9 Best Pitch Deck Software for Founders in 2025 (Free & Paid Options)
Founders spend 40-80 hours creating pitch decks manually, yet productivity research shows specialized tools reduce creation time by 90% while improving quality through professional templates and AI assistance. Meanwhile, tracking-enabled platforms increase investor response rates by 32%.
Peony provides complete pitch deck infrastructure: AI-powered creation, professional sharing with slide-by-slide analytics, track investor engagement, and protect IP. Purpose-built for successful fundraising.
Here are the 9 best pitch deck software options for founders in 2025.
Quick Comparison
Software | Best For | AI Generation | Sharing Analytics | Custom Domain | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peony | Complete workflow | ✅ Yes | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Yes | $40/mo |
Beautiful.ai | Design focus | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | $12/mo |
Pitch | Team collaboration | ❌ No | ✅ Basic | ❌ No | $8-16/user |
Notion | Internal docs | ❌ No | ❌ No | ⚠️ Limited | Free-$10 |
Prezi | Dynamic presentations | ⚠️ Limited | ❌ No | ❌ No | Free-$15 |
Miro | Collaborative design | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | Free-$10 |
Slidebean | Startup templates | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | $29-49/mo |
Keynote | Mac users | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | Free (Mac) |
Figma | Design-first | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | Free-$15 |
Do You Need Specialized Software?
You DON'T necessarily need specialized tools if:
- Comfortable with PowerPoint/Keynote/Google Slides
- Have design skills
- Don't need analytics
- Internal use only
You DO benefit from specialized tools if:
- Want professional templates (save 20-40 hours)
- Need AI content generation (save 30-60 hours)
- Require investor tracking (increase response 32%)
- Lack design skills (quality improvement)
- Value collaboration features
- Need professional sharing
Bottom line: Tools accelerate and improve, but great content matters most.
1. Peony - Best Complete Solution
Why choose Peony:
AI pitch deck generation:
- One-click creation
- Professional templates
- Content suggestions
- Fast iteration (minutes vs. hours)
Advanced sharing:
- Secure link generation
- Track every slide view
- See time spent per slide
- Identify engaged investors
- Email verification
- Custom domains
Protection:
- Dynamic watermarks (investor email)
- Screenshot protection
- Access controls
- Link expiration
Analytics:
- Know who viewed
- Which slides interested them
- When to follow up
- Engagement scoring
Pricing:
- Pro: $40/month (all features included)
Best for: Founders wanting creation + sharing + analytics in one platform
2. Beautiful.ai - Best for Design
Strengths:
- Smart templates
- Auto-formatting
- Design consistency
- Easy to use
Limitations:
- No AI generation
- No sharing analytics
- No tracking
- Design-only focus
Pricing: $12/month
Best for: Design-focused founders with time to create
3. Pitch - Best for Team Collaboration
Strengths:
- Real-time collaboration
- Version control
- Team templates
- Basic analytics
Limitations:
- No AI generation
- Per-user pricing scales badly
- Limited sharing features
Pricing: $8-16/user/month
Best for: Teams creating together
4. Notion - Best for Documentation
Strengths:
- Flexible workspace
- Free tier generous
- Good for internal docs
- Team collaboration
Limitations:
- Not pitch deck specific
- No analytics
- Not investor-facing
- Basic presentation features
Pricing: Free-$10/user/month
Best for: Internal documentation, not final pitch decks
5. Prezi - Best for Dynamic Presentations
Strengths:
- Zooming interface
- Engaging presentation style
- Interactive elements
Limitations:
- Different format (not standard)
- Can be distracting
- No AI generation
- No tracking
Pricing: Free-$15/month
Best for: Demo/product presentations, not investor decks
6. Miro - Best for Brainstorming
Strengths:
- Infinite canvas
- Great for workshops
- Collaborative
- Visual thinking
Limitations:
- Not presentation format
- No AI
- No analytics
- Export required for sharing
Pricing: Free-$10/user/month
Best for: Ideation and planning, not final decks
7. Slidebean - Best Startup Templates
Strengths:
- Startup-specific templates
- AI formatting
- Content suggestions
- Tracking available (paid)
Limitations:
- Expensive ($29-49/month)
- Basic analytics
- Limited customization
Pricing: $29-49/month
Best for: First-time founders wanting templates + tracking
8. Apple Keynote - Best for Mac Users
Strengths:
- Free with Mac
- Beautiful templates
- Smooth animations
- Easy to use
Limitations:
- Mac/iOS only
- No AI generation
- No analytics
- No tracking
- Export required for sharing
Pricing: Free (Mac)
Best for: Mac users comfortable creating from scratch
9. Figma - Best for Designers
Strengths:
- Complete design control
- Collaborative
- Component systems
- Web-based
Limitations:
- Design tool, not presentation tool
- No AI
- No analytics
- Steep learning curve
- Export required
Pricing: Free-$15/user/month
Best for: Designer-founders wanting pixel-perfect control
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Creation Features
AI generation:
- Peony: ✅ One-click
- Slidebean: ⚠️ AI formatting
- Others: ❌ Manual
Templates:
- Beautiful.ai: ✅ Excellent
- Slidebean: ✅ Startup-focused
- Peony: ✅ Professional
- Pitch: ✅ Good
- Others: ⚠️ Basic
Ease of use:
- Peony: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Beautiful.ai: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Notion: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Keynote: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Others: ⭐⭐⭐
Sharing Features
Link sharing:
- All support, but quality varies
Analytics:
- Peony: ✅ Advanced (slide-by-slide)
- Slidebean: ✅ Good (paid)
- Pitch: ⚠️ Basic
- Others: ❌ None
Custom domains:
- Peony: ✅ Yes
- Others: ❌ No
Security:
- Peony: ✅ Enterprise (watermarks, screenshot protection)
- Others: ⚠️ Basic or none
Collaboration
Real-time editing:
- Pitch: ✅ Excellent
- Figma: ✅ Excellent
- Miro: ✅ Excellent
- Google Slides: ✅ Good
- Others: ⚠️ Limited
Version control:
- Pitch: ✅ Good
- Figma: ✅ Good
- Peony: ✅ Yes (sharing versions)
- Others: ⚠️ Basic
Recommended Workflow
For maximum efficiency:
Step 1: Create with AI
- Use Peony AI or ChatGPT + Gamma
- Generate initial structure (30 minutes)
- Get 80% complete
Step 2: Refine design
- Polish in Beautiful.ai or Keynote
- Add company specifics
- Customize visuals
- Final 20% quality
Step 3: Share with analytics
- Upload to Peony
- Configure security
- Generate trackable link
- Monitor engagement
Time savings: 90% vs. manual creation
Quality: Professional
Intelligence: Complete investor insights
Cost Analysis
Free options:
- Google Slides: Free but basic
- Keynote: Free (Mac) but no analytics
- Canva: Free tier limited
- Notion: Free but not pitch-specific
Best value:
- Peony: $40/month (creation + sharing + analytics)
- vs. Slidebean: $29-49/month (limited analytics)
- vs. DocSend: $300/month (sharing only, no creation)
Enterprise:
- Custom presentations: $2,000-$5,000 (one-time)
- Agency design: $3,000-$10,000
- DIY with tools: $40/month ongoing
Recommendation: Use combination of free creation (AI) + Peony sharing for best value and capability.
How Peony Completes the Workflow
Peony provides end-to-end pitch deck solution:
Creation:
- AI-powered deck generation
- Professional templates
- Fast iteration
Sharing:
- Secure link generation
- Custom branded domains
- Professional presentation
- Mobile-optimized
Intelligence:
- Slide-by-slide analytics
- Investor identification
- Engagement scoring
- Follow-up timing
Protection:
- Dynamic watermarks
- Screenshot protection
- Access controls
- IP protection
Result: Complete pitch deck infrastructure—create, share, track, protect.
Conclusion
Pitch deck software ranges from simple creation tools (Beautiful.ai, Keynote) to sharing platforms (DocSend) to complete solutions (Peony). For founders, combining AI creation (speed), professional design (quality), and analytics-enabled sharing (intelligence) delivers best outcomes.
Peony uniquely provides creation, sharing, analytics, and protection in one platform—enabling founders to create winning decks and track investor engagement comprehensively.
Complete pitch deck platform: Try Peony