Presentation software is a package of tools designed to create slideshows. These tools give users the ability to present information in the form of animated videos, Q&A sessions, and effective graphics. With any of these packages, you'll be able to generate, edit, format, and manipulate slideshow presentations to effectively share your ideas with other people.
Price
Trial period
Animation effects
Edit offline
Embed video
Store files online
Create graphs and charts
Analyze stats
Add your voice to presentations
Share presentations online via a link
Template support
3D visualization
Privacy and security settings
User guide
Available for Mac/Android/iOS
Easy to use
Web-based
Prezi Desktop
The leader among powerpoint alternatives, Prezi lets users create stunning dynamic presentations with zoom and pan effects. Starting at free, it comes for various prices depending on the type of license you want to get. Standard version is $5 per month; Plus edition for expert presenters is $15 per month; Premium Prezi for business professional is $59 per month. You can try each edition with the 14-day free trial.
Features
- Creates eye-catching cinematic presentations.
- Supports offline editing.
- Instead of series of slides, offers an animated tour around a single canvas.
- Supports portable presentations and video upload storage.
- Allows adding voice-over narration to a presentation.
- Offers online training for a user's specific needs.
Advantages
- Sharing links which can be disabled whenever you want.
- Can run on multiple devices.
- Privacy control.
Disadvantages
- Users may need slide formats.
- Limited design choices.
Google Slides
As a part of the G Suite applications, Google Slides represents a traditional presentation tool that runs in your browser absolutely for free. It comes with strong collaboration capabilities, enables users to create and edit presentations via the cloud, and is extremely easy to use. Along with the free edition, Google Slides is also available as a business version for $5/month per user.
Tips
Features
- Set of collaboration tools.
- Animation and video embedding.
- Loads of themes and fonts.
- Decent template gallery.
- Commenting and chart creating.
- Allows access, creation, and editing of presentations on any device even without an Internet connection.
- Autosave.
- Can work with PowerPoint files.
Advantages
- No installation required.
- Google Slide mobile app.
- Fully integrated with Google Drive.
- Supports presenting to Chromecast, Hangouts, and AirPlay.
Disadvantages
- Can only insert YouTube videos.
- Basic animation features.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Developed by Microsoft, PowerPoint is truly the most widespread presentation software that comes bundled with Word, Excel, and other Office productivity tools. It creates presentations with a series of slides to convey information rich in multimedia. The Home version of Office 365 is $6.99 per month/user. The trial version is free for 1 month.
Introduction window
Features
- Appealing design templates.
- Rich animation and cinematic effects.
- 3D modeling.
- Built-in translator and accessibility checker.
- Real-time co-authoring capabilities.
- Online sharing.
- Mobile version.
- 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage.
Advantages
- Comes pre-installed on all Windows devices.
- Pleasing appearance and interesting graphics.
- Huge cloud storage.
- Flexibility.
Disadvantages
- The file size can be quite large.
- Has too many flying letters, animations, and sound effects.
- Some of the features can be quite complicated.
SigmaPlot
SigmaPlot is a statistical software solution which provides more than 100 different 2D and 3D graph types to analyze your data. It's not a simple presentation tool, but a full-featured graph and chart creation program with 3D visualization support. The price is $399.00 per user, the trial version is free for 30 days.
Main window
Features
- Creates graphs and 2D/3D charts.
- Integration with Microsoft Office.
- 3D visualization.
- Imports data from Excel.
- Provides accurate analysis of data.
Advantages
- Not just a simple presentation tool but complete analysis software.
- Wizard guides.
- High-quality graphs.
Disadvantages
- High price.
- May be too broad for some users.
SlideDog
SlideDog is a very simple-to-use multimedia presentation tool that comes absolutely for free. It provides a wide range of features to create a rich presentation using any type of media, or, in case you’re looking for even more advanced customization, SlideDog offers a premium account for $14.99 per month.
Features
- Huge choice of supported media.
- Presentation playlists.
- Online sharing.
- Interactive elements (presentation feedback, polls, audience chat).
- PowerPoint and PDF file support.
- Dual screen support.
Advantages
- Remote control presentations with a browser.
- Simple drag-and-drop editor.
- Streamlined creation process.
Disadvantages
- May seem too basic for some users.
- Lacks flashy transitions for animations.
Conclusion
Among all the reviewed programs, Prezi gets the highest score, which makes it the best presentation software of 2018. This solution comes with loads of effective features and presentation tools allowing you to create eye-catching animation slideshows in a very straightforward way. We recommend using this software when you need to share your ideas with an audience.
What presentation tool are you using? Why? Share it with us and we'll add the program to our comparison list.
Prezi is my choice