TL;DR: Pick Gamma if you want a standalone tool that turns a prompt into a polished, web-native deck, doc or site — Free gives you 400 credits once, then Plus is $9/mo billed annually. Pick SlidesAI if your work already lives in Google Slides or PowerPoint and you just want AI to draft inside that file — Basic is free for 12 presentations a year, then Pro is $10/mo billed annually. They solve the same first-draft problem in opposite places.
Prices checked November 8, 2026, against each vendor’s pricing page. This is a research-based comparison — no hands-on testing claims, no affiliate links.
Gamma vs SlidesAI at a glance
| Feature | Gamma | SlidesAI | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Standalone AI builder for presentations, docs, sites and social posts | AI add-on that builds presentations inside Google Slides and PowerPoint, plus a web app | Depends on workflow |
| Free plan | $0 — 400 AI credits at signup, up to 10 slides per prompt, Gamma branding on exports | $0 Basic — 12 presentations per year, 2,500 characters per presentation, 120 AI credits per year | Gamma for trying, SlidesAI for occasional use |
| First paid plan | Plus $9/mo billed annually ($12 monthly) — 1,000 credits/mo, up to 100 slides per prompt, branding removed | Pro $10/mo billed annually ($120/year; about $12 monthly) — 120 presentations/year, 6,000 characters, 600 credits/year, document upload | Tie on price |
| Higher tier | Pro $18/mo billed annually ($25 monthly) — 4,000 credits/mo, premium image models, analytics, custom domains; Ultra $90/mo | Premium $20.83/mo billed annually ($250/year; about $25 monthly) — unlimited presentations, 12,000 characters, 1,200 credits/year | Gamma |
| Where the deck lives | On Gamma, shared as a web link; exports to PDF, PowerPoint, PNG and Google Slides | In your own Google Slides or PowerPoint file from the start | SlidesAI for file ownership |
| Best for | Founders, marketers and teachers who want a finished-looking deck fast | Teachers, students and Slides users who need a draft in a familiar editor | — |
What the pricing page doesn’t make obvious
Gamma: the free 400 credits are a one-time grant at signup — they never refresh monthly. Once they are gone, AI generation stops until you upgrade or earn referral credits. Most roundups describe 400 credits as if it were a monthly allowance; it is not.
SlidesAI: its caps are quoted per year, not per month. Basic’s 12 presentations and 120 credits, and Pro’s 120 presentations and 600 credits, are annual allowances. Pro looks like “10 decks a month” only if you spread the annual quota evenly.
How Gamma works
Gamma starts from a prompt, an outline, pasted text or an imported file and generates a card-based deck you can restyle in one click. Because the output is web-native, decks can include live embeds and analytics on who viewed a shared link, and the same account also makes documents, simple websites and social posts. If you have compared it with other standalone builders, see our Gamma vs Canva comparison and Gamma vs Beautiful.ai comparison for where it sits in that field.
The trade-off is lock-in at the editing stage: you design in Gamma’s editor, not in PowerPoint, and the free plan keeps Gamma branding on exports. Paid plans remove the branding and raise the per-prompt limit from 10 slides to 100.
How SlidesAI works
SlidesAI installs into Google Slides (with PowerPoint support) and generates slides from a topic, notes or a document directly into a native deck. You keep editing with the tools you already know, and the file lives in your Drive like any other presentation. Our earlier SlidesAI.io review covers its template and editing flow in detail.
The trade-off is input size and design range. Even Premium caps input at 12,000 characters per presentation, so long source documents must be trimmed or split, and the visual result is a conventional slide deck — less distinctive than Gamma’s web-native cards, but immediately familiar to anyone who opens it.
Which should you pick?
Pick Gamma if: you start from an idea rather than a file, you share decks as links, or you also need docs and simple sites from the same tool. Plus at $9/mo billed annually is the sensible entry point once the one-time free credits run out.
Pick SlidesAI if: your school or company runs on Google Slides or PowerPoint, the deck must be a native file others can edit without a new account, or you only make a deck or two a month — in which case even the free Basic plan, at 12 presentations a year, may be enough.
Bottom line: Gamma is the better standalone presentation maker; SlidesAI is the better add-on. Pay for the one that matches where the finished deck has to live.
Frequently asked questions
Is Gamma free?
Yes, with 400 AI credits granted once at signup and up to 10 slides per prompt. The credits do not refill monthly, and free exports carry Gamma branding.
Is SlidesAI free?
Yes. The Basic plan is $0 and includes 12 presentations per year, 2,500 characters per presentation and 120 AI credits per year — roughly one deck a month.
Does SlidesAI work with PowerPoint?
Yes — SlidesAI lists Google Slides, PowerPoint, ChatGPT and a web app as supported surfaces, though Google Slides remains its primary home.
Can Gamma export to PowerPoint?
Yes. Gamma exports to PDF, PowerPoint, PNG and Google Slides, including on the free plan, though free exports carry Gamma branding.
Prices checked November 8, 2026. Research-based comparison; no hands-on testing claims.