Microsoft PowerPoint vs Lucen Timeline
We give Microsoft PowerPoint a 3.4 GPA and Lucen Timeline a 1.8, out of 4.0. Microsoft PowerPoint grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Slide presentation app sold with Microsoft 365, free in the browser
Lucen Timeline
PowerPoint add-in that turns project plans into timeline slides
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAMicrosoft PowerPointVery good | 1.8GPALucen TimelineWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CMicrosoft 365 Personal is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, which is exactly the middle figure for this category, and it brings Word, Excel, Outlook and 1 TB of storage with it. Office Home 2024 is $179.99 once, about eighteen months of that middle, with no upgrade to the next release. | DLite is under $9 a user a month billed yearly, ordinary for presentation tools, but it allows 2 swimlanes. Unlimited swimlanes and Excel import need Plus at under $17, and refreshing from Project or Jira needs Expert at under $21, all on top of PowerPoint itself. |
| Free plan and trial | BPowerPoint for the web is free for one person, with sharing, live co-editing, basic templates and 5 GB of storage, and an occasional user could live on it. It isn't the whole app, though: macros don't run and password-protected files only open on the desktop. | CThe free add-in doesn't run out and has the themes, but each slide stops at 10 milestones and tasks, with limited swimlanes and 1 timescale. Fine for a simple roadmap; a real project plan won't fit. |
| Features | ADeeper than any other slide app here. Speaker Coach listens to a rehearsal and reports your pacing and filler words, and Cameo drops your live camera onto a slide to be styled and animated like a picture: neither is on offer from Google Slides, Keynote or Canva. Designer, co-authoring and Copilot round it off. | DThe timeline work is thorough: swimlanes, dependencies, critical path, up to 3 timescales, import and refresh from Project, Smartsheet and Jira, and planned against actual. But it's one narrow job, and it needs PowerPoint on Windows to be any use. |
| Ease of use | A4.73 from about 582,000 App Store ratings, one of the two highest marks in this category. Designer offers a finished layout for whatever you drop on a slide, and there are thousands of templates to start from. | BNo rating on record, but it sits on the PowerPoint ribbon you already use: type the dates in or import a plan, and out comes a normal slide you can edit. Nothing to export, nothing to learn outside PowerPoint. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWindows, Mac, iPhone, Android and the web, tied into OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams, which is everything this grade asks for. The web version has holes, mind: password-protected files only open in the desktop app and macros don't run. | CThe add-in is Windows and PowerPoint only, and Mac or browser users need Timeline Online, a separate licence. It does pull plans from Excel, Project, Smartsheet, Jira and Wrike, but there are no phone apps. |
| Best for | the full-fat slide app everyone can open | timeline slides in PowerPoint |
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: Microsoft PowerPoint and Lucen Timeline. How we grade
Price against what you get
Microsoft PowerPoint starts at $8.33 a month when paid by the year and scores 4.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Lucen Timeline starts at $9 a month for each person and scores 2.0.
Microsoft PowerPoint scores higher and starts $0.67 a month lower. Of the other presentation tools on the chart, none scores higher than Microsoft PowerPoint for less, and 10 score higher than Lucen Timeline 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
- Microsoft PowerPoint starts at $9.99 / month, or $99.99 / year (Microsoft 365 Personal). Lucen Timeline starts at $9 per user / month, billed annually.
- Only Microsoft PowerPoint lists macOS, iOS and Android apps.
- Lucen Timeline also covers Gantt & timelines.
At a glance
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Lucen Timeline | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $9.99 / month, or $99.99 / year (Microsoft 365 Personal) | $9 per user / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | PowerPoint for the web is free for 1 person, with sharing, real-time collaboration, basic templates and 5 GB of cloud storage. Microsoft lists the free plan as working on web, iOS and Android. | Free add-in: timelines of up to 10 milestones and tasks per slide, limited swimlanes, 1 timescale and the pre-designed themes. The free license is renewed each year. |
| Free trial | 1-month free trial of the Microsoft 365 home and business plans; business trials need a credit card. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Microsoft | Lucen Software |
| Price read from | microsoft.com | lucensoftware.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Microsoft PowerPoint
- People who need a full desktop presentation app on Windows or Mac
- Teams that already share files through OneDrive or SharePoint
- Presenters who want to rehearse with feedback on pace and filler words
- Occasional users who only need the free browser version
Lucen Timeline
- Project managers who report schedules to executives in PowerPoint
- Teams that keep plans in Microsoft Project, Smartsheet or Jira and need slides from them
- Consultants building client roadmaps that must stay editable
Worth knowing
Microsoft PowerPoint
- The Windows and Mac apps need a Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-time Office purchase; Microsoft lists the free plan for web, iOS and Android.
- PowerPoint for the web lacks some desktop features: password-protected and digitally signed files open only in the desktop app, and macros do not run.
- Copilot needs a paid subscription, has usage limits, and on shared plans works for the subscription owner only.
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($7.00 per user / month paid yearly, or $5.40 without Teams) includes only the web and mobile versions of PowerPoint.
Lucen Timeline
- The add-in needs Windows and PowerPoint. Timeline Online, for Mac and browser users, is a separate license at less than $13 a month billed annually.
- The free version stops at 10 milestones and tasks per slide, and its license has to be renewed each year.
- Microsoft Project, Jira, Smartsheet and Wrike import and planned vs. actual tracking need the Expert plan.
- Licenses are per user and sold only as yearly subscriptions, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Key features
Microsoft PowerPoint
- Copilot in PowerPoint
- Rewrites, reorganizes and adds slides from a written request, leaving the changes for review. It needs a Microsoft 365 subscription, and usage limits apply.
- Designer
- Suggests finished layouts for the content placed on a slide. In the desktop apps only Microsoft 365 subscribers get the suggestions; in PowerPoint for the web they are open to everyone.
- Speaker Coach
- Listens to a rehearsal and reports on pacing, pitch, filler words and reading straight from the slide, then shows a summary with recommendations. It currently understands English only.
- Cameo
- Places a live camera feed on a slide, where it can be styled, resized and animated like a picture. It is for Microsoft 365 subscribers on Windows, macOS and the web.
- Co-authoring
- Several people can edit a presentation saved to OneDrive or SharePoint at once. Indicators show which slide each person is on, and changes that do not conflict are merged automatically.
- Templates
- Microsoft offers thousands of customizable templates as starting points for a slide show. The free plan includes a basic set of templates, fonts, icons and stickers.
Lucen Timeline
- Timelines built inside PowerPoint
- The add-in sits on the PowerPoint ribbon and creates timelines and Gantt charts as native, editable slides, so there is nothing to export.
- Swimlanes and timescales
- Group tasks into swimlanes and nested sub-swimlanes and show up to 3 timescales on one chart. Lite allows 2 swimlanes; Plus and Expert are unlimited.
- Dependencies and critical path
- Link tasks and highlight the critical path from Plus. Importing dependencies from a source plan needs Expert.
- Import and refresh
- Plus imports from Excel. Expert imports and refreshes from Microsoft Project, Smartsheet and Jira, including several Jira projects or boards, and imports from Wrike.
- Planned vs. actual
- Expert shows progress bars, baselines and variance against the original plan, so a slide can show where a project has slipped.
- Templates and themes
- Pre-designed themes on every plan, timeline, Gantt and swimlane templates from Lite, and custom themes that can be shared and imported on Expert.
Plans
Microsoft PowerPoint
Free$0
PowerPoint for the web for 1 person, with sharing, real-time collaboration, basic templates and 5 GB of cloud storage. Works on web, iOS and Android.
Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99
per month, or $99.99 per year
1 person on up to 5 devices at once, 1 TB of cloud storage, and the PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook desktop apps with Copilot.
Microsoft 365 Apps for business$10.00
per user / month, paid yearly
Desktop versions of PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook for up to 300 employees, with 1 TB of cloud storage per user.
Microsoft 365 Family$12.99
per month, or $129.99 per year
Everything in Personal for 1 to 6 people, with 1 TB of storage per person. AI features are for the subscription owner only.
Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99
per month, or $199.99 per year
Everything in Family, plus extensive Copilot usage and agentic AI features such as advanced research and analytics.
Office Home 2024$179.99
one-time purchase for 1 PC or Mac
Classic 2024 desktop versions of PowerPoint, Word, Excel and OneNote, with no upgrade path to the next major release.
Lucen Timeline
Free$0
Up to 10 milestones and tasks per slide, limited swimlanes and dependencies, 1 timescale and pre-designed themes.
Lite$9
per user / month, billed annually as a 1-year license
More than 10 items per timeline, 2 swimlanes, timeline, Gantt and swimlane templates. Shown as less than $9 a month; the yearly total is not shown.
Plus$17
per user / month, billed annually as a 1-year license
Unlimited swimlanes and sub-swimlanes, dependencies and critical path, 3 timescales and import from Excel. Shown as less than $17 a month.
Expert$21
per user / month, billed annually as a 1-year license
Import and refresh from Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira and Wrike, Excel refresh, planned vs. actual, baselines and custom themes. Less than $21 a month.
Ways to pay less
Microsoft PowerPoint
- Annual discount
Save up to 17% by paying yearly
Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 a year against $9.99 a month, Family $129.99 against $12.99 and Premium $199.99 against $19.99.
- Education
Students save 50% on Microsoft 365 Personal
Verified college and university students get Microsoft 365 Personal at half price. Student status has to be re-verified each year to keep the discount.
- Education
Office 365 A1 free for eligible schools
Educators and students with an eligible education email address get Office 365 A1 at no cost, which includes the web versions of PowerPoint and the other core apps.
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit staff pricing on Microsoft 365 E3
Eligible nonprofits can buy Microsoft 365 E3, with desktop, web and mobile versions of PowerPoint, for $9.75 per user / month paid yearly.
- Lifetime license
Office Home 2024 one-time purchase
$179.99 buys the classic 2024 desktop versions of PowerPoint, Word, Excel and OneNote for 1 PC or Mac, with no subscription.
Lucen Timeline
No public discounts listed.
