AI presentation makers for students: five tools and what is free

By the tiswa editorial team, from the official sources listed at the end of this guide. How we write our guides

One prompt and Gamma gives you ten slides. The trouble starts after that: the free credits run out, Copilot wants a Microsoft 365 licence, and Gemini in Google Slides works in English only for now. We read the official pages of five tools that work as a free AI presentation maker and wrote down exactly what they say, then a routine that makes the deck worth the grade, not just tidy.

What is the best free AI presentation maker?

Is Gamma free for students?

Gamma's pricing page says the free plan needs no credit card and includes:

• 400 credits at sign-up.¹
• Up to 10 slides per prompt.
• Simple presentations, docs and websites.
• Import from PDF and PPTX.
• Export to PDF, PPTX, PNG and Google Slides.

The Plus plan adds 1,000 monthly credits, up to 100 slides per prompt and removes Gamma branding. For a student, the free credits cover a deck or two. Export to PowerPoint and finish editing there.

Can Canva make a presentation with AI?

Canva's presentations page says Guided Presentations turn a prompt into a personalised, ready-to-edit deck, and you can export slides as PowerPoint, PDF, a video slideshow or a Canva website. Group members can work on the same deck with comments and real-time editing.

On its student page, Canva says university students start on Canva Free and may be eligible for free Pro features through Canva for Campus.³ That offer is on tiswa:

• Canva: Canva offers Canva Pro free through Canva for Campus to university students in Saudi Arabia.

How do you use Copilot in PowerPoint?

Microsoft's support page says you may not see Copilot if it is not included in your Microsoft 365 subscription.⁴ If it is:

1. Start a new presentation

   Open PowerPoint and create a new deck. If your department uses a template, start from it so Copilot keeps its design.

2. Open Copilot

   Select the Copilot icon at the bottom right of the screen.

3. Describe the deck

   Type what you want in the prompt box.

4. Answer its questions

   Copilot may ask about the audience, length, design and imagery. You can skip them and let it decide.

What does Office include for students? See Office for students.

Can Gemini make slides in Google Slides?

Google's help page says generating presentations with Gemini in Slides requires an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan, sits in Google Workspace Experiments, and is currently available on desktop and in English only.⁵ Its strength is a presentation plan with an overview, sources and an outline per slide, which you edit before you select Approve. You can add Drive files as references or upload an existing deck to match its style.

If your presentation is in Arabic, this tool does not fit yet.

Gemini Notebook: slides from your sources only

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) can generate a slide deck from the files you uploaded. You choose the format, output language, length and sources, then present it in the app or share it as a PDF. Google says the feature is for users over 18 and that decks may contain visual or factual inaccuracies.⁶ Full details are in NotebookLM for students.

A prompt that works in any tool

Create a [number]-slide presentation on [topic] for [course].
Audience: [my professor and second-year classmates].
Length: [10] minutes.
Structure: title slide, the problem or question, [3] main ideas with one slide each, one Saudi example, a conclusion, references.
On each slide: a clear title and three bullet points at most, plus speaker notes.
Design: simple with calm colours, no images containing text.

What should you check before you present?

• Check every number and fact. All of these tools warn that generated content can contain mistakes.
• Write speaker notes in your own words. Your professor will ask questions the slides do not answer.
• Do not use generated images for data or charts. Build charts from real data.
• Check the course policy on AI use, and read AI detection at university.
• Export a PDF backup so the deck opens on any classroom computer.

Example: from a 20-page report to a 10-slide deck

You have a long course report and ten minutes to present it. Do not paste the whole report and ask for a deck; you usually get slides crammed with text. Work in this order:

1. Write the one message

   What sentence should the audience remember afterwards? Write it yourself before any tool.

2. Ask for a structure only

   Ask for ten slide titles with one idea under each, no design.

3. Edit the structure yourself

   Cut any slide that does not serve the message, and add an example or figure from your report.

4. Generate the design next

   Move the structure into the presentation tool and ask for little text and one image or chart per slide.

5. Check every slide

   Verify each number and source, and replace any image unrelated to the topic.

Practise the questions before presentation day

Once the deck is ready, paste the slide text into a chat tool and ask it to play your professor: five hard questions on the content, then two on your sources. Answer aloud as if you were in the room. This exposes the parts you do not understand well, which are usually the parts the tool wrote and you did not review.

What mistakes show up in AI-made decks?

• Slides full of paragraphs: one idea per slide, and the explanation comes from your voice.
• Inconsistent Arabic fonts or text in the wrong direction. Check every Arabic slide after generating.
• Generated images of real people or places that look like documentation. Use them only as illustration.
• Running over time: allow about a minute per slide and rehearse once with a timer. More in presentation tips.

More design tools are in design software for students, the full list is in AI tools for students, and every offer is in student deals.