Google Slides is popular for creating engaging and visually appealing presentation slides. Yet, suppose you’re looking for advanced interactive features like live polls, quizzes, multimedia integration, or collaborative tools. In that case, you may find Google Slides limited for dynamic presentations and audience engagement.
Exploring the best Google Slides alternatives can help elevate your slide decks with richer interactive elements, seamless collaboration, and a range of customizable templates. Whether you want to captivate your audience with real-time feedback, incorporate multimedia, or streamline teamwork, these alternatives offer robust solutions to make presentations that stand out.
Below, we reveal our top five Google Slides alternatives for presentations beyond the basics, helping you create a presentation that’s memorable and interactive for any setting.
TL;DR
Here’s a quick comparison table of top Google Slides alternatives.
| Best For | Top Features | Pricing | |
| Beekast | Collaborative presentations | – Integrations with Zoom and Livestorm – Interactive activities Projection screen Inspiration templates – Q&A – Whiteboard | Free version; paid plans start at €39 |
| Canva | Done-for-you presentations | – Brand hub – Magic Design – Templates – Presenter view | Available for free; paid plans start at $11.99 per user (billed annually) |
| Piktochart | Online presentations | – AI generator – Charts and maps – Drag-and-drop interface – Customizable branding – Data visualizations | Free version; paid plans start at $14 per user per month (billed annually) |
| Whimsical | Idea mapping | – Customizable layouts – Mind mapping – Link sharing and permissions | Free version; paid plans start at $10 per user per month (billed annually) |
| SlideShare | Online slide hosting | – Website and blog embed – Lead generation forms – Upload and share – presentations | Free version; paid plan costs $9.99 per month |
1. Beekast: Best for collaborative presentations
Beekast offers an advanced tool to create and boost engagement and collaboration among meeting participants in remote and in-person settings. Unlike Google Slides, which focuses primarily on slide creation and basic sharing, Beekast is designed to maximize audience participation and audience interaction.
You can create a presentation directly on the platform or import it from third-party applications like Google Slides, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Canva.
Its flexible presentation modes set Beekast apart from Google Slides as an alternative. Once you’ve set them up, Beekast lets you present your slides asynchronously or synchronously. While Google Slides typically requires the presenter to control the flow, Beekast’s asynchronous mode allows participants to control the slides themselves, making it ideal for remote meetings and self-paced sessions.
Synchronous presentation, on the other hand, restricts slide control to the presenter. It works best for in-person workshops and training sessions. It is similar to Google Slides’ standard mode but with added interactive features.
Top Features
- Projection screen: Display the active slide on an external screen alongside engagement features like a discussion panel and session ranking dashboard. This allows you to see how people engage with every slide throughout your presentation, a level of real-time feedback not natively available in Google Slides.
- Interactive activities: Beekast has a rich library of activities for engaging your audience throughout the presentation. Use bullet points for clarity, try a Word Cloud to check your audience’s pulse, or run a game to keep the energy high. You can also administer surveys, polls, ratings, and matrix questions as your presentation progresses and see the results in real time—capabilities beyond the basic interactivity offered by Google Slides.
- Integrations: Connect with video conferencing applications like Zoom, WebEx, and Livestorm, helping you deliver stunning and engaging presentations in your preferred meeting software.
- Inspiration templates: Beekast has templates for all activities you want to include in your presentation, making the creation process easy and efficient. For example, use Beekast’s Who’s Who template to conduct a round of introductions at the beginning of your presentation.
- Provides analytics: Track engagement and participation with built-in analytics to measure the impact of your sessions.
Pricing: Beekast has a free plan that lets organizations host meetings for up to three participants. It also has three paid plans: Starter, Pro, and Business, that cost €39, €59, and €79/organizer per month (billed annually).
There’s a separate pricing category for educational institutions, which costs €25 per teacher/month (billed annually). If you’re hosting a one-time event, you can contact Beekast for a customized pricing plan. Learn more about Beekast’s pricing and plans.
2. Canva: Best for done-for-you presentations
Canva is the go-to AI tool for design neophytes. Its numerous ready-to-use templates make it quick and easy to create stunning visual content, even if you’re doing it for the first time. Compared to more traditional slide tools, Canva’s user-friendly interface is exceptionally approachable for beginners, allowing for rapid creation without a steep learning curve.
While Canva lets you present your slides natively in the app, its export feature isn’t always working perfectly. Some users have reported formatting issues after exporting Canva presentations, which can be a consideration for those accustomed to seamless compatibility and formatting stability in other platforms.
“I encounter a significant challenge when it comes to presentations. When downloaded, the formatting of the presentations created on Canva is often distorted. This issue extends to text alignment, table layouts, and overall element & picture placement. As a result, I have to spend a considerable amount of time reworking and correcting the formatting of the presentation.”
Top Features
- Brand hub: Store your brand’s colors, fonts, and logos for easy access, ensuring consistency across all your presentations.
- Magic design: Use AI prompts to generate designs that match your content and context with ease.
- Templates: Canva offers a range of customizable templates for business, education, pitches, portfolios, and more.
- Presenter-view: View all your slides on a private screen to help you stay on topic during live presentations. Here, you can view page notes containing extra information you want to refer to as the presentation progresses. Your audience will only see the standard presenter view.
- Animation: Add animation effects to your slides for more engaging and lively presentations.
Pricing: Canva offers a free plan that offers up to 5 gigabytes of storage space for one person. It also has a Pro Plan that costs $11.99 for one person for a year. There’s also the Teams Plan, which costs $300 per year for the first five users.
3. Piktochart: Best for online presentation maker
Piktochart is a popular infographic and illustration maker that also serves as a dynamic platform for creating engaging slide decks. Its extensive library of beautiful, customizable templates means you don’t have to start from scratch, making it a practical choice for beginners and teams without a dedicated graphic designer.
Compared to Google Slides, Piktochart stands out for its emphasis on data visualizations and advanced visual storytelling, appealing to users who want to go beyond standard slide formats.
While Piktochart is designed with ease of use in mind, some users may find that its wide range of features and customization options require a bit of exploration to master fully. The learning curve can be steeper than that of Google Slides, especially for those new to design platforms, but the trade-off is access to more creative flexibility and advanced visual tools.
Top Features
- AI generator: Like Canva’s magic design, Piktochart lets you create slides from prompts, speeding up the creation process.
- Customizable branding: Adjust backgrounds, add images, text, shapes, icons, and even add video to craft visually compelling presentations.
- Charts and maps: Effortlessly transform charts and raw data from Excel, Google Sheets, and Google Slides into visually rich infographics, supporting linear presentation or more complex data stories.
- Drag-and-drop interface: Piktochart’s intuitive editor makes it easy to add and arrange elements so that you can build slideshows and dynamic presentations.
Pricing: Piktochart offers different packages for individuals, businesses, teachers, students, and nonprofits. All packages include a free forever plan.
The Individual and Business Package also has two paid plans: Pro and Business, which cost $14 and $24 per user/month (billed annually). There’s also an Enterprise plan with custom pricing.
4. Whimsical: Best for idea mapping
Whimsical is a versatile whiteboard and idea visualization tool that helps users translate abstract concepts into tangible visuals such as flow charts, mind maps, and wireframes. After creating these visuals, you can quickly convert them into professional slide presentation decks with just a few clicks.
Compared to Google Slides, Whimsical stands out for its focus on brainstorming and conceptualization, making it especially useful for teams looking to organize thoughts and plan projects visually. However, it may not be the best fit for highly interactive presentations. The platform is primarily designed to keep the focus on the presenter, offering limited audience engagement features.
Customization options are limited, restricting how much you can personalize your slides or boards. Additionally, Whimsical does not support exporting presentations as a single document for other tools, which could be a drawback for users seeking broader compatibility, something Google Slides handles more seamlessly.
Top Features
- Customizable layouts: Adjust the arrangement and spacing of elements for a fantastic, tailored look.
- Mind mapping: Organize ideas into structured, hierarchical diagrams, which are ideal for brainstorming, note-taking, and planning.
- Link sharing and permissions: Share your work and collaborate with team members or stakeholders in real time.
- Together in real-time: Multiple users can work on the same board, making it easy to brainstorm together in real-time.
Pricing: Whimsical offers free and paid plans: Pro and Org. The Pro plan costs $10 per editor/month (billed annually) and allows you to add up to 10 guests as editors. The Org plan, on the other hand, offers customer agreements and lets you create private teams.
5. SlideShare: Best for online slide hosting
SlideShare is “the world’s largest community for sharing presentations.” Professionals, educators, and businesses often use it to share knowledge, showcase their work, or deliver presentations to a broader audience beyond live events or meetings, making it an excellent tool for asynchronous communication.
While Google Slides focuses on real-time collaboration and editing, SlideShare excels in content distribution and audience engagement for those looking to publish presentations widely.
However, SlideShare has several limitations:
- User experience can be impacted by ads that appear on the platform, which may distract viewers.
- Customization and editing capabilities are limited, making it challenging to create complex, white-label presentations compared to more flexible tools like Google Slides.
- Privacy concerns: Once a presentation is uploaded to SlideShare, users have limited control over who can view and download their content. Unlike Google Slides, which offers more granular sharing and permission settings, this can be a concern for those wanting to protect their intellectual property.
Top Features
- Website and blog embed: Incorporate your SlideShare presentations into your website to automatically share them with your audiences and reach new people.
- Lead generation: Add lead capture forms within presentations to collect contact information from relevant viewers for sales nurturing.
- Upload and share presentations: Users can upload presentations in various formats (PowerPoint, PDF, Keynote) and share them publicly or privately.
- Interactivity: For those seeking more interactive features, consider integrating with tools like Beekast or Mentimeter for live polling or quizzes during presentations.
Pricing: SlideShare has a free plan that is free forever. It also has a premium subscription service that costs $9.99 monthly and gives you access to Scribd and Everand.
How to choose the best alternative to Google Slides for your presentation
When selecting a Google Slides alternative, consider these factors:
- Features: Choose a platform that fits your presentation purpose and style. For example, if you want to make presentations with robust audience engagement, a meeting management platform like Beekast is ideal. Piktochart or Canva are great options for visually rich content.
- Security and privacy: If your slide decks contain sensitive information, prioritize software with strong security, data encryption, and compliance with regulations like GDPR or HIPAA.
- Pricing: Look for a tool to create presentations that offers the most value for money. If you have a small budget, prioritize software with a free version and core features like file sharing, interactive activities, and branding support.
Beekast: a genuine Google Slides alternative for presentations and slideshows
Beekast is more than just an alternative to Google Slides. It’s a comprehensive meeting solution that transforms presentation delivery and experience. With its focus on engagement, collaboration, and flexibility, Beekast is well-positioned as the go-to tool for anyone looking to make presentations that are more interactive, memorable, and effective.
Get started with a free version of Beekast and experience a user-friendly platform that helps you easily create fantastic presentations.
FAQs
Find answers to common questions related to Google Slides alternatives.
1. What presentation software can I use instead of Google Slides?
Beeskast is the best presentation software alternative to Google Slides. You can create slides in the app or import them from external platforms like Canva or Google Slides. Beekast offers built-in interactive activities for engaging your audience throughout the presentation, such as Who is Who and World Cloud.
Beekast is the best presentation software alternative to Google Slides. You can create a presentation in the app or import it from external platforms like Canva, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Google Slides. Beekast offers built-in interactive activities, such as Who is Who and World Cloud, to engage your audience throughout the presentation.
2. What is the best free alternative to Google Slides?
Beekast is a top free alternative to Google Slides, offering a user-friendly interface and robust features for creating interactive presentation slides. With Beekast’s free version, you can collaborate in real time, use a range of customizable templates, and engage your audience with live polls, Q&A, and dynamic activities. It’s a fantastic tool for creating stunning presentations with ease, making it ideal for both teams and individuals seeking more interactivity.
3. What is Google Slides most similar to?
Google Slides is similar to other cloud-based presentation tools that support real-time collaboration and interactive features. Top alternatives include Beekast, Microsoft PowerPoint (web version), Canva Presentations, Piktochart, Whimsical, SlideShare, Zoho Show, Apple Keynote (web), and Prezi. These platforms let you create, edit, and share presentation slides online, offer a range of customizable templates, and help keep the audience engaged with dynamic, user-friendly interfaces.
4. What should I consider when choosing a Google Slides presentation alternative?
When choosing a Google Slides alternative, find platforms offering core presentation and audience engagement features. If you frequently present sensitive information, prioritize privacy and data protection software. Test the free plan before subscribing to ensure the platform’s features align with your requirements.