deadlines Closeby? [Worry not! Take your pick from 1000+ Templates]

The deck software comes loaded with easy to sales templates for every use case including pitch decks, sales decks, classroom presentations and more.

Add Animations in a Single Click!

Mix and match 50+ animation effects for every element on your presentation slide, have thrice the fun with 3 uniquely different bg styles, animaker deck lets its presenters pick bgs in three different styles including animated bgs, gradient bgs and stock images bgs., animated bgs.

Bring your presentations to life with hundreds of 2D backgrounds! Whether you’re looking for a home office, a stadium or a fitness gym, our interactive presentation software contains tons of BGs for any presentation.

Gradient BGs

Add a vibrant mix of colors to your presentations with tons of gradient backgrounds. Pick one from our massive BG library of 100 backgrounds or create your own for each scene.

Our integration with Getty gives you access to over 80M+ stock assets. You can set any of those high quality images as a BG for your presentation project.

Enhance your presentations with 80K+ icons and Billions of Gifs!

Express your thoughts and ideas in the best way possible. let your creativity take over by adding a variety of animated props, shapes, stickers, gifs and icons to your presentations..

Easily collaborate with your friends or team-mates in real time!

It has never been easier to sync up and work in real-time with your team. work with your team-mates on a presentation at the same time and easily bounce off ideas..

Focus on what’s important with Co-pilot and or Presenter modes!

Our co-pilot mode helps you enjoy the freedom of talking while our presenter mode assists you in keeping your notes handy for presenting., who is this for, whether you’re an entrepreneur, professor, social media strategist, hr manager or an ngo - animaker deck is the perfect free presentation software for creating your presentations..

Entrepreneurs & Startup Founders

Drive your business forward with confidence! Present your objectives, ideas and strategies with style and ease.

• Company presentations and strategizing
• Proposals for new initiatives
• Financial Reports
• Brainstorming and ideation sessions

Marketing and Sales

Whether it’s a client meeting or a team discussion to discuss marketing strategies, Animaker Deck helps you express your ideas with creativity and panache.

• Market research reports
• Inbound marketing plans
• Product demos
• Monthly objective meetings

From training your new employees to giving onboarding presentations, Animaker Deck will help you express your brand’s personality with charm and vibrancy.

• Training sessions
• Policy education
• Company Etiquette

Product Managers

Define your vision, visualize and showcase your plans with creativity.

• Conceptualizing business objectives
• Developing product roadmaps
• Showcasing product to clients
• Competitive analysis

Education - For students and professors

Make learning fun again with colorful graphics, appealing images and properties. Animaker Deck helps in simplifying complex concepts and making the learning process much easier.

• School & college projects
• Lectures and seminars
• University events
• Research and analysis

Non Government Organizations

Increase awareness about issues, fulfill goals and get more people interested in your work.

• Stakeholder meetings
• Awareness campaigns
• Organizing fundraisers

How to make a presentation easily?

In just 4 simple steps, animaker lets you create lip smacking presentations, pick a wow worthy template.

Browse through Animaker’s massive template library and pick one that fits your theme and purpose.

Customize your presentation template the way you want!

Customize everything from characters, text, colors, backgrounds or even properties to make the presentation your own. You can also use your own uploaded assets in place of the preloaded ones.

Add animations with a couple of clicks

Use the animate button to add animations to every element present in your presentation.

Click present and impress!

Once you have created a presentation, you can present it or easily share it directly with your friends and colleagues.

Know what our customers have to say about us!

"I was really impressed by the presentations I could create with Animaker Deck - the interface is so easy to use and it’s got a ton of great assets to customize my presentations exactly the way I want to"

Geeta Sharma

”Animaker is undoubtedly the best animated software for business presentations! Ever since we started using Animaker Deck, our presentations are a lot more vibrant and our clients are extremely happy with the results.”

Stuart Holden

“What I love about Animaker Deck is the amazing range of resources, customizable characters and beginner-friendly interface. It’s so easy to use and really makes our presentations pop!

Felicia Scott

More pages like this.

Introducing Animaker Deck

How to create an Animated Presentation

50 Free Presentation Templates

Frequently asked questions.

What are you waiting for?

Yes, animaker deck is forever free to get started, and that gives you access to a ton of cartoon characters and assets.

Ready to get started?

Create video presentations that demand attention.

Trusted by 9+ million people and over 10,000 companies

Create video presentations that demand attention with the Biteable video presentation maker. Deliver critical information with pitch-perfect video templates, one-click branding, and a seamless video creation experience for your best presentation yet.

How to make animated videos in minutes, start a free 7-day trial of biteable., pick an animated video template or build your own with pre-made animated scenes., customize your video: add or remove scenes , include animated text, upload your own pictures and video clips. you can even add a voice over, download your masterpiece or share it far and wide with a single,  trackable link ., a video presentation maker that rises above the rest, on-point templates.

Get started with brandable templates, ready-made scenes, and best-in-class animations.

Smart editing

A done-for-you editing experience takes the hard work out of the equation.

Branding made easy

Automatically apply your company colors and logo to your entire presentation.

Getting started

Mark video presentation off your to-do list with biteable.

If you can make a PowerPoint, you can make a video presentation with Biteable.

Choose from a full library of brandable templates and scenes, all designed with a professional audience in mind. Build out your video presentation with animated text, characters, and icons — all with the click of a button. Polish it off with a premium music track.

Need to add your own media? No problem. Seamlessly add video clips and pictures for a polished look in minutes. Better yet, record new footage, add a voice-over, or capture your screen without leaving the app.

Biteable’s all-in-one video presentation maker does the hard work for you. All you have to do is go be the star of the meeting.

Create videos that drive action

Activate your audience with impactful, on-brand videos. Create them simply and collaboratively with Biteable.

Make a video presentation for

Asynchronous meetings.

Create video presentations and send them to your team with a single link.

Live meetings

Whether you meet on Zoom or in person, a video presentation beats a PowerPoint any day.

Video reports

A performance report is boring, but a video presentation report is bold and memorable.

Making a video presentation: FAQs

Your answers to the most frequently asked questions about making a video presentation.

How do I make a video presentation for free?

It’s hard to make a video presentation for free, because free video makers have limited features that usually aren’t geared toward professional presentations. Your best bet is making a presentation during a free trial with a leading video presentation maker. Most people quickly realize purchasing a subscription is worth the money.

How do I make a video out of a presentation?

Not all online video makers are geared toward making a video out of a presentation, so it’s important to use one that focuses on making videos for a professional setting. Look for features like: templates and scenes geared toward the business world; video branding capabilities; an easy-to-use workflow.

How do I make a narration video presentation?

There are three ways to make a narration video presentation.

• Record narration separately and sync it to your presentation.
• Upload first-person video footage. Merge it with your presentation.
• Use a video presentation maker with in-app voice-over and recording features. (This is the easiest way to make a narration video presentation.)

How do I make an animated presentation?

Making an animated presentation from scratch is difficult unless you have advanced skills. Your best bet is to find a video presentation maker with a library of animations you can add to your presentation. Look for an online video maker that offers unique animations geared toward a professional setting.

“Biteable gives us the speed and quality to create videos that allows our 3-person team to play at the level of a 60-person team.”

• Tara Aiken, Regis Corporation

4 must-have tips for making video presentations

Creating a video presentation is easy with Biteable. And it’s even easier if you follow these best practices.

Have a goal in mind

Every great video presentation starts with a goal. What are you trying to accomplish? Maybe you want to share a new idea with your colleagues. Maybe you want to report on important company metrics. Or maybe you want to do something else entirely.

It’s incredibly difficult to make a video presentation that moves the needle until you define exactly what your presentation aims to achieve. Figure that part out and the rest becomes much easier.

Choose a proven template

Now that you know what your presentation aims to achieve you can pick a template that fits. You can create your video presentation from scratch, but using a template as a starting point gives you guide rails for tempo and pacing, plus a proven structure designed by pros.

Biteable video presentation maker has plenty of template options geared toward a professional setting, plus hundreds of extra video scenes and animations to build out your video presentation as much or as little as you like.

Use animations that underscore your message

One of the biggest advantages of video presentations over something static like a PowerPoint is the presence of motion. Without even realizing it, your audience will remember the information better simply because video is a multimedia experience that combines movement, sound, and visuals. To make the most impact, choose your animations wisely and use movement in a way that underscores your key points.

Are you presenting on the massive growth your marketing team achieved? Use a graph showing upward movement to drive the point home. Do you have one key point you’re trying to make? Use animation to circle your text or arrows that point at your most important information.

(All of this is easy to do with the video scenes available in Biteable.)

Keep it short and sweet

The length of your video presentation matters. Too short and you won’t be able to convey enough information. Too long and your audience will tune out.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to video presentation length. But in general, 1-2 minutes is the sweet spot for making a video presentation that holds attention while still getting all the important information across.

You’d be surprised how many details you can share in this amount of time. A 15-minute live presentation can easily be condensed into one or two minutes if you hone your message to focus on the key details.

Brand your video

This is probably one of the most important — and most overlooked — parts of creating a successful video presentation. You’d never create a PowerPoint with erratic, off-brand colors. Making a video presentation is no different.

It’s a subtle change, but it gives off a big signal that you are polished and professional, and that you and your video presentation mean business.

Take advantage of the unique branding feature in the Biteable video presentation maker to easily apply your colors and logo to your entire presentation.

"> "> Make a presentation video today

What’s it for?

Make interactive presentations

Create show-stopping presentations and clickable slide decks with Genially’s free online presentation builder. Leave boring behind and tell a story that’s interactive, animated, and beautifully engaging.

INTERACTIVE CONTENT

A presentation that works like a website

Engage your audience with interactive slides that they can click on and explore. Add music, video, hotspots, popup windows, quiz games and interactive data visualizations in a couple of clicks. No coding required!

NO-CODE ANIMATION

Make your slides pop with animation

Bring a touch of movie magic to the screen with incredible visual effects and animated page transitions. Add click-trigger and timed animations to make any topic easy to understand and captivating to watch.

INTEGRATIONS

Live from the world wide web

Embed online content directly in your slides for a media-rich interactive experience. From YouTube and Spotify to Google Maps and Sheets, Genially works seamlessly with over 100 popular apps and websites.

TEMPLATES & TOOLKIT

Genius design tools

With Genially, anyone can create a polished and professional presentation. Choose from over 2000 pre-built templates, or create your own design using the drag-and-drop resources, color palettes, icons, maps and vector graphics.

ONLINE PLATFORM

Safe and sound in the cloud

Because Genially is online, you can relax knowing that your slides are always up-to-date. There’s no risk of forgetting to save changes or accessing the wrong file. Log in from anywhere, collaborate with your team, and make edits in real time.

All-in-one interactive presentation maker

Real-time collaboration

Co-edit slide decks with others in real time and organize all of your team projects in shared spaces.

Multi format

Present live, share the link, or download as an interactive PDF, MP4 video, JPG, HTML, or SCORM package.

Engagement Analytics

See how many people have viewed and clicked on your slides and keep tabs on learner progress with User Tracking.

Import from PPTX

Give your old decks a new lease of life by importing PowerPoint slides and transforming them with a little Genially magic.

Keep content on-brand with your logo, fonts, colors, brand assets, and team templates at your fingertips.

Quiz & Survey Builder

Use the Interactive Questions feature to add a fun quiz to your slides or gather feedback from your audience.

Beautiful templates

Make your next deck in a flash with Genially’s ready-to-use slides.

OKR Presentation

School Notebook Presentation

Animated Sketch Presentation

Minimal presentation

Land Of Magic Presentation

Onboarding presentation

Visual Presentation

Animated chalkboard presentation

Online Education Guide

Terrazzo presentation

Startup pitch

Historical presentation

THEMES FOR EVERYONE

Interactive presentation ideas

From classroom materials to business pitches, make an impact every day with Genially.

Education presentations

Pitch decks

Business presentations

Thesis defense

What our community says about us

Share anywhere

Present live

From the front of the room or behind a screen, you’ll wow your audience with Genially. Heading off grid? Download in HTML to present dynamic slides without WiFi.

Share the link

Every Genially slide deck has its own unique url, just like a website! Share the link so that others can explore at their own pace, or download an MP4 video slideshow or PDF.

Post online

Embed the slides on your website or post them on social media. Upload to Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, Moodle or any other platform.

The benefits of interactive slides

🗣️ Active participation An interactive slide deck gives your audience cool things to click on and discover, boosting learning and engagement.

👂 Multi-sensory experience Audio, video, animations, and mouse interactions make your content immersive, entertaining and accessible.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People-friendly format Pop-ups and embeds condense more material into fewer slides so you can break information down into digestible chunks.


🎮 Gamification Games, quizzes and puzzles make information more memorable and enable you to gather feedback and check understanding.

How to make an interactive presentation

With Genially’s easy-to-use presentation platform, anyone can make incredible visual content in moments.

Choose a template or a blank canvas

Get stunning results in less time with a ready-made template. Feeling creative? Design your own slides from scratch.

Customize the design

Add animations and interactions

Resources to become a pro presentation creator

VIDEO TUTORIAL

How to create an interactive presentation: Get started in Genially.

EXPERT TIPS

How to present data without sending your audience to sleep.

MICRO COURSE

No-code animation: Bring your slides to life with cinematic visual effects.

PRESENTATION IDEAS

The art of digital storytelling: Engage and thrill on screen.

Genially in a nutshell

How do I make a presentation interactive and how does Genially work? Find the answers to all of your slide-related questions here!

What’s an interactive presentation?

Interactive slides contain clickable hotspots, links, buttons, and animations that are activated at the touch of a button. Instead of reading or watching passively, your audience can actively interact with the content.  

Genially’s interaction presentation software allows you to combine text, photos, video clips, audio and other content in one deck. It’s a great way to condense more information into fewer slides. 

If you’re a teacher, you can share multiple materials in one single learning resource. Students can create their own projects using digital media and online maps. For business or training, try embedding spreadsheet data, PDFs, and online content directly in your slides. 

An interactive slide deck is more user-friendly than a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation or Google Slides document. That’s because you can break information down into chunks with pop-ups, labels, voiceovers and annotated infographics.  

The other benefit of interactive content is increased engagement. It’s easier to keep your audience’s attention when they’re actively participating. Try Genially’s presentation software and free slideshow maker to see how it’s better than other presentation websites. You won’t go back to standard presentation apps!

How do you make a clickable slide?

The best way to make slides clickable is to use Genially’s free interactive presentation program. Design your slide then apply an interaction. In a couple of clicks, you can add popup windows, hyperlinks, close-up images, games, animations, multimedia and other content. 

Choose from the library of hotspot buttons and icons to show people what to click on. Go to Presenter View to get a preview and see how your content will appear to your audience.

How do I create presentations that look professional?

You’ve got a deadline looming and you’re staring at the screen with a blank presentation. We’ve all been there! Starting a presentation design from scratch is tricky, especially if you’re short on time. 

Genially’s free online presentation maker has over 2000 ready-to-use templates for professional slide presentations, photos slideshows, and more. Each slide design has been created by our team of top graphic designers. No need to worry about fonts, centering images, or designing a matching color scheme. It’s all done for you. 

Start by browsing our layouts and themes for education, business and then customize with your own text and images.

How do I share or download my slides?

Because Genially is a cloud based presentation software, you can simply share the link to your slides. Like other online presentation tools, there are no files to download or store on your computer. Everything is saved online.  

When you publish your slide deck, it gets its own unique url, just like a website. Share the link with others to let them explore the content in their own time. If you’re presenting live, just click the Present button. 

You can also embed your presentation on your website, company wiki, or social media. Genially is compatible with WordPress, Moodle, Google Classroom, and other platforms. If you use an LMS, you can also download your interactive design slides in SCORM format.

For slideshow videos and slideshows with music, share online or download as an MP4 video. Check out our free slideshow templates for ideas.

Can I make a free presentation in Genially?

You bet! Genially is an easy-to-use slide maker, with a free version and paid plans. The free plan allows you to create unlimited slides with interactions and animations. Subscribe to one of our paid plans for more advanced features.

Discover a world of interactive content

Join the 25 million people designing incredible interactive experiences with Genially.

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

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

Dominika Krukowska

14 minute read

Short answer

What are the best interactive presentation tools?

• Beautiful.ai

Static vs. interactive presentation tools

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

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

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

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

Critical features in interactive presentation software

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

12 must-have features of modern interactive presentation tools:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top tools for interactive presentations

In the age where every second counts and distractions are just a click away, interactive presentations are the game-changer. They improve engagement, memorability, and understandability, and support decision-making.

Interactive presentation tools can help transform boring presentations into interesting ones , and change passive viewers into active participants.

If you’re on the hunt for tools that will help you achieve this, let’s explore some of the best interactive presentation software currently available.

Jump ahead to page section

1. Storydoc

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Slidebean

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5. Mentimeter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. Genially

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

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

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

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

8. Beautiful.ai

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. Zoho Show

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

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

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

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

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

11. FlowVella

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

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

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

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

12. SlideDog

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

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

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

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

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

13. Powtoon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How can I create an interactive presentation?

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

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

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

How to choose the best interactive presentation creator?

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

If you’re a solopreneur

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

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

If you’re in sales and marketing

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

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

If you’re in education

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

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

Hi, I'm Dominika, Content Specialist at Storydoc. As a creative professional with experience in fashion, I'm here to show you how to amplify your brand message through the power of storytelling and eye-catching visuals.

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7 Best Free Animated Presentation Software to Make Amazing Presentations

Animated Presentation software empowers you to display your content in an engaging way. From PowerPoint to Prezi, presentation tools are on the rise. It can be a struggle for you to choose from these tools. We have here 7 best free animated presentation software . Whether you need  the software for business proposals or for teaching a class, these 7 tools will probably help you win over and wow a crowd.   > Part 1: 7 Best Free Animated Presentation Software > Part 2: Animated Presentation Made by Focusky

Part 1: 7 Best Free Animated Presentation Software

1. focusky (strongly recommended).

When it comes to the feature-rich presentation tool with powerful function, Focuksy is undoubtedly one of the leader. You can find almost all basic features and functions of a standard presentation tool, including transitions and animations to create amazing visuals, an import function to add various contents like multi-media elements, and a preview mode that present the content in a nice formatted way. Additionally, Focusky features the multi-user account option that gives a chance for online collaboration, by allowing multiple users to access the created presentation.

Start Creating Animated Presentation with Focusky

2. Fishbole

Fishbole is beginner-friendly animated presentation software. You are not expected to have much experience or a bunch of money to work with this tool. Simply upload slides in the format of Google Slides, PowerPoints or images. presenting. The finished project can be shared via built-in social sharing options.

It is very easy to create a 3D animated presentation using Cinetor. You are five a wide range of beautiful themes and preset objects to help tell your story. In addition to these pre-designed elements, you are also able to use your own images and videos in the project, adding a personal touch to your presentation.

This animated presentation software puts together videos, images, sounds and animations to generate an impressive video presentation. It is an easy-to-use cloud-based content creation platform, which means you are not asked to download and install it to get the presentation done.

5. Biteable

Biteable has provided a wide selection of movie, music compositions, animation, and still scene templates to customize into your own presentation, simplifying the creation process. You can also upload your own music, logos and photos. If you are lack of design skills, just apply one of pre-made editable video templates.

From desktops to iPhone, Knovio makes it possible for you to create the presentation on any devices at any time. The finished project is viewable from any browser or mobile device.If you want to post the presentation in video websites like YouTube, export the project as a HD 1080p video.

7. Videoscribe

You are able to enjoy a huge library of free images and soundtracks, when creating animated video presentation with this software. Animation times can be set to give your presentation the best look. You are also allowed to record or insert voiceover in this video presentation.

Part 2:  Animated Presentation Made by Focusky

Video Tutorial

Get started, create a project, add multi media, publish and share, learn focusky in minutes.

Related article

7 Best Video Presentation Maker for Mac: Make Amazing Video Presentation on Mac Devices

What is the Best Alternative Presentation Software to PowerPoint and Prezi

6 Best Interactive Presentation Software for Mac Presenters

6 online animated presentation creator - distribute your content every where

Try Focusky free and enjoy a brand new experience of presentation

• Terms of Service

Pencil2D Animation

An easy, intuitive tool to make 2d hand-drawn animations., minimal design.

Lightweight and easy to use so you can focus on animating and not what button to hit next.

Raster & Vector

Seamlessly switch between raster and vector workflows, allowing you to sketch, ink & paint on the go.

Cross-Platform

Pencil2D is cross-platform and runs on Windows, macOS, Linux & FreeBSD.

Open Source & Free

Pencil2D is completely open source and free to use, even commercially!

Latest News

• Pencil2D v0.6.6 - Bug fix release! 21 February, 2021
• Pencil2D in Hacktoberfest 2020 2 October, 2020
• Pencil2D v0.6.5 released! 31 July, 2020
• Pencil2D in Hacktoberfest 2019! 1 October, 2019
• Hotfix for Windows Unicode filename issue 30 July, 2019