Beautiful.ai vs Ludus (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Ludus grades higher than Beautiful.ai: 2.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Beautiful.ai grades higher on platforms. Ludus grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Beautiful.ai
Presentation software with auto-formatting Smart Slides
Ludus
Browser-based collaborative presentation tool aimed at design teams
Which one is for you
Pick Beautiful.ai if
- Fits if you have no design skills and want slides that format themselves
- Works for teams that need every deck in the same colors, fonts and logo
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to try before handing over a card, as the trial needs one and charges it at the end
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $45 for Pro against $14.50 on annual billing
- Not for you if you present without internet, because it's browser only and offline means an export
- Watch out: Team's $40 covers 3 users on the plan card but is per user in the FAQ on the same page
- Pricey if your company wants everyone on it, as the flat plans are $6,000 a year for 50 staff and $12,000 for 100
Pick Ludus if
- Fits if a small design team works on decks together
- Makes sense if you want every feature on one plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there is only a 30-day trial
- Watch out: the price for teams of 16 or more is not readable
- Watch out: the monthly-billed price is not shown
- Skip it if you want desktop or phone apps, as only web is listed
How we grade them
| 1.8GPABeautiful.aiWeak | 2.0GPALudusFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DThe only one-person plan is Pro at $14.50 a month billed annually, against a $9.99 middle and a $12.99 dear quarter for presentation tools. Pay monthly and it's $45. Team is $40 a month billed annually, and the pricing page can't agree whether that covers 3 users or 1. | C$14.90 per user a month billed annually, at the dearer quarter's edge. Annual billing pays for 9 months of 12. |
| Free plan and trial | DNo permanent free plan. The 14-day trial of Pro or Team needs a credit card, and the card is charged when the trial ends unless you cancel in time. Students with a verified .edu email do get a year of Pro free. | C30-day trial with no card, and no free plan. |
| Features | CSmart Slides: 300-plus layouts that keep spacing and alignment in order, AI that drafts a deck from your files with an outline to approve first, brand themes, viewer analytics and PowerPoint export. But it's browser-only, and its answer for presenting offline is to export a file. | COne plan with every feature, unlimited members and storage. It links Unsplash, Giphy, Dropbox and Google Drive, and is web only. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and the work is still yours: build the deck, pick a theme, set up the brand. The layouts do the lining-up, which is the whole pitch for people who can't design, but nothing here gets you going faster than its rivals do. | CNo store rating is on record. You build the deck from scratch. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA browser app with no phone or desktop version. It connects to Claude, ChatGPT, Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, Smartsheet and Airtable, and an add-in brings the layout engine into PowerPoint itself. Offline means exporting a PDF or PowerPoint file. | CWeb only, with Dropbox and Google Drive. |
| Best for | slides that tidy themselves as you type | presentation work shared by a design team |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Beautiful.ai and Ludus. How we grade
Price against what you get
Beautiful.ai starts at $14.50 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Ludus starts at $14.90 a month for each person and scores 2.0.
Beautiful.ai scores higher and starts $0.40 a month lower. Of the other presentation tools on the chart, 12 score higher than Beautiful.ai for less, and 32 score higher than Ludus for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| Beautiful.ai | Ludus | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $14.50 per month, billed annually (Pro) | $14.90 per user / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Pro or Team; a credit card is required and is charged when the trial ends. | 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Beautiful Slides, Inc. | Ludus N, Inc. |
| Price read from | beautiful.ai | ludus.one |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Beautiful.ai
- There is no permanent free plan; the 14-day trial needs a credit card, which is charged unless the trial is canceled in time.
- Paying monthly costs far more for one person: Pro is $45 a month billed monthly against $14.50 a month billed annually.
- The pricing page is inconsistent on Team: the plan card shows $40 a month including 3 users, while its FAQ states $40 per user per month.
- It is a browser-based app; for offline use Beautiful.ai points to exporting a deck as a PDF or PowerPoint file.
Ludus
- There is no free plan, only a 30-day trial.
- The pricing page lists a price for teams of 1 to 15 only; the price for 16 or more people was not readable.
- The page shows an annual price and says annual billing pays for 9 months; the monthly-billed price was not readable.
- Listed for web only; no desktop or mobile apps appear on its pages.
Key features
Beautiful.ai
- Smart Slides
- More than 300 layouts for data, comparisons, quotes, timelines and image grids that keep spacing, alignment and hierarchy in order as content changes.
- AI deck generation
- Start from a topic, a pasted outline or source files and links, refine the slide-by-slide outline, then choose a theme and image style before the slides are generated.
- Brand controls
- Brand colors, fonts and logos are defined once in a custom theme and applied to every slide. Enterprise adds configurable brand guardrails.
- Team workspace
- The Team plan adds real-time collaborative editing, a central slide and template library, a shared asset library, version control and locked slides.
- Sharing and viewer analytics
- Decks are presented live, shared by secure link or embedded on a website, and analytics show who viewed a deck, which slides they looked at and for how long.
- PowerPoint import and export
- PowerPoint files can be imported, and any deck can be exported as an editable .pptx or a PDF. A PowerPoint add-in brings the layout engine into PowerPoint itself.
Ludus
- Real-time team editing
- Several people work on the same deck at once, with shared channels and a role for each member.
- Designer-style editing
- Use your own fonts, crop images, GIFs and video, and apply blending modes on slides.
- Block-based slides
- Content blocks can come from Unsplash, Giphy, Dropbox or Google Drive, and teams can save reusable smart blocks.
- Live or link sharing
- Present live or send the deck at a customized URL.
- Ludus Vox
- Record yourself presenting and embed the recording in your slides.
- Education pricing
- Students and teachers can claim a 75% discount, and schools can buy accounts for a whole domain.
Plans
Beautiful.ai
Pro$14.50
per month, billed annually ($45 billed monthly)
For 1 person: unlimited AI content generation, over 300 Smart Slide layouts, custom themes, viewer analytics and PowerPoint import and export.
Team$40
per month, billed annually ($50 billed monthly)
For 2 to 20 members, with live co-editing and shared libraries. The plan card says the price includes 3 users; the FAQ on the same page quotes it per user.
SMB 50$6,000
per year, flat rate
Full access for every user at a company of up to 50 employees, with dedicated onboarding and priority support.
SMB 100$12,000
per year, flat rate
Full access for every user at a company of up to 100 employees, with dedicated onboarding and priority support.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds single sign-on, SCIM user provisioning, audit logs, configurable brand guardrails, advanced permissions and team training.
Ludus
Ludus personal$14.90
per user / month, billed annually (teams of 1 to 15)
One plan with every feature: unlimited team members, presentations and storage. Teams of 16 or more use a separate price.
Ways to pay less
Beautiful.ai
- Annual discount
Lower rates on annual billing
Pro is $14.50 a month billed annually against $45 billed monthly, and Team is $40 a month billed annually against $50 billed monthly.
- Education
One year of Pro free for students
Students with a verified .edu email address can get a free annual Pro subscription. The offer is for new student subscribers only and lasts 12 months from activation.
Ludus
- Education
75% off for students and teachers
Verified students and teachers get 75% off every plan, shown as $4 per month billed annually.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Beautiful.ai or Ludus?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Beautiful.ai starts at $14.50 per month, billed annually (Pro), and Ludus starts at $14.90 per user / month, billed annually. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Beautiful.ai or Ludus?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Beautiful.ai nor Ludus has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.