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10 Best Free Presentation Software for 2024

August 7, 2024

free presentation software

We need to move past age-old pie charts and scatter plots to present data.

Creating presentations emphasizes the strength and commitment of business teams to achieve certain objectives over a fiscal quarter. But every business's first instinct is to invest in traditional and subscription-based software. 

While it helps to get the needful done, the add-on cost still dents the budget. Free presentation software enables professionals to create sleek and data-driven decks and deliver their presentations with confidence and zeal.

Before you skedaddle into the process of putting slides together, researching and noting key pointers for your next presentation is crucial. Check out this list of free presentation software to do all of that without paying monthly or annual subscription costs.

Let's look at the list of these 10 best free presentation software that offer intuitive user interfaces and all visual elements to empower employees and build amazing pitches.

How did we select and evaluate the best free presentation software?

At G2, we rank software solutions using a proprietary algorithm that considers customer satisfaction and market presence based on authentic user reviews. Our market research analysts and writers spend weeks testing solutions against multiple criteria set for a software category. We give you unbiased software evaluations; that's the G2 difference!

We didn't accept payment or exchange links for product placements in this list. Please read our G2 Research Scoring Methodology for more details.

Top 10 best free presentation software of 2024

Whether you're creating an instructional onboarding deck or showing off your latest metrics in a team meeting, there is a free presentation solution to fit your needs and wants.

The list below contains real user reviews from the best presentation software category. It’s important to note that in the context of this list, vendors that offer a free trial are also considered to be free.

To be included in this category, software must:

  • Create slide-based presentation decks
  • Provide online charts and graphs to support the footnotes, speaker notes, or slide notes. 
  • Offer editable slide templates and themes
  • Include shape animations, slide animations, and clip art.
  • Allow users to embed text, audio, images, and videos within the presentation

*This data was pulled from G2 in 2024. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity. 

1. Google Workspace 

Google Slides, a part of Google Workspace, is a comprehensive presentation and visual collaboration platform that provides in-depth integrations to elevate your presentation decks. Users can deft up professional-grade presentations and creative illustrations and sync them in real-time with other collaboration apps like G-Drive or G-docs to keep teams updated and informed of all the edits and changes. It also auto-saves slides and temporarily stores chart values at random shutoffs, so you don't have to begin from ground level every time. 

Pros of Google Workspace

Cons of Google Workspace

Easy user management to provide and revoke access  Complex data maintenance
Increased productivity and team collaboration  No offline access; internet connection is mandatory
In-app integrations with Google Meet, Google Calendar, and Google Docs  Limited flexibility and customization options for expensive users. 

What users like best:

"Google Slides is my favorite thing about Google Workspace. The option for all team members to edit in real time helps us increase productivity and save time in repeated reviews and editing.

The next best thing is Gmail which helps us to have our business email while it is being handled by Gmail in silos, but the receiver never gets to know it's actually Gmail." 

- Google Workspace Review, Adarsh S. 

What users dislike:

"A few downsides to using Google Workspace, which can be a deciding factor for many people, are that it only works online. No internet access directly means no workspace. However, I am bothered by the current support for mobile devices. I am able to view sheets, docs, and slides easily with just a click. However, to edit even a bit of data, I need to download the app."

- Google Workspace Review, Megha R.

2. Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 offers an all-in-one slideshow and presentation-making platform called PowerPoint. This software entails numerous data analysis and visualization features to represent your data pictorially. With the addition of Microsoft PowerPoint, users can build efficient decks with captivating graphical data. It also contains built-in design repositories, transitions, audio and video playback features, and advanced flowcharts and graphs to summarize and extract data dependencies for presentations.  

Pros of Microsoft 365

Cons of Microsoft 365

Integrated suite of productivity, collaboration, and security Steep learning curve
Best cloud infrastructure and document retrieval Prebuilt project limitations 
Easy and intuitive user interface  Disconnected applications of suite 
What users like best:

"I can confidently say it's a powerful and versatile productivity suite that has significantly enhanced my workflow. SO here are some feature I personally liked that is it offers a wide range of applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, and more whichmake it a comprehensive suite. As it is a cloud base it is easy to store the data, which is easy to use. Also, it ensures automatic updates to the latest versions, keeping users equipped with the most recent features."

- Microsoft 365 Review, Muskan A.

What users dislike:

"While Microsoft 365 offers an extensive range of features, the subscription cost can be a bit steep for individual users or small businesses. The user interface across different applications could be more consistent for a smoother user experience. Additionally, occasional syncing issues between desktop and cloud versions have been a minor inconvenience. It would be great to see more streamlined solutions for offline access and better customization options for the interface to cater to individual preferences.

- Microsoft 365 Review, Felipe V.

3. Simplified 

Simplified is an easy-to-use presentation software offering a variety of templates, design tools, and collaboration features. Ideal for teams, it enables the quick creation of visually appealing presentations, infographics, and social media graphics. Simplified streamlines the design process, making it accessible for users of all skill levels.

Simplified offers image trace and edit options for you to tailor your deck visuals before clubbing them together for slideshows. 

Pros of Simplified

Cons of Simplified 

Multiple brand kits Usage limitations 
In app publishing Insufficient slide credits 
Ease of use and content creation Limited flexibility and customization options for experienced users

What users like best:

"The dashboard and user interface are so cool and easy. I like the look and feel while working with it. The features and suggestions are helpful. Text-to-image and Video features give good results. Brainstorming blog topics and blog content is easy"

- Simplified Review, Sheeba T. 

What users dislike:

"Sometimes the option for generating sections automates itself to 2 even when I only want 1 option to save up on monthly credits. This is an issue the development team can look into.

- Simplified Review, Millicent K.

4. Synthesia 

Synthesia is a presentation software that enables you to generate powerful, AI-supported videos and animations to represent information in a contextual manner. The tool offers real-time video rendering, image creation, image annotaiton, AI scriptwriting and conversational intelligence to convert your documents into attractive creatives, voice clips and screen narrations. 

Pros of Synthesia

Cons of Synthesia

Quality of videos and realistic avatar creation Sudden upgrade pop ups 
Video creation and ease of use Avatar limitations in certain areas
Multi scene recognition in real-time

Voiceover limitations 

What users like best:

"The app is very easy to use, we started working on videos within minutes. We're using this for internal training right now, which in the real world, video production like this would've taken days if not weeks and a lot of coordination. We'll be working on a lot more content for both internal use and potentially for outbound sales and content production. I had a question I couldn't find an answer to, and customer support was very fast and provided a great workaround solution."

- Synthesia Review, Nick W.

What users dislike:

"I wanted to create a Youtube ad. And while I was able to do all the editing I wanted in the video, one thing was missing... I couldn't change the transitions of each slide/scene. So I can't use the video I created for this purpose of running it as an ad, but the easy of use was really good. Plus, the team shared they will add this feature to their roadmap."

- Synthesia Review, Ivan I.

5. RELAYTO

RELAYTO is a document experience platform for creating immersive presentations. RELAYTO has sharing, embedding, converting, and auto-generating tools. Qualified users can enjoy these features for free. You can transcript meeting minutes, generate decks from rough notes, customize your illustrations in real time and do much more with numerous compatible content integrations. 

Pros of RELAYTO

Cons of RELAYTO

Drag and drop features and editor Initial difficulty in software understanding
Very intuitive and user friendly interface More features for text creation like font size, color selection and style
content management system support

Learning difficulty and complicated user interface

What users like best:

“My experience with RELAYTO has been truly eye-opening. The ability to add depth and dimension to presentations truly elevates our status in the eyes of prospects and clients as a company that brings professionalism and real value to them. We know how great our solutions and client services are, yet using other platforms doesn't do the job of conveying that to the client as RELAYTO does.”

- RELAYTO Review, Mike R.

What users dislike:

“I have only ever designed for print, so there's a bit of a learning curve, but their support is top-notch. You can book a consultation with an expert on how you want to use the platform. Once over that curve, the results are remarkable.”

- RELAYTO Review, KD G.

6. Mentimeter

Mentimeter is an audience engagement platform with tools to build interactive presentations, compile data from live polls, and collect insights about user participation. The Mentimeter free plan offers unlimited audiences and presentations. It offers conversational intelligence and adds presentation notes to outbound sales calls and marketing workflows.

Pros of Mentimeter

Cons of Mentimeter

Audience engagement without any interruption Weak PowerPoint integration
Interactive engagement for people to opine on topics Powerpoint limitations and compatibility issues
Collecting live feedback from presentations 

Confusing access permissions

What users like best:

“Any presentation created with Mentimeter looks professional and presentable. Mentimeter takes care of the design aspect for you. It's straightforward and extremely easy to use. It's also flexible - I've used Mentimeter for live surveys, quizzes, and training. They've got excellent customer support, too. ”

- Mentimeter Review, Haley S.

What users dislike:

“At times, Mentimeter can feel a bit overly simplistic or repetitive. Most Mentimeter presentations tend to look very similar, and the engagement tools are limited to a degree.”

- Mentimeter Review, Stephanie H.

7. Renderforest

Renderforest is an all-in-one platform that brings presentations to life with graphics, videos, and animations. A free Renderforest plan allows for unlimited mockups, access to over 200,000 stock videos, and free subdomains. Be it video, photos, slow-mo graphics, stop motion animation or data-driven charts, renderforest can convert and publish these files on live environment for brand consistency. 

Pros of Renderforest

Cons of Renderforest

High resolution logo designing Lack of creation of user folders 
Growing library of ready to use mockup templates Limited text formatting
Interesting user interface 

No deeper design customization 

What users like best:

“Renderforest is one of the best online video software for any of my video projects. Whether it’s an animation, intro project, corporate presentation, or slideshow, Renderforest gives you user-friendly templates that are customizable, and the final product is very professionally done. Since using this platform, the amount of commendation that my projects have received is overwhelming.”

- Renderforest Review, Sherdon F.

What users dislike:

“I would like to see more templates and more flexibility in Renderforest.”

Renderforest Review, Shubham K.

8. Colossyan Creator 

Colossyan Creator is an AI video-making and slide-making app that specializes in quality content. With this video editing app, you can compose studio-quality videos, trailers, and teasers and also convert your documented strategies and launch plans into a video narrative. Colossyan Creator is being used for social media marketing on a large scale today and at a fraction of the cost of video creation. 

Pros of Colossyan Creator

Cons of Colossyan Creator

Multiple avatar creation A limited number of templates 
Seamless conversion of text and PDF files  Weak avatar quality
Easy to use with minimal video experience 

Not many multilingual options

 

What users like:

"I would say anybody looking for a presenter, of any sort, can make use of Colossyan. The best and most common use case would be company induction. I had to train many people in my life, and if I had this product then it would have saved thousands of hours! The best value added is multiple presenters. No other platform gives that."

f- Colossyan Creator Review,  Hennie L. 

What users dislike:

"It is not easy to edit content while using pre-built templates, I had challenges in using animation, it doesn't appear correctly after applying it. Also, I didn't find enough tutorials and tooltips to make changes in the templates. I requested a demo 3 times by special form, but no one got in touch with me for 2 business days."

- Colossyan Creator Review , Katya K.

9. Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai has smart templates to make presentation building a breeze. It can put together structured and ironed-out data visuals with supplemented slide text and build insightful decks. The Beautiful.ai paid plan options include onboarding guides, collaborative workspaces, viewer analytics, and more. Their free trial lets users get a taste of everything they offer. 

Pros of Beautiful.ai

Cons of Beautiful.ai

Presentation creativity A limited number of templates 
Smart slide templates  Weak avatar quality
Consistent delivery of professional presentation 

Not many multilingual options

 

What users like:

“Beautiful.ai makes creating presentations easy. Just finished your slide and want to add another point? Not a problem: you can easily add a bullet or object or chart, and the whole slide magically moves around and realigns for you.”

- Beautiful.ai Review, Anne-Marie M.

What users dislike:

"The AI bot becomes confused most times and you have to continually repeat the instructions as you wait for it to respond. Since you said it's still learning, I guess the more people use it the faster and more intelligent it will become."

- Beautiful.aI Review, Catherine O. 

10. Xtensio

Xtensio is a document management and slide-sharing platform used to manage paperless departmental communication and workflows. It is a cloud-based document creation and project management tool to update task progress, maintain project plans and objectives, and achieve project goals faster. Xtensio helps project managers view team updates, feedback, progress, and main point of contact interventions to expedite project outcomes.

Pros of Xtensio

Cons of Xtensio

Integrated website builders  A limited number of templates 
Ready to use design templates Weak avatar quality
Support for pitch decks and persona creation 

Not many multilingual options

What users like best:

"As a beginner, the user persona feature of the extension was incredibly helpful and intuitive. The knowledge material offered insightful guidance on creating personas, and the clear explanation of various elements in the user persona template made it easy to get started. This tool simplified the process of developing user personas, enhancing my understanding and implementation in projects, thereby providing a great learning experience.

- Xtensio Review, Ashish R.

What users dislike:

"it's little hard to copy/paste components on the templates."

- Xtensio Review, Cem Beybars G. 

Comparison of the best free presentation software

Here is a collated summary of all the tangible parameters of the best free presentation software, which you can go through at a glance before airing more opinions. 

Software G2 Rating Free plan Paid plan
Google Workspace 4.6/5 Available, limited features Starting at $6.00 per month 
Microsoft 365 4.6/5 Available, limited features Starting at $6.00 per month 
Simplified      4.6/5  Free Trial   Starting at $24.00 per month 
Synthesia  4.7/5 Available, limited features Starting at $22.00 per month 
     RELAYTO     4.7/5      Available     Available on request.
Mentimeter 4.7/5 Available Starting at $11.99 per month 
Renderforest     4.7/5      Available Starting at $14.99 per month 
Colossyan Creator     4.6/5      Free Trial  Starting at $19 per month
Beautiful.ai     4.7/5       Free Trial  Starts at $144 per month 
Xtensio     4.5/5 Free Trial  Available on request

Free presentation software: Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Does presentation software offer multimedia integration?

Presentation software can integrate different multimedia elements, such as images, videos, animations, and dynamic transitions. Depending on the business's requirements, you can add your multimedia elements and create efficient presentations.

Is there a limit on the number of presentations we can make?

There is always a set limit on how many presentations you can make with the free version. To extend that credit, you need to go for a premium plan.

Will using presentation software enhance team productivity?

Presentation software allows real time editing and commenting, making it easier for teams to work together efficiently and optimize team productivity together.    

Does it integrate with other business ERP tools?

Yes, you can integrate this software with popular tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, and various CRM platforms to streamline project workflows and data management.

Next slide, please!

Before you deliver project metrics to senior leadership the next time, take a step back and scrutinize your deck, refine it, and make it up to organizational standards. Remember, a major lever to brand growth is how well your department can explain its cause and earn funding for its projects from external stakeholders. This task requires a careful examination of everything you speak or present in your pitch. We hope this list of the best free top presentation software was of some help!

Learn how to make your presentations interactive and pitch business ideas to your team in an engaging and personalized way. 

This article was originally published in 2022. It has been updated with new information.


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