Using free presentation software to create or edit presentations doesn’t have to mean cutting corners on features or using a clunky interface that doesn’t work the way it should. There are plenty of free presentation software programs have just as much to offer as Microsoft PowerPoint but you won’t have to pay a dime for them.

Many similar features include easy to use slide design and transition effects, tabbed interfaces, spell check, free templates, and much more. You really can create exactly the presentation you want with these free programs.

WPS Office Presentation

WPS Office is a collection of office tools, one of which is a slideshow maker. It works a lot like MS PowerPoint and other full-featured slideshow makers, meaning there are lots of professional tools at your fingerprints.

There are premade templates you can load from directly inside the program, or you can of course start a blank slideshow. Lots of popular file formats are supported, so you can import PDFs, PPTX, POTX, XML, and even PowerPoint addin files. PDF is also supported when exporting, but regular presentation formats are, too, like Microsoft’s and WPS’ custom formats, plus some video and image file formats.

This program is super smooth, and the overall design and tabbed browsing makes it very modern. It has all the features you’d expect in a great slideshow builder, like transitions, animations, color schemes, Slide Master editor, OCR, and cloud access.

You can use this program as a guest, but if you make a free account, you’ll get cloud storage for your files, free templates, and more.

It works with Windows, Linux, and macOS.

OpenOffice Impress

OpenOffice Impress is chock-full of all the features you need to build a great presentation. A simple wizard can walk you through setting up the initial backgrounds, slide design, and transition effects if you’d rather not start with a blank canvas.

  • Multi monitor support.

  • Compatible with all OpenDocument compliant apps.

  • Open or save in PowerPoint format.

  • Lacks advanced PowerPoint features.

There are extra features that include drawing tools, animation, text effects, and multiple monitor support, plus free templates and extensions, as well as automatic spell check and support for macros.

Overall, if you’re looking for a free alternative to PowerPoint, this is the program you should choose. It even supports the popular PPTX and PPS files used in MS PowerPoint.

You can use it on Windows, Mac, or Linux.

SlideDog

SlideDog is a bit different than these other presentation programs because it’s built for presenting files rather than building and presenting.

  • Integrates multiple files into one presentation.

  • Live chat and audience feedback functionality.

  • Screen sharing feature.

  • Requires monthly subscription.

  • Additional software required to view external media formats.

It works by creating a playlist of media like video, images, PDFs, and PowerPoint files. The presenter can easily add all of these files to a playlist and then use SlideDog to display it in front of an audience.

SlideDog is a great way to organize a presentation if you want something more than the normal “slide after slide” look, which is how most presentation software work.

Pro features include watermark removal, dual screen mode, and live sharing with polls.

SlideDog supports Windows 7 and later editions.

SlideDog is free to use but because there’s also a SlideDog Pro version, you don’t have access to features like using your own background image, looping the slideshow, sharing with a live audience, and controlling your presentation from your phone.

Express Points Presentation Software

Express Points Presentation Software has nothing near the exhaustive features that the above programs have, but it can still function well as a presentation program, especially if you’ve already tried the above and want a fresh look at a different program.

  • Intuitive user interface.

  • Easy to import PowerPoint presentations.

  • Lacks many features of similar apps.

  • Outdated user interface.

  • Can’t save or export as a PowerPoint file.

Options and features are organized nicely in this free presentation program and are easy to access while working. Included are templates, text formatting, primary slides, transitions, image effects, and the ability to add audio.

You can insert audio from a microphone directly into a slide, open Microsoft PowerPoint’s PPTX files, and autosave presentation files as often as every minute. It can export to several video file formats or upload directly to YouTube, Facebook, or Flickr (or save to PDF or a project file).

This program works on Windows (XP and newer) and macOS (10.5 through 10.14).

Apple Keynote

Apple Keynote is a free presentation software app for iOS and Mac users that allows for easy collaboration so the whole team can easily work together on creating that next presentation.

  • Many advanced features.

  • Compatible with PowerPoint.

  • Integrated with Apple iCloud.

  • Easy to use.

  • Only available for Apple devices.

  • Limited toolbar controls.

There are themes, slide transitions, object effects, text effects, and a whole handful of other tools in Apple Keynote.

Apple Keynote supports opening and saving to MS PowerPoint formats (PPTX and PPT). You can also export your Keynote presentation to PDF, a movie file, HTML, and an image file format.

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Other Presentation Making Resources

You may also want to consider a free online presentation maker, which will allow you to work on your PowerPoint from anywhere. Since they run in your web browser, you don’t have to download anything to your computer to make them work.

If you’re only looking to view or present a slideshow, and not make any changes, consider using the free PowerPoint Viewer. It’s a really simple program from Microsoft that does just as it seems: it lets you open a presentation file but not do any editing to it.

You can add more interest to your presentation with presentation templates and presentation backgrounds. When you add these items to your presentation, you can make it really unique and relevant for the topic.

You also might want to consider downloading a free alternative to Microsoft Office, many of which include more than just a presentation creator. They not only provide a way to replace PowerPoint with a free tool but also Word, Excel, and Access.

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