PowerPoint SUCKS: Here are 5 PowerPoint Alternatives
PowerPoint has been the top presentation tool for years, but let’s face it: it stinks.
Hence, PowerPoint alternatives are starting to grow in popularity more and more. The overused templates, bullet points, and dull visuals are plain boring.
This article will introduce you to five game-changing PowerPoint alternatives. They will make your slides shine and captivate your audience’s attention.
Say goodbye to mundane slideshows and hello to engaging presentations. Let’s delve right in and explore these five top alternatives to PowerPoint!
What To Look For In a Presentation Software?

Any decent presentation software should provide basic features. These include a good user interface, templates, and editing tools. Nowadays, making presentations isn’t a complex task. This process should go smoothly without too much input.
In fact, the best presentation software will qualify anyone to create presentations. You can design engaging presentations with the right tool regardless of your knowledge.
Hence, we’ll explore the best PowerPoint alternatives. By that, we mean those that deliver results with the least effort and a short learning curve.
So, what exactly makes a solid presentation software? And which are the presentation software alternatives worth considering? Let’s see.
User Interface
Without a doubt, the best PowerPoint alternatives must tick some standard boxes. A comprehensive yet practical user interface is the first one.
Your presentation software should be easy to use when creating presentations. What does that mean? Let’s see:
- A responsive dashboard. It should be easy to add, delete, rearrange, and edit slides
- A straightforward canvas. A presentation flow that is easy to navigate–both visually and practically
- Easy data visualization. It helps you present data in an engaging way using charts, graphs, and more.
Presentation Templates
Here’s what to look for when considering presentation templates:
- Variety. A good presentation software should offer plenty of styles and themes. These include business presentations, school presentations, pitch decks, etc.
- Customizability. Changing colors, fonts, backgrounds, and layouts is a big part of creating presentations.
- Visual Impact. Templates should be eye-catching and engaging. Look for designs that make use of typography and imagery. Studies show that 80% of people show more interest in a presentation with visual designs.
- Accessibility. Templates should be easy to edit. You’ll need to rework placeholder content and add images, charts, and more. This shouldn’t imply advanced design skills.
Presentation Tools
PowerPoint alternatives often fail to provide extensive presentation tools. Hence, Microsoft PowerPoint is still considered a popular tool.
Still, some major presentation apps offer all the features you need and some more.
When it comes to presentation tools, consider the following:
- Interactive Features. Look for animations, transitions, interactive charts, multimedia, and more.
- Collaboration. Choose a presentation tool that supports real-time collaboration.
- Cloud-Based. Opt for a presentation tool that offers cloud storage and accessibility. This enables you to access and present your slides from anywhere.
- Export and Sharing Options. Make sure you can export presentations in all kinds of formats (e.g., PDF). You should also be able to share presentations.
- Analytics and Tracking. Some tools offer analytics and tracking features. They allow you to observe audience engagement, slide views, and presentation performance. Then, you can make informed decisions when creating presentations in the future. They often use artificial intelligence to do so.
- Mobile Compatibility. Consider a presentation maker that has responsive web interfaces. This allows you to create and present on the go.
- Integration. Look for a presentation tool that integrates with other software or platforms. Think of email, project management tools, or video conferencing apps.
Pricing
Premium features and top-tier alternatives to PowerPoint can be costly. Still, they are a great investment. That’s because complex presentation software can help you create high-quality and high-converting content.
There are many free PowerPoint alternatives to check out. Many professional PowerPoint alternatives offer a free version of their tool. Use them to build better presentations for one-time occurrences or check if it fits your needs.
5 Alternatives To PowerPoint To Consider Today
When it comes to creating presentations, PowerPoint is the norm, right? Not quite.
Exploring alternative options can bring a fresh perspective. We promise you–these alternatives will enhance your presentation game. Whether you’re looking for simple solutions or top tools, we’ve got you covered.
In this section, we will talk about five alternatives to PowerPoint. They’re both free and paid, so let’s check them out.
1. Xara Cloud

Without a doubt, the best PowerPoint alternative out there is Xara. This cloud-based platform helps you create eye-catching animations, presentations, and other marketing materials.
Xara is a great PowerPoint alternative for these reasons:
- It offers over 70+ presentation templates that are completely customizable.
- It has a digital asset management feature.
- You can import all your brand assets and apply them to the templates.
- It’s got an easy-to-use dashboard with all editing features, multimedia files, and more. They are all displayed on the left-side panel.
- You can invite team members to build presentations together live. You can also assign permissions and share all your presentations with anyone.
- Using Xara, you can present offline too.
- You can create unlimited slides in any of the professional templates offered.
- You can download the presentation in any of the popular formats.
- You can use the analytics feature when sharing to the web to track how well your content performs.
Pricing
Xara is one of the best free PowerPoint alternatives. With the free plan, you can enjoy the following:
- 5k unique templates
- 100k free pictures, tables, and diagrams
- 50MB of storage
- Many other free benefits
For paid plans, this presentation software offers a 14-day free trial. Use it to try out features like digital asset management, brand asset management, and so much more.
Xara Cloud offers a Essential subscription for $12.00 a month per three users. There is also the option of a Cloud Scale plan for $20.00 a month per three users.
2. Prezi

Prezi is a game-changer when it comes to non-linear presentations. Unlike PowerPoint’s linear structure, Prezi offers an interactive canvas. One special feature of Prezi is that you zoom in and out.
Prezi is a top alternative to PowerPoint. That’s because it allows you to create dynamic presentations that are visually captivating.
Here are some key features and benefits of Prezi:
- Templates. Prezi offers a variety of custom templates that you can personalize.
- Collaboration. With Prezi, you can collaborate with team members in real-time. This feature promotes teamwork when creating a presentation online.
- Multimedia Integration. With Prezi, you can add multimedia elements. Think of images, videos, and audio elements.
- Offline Presenting. You can download and present your presentations offline. This feature is available to paying users only.
- Sharing and Accessibility. You can share your Prezi presentations with others with a link. You can also revoke those links to limit access (with any of the paid plans).
Pricing
Prezi’s transitions and interactive features make it a favorite among professionals and educators. Nonetheless, this PowerPoint alternative has limited to no features with its free plan.
All major features come with plans belonging to one of the four pricing tiers. Plans vary from $3/ month for educators and students to $19/ month for teams and organizations.
3. Google Slides

Google Slides is an online presentation tool offered by Google Workspace. It allows you to create, edit, and collaborate on presentations in real-time.
Here’s an overview of Google Slides:
- Collaborative Editing. Google Slides enables users to work on the same presentation simultaneously. Users can share their presentations, control permissions, and add comments, like with Xara.
- Accessible Anywhere. You can use Google Slides from any device with an internet connection.
- Template Selection. Google Slides provides a variety of templates to choose from. But they are pretty similar to PowerPoint presentations. This is not a great PowerPoint alternative if you want more complex designs.
- Revision History. Google Slides saves presentations online. This is a common feature of our best free PowerPoint alternatives.
- Integration with Google Apps. Google Slides integrates with other Google apps, such as Google Docs and Sheets. You can embed charts from Sheets, reply to comments from Gmail, and search your Google Drive files.
- Simple Sharing Controls. Sharing presentations with others is straightforward. You can assign permissions to control who can view and edit their slides.
- Support and Security. Google Slides offers 24/7 support via email, chat, and phone. As part of Google Workspace, it adheres to robust security measures, including encryption.
Pricing
Google Slides doesn’t have a stand-alone price. It comes together with all the other Google products (e.g., Gmail, Drive, Meet, Sheets, etc). The suite of 12 products Google offers, including Google Slides, varies between $6 to $18 per month.
4. Apple Keynote

Apple Keynote is a powerful presentation software. The company offers this product to Apple users.
Here are some of the key features and highlights of Apple Keynote:
- Intuitive Interface. Keynote provides an intuitive interface that puts necessary tools front and center. This is a simple presentation software for basic requirements.
- Themes and Customization. The limited selection of 40 themes can help you draft a quick presentation. You can also create slide designs and background images and customize each page.
- Dynamic Backgrounds and Animations. Add dynamic backgrounds to your slides to make them visually engaging. Keynote offers over 700 Apple-designed shapes. It also can add photos, videos, music, image galleries, picture frames, and charts. You can also incorporate cinematic transitions and effects.
- Collaboration and Real-time Editing. Keynote enables real-time collaboration, allowing users to work together. You can see who’s in the presentation, view other people’s cursors, and track changes.
- Live Video Feeds and Picture-in-Picture Display. Keynote allows you to add live video feeds to your slides. This applies to remote presentations, how-to video presentations, or lectures.
- Presenting Experience. Keynote offers features like presenter notes, slide navigation, and upcoming slide preview. It also supports presenting over video conferences.
- Outline Mode and Quick Design. With outline mode, you can restructure ideas and move concepts around.
- Exporting and Sharing Options. Keynote allows you to export your presentations in various formats. These include Microsoft PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, movies, and image files. You can use AirDrop to share your presentation with others nearby.
Pricing
Apple Keynote is entirely free software available for all Apple users.
5. Pitch

Pitch simplifies the communication of complex ideas in a simple manner. Here’s a comprehensive overview of Pitch:
- Complete Platform. Pitch strives to be the first complete platform for presentations. It provides a unified workflow from draft to deck creation. It enables collaboration between presenters and audiences.
- Customizable Templates. It offers templates and professionally designed layouts to help you get inspired. Additionally, you can check out the presentation gallery to discover public presentations.
- Unifying Workflow. The platform focuses on streamlining the entire presentation workflow, both online and offline. They also offer live collaboration and presentation features. Pitch also has the ability to record and embed the presentation to other sites.
Pricing
For a simple presentation, templates, or collaborative work, Pitch is a solid choice. That’s because Pitch is free software with a comprehensive zero-cost plan.
If you have complex needs like presentation analytics, Pitch costs $8/ month/ member. Additionally, Pitch offers custom plans for enterprises.

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