Canva vs. Powerpoint for Presentations

The design tool box vs. 90s style application

With a deep dive into their AI integrations

First of all let me say, that I really love reviewing presentation tools, because I have lots of expertise within this area. As a former president of the Toastmaster club in Lisbon, I had to give and evaluate lots of presentations. So naturally I'm very excited about the new AI era, because it allows companies to make their software so much better. And with that us users much more productive. 

But not always. Some really struggle to integrate AI features straight within their tools, even if they have direct access to the most sophisticated LLMs. I'm speaking of Microsoft and its Powerpoint. This most famous and kind of like OG of presentation software, underwhelmed me more than my grandparent's Christmas presents last year. 

But let's start at the beginning of how this misery started. 

Deep dive into Powerpoint and its AI capabilities

First of all, let's level the playing field: what can I expect from a software for slides that claims to use AI? 

I like to take Gamma as the perfect example, because in my opinion they are way ahead of all other slide generators.

Gamma can easily create a deck from one single prompt, with perfect formatting, pictures specifically generated for this purpose via its integrated image generator. The text will make perfect sense and can easily be extended. Check out the detailed Gamma review here.

So when opening Powerpoint up, my expectations are high, because surely the company that owns 49% of OpenAI is no stranger to AI. 

My first disappointment: the powerpoint themes are so outdated they would even make a boomer giggle. 

Actually the whole interface looks and feels as if the Microsoft team has aged with Bill Gates and no one ever thought of hiring anyone new or changing the dashboard since the Powerpoint launch.

It's just so 90s.

90s style powerpoint themes in 2025

actual 90s

Also, I can't find any direct AI applications, such as text or image generators, within this software. 

So I checked with ChatGPT if this is really already it regarding AI capabilities of powerpoint presentations, I just couldn't believe that the company who owns 49% of OpenAI, has not integrated AI features into their presentation software.

Chechi (my nickname for my new best friend) told me that Copilot could assist me with my mission, so I tried that instead, but it's not able to visualise the slides, it will only outline it for you in written form.

My LLM buddy also suggested testing the Design tool, it literally is just a tool to suggest and adjust themes. When I add the keyword swag, the themes change to more colorful and funky designs. Interesting use of AI, hard to believe this would be the most important use case for AI, though. 

The answer was: kinda…but not really

Conclusion powerpoint and its AI capabilities

It probably has lots of great features, but they are all within separate tools, and Microsoft doesn't manage to integrate them, so you can access them where and when you need them. 

Turns out, they are no stranger to AI, but they like to keep it more like a family: different members for different tasks. This means for you constantly having to switch between applications and copy and pasting content like back in the day before AI. 

Comparison Canva vs. Powerpoint

I've just very recently tested Canva for presentations and wrote a whole detailed review of it here.

It's decent for presentations, but overall, it didn't sweep me off my feet.  

It simply doesn't come close to the advanced and very useful features of Gamma. If you already have a Canva subscription and you don't have to do presentations on a regular basis, it makes sense to stick to the horses you know. Otherwise, Gamma is a clever investment. 

Now, comparing Powerpoint to Canva is more like comparing a calculator to an LLM. Canva is much more versatile, modern and from this century (I just can't stop bashing Powerpoint, I'm sorry).

Canva's image generator integration saves a lot of time, just like the Magic write function that let's you translate or expand copy. When Microsoft shatters these features over there whole tool box instead of adding clever integrations, Canva includes it straight into its universe. Admittedly, sometimes finding the right application takes a bit of time as well. 

Let’s take a look at all AI capabilities:

Conclusion Canva vs. Powerpoint

Author Lili was a former Toastmasters president

So yes, Canva is much better than Powerpoint for presentations. Its many AI integrations and the automatic generation of slides based on a prompt will equip you with a much better starting point than Powerpoint. 

Also read:

• Big Comparison of presentation software