PowerPoint vs. Keynote vs. Google Slides: Which to Choose?

Elise Williams

2021-10-27 18:09:15 • Filed to: Knowledge of PDF • Proven solutions

When it comes to presentations, there are two, or some people say three, main presentation applications. Those are PowerPoint, a Microsoft Office app, Keynote, an Apple Mac application, and of course, Google Slides, because Google has to be part of everything. But which one is the best among them? Truth be told, at the end of the day, for many users, the PowerPoint vs Keynote discussion comes down to personal preferences.

PowerPoint vs Keynote vs Google Slides

	PowerPoint	Keynote	Google Slides
Price	Office 365 Home costs $100	Free for Mac users	Free, but extensive features require subscription starting at $5 per month and up to $25 per month
Animation and Effects	More than 50 Effects	30 Animations and 40 transition effects	About 15 Effects
Collaboration	Files can be shared when saved in OneDrive	Keynote benefits from iCloud integration	Best collaboration tools, can be shared with anyone
Accessibility	PowerPoint is limited mostly to desktop usage	Works well on mobile devices	Works on all devices
Export	Can be exported to Keynote without loss of fonts	When exported to PowerPoint, can lose local fonts, converted into system fonts	Formatting is lost when converted to PowerPoint
Easy to use	Requires steep learning curve	Can be challenging for new Mac users	Extremely easy to use

PowerPoint vs Keynote vs Google Slides: Pros and Cons

1. PowerPoint

For many years, PowerPoint has been the must-have for presentations. It does everything you need, from in-person presentations to social media graphics and animations. You can also create digital and print ad designs. Nowadays, PowerPoint has become one of the most used Microsoft programs. From start to end, PowerPoint helps you build the story and present it with conviction.

What makes PowerPoint stand out is the wide array of features it provides for users, including 3D objects, animations, transitions, audio content, collaboration tools, customizable templates, media library, offline editing and presenting, and video content.

Pros

Fairly intuitive tool

Wide array of features

Cons

Initial steep learning curve

You have to purchase as part of the Office bundle

Struggles with large videos

2. Keynote

Keynote is part of Apple's iWork productivity suite, and as such, benefits from all things Apple. It is the default presentation tool on your Mac computer. Considered one of the best-streamlined tools, Keynote comes with a stylish interface that is just too easy to use. If you are a Mac user, you will have a breeze. For new Mac users, it takes a bit to get used to Keynote.

What makes Keynote better than PowerPoint in some ways is the integration with other Apple products. For starters, you can easily use Keynote on your mobile phone, and it looks almost the same. Or you can utilize the Apple Pencil on your iPad for creating diagrams.

Features include trace animation, Apple designed themes, text, and object-based transitions, media files, support for iCloud Drive, and creating custom data animations.

One of the big downsides of Keynote is that it doesn't convert well into PowerPoint, be it through the application, or through iCloud. You might lose fonts and formatting, and then have to edit the file in PPT.

Pros

The simplicity of use is first class

Integration with Apple products

Cons

Lacks some advanced charts options

Exporting to PowerPoint doesn't work smoothly

Presentations lose features through iCloud

3. Google Slides

When it comes to the question which is better Keynote or PowerPoint, a lot of people forget about Google Slides. Yes, Slides might not be packed with many features as Keynote and PowerPoint, but it is still a decent presentation tool.

And unlike Keynote vs PowerPoint, Google Slides is a web-based platform. That makes it more accessible, and easier for people to use. There is almost no learning curve, and the interface is tailor-made to fit everyone.

For those looking for a basic presentation, Google Slides does the job. For starters, it is free, and can be used on any device. But if you are looking for more extensive features, Slides requires subscription to the G suite subscription plan.

Pros

Loads extremely fast on browsers

Multiple users can work on a presentation at the same time

Offline access

Cons

Limited options for animation

Uploading videos is time-consuming

Formatting is lost when converted to PowerPoint

The Best PDF Software besides PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides

We said previously that one of the main problems for many users is exporting and converting their files. Windows' PowerPoint is the most widely used tool for presentations. And as such, requires even Keynote users to be able to convert their presentations into PowerPoint.

One of the big downsides of Keynote is the inability to smoothly convert these files. That is where a good PDF tool comes into play. We recommend PDFelement, a comprehensive PDF tool that will enable you to convert your Keynote and Google Slides files into PowerPoint easily, and with no loss of fonts, loss of formatting, or anything else.

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Supports multiple languages, and also allows for batch conversion. Among the many features you can markup files, create PDF files from file/scanner, insert or delete pages within the PDF, split the PDF into different pages, and much more.

Pros

Edit any texts smoothly like you are on a word processer

Edit images by rotating, cropping, resizing, or moving

Add annotation tools like comments and sticky notes

Highlight or markup text for visual appearance

Protect your files with password and encryption

Redact sensitive information

Convert files into PDF and from PDF to other formats

Create fillable forms

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