Keynote vs PowerPoint: The Best Presentation Tools Compared

When you're preparing for a presentation, you'll have many choices to make when it comes to the visual part of your presentation. What slides should you include? What theme should you use to make an impact on the audience?

But maybe the most significant decision to make is choosing the presentation app that you'll use to craft your presentation. Arguably the two most popular tools in the presentation software space are:

Apple Keynote
Microsoft PowerPoint.

PowerPoint has long been the king of presentation apps. But Keynote has gained a lot of traction thanks to its ease-of-use and growth of macOS users. In this article, we'll look at Keynote versus PowerPoint. Which app should you use, and should everyone make the same decision when it comes to choosing a presentation tool?

Let's face it: both apps are solid choices. Let's start by taking a look at some of the most robust features of the two apps, and then learn why you might choose PowerPoint vs Keynote.

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Now let's focus on Keynote vs PowerPoint.

Why You Should Use Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint has long been the leader in presentation software. The term "PowerPoint" is practically synonymous with slide deck! Getting its start back in 1987, the company that made PowerPoint was quickly acquired by Microsoft. Since then, Microsoft has had more than 30 years to refine, update, and evolve its ubiquitous presentation tool.

Here are three of the key features that might lead you to choose PowerPoint versus Keynote for your next big presentation.

1. Familiarity Leads to Productivity

Whether it was your employer or the classes you took in school, you probably found yourself using the Microsoft Office suite of apps.

Simply put, PowerPoint might be the right choice for you just because it's the tool that you're already familiar with. If you've got experience in PowerPoint, the last thing you should spend your time doing is learning an entirely new app (Keynote) for your presentation.

PowerPoint ribbon example — PowerPoint's Ribbon is the same style you'll find throughout all the Office apps and crams many tools into a compact interface.

If you've used any of the Microsoft Office apps in recent years, you'll be familiar with the ribbon menu structure. Microsoft's "ribbon" puts all the tools at the top of the app. The tools are organized similarly across all apps in Office, so it's easy to jump back and forth between them.

Preparing for a presentation takes many steps:

writing the content
building supporting slides
rehearsing your delivery

When time is of the essence, stick with the tool that you know so that you've got more time to write content.

2. It's a Commonly Accepted Tool

The best presentation is one that your colleagues can open. If everyone around you is using PowerPoint, it's a tough sell to get them to convert with you.

Let's face it: PowerPoint is deeply entrenched in many environments. If your office is full of Microsoft Office users, you likely won't make any friends by sending .keynote files that are difficult to open.

Ultimately, you've got to use tools that help with collaboration. Even though you can switch between the tools, not everyone wants to learn an entirely new app just to put together a new presentation.

To its credit, Keynote has come a long way in working with PPTX and PPT formats. You can open these up in PowerPoint and convert them back and forth, but the bottom line is that these are extra steps in producing a presentation. And each switch between apps require converting, exporting, and importing.

Keynote also does offer the ability to convert presentations out to native PowerPoint formats. Check out the tutorials below to learn more about how you can convert between apps:

In short, PowerPoint's advantage is that it's entrenched. You might have to use it because that's what everyone around you is using.

3. Integration With Microsoft Office

This last advantage is one that has me using PowerPoint for advanced presentations that include a lot of data. Because PowerPoint is deeply integrated into the Microsoft Office suite, it works beautifully with Microsoft Excel. If you're frequently building charts and graphs or embedding data, this is a big plus.

While Keynote includes integration with Numbers (Apple's spreadsheet app), the tie-in between PowerPoint and Excel is hard to beat. Microsoft has long found its way into the boardroom of major companies for key financial presentations. It's no surprise that illustrative charts and graphs are a key feature.

Double line chart — The Social Media Trends PowerPoint theme is available via Envato Elements. It features the types of charts that might sway you toward using PowerPoint.

If you find yourself building complex charts and graphs, you might turn to PowerPoint as your presentation tool of choice. It owes this advantage to deep integration with Excel, the heavyweight champion of efficiently working with data.

Why You Should Use Apple Keynote

Now that we've covered some of the advantages of Microsoft PowerPoint, let's go back to for Keynote. Here are three of my favorite features that find me using Keynote in my day-to-day work:

1. Advanced Animations

When it comes to animations, less is more when you're building a presentation. But a few well-placed animations can help unveil key points or draw the audience's attention to significant points in your presentation.

I use both apps, and I feel that animations are much more intuitive in Keynote. It's easier to add animations, re-sequence them as needed, and tweak the animation styles.

In general, I find the Keynote animation approach to be more flexible. PowerPoint features the option to add animations, but it takes a bit more work; and if you want to make changes, it takes more time.

To see how easy it can be to add animations in Keynote, check out the two tutorials below:

2. Built With Designers in Mind

Apple's apps have long been built with designers in mind, and Keynote is no exception. If you've got a background in design-driven apps like Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, you'll find yourself right at home working in Keynote.

A few design tools that lead me to prefer Keynote include:

Alignment. As you drag elements around on your Keynote slide, the guides help you create visual rhythm. PowerPoint has some of these same features, but Keynote feels like a better implementation.
Advanced typographic tools. Align, adjust, and work with typography efficiently in Keynote all in one panel.
Easy-to-create rulers. Rulers help you set guides on edges and boundaries of your presentation, and they're a crucial feature of Keynote's design approach.

In this slide featuring Buro from Envato Elements you can see all of the typographic tools live in one panel on the right side of Keynote. — In this slide featuring Buro from Envato Elements you can see all the typographic tools live in one panel on the right side of Keynote.

3. You Play Solely in Apple's Ecosystem

I live a split life. My day job has me working entirely in the Windows and Microsoft Office ecosystem. But outside of work, you'll find me with an iPhone, iPad, and two Macs within arm's reach most of the time.

So, it's safe to say that I'm steeped in the Apple ecosystem, at least when I've got a choice. And for someone like me, it's practically a no-brainer to use Keynote because it works so well across those many devices.

The iOS version of Keynote feels very close to the desktop experience and is one of the reasons why I prefer it for personal presentations. If you're presenting your slides on the go, the iPad app might be the reason you go with Keynote.

Sure, Microsoft PowerPoint has mobile apps that have come a long way. But for Keynote, it feels like the mobile apps are a significant focus of the core product.

What Both Apps Do Well

Because productivity is important to both Apple and Microsoft, Keynote and PowerPoint are well-maintained apps by their respective owners.

Thanks to constant development by both companies, the gaps have closed between the two apps. Here are two overlapping aspects that make both tools a great choice:

1. Deep Libraries of Premium Templates

Unfortunately, both apps have a limited number of styles that you can apply to a presentation built in. Fortunately, talented designers have built thousands of templates that you can use to bring variety and

The best place to find these is on Envato Elements, an all-you-can-download service for creatives. With a single simple license, you've got access to over 4,000 different presentation templates for PowerPoint or Keynote as you can see in the screenshot below.

Presentation Templates on Envato Elements — The Envato Elements library includes more than 4,000 starter templates that you can use in PowerPoint and Keynote to develop beautiful presentations.

Because both apps have a significant userbase, you can benefit from the deep library of templates that are out there. Start with one of these to reduce the amount of time you spend prepping slides.

2. Web-Based Versions of the App

More and more apps are headed to the web. For developers, this makes perfect sense; instead of building and maintaining apps for multiple platforms, a web-based version is a single way of building an app that works for everyone.

Google started the wave of productivity apps in the browser with their suite of tools like Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Microsoft and Apple have luckily followed suit by bringing their tools to a web browser.

Keynote in the Web Browser — Keynote is more than capable in the web browser, and Microsoft's PowerPoint is equally capable.

The web-based version of these tools also helps you bridge the gap when your counterparts have strong preferences for the opposite app. You can include anyone in working with your presentation if you invite them to your presentation to edit them in the cloud.

More importantly: these tools are free! They help bridge ensure cross compatibility because anyone with a web browser can jump in and contribute.

5 Best PowerPoint and Keynote Presentation Templates from Envato Elements in 2023

After learning more about Keynote vs. PowerPoint, you’ll need a template for your presentation. Whether you’ve chosen Keynote or PowerPoint, Envato Elements has templates for both. Here are some of the best PowerPoint and Keynote presentations templates:

1. Mini PowerPoint

The Mini PowerPoint template comes with 110 unique slides that you can add text and images on. It also comes with 40 color scheme options which give you creativity. If you've got data, you can use the charts, timelines, and tables to display it.

2. Alus PowerPoint

Alus PowerPoint template comes with 10 PPTX. Each one is a different color scheme. Plus, it comes with infographics and illustrations that you can use to emphasize important points. Easily add an image to your slide by dragging and dropping an image into the picture placeholder on the slide.

3. Inspirational PowerPoint

This template comes with over 58 unique slides to add text or images. Also, it comes with both light and dark versions. The inspirational PowerPoint template comes with a professional and modern style that'll work with most presentation topics.

4. Clover Keynote

Clover Keynote template can only be used in Keynote. The minimalist design style can be used for both professional and creative purposes. It comes with over 50 slides that you can add your information on.

5. BOLO Keynote

Bolo Keynote template comes with 45 creative slides. This template is a good option if you’re looking for a template for your creative presentation. It also comes with thousands of icon that you can use. The template comes in 16:9 format.

Find More PowerPoint and Keynote Templates

Didn’t see a template that suited your needs? Check out these articles that feature more templates:

Keep Learning

In this tutorial, we pitted Apple Keynote versus Microsoft PowerPoint. These days, Keynote and PowerPoint are so advanced that they're both excellent choices for building a presentation. It comes down to the tool you're familiar with and the systems that you work with the most.

To see other presentation app comparisons and learn more about the leading solutions, check out the articles below:

We also have the perfect complement to this tutorial, which will teach you about the complete presentation process. The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations is available for free. This guide will help your next presentation stand out.

PowerPoint vs Keynote: Which Should You Choose?

So far, we've highlighted some of the key advantages that each app brings to the table. You might be wondering how to choose between the two tools and ultimately which one might be right for you.

In short, I typically use Keynote when I know that I'm going to deliver the presentation myself. I'm firmly entrenched in the macOS / iOS environment, and that makes it an easy choice for me. If I know I'm going to own the presentation file from start to finish, I typically recommend Keynote as a user-friendly choice to build presentation decks.

But PowerPoint might be the right choice if you're in a corporate environment that uses Microsoft Office. Another reason to choose PowerPoint might be if you're working with datasets that'll be charted and graphed. Excel and PowerPoint combo features more depth in how you can work with data.

Again, either app is a solid choice these days. There's no definitive choice or one size fits all app to choose. It comes down to comfort, and how you'll collaborate with others.

You've just learned about Keynote vs PowerPoint. Which presentation app do you find yourself choosing most often? What features make you choose it versus another alternative?

Editor's Note: This tutorial was first published in December of 2018. It's been updated for accuracy by Sarah Joy.