Table of Contents
- Canva Review – User-Friendly and Affordable
- Benefits of Canva
- Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Lightshot
- Pricing
- 3D Object Support
- Animation Options
- Offline Editing
- Customizable Templates
- What Do the Customers Think?
- Best Affordable Presentation Program
- Microsoft Powerpoint Review – Feature-Packed and Robust
- Benefits of Microsoft Powerpoint
- Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Microsoft Powerpoint
- Pricing
- 3D Object Support
- Animation Options
- Offline Editing
- Customizable Templates
- What Do the Customers Think?
- Best Feature-Packed Presentation Program
- Canva vs Powerpoint – Buyers’ Guide
- Pricing
- 3D Object Support
- Animation Options
- Offline Editing
- Customizable Templates
- Final Verdict
Microsoft Powerpoint has been the leader when it comes to presentation programs for decades now.
However, Canva is an online graphic design service that has been giving Microsoft Powerpoint a run for its money in recent years.
In this post, we’ll go over both programs and analyze which one’s better for you as an online course creator.
| Features | Canva | Powerpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | 4 and a half stars | 3 stars |
| 3D object support | 0 stars | 5 stars |
| Animation options | 4 stars | 4 and a half stars |
| Offline editing | 0 stars | 4 and a half stars |
| Customizable templates | 5 stars | 4 stars |
We’ve given you a brief overview of what each product has to offer. Now, let’s analyze them further to determine which one could be more suitable for you.
Canva Review – User-Friendly and Affordable
Canva is an online graphic design service that can be used for a number of different things but its most popular use is to make presentations similar to Microsoft Powerpoint.
Canva has a free version that you can utilize which may just be enough for you as an online course creator if your slides are going to be fairly simple.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Drag-and-Drop functionality • Custom fonts and icons are aesthetically pleasing • Huge library of customizable templates • Pro version is also quite affordable • Free version available |
• Doesn’t support video. |
Benefits of Canva
As mentioned earlier, you may not even need to subscribe to the pro plan if you’re just making regular, simple slides for your online course.
However, even if you need premium features such as access to more than 75 million templates and a one-click background remover, it’s going to cost you just $12.99 per month.
If you choose to pay annually, this cost will go down to $9.99 per month. We feel this is quite affordable in comparison to the value you’re provided.
Canva’s drag-and-drop functionality makes it very simple to use and all icons and images snap to the middle of the page in order to align themselves properly.
Furthermore, Canva’s template library is huge and all these templates are aesthetically pleasing and modern unlike Powerpoint’s which sometimes feel outdated.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Lightshot
Pricing
Canva’s prices are reasonable for online course creators.
You could get by with its free version but if your slides require more features, then Canva’s pro plan only costs $12.99 per month or $9.99 per month if you choose to pay annually.
3D Object Support
Unlike Microsoft Powerpoint, Canva does not have support for creating and manipulating 3D objects yet.
If your online course slides require 3D objects to be inserted into them, then Canva may not be the right choice.
Animation Options
Similar to Microsoft Powerpoint, Canva has a ton of options when it comes to animating certain objects or images within your slides.
You can choose from different animations and also customize different aspects of them such as speed, transparency, etc.
Offline Editing
As mentioned earlier, Canva is an online graphic design service. This means it needs a constant internet connection in order to auto-save as well as load elements, images, fonts, etc.
If you don’t have a stable internet connection, then Canva may not be suitable for you.
Customizable Templates
This is actually an aspect where we think Canva is leagues better than Microsoft Powerpoint.
While Powerpoint also offers a library of customizable templates, they often seem outdated.
Canva, on the other hand, has more than 75 million customizable templates, most of which feel very up-to-date with modern aesthetics.
What Do the Customers Think?
People love Canva’s variety of templates as well as how easy it is to download your complete file in different formats and qualities.
The features in the Pro plan such as the one-click background remover for images is also very appreciated by its users.
Some reviews we came across had the following to say:
Best Affordable Presentation Program
The best affordable presentation program is Canva thanks to its free version as well as the pro version which is fairly budget-friendly. The amount of value it offers in the form of customizable templates and easy-to-use tools for the price is unparalleled.
Microsoft Powerpoint Review – Feature-Packed and Robust
Powerpoint from Microsoft has been the benchmark for presentation programs for decades now. It’s something that’s being constantly emulated by its competitors and for good reason.
Powerpoint offers a robust and easy-to-use interface that is attractive to both veterans as well as beginners.
Beginners that want a simple experience can find it with Powerpoint’s surface-level tools which are fairly self-explanatory.
On the other hand, if you want more control over your presentation, then more advanced features such as 3D object manipulation, transitions, and animations are also available.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Fully integrated with Excel and Word • Easy collaboration features • Presentation coaching tool available for beginners • Easy to use transitions and animation effects • Diverse array of templates |
• Relatively expensive |
Benefits of Microsoft Powerpoint
Microsoft has been improving Powerpoint for several years now to the point where it’s become a near-flawless software when it comes to creating presentations.
There were complaints in the past about the interface being too cluttered and clunky but in recent years, Microsoft has amended this by having different tools in properly allocated tabs.
This makes them very easy to find and it’s simple even for beginners to navigate through the interface.
It also features transitions and animations for objects, images, and slides which give your presentations a unique kick to them and prevent them from feeling static and boring.
The Design Ideas feature is also great since it gives you suggestions based on the current state of your slide.
This gives you an opportunity to break from convention and design your slides in a way that compels your students.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Microsoft Powerpoint
Pricing
If you’d like to buy Microsoft Powerpoint as a stand-alone application, then you will have to pay a one-time fee of $109.99.
Alternatively, you can choose to buy a subscription to the Microsoft 365 suite which costs about $69.99 per year.
This would contain other Microsoft tools in addition to Powerpoint such as Word and Excel.
It can be a good idea to go for the subscription since the other tools can also help you in different aspects of online course creation.
3D Object Support
Unlike Canva, Microsoft Powerpoint does support 3D objects and has extensive options to manipulate them and place them within your slides in different ways.
Animation Options
Animations and transitions within Powerpoint are easy to implement and you can choose from a wide array of them to suit your needs.
Unlike Canva, Microsoft Powerpoint also has options to put in transitions for when you move to the next or previous slide.
Canva only has options for transitions for images, icons, and elements within the slides, not the slides themselves.
Offline Editing
Microsoft Powerpoint is a desktop app so, you don’t need a working internet connection to make presentations on it.
The only time you’d need an internet connection is if you collaborate on a presentation with someone. This will most likely not be the case since you will have to work alone on your online course.
Customizable Templates
Microsoft Powerpoint comes with a wide array of customizable templates as well as icons and fonts to choose from.
That being said, we do feel that a lot of the templates look fairly outdated.
What Do the Customers Think?
People who use Powerpoint have most probably been doing so for years and stand by it through-and-through.
They love how friendly its user interface has become as well as how easy it is to apply unique transitions to their slides as well as the elements within the slides.
Here’s what some of the reviews we found had to say:
Best Feature-Packed Presentation Program
The best feature-packed presentation program is Microsoft Powerpoint thanks to its extensive animation, transition, and 3D object manipulation features. You can utilize all it has to offer to create dynamic slides that will be extremely engaging for your students.
Canva vs Powerpoint – Buyers’ Guide
Pricing
As an online course creator that has not yet started selling their course to students, you will most likely not have a lot of money to work with.
Thus, it’s important that you go for a presentation program that does not cost much.
We recommend that you buy a tool that costs below $60 if it’s a one-time purchase or below $15 per month if it has a monthly subscription.
3D Object Support
This may not be a necessity unless your course topic demands it.
If you’re making an online course about 3D modeling, for example, then you’re definitely going to need a presentation program that supports 3D objects.
Animation Options
This may seem insignificant but elegant animation and transition effects can play a crucial role in keeping your students engaged.
Course presentations that are static and just move from one slide to the next can get very boring very quickly.
Thus, you should look for a program that has dynamic transitions which can make your presentations much more compelling.
Offline Editing
If you don’t have a reliable internet connection, then you should definitely opt for a presentation program that is able to operate at its fullest potential offline.
However, if you have a stable internet connection, this isn’t something you’ll have to worry about.
Customizable Templates
Customizable templates can be crucial in terms of making course slides that are pleasing to look at and thus, engaging.
Be sure to go for a program that offers a wide library of templates that you can choose from.
Final Verdict
While Canva and Powerpoint are both great presentation programs, we feel Powerpoint is better overall if you want to make significantly dynamic slides.
It has much better options for transitions and animation and also supports 3D objects.
Let us know which one of these programs you prefer in the comments below.