Ranking the Best Presentation Tools for 2024
Looking for the best presentation tools for your specific needs in 2023? We’ve got you covered with the definitive ranking below.
We’ve covered the various presentation tools on the market before, ranging from general “best-of” articles to specific head-to-head comparisons, and we’ve shared our recommendations based on specific use cases, like the best presentation tools for streaming and social media or great presentation tools for academics or live events.
But the market changes constantly: old apps release new versions with added capabilities, and other presentation tools start to show their age with a lack of updates.
So with that in mind, we’re doing something new for 2023. Below we’re ranking the best presentation tools—no matter the specific use case—as they exist in early 2023.
The Best Presentation Tools
We’ll break things down into three categories: the best of the best presentation tools, other good solutions that don’t qualify as great, and then a ranking of the best free tools out there.
Let’s dive in!
ProPresenter
We know it may seem self-serving to put ourselves at the top of this list, but we’ve got good reasons to declare ProPresenter 7 one of the best presentation tools for nearly every use case.
Need to design gorgeous slides for an office presentation? ProPresenter’s drag and drop slide designer is here for you.
Need to embed videos, including live video you’re filming right now? ProPresenter’s software encoder has your back. (Just about nothing else we’re reviewing can do this, by the way.)
Looking for a way to display your main show on the main screens, but different content in other places—with more flexibility than a basic presenter view? ProPresenter enables you to create as many unique views and outputs as your hardware can handle. Lobby feeds, stage monitors, a distinct live stream view, main displays, and anything else you can throw at it, ProPresenter handles it all with ease.
Need an all-in-one solution that can also power your live stream, including using the world’s most resilient streaming protocol? Other presentation tools force you out to a separate app for this. ProPresenter handles your live stream itself.
Just about anything else you might need is here, too: broadcast-level video controls like alpha keyer and edge blending, MIDI/DMX controls, data-driven text flows, pro-grade mobile remote apps, and much more.
No matter how extensive your needs, ProPresenter has the power to meet them, making it the best presentation tool for most, including anyone with advanced or pro-grade needs.
Haiku Deck
Built initially as a pitch deck creator, Haiku Deck has expanded into a broader presentation tool. It’s easy to use, with an intuitive and adaptive slide designer. Drag and drop resources where you want them to go, and Haiku Deck will give you prebuilt options for making that content look sharp and engaging.
For organizations that prioritize simplicity of design over granular control, Haiku Deck is our top pick. You’ll see numerous tools reviewed further down that lean similarly toward an intuitive, we’ll-do-it-for-you approach. Haiku Deck is the best of these—provided you’re intending to create linear, rectangular presentations and slide decks and you don’t need to get deep into embedded media or technical content.
Nothing much has changed here for 2023; if you’ve used Haiku Deck in the last few years, today’s experience will be the same.
Visme
Visme’s tagline of “Create Anything” sounds ambitious, but this breadth of capabilities is what lands it on our list of great presentation tools. It’s a unified platform for content creation: presentations, documents, data visualizations, videos, and branded content all under one software roof.
If you need to create content with a similar brand feel across multiple categories, Visme delivers. Handy tools for data visualizations and graphics creation make building assets simple, regardless of design experience.
Of course, there’s always a balance to strike between streamlined simplicity and customization options. Experienced designers may chafe at the limitations of this intuitive interface.
As a content creation platform, Visme is excellent. Its presentation playback tools, on the other hand, are more basic. Presentations run in a web browser and can be viewed from anywhere. But that means no advanced video outputs or other crucial features needed for live events, worship services, and other tech-heavy presentation environments.
Good Presentation Tools
Microsoft PowerPoint
Been there, done that: everyone’s seen PowerPoint in action. It’s been around since 1990 and it’s the standard everything else gets compared to.
It can do a lot, within certain parameters. You get granular control over slide design and element placement, which means it’s possible (though not always easy) to create beautiful, engaging slide decks. There are plenty of customization options here, and you can even create basic video presentations. Recent additions include AI Designer, which gives you several AI-powered slide designs to choose from after you add your basic content.
Is PowerPoint the best presentation tool? Not for most people. But it is certainly a good presentation tool, especially if your needs are mainly confined to the office or occasional small meeting.
Microsoft Sway
If you like the PowerPoint aesthetic but don’t want to get bogged down in the details, Sway is an attractive alternative. It’s less granular than PowerPoint, but it will automatically format content you add—and that content almost always looks great.
Sway also allows you to operate in rectangular slide mode or break free from it, creating vertically or horizontally scrolling presentations.
It’s a great way to create presentations that don’t require a presenter, though it’s still a solid tool for creating engaging shows led by an interactive presenter.
It’s a part of the Office 365 or Microsoft 365 suites, which means if you have access to PowerPoint 365, you probably have access to Sway already.
Big Screen
Designed primarily for churches and houses of worship, Big Screen is a good option for those needing big text on, well, the big screen. Pleasant backgrounds (including looping video backgrounds), clear text, and support for streaming are all here. The controls are simple and straightforward.
And unlike most other presentation tools, Big Screen can support unlimited outputs. The main use cases are front-end and monitor outputs that differ from the main show, but you’ll find plenty of flexibility here.
Big Screen is an attractive option if your needs aren’t primarily office-based and you don’t need to stray too far into advanced design or media capabilities.
Slide Dog
Slide Dog is not a comprehensive presentation tool, but it fills a need for many organizations. Think of Slide Dog as an assimilator: it can intake files of all sorts, from PowerPoints to PDFs to videos and images to live web pages, and turn them into something sensible.
You won’t find a slide editor here, though: it’s more of a media playlist than a tool for creating slide decks from scratch.
If you already have the content but it’s spread across all sorts of sources, Slide Dog is marvelous. But don’t try to use it to create content in the first place: it’s not built for it.
Prezi
Have you ever stared at a PowerPoint show and thought, “This is incredibly boring and way too linear—it’s just a series of rectangles!”? If so, Prezi could be a breath of fresh air.
This app is non-linear, meaning you can break out of those rectangle barriers and do truly interesting things with your presentations. Zoom in and out, pan around, advance to the next show area in whatever order you choose—Prezi does what others don’t.
Prezi is great in classroom settings and situations where the order of your presentation could change based on audience responses. The only catch is that when you would rather stay inside the box, Prezi falters a bit.
Monthly subscription rates are all over the map, from $3 for students to $59 for business customers. The “free” option is a glorified demo and won’t do what you need long-term.
Best Free Presentation Tools
Google Slides and Keynote
We’ve grouped these two apps together because they’re both essentially PowerPoint alternatives, built using the design and philosophy (and ecosystem) of Google and Apple, respectively.
Neither is as good as PowerPoint in terms of raw power and broad feature set. Neither is as broadly compatible, at least in the senses that matter. (Technically any device with a web browser can run a Slides presentation, but in terms of compatibility with broader industry tools, Google’s the weakest. And Keynote is all Apple, only Apple, always.)
Still, you can’t argue with the price. Both apps are free (as long as you own a Mac or iPad or iPhone, in the case of Keynote). They offer a closer experience to PowerPoint than the others in the free section. Depending on your needs, that could be a pro or a con.
Nothing much is new in 2023, either. Both apps receive regular incremental updates, but nothing in terms of significant new features.
Zoho Show
To be honest, it’s a little hard to believe Zoho Show is a free tool. It’s very respectable as an office-oriented solution, with a clean interface, lots of automation options, and a robust resource and gallery library.
Zoho Show also supports collaboration, allowing you to create presentations with others in real time. It can intake PowerPoint files and export them, too.
Is Zoho giving this away to rope you into their broader suite of tools? Absolutely. But even if you don’t need or want a new CRM or customer service platform, you can still enjoy everything Zoho Show can do.
Like most others, Zoho Show works best in office-style settings. No multiple outputs, live video support, or advanced audio routing.
Canva
Canva offers more than just an amateur graphic design platform; it’s also a cloud-based presentation software option. Canva is for people who want to quickly create beautiful yet simple presentations. Most of its editing features are predictive or intuitive, meaning you don’t have that much granular control.
Most people either love or hate Canva. If you love it for graphic design, you’ll likely love the presentation side of things—assuming it can deliver everything you need.
Canva has a respectable free tier, but be aware pretty much all the good assets (photos, effects, video backgrounds) require a Canva Pro paid plan subscription.
Get the Best of the Best: Try ProPresenter Today
You have plenty of options for the top presentation tools in 2023, ranging from simple free tools to powerhouses that meet the needs of even the most demanding use cases. Without question, ProPresenter 7 is the superior choice on the latter end of that spectrum.
Ready to skip the rest and jump straight to the best presentation tool for virtually every use case? See ProPresenter for yourself! Download now and start your unrestricted free trial today.
