What is Microsoft PowerPoint used for?

Microsoft PowerPoint is Microsoft's presentation software for slides, animations and presenter tools, with a free web version and Copilot AI features. It is a good fit for building a sales or investor pitch, creating photo slideshows or infographics and collaborating on a team presentation.

Is Microsoft PowerPoint free?

Yes. Microsoft PowerPoint has a free plan.

Is Microsoft PowerPoint open source?

No. Microsoft PowerPoint is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Microsoft PowerPoint include Univer, CryptPad and Collabora Online.

What are some alternatives to Microsoft PowerPoint?

Microsoft PowerPoint competes with Google Slides, Apple Keynote and Canva. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Microsoft PowerPoint alternatives.

Microsoft PowerPoint: features, pricing and alternatives

About Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is presentation software for building slides with text, images, animations and presenter tools. The web edition lets people design presentations online and collaborate in real time from any device. It is a proprietary Microsoft product and part of the Microsoft 365 family.

Microsoft's site highlights templates and use cases such as sales, marketing, financial and business presentations, portfolios, photo slideshows, infographics, certificates and slide backgrounds. AI features include Copilot in PowerPoint, an AI presentation maker and designer, an AI summarizer and a pitch deck generator.

PowerPoint for the web is advertised as free, with fuller capabilities available through Microsoft's paid products. Pricing is described on Microsoft's pricing page.

Key features

Slide creation with text, images and animations
Templates for business presentations
Real-time collaboration on the web
Copilot AI presentation maker
Presenter tools
AI summarizer and pitch deck generator

Good fit for

→Building a sales or investor pitch
→Creating photo slideshows or infographics
→Collaborating on a team presentation

Tags: presentations; slides; microsoft; templates; copilot; collaboration; pitch-deck

Microsoft PowerPoint: questions and answers

What is Microsoft PowerPoint used for?: Microsoft PowerPoint is Microsoft's presentation software for slides, animations and presenter tools, with a free web version and Copilot AI features. It is a good fit for building a sales or investor pitch, creating photo slideshows or infographics and collaborating on a team presentation.
Is Microsoft PowerPoint free?: Yes. Microsoft PowerPoint has a free plan.
Is Microsoft PowerPoint open source?: No. Microsoft PowerPoint is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Microsoft PowerPoint include Univer, CryptPad and Collabora Online.
What are some alternatives to Microsoft PowerPoint?: Microsoft PowerPoint competes with Google Slides, Apple Keynote and Canva. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Microsoft PowerPoint alternatives.