Presentations · checked 2026-10-19

Can I vibecode MagicSlides?

YES· one-shottable

The core is a pipeline: read a topic, document or transcript, ask an LLM for an outline and slide text as JSON, and write the result into a PPTX with a handful of layouts. An agent builds that in one sitting with pptxgenjs and an API key, and the file opens in PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides. What you give up is range: MagicSlides ships hundreds of templates and design presets, and a home build looks plain unless you feed it your own colors and fonts. If you mostly want quick decks from notes, the open-source Presenton already does the same job and can be self-hosted.

$8/moprice per seat

$96you'd save a year

one sittingbuild time

—people replaced it

Before you start

What you need on hand.

DifficultyBeginner · No setup beyond your agent.

TimeOne sitting for the first version

Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
Node.js 22A plain npm install is enough; no native modules are needed.
An LLM API keyAny OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including a local model, works.
An image keyOptional. Without one you get clean colored layouts.

Before you buildMagicSlides lets you start free, though the allowance isn't published. A few decks a month may not justify paying or building.

1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.

The prompt

Build me a deck generator to replace MagicSlides. Requirements:

- Node.js 22 + TypeScript. A CLI: `deck "topic"`, `deck notes.md`, `deck paper.pdf`, `deck <web-url>`,
  `deck <youtube-url>`, each writing ./out/<title>.pptx. A small Hono page on http://localhost:4890 offers
  the same inputs and a download link.
- Input readers: plain text and Markdown, PDF (`pdf-parse`), web pages (`jsdom` + `@mozilla/readability`)
  and YouTube captions (`youtube-transcript`). Cut long input to a size the model accepts and say so.
- Outline: an OpenAI-compatible endpoint from .env (LLM_BASE_URL, LLM_API_KEY, LLM_MODEL) must return
  strict JSON, validated with `zod`: deck title, then slides, each with a layout (title, bullets,
  two-column, image-left, quote, big-number, closing), a title of at most 8 words, at most 5 bullets of
  at most 14 words, speaker notes and an image search query. Retry once on invalid JSON.
- Flags: --slides 10, --tone formal|casual, --lang en, --template brand.json (colors, fonts, logo path).
- Images: Unsplash or Pexels search with a key from .env, downloaded to ./cache with the credit written
  into the speaker notes. With no key, use plain colored layouts.
- Rendering: `pptxgenjs`, 16:9, one theme file with colors, fonts and positions, at least six layouts.
  Text must fit its box: shrink down to 18 pt, otherwise split the slide in two.
- Storage: ./cache holds image downloads and LLM answers keyed by a hash of the request, so re-running
  a deck costs nothing.
- Single user. No accounts, no telemetry, local-first. Outbound calls: your LLM, the image API, and the
  URL or video you asked for.
- Out of scope: a Google Slides add-on, an in-browser slide editor, charts, cloning slides from images.
- README: keys, the .pptx opens in PowerPoint, Keynote or by import into Google Slides, and a note that
  stock photos need attribution.

Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.

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Then keep going

Next prompts, same folder.

The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own MagicSlides.

Add slide-level editing to the deck generator in this folder. Requirements:

- Save each generated deck's JSON in ./data/decks/<id>.json along with the .pptx.
- A command `deck edit <id> --slide 4 "make this a two-column comparison"` that sends only
  that slide plus the deck title and neighbors to the LLM and replaces it with validated JSON.
- Re-render the whole file from the JSON, keeping cached images.
- Print a text diff of the slide before and after, and keep the previous .pptx as <id>.prev.pptx.
- Update the README.

Add chart slides to the deck generator in this folder. Requirements:

- Accept a CSV or XLSX file next to the topic; read it with `papaparse` or `exceljs`.
- The LLM may choose a `chart` layout with type (bar, line, pie), the columns to use and a one-line
  takeaway title; validate column names against the file and reject anything invented.
- Draw native, editable PowerPoint charts with `pptxgenjs`, not pictures.
- Limit a chart to 12 categories and 4 series; summarize the rest as "Other".
- Update the README with an example CSV.

Add PDF export to the deck generator in this folder. Requirements:

- After writing the .pptx, convert it with LibreOffice (`soffice --headless --convert-to pdf`) if it is
  installed; otherwise skip with one warning line.
- Check the PDF page count equals the slide count and print any slide whose text overflowed.
- A `--pdf-only` flag that deletes the .pptx afterwards.
- Update the README with the LibreOffice install step and the fonts the theme needs.

What you lose

The Google Slides add-on, Chrome extension, Figma plugin and ChatGPT, Zapier and Telegram integrations
200+ premium templates and 150+ design presets (Premium)
Cloning a slide from an image into an editable one
The iOS and Android apps
Chatting with a finished deck to edit it

Why people still pay

Students, teachers and consultants pay a few dollars to go from a document or video to an editable deck in Google Slides without choosing layouts. The saving is the layout work, and the Essential plan covers ten decks a month for eight dollars.

Moatexecution polish content & rights

Do the math

MagicSlides or your own copy?

Seats

Over

Your usage

Count my time3h ×$/h

MagicSlides, 1 yr$96

Your own copy, 1 yr$22running + build session

You keep$74pays for itself in the first month

Estimate · Runs on your machine. LLM calls for a ten-slide deck cost a few cents; photo APIs have free tiers. The build is token usage on your agent plan.

Leaving MagicSlides

Take your data, then cancel.

1 · Take your data out of MagicSlides

1No bulk export or deck-history download is documented in the help center: open each deck you want to keep and export it.
2Export as PDF, PowerPoint or Google Slides on any paid plan; Premium also exports PNG, JPG and HTML.
3Decks sent to Google Slides arrive in your own Google account: open one before you cancel to confirm it is an ordinary Slides file.
4Custom design systems and premium templates stay with MagicSlides.

2 · Cancel MagicSlides

1Open the Manage Subscription link in the footer of the pricing page (a Stripe billing portal).
2Enter the email you subscribed with and the one-time code sent to it.
3Cancel the subscription there; the plan stays active until the end of the current billing cycle.
4Email support@magicslides.app within 5 days of the first purchase of a plan if you want the refund.

A licence belongs to one Google account email, so cancel under the same address you bought with.
After an approved refund the account drops to the Free plan and data is kept for 30 days in case you resubscribe.
Renewals and plan upgrades are not refundable; pro-rated refunds may be possible on annual plans in the first 30 days.
Deleting your account is a separate help article and removes the information you provided and the presentations generated.

Checked 2026-10-19 against MagicSlides's docs: 1, 2, 3, 4

The escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These are already free.

PresentonOpen sourceApache-2.0 AI presentation generator and API; runs in Docker or as a desktop app with OpenAI, Gemini, Anthropic or local Ollama models.★ 11k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
Web, macOS, Windows, LinuxVisit ↗SlidevOpen sourceMIT Markdown-to-slides tool for developers with live code, themes and PDF export; no AI generation built in.★ 49k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
WebVisit ↗Marp CLIOpen sourceMIT command line that turns Markdown into HTML, PDF and PowerPoint slides.★ 3.9k · active Sep 2026 · one-click install
WebVisit ↗

All 4 free alternatives to MagicSlides ›

The numbers

MagicSlides pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual, per month	What you get
Essential	$8	$6.67	10 presentations a month, up to 10 slides each, no watermark, export to PDF, PowerPoint and Google Slides, 10 slide clones a month.
Pro	$16	$12.42	50 presentations a month, up to 15 slides each, 50 slide clones a month, same exports as Essential.
Premium	$29	$23.25	50 presentations a month with 50+ slides, 200+ premium templates, 150+ design presets, premium AI models, export to PPTX, PDF, PNG, JPG and HTML, password-protected sharing with view analytics, WhatsApp support.

Free tier: Not published on the pricing page. Third-party reviews mention about three presentations a month, which I could not confirm.
Billing: Monthly or yearly (yearly saves 17%). A licence is one Google account email. Cancel through the Stripe billing portal; the plan stays active to the end of the cycle. Refunds only within 5 days of the first purchase of a plan tier, with a pro-rated refund possible on annual plans in the first 30 days; renewals and upgrades are not refundable.
Hidden costs: AI-generated images are marked as an add-on on Essential and Pro. Presentation counts reset each month, and slide totals are capped (100 on Essential, 750 on Pro). A one-time 'Done By Us' designer service costs $99.
Source: www.magicslides.app

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Questions

MagicSlides, briefly

Not answered here? Tell us and we'll add it.

Ask a question ›

The pricing page lists no free plan, but the homepage invites you to start free and the refund policy mentions a Free plan. The allowance isn't published.

Yes. An AI coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor can build a usable personal version in one session with the prompt on this page, running on your own machine.

About $8 a month on the Essential plan per seat, $96 a year (checked 2026-10-19).

The Google Slides add-on, Chrome extension, Figma plugin and ChatGPT, Zapier and Telegram integrations; 200+ premium templates and 150+ design presets (Premium); Cloning a slide from an image into an editable one; The iOS and Android apps; Chatting with a finished deck to edit it. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.