Design and diagrams decision
Slides.com
A capable developer can build a narrow Slides replacement (editing, exporting, sharing, simple live-present) in a multi-week effort, but reproducing Slides' AI features, team/enterprise polish, and integrations would be costly—so keep paying for full product if you need those.
Visit website↗$7/mo
$84/yr
Read off the official pricing page.
$100one-off80 h to build
$50/mo8 h/mo upkeep
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 9 seats.
Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All Slides.com alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Create and edit slide decks in a web editor, save decks to a database, export decks as self-contained HTML (reveal.js), and share view links (public/private) with basic presentation playback.
What it still won’t have
- Built-in proprietary AI assistant and 1-click AI slide generation (requires separate model integration)
- Team/enterprise features like SSO, shared media libraries, locked slides, and priority support
- Built-in analytics and Google Analytics integration
- Polish around hundreds of templates, search integrations (Unsplash/GIPHY), and wide device testing
- MCP integration and any proprietary developer features offered by Slides
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 9 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a minimal Slides-like web app using React for the frontend, Node.js/Express for the API, Postgres for storage, and deploy on DigitalOcean or Vercel. In scope: (1) a WYSIWYG slide editor that stores decks as HTML/CSS and supports Markdown import; (2) user auth (email/password) and per-deck access controls; (3) export-to-zip producing a self-contained reveal.js HTML bundle; (4) shareable public/private links with optional password and expiry; (5) simple live presentation via WebSocket (remote control + live cursor); (6) automated backups and basic tests for editor save/load, export, link access, and WebSocket controls. Out of scope: multi-tenant enterprise SSO, AI slide-generation, analytics dashboards, and extensive template libraries. Include error handling, input validation, database migrations, CI tests for core workflows, and deployment scripts (Docker + Kubernetes or managed app service).
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- An open-source build was found+5
- 4 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score67
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 4
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productSlides – Professional presentations. From draft to delivery.
- official pricingPricing and Plans | Slides
- official docsFeatures | Slides
- open sourcedream-num/univer
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.