ActivePresenter vs. Microsoft Powerpoint

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ActivePresenter
Score 0.0 out of 10
N/A
N/A
$0
Microsoft Powerpoint
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation software designed to allow users to create slide-based presentations including video and images, as well as slide transitions and animations.
$139.99
Pricing
ActivePresenterMicrosoft Powerpoint
Editions & Modules
ActivePresenter Standard
$0
ActivePresenter Pro
$0
One Time Purchase
$139.99
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActivePresenterMicrosoft Powerpoint
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActivePresenterMicrosoft Powerpoint
Best Alternatives
ActivePresenterMicrosoft Powerpoint
Small Businesses
Sendspark
Sendspark
Score 10.0 out of 10
Canva
Canva
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Snagit
Snagit
Score 9.3 out of 10
Mentimeter
Mentimeter
Score 7.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Snagit
Snagit
Score 9.3 out of 10
Mentimeter
Mentimeter
Score 7.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ActivePresenterMicrosoft Powerpoint
Likelihood to Recommend
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ActivePresenterMicrosoft Powerpoint
Likelihood to Recommend
ActivePresenter is designed for professional trainers, educators or teachers. So, it's best to use it for educational purposes like creating training videos, eLearning lessons, interactive training videos. You can also use it as a tool for content creation like making tutorial videos for YouTube or other social video sharing platforms. Making online courses for local training or selling online is also a great fit of ActivePresenter.
Read full review
Well suited for: Business presentations, storyboarding, instructor-led training, content slide creation for courseware, interactive kiosks and slideshows, logo design, posters, scalable PDF text, multimedia integration. Not well suited for: 3D object manipulation, layer editing, object trigger programming, complex graphic themes, advanced audio editing, advanced video editing, advanced photo editing, 3D modeling.
Read full review
Pros
  • making tutorial videos with screen recording and video editing.
  • Creating interactive eLearning lessons.
  • Creating software simulation
  • Making demo videos for software products
  • Design complete responsive eLearning courses
  • Export eLearning courses into SCORM or xAPI for uploading to an LMS
Read full review
  • Powerpoint is excellent for structuring your ideas as you before you present them
  • Powerpoint should be used as s skeleton for your presentation for maximum effectiveness, rather than just "reading off the slides"
  • Powerpoint on a high DPI system with screencasting software and microphone allows you to record a high resolution product demonstration video quickly.
Read full review
Cons
  • it could be more helpful to have built-in library
  • AI features like Auto captions
  • Improve transition effects and video effects
  • more built-in templates for Text
Read full review
  • Smart Art can really improve its graphs
  • Tables should be defaulted to redistribute columns and rows
  • Sometimes the links to Excel files get lost and I never understood why
  • I wish there was an easier way to save graph templates and defaults in a same presentation
Read full review
Usability
It's easy to use like MS PowerPoint . The UI looks similar to what I've been using for over decades. I am an old man, and I can use it to create so many different types of content. Great one! No excuse buying the software.
Read full review
Microsoft Powerpoint is a strong tool specially when it comes to giving presentations and visually presenting ideas. It is a great tool to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical management and staff members, helping to present ideas in a clear and concise way. But when it comes to internal usage, Microsoft Powerpoint needs to be used along with a host of other tools to present details and adding diagrams
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
I've never had any issues with its availability. As it is installed on my machine, it's ready when I need it, online or offline. Creating large slide decks with complex elements like video and audio doesn't affect its stability. The only limitation would be the capability of your own computer, as far as I can tell.
Read full review
Performance
No answers on this topic
The performance is very strong. It loads reasonably quickly. Large presentations load relatively quickly too, given their complexity, and once loaded each slide is readily available. It's easy to scroll up and down through your slide deck and go to the slide you want. Videos, pictures and music all load on demand, controllable by clicks.
Read full review
Support Rating
No answers on this topic
I have never had to use the actual support. Most of my questions are "how to" questions and there is a rich internet full of users sharing their tips and tricks with this application. Sometimes I find the answers on Microsoft support site but often I don't
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
It's simply easier to use and has more features than the one in the list. Added to that, the license price of ActivePresenter is so much more affordable than others on the market.
Read full review
Canva: The animations and effects are very limited and hard to customize unless you are a Canva Expert. Too many of the items are only available to premium subscribers (which can be highly frustrating). Some of the stock images, icons, etc., will be copied to your presentation. But when you go to download the presentation, Canva puts one of those annoying watermarks on the image, icon, or stock photo. Adobe Express: Although it is a free service like Canva, it still has the annoying issue with only paid users have access to the premium content. But with Express, the design options are almost limitless. Text is so easy to edit and create stunning text moments. Express does offer animations and effects, but most are only available to premium members (requires a monthly fee). Prezi: What I thought was going to be an amazing presentation creator falls so far from the mark that I hardly ever use it. The learning curve is very steep, and it does not offer all the bells and whistles that Microsoft Powerpoint offers.
Read full review
Scalability
No answers on this topic
Scaling up use of Microsoft Powerpoint would be a simple case of buying further licences. The software is intuitive and therefore training demands from scaling it to more departments or more individuals would be relatively straightforward. Google Slides may be easier to share among those organisations that use Google's suite of apps, however.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • It's one time purchase license.
  • It's the best desktop app for eLearning in 2025.
  • Pay one time, use forever is a great point of ActivePresenter
  • Their support team is absolutely the most responsive and nice people on earth in my opinion.
Read full review
  • Microsoft has made it easier through the years with upgrades to make presentations quicker and better for us.
  • Flexibility to use wide screen views has enhanced our ablate to share more information on fewer slides.
  • There have not been any negative impacts on my business at all.
Read full review
ScreenShots