# Spectacle review (2026): is it any good?

> React library for building presentations in JSX or MDX

Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA.

Spectacle is an open-source React library for writing slide decks as code, using JSX or MDX. Decks can include clickable elements and a live preview of the code being demonstrated, with theming built in. It is installed through npm and maintained by Nearform, formerly Formidable.

- **Category:** Presentations
- **Made by:** Nearform
- **Website:** https://nearform.com/open-source/spectacle
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you do not write React, as there is no visual editor.
- **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026

## Pricing

As of Nov 13, 2026, Spectacle is free to use.

- **Pricing model:** Free
- **Free plan:** Free under the MIT license.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | $0 | Installed with npm install spectacle; MIT-licensed code on GitHub. |

Read from https://nearform.com/open-source/spectacle on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Spectacle before buying.

## Key features

- **JSX and MDX decks:** Write slides as React components or as MDX.
- **Live code preview:** Show the running result of code inside the deck.
- **Interactivity:** Add clickable elements to slides.
- **Theming:** Includes auto-formatting, theming and image dimming out of the box.

## Good for

- Developers who give technical talks
- Teams that keep slides in a Git repository
- React users who want live demos inside slides

## Worth knowing

- Requires JavaScript and React knowledge; there is no visual editor.
- Decks run in the browser; the pages describe no desktop or mobile app.
- The documentation site does not list ready-made themes or exports in detail.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.6 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Spectacle is an MIT-licensed React library for writing presentations in JSX or MDX. It is free, and you need to know JavaScript and React because there is no visual editor.

- **Value for money: A.** Free under an open licence that anyone can download and run, with no server to host.
- **Free plan and trial: A.** The whole thing is free, with no plan to outgrow.
- **Features: C.** It builds decks in code and does that job fully. The documentation does not list themes or exports in detail, so gaps are likely.
- **Ease of use: D.** You write the deck in code or markup and run it yourself, with no visual editor.
- **Platforms and integrations: C.** Runs in the browser and installs through npm. Works with React and MDX, but there is no desktop or phone app.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from NearForm's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among presentation tools

- Spectacle's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 65 of the 89 other presentation tools we grade, and level with 12.
- It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 77 of 89) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
- Spectacle has no paid plan.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/presentations

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** Spectacle is free, so making your own would save you nothing. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.6 is higher than 65 of the 89 other presentation tools we grade.

- You could make: Markdown: an app builder makes this well.
- You could not: A slide editor.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

React, MDX, npm

**Tags:** Open source, Presentations, Markdown

## Alternatives

- [Slidev](https://toolgpa.com/tools/slidev): Markdown slides for developers, built on Vue and Vite. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/slidev-vs-spectacle)
- [reveal.js](https://toolgpa.com/tools/revealjs): Open source HTML framework for building slide decks. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/revealjs-vs-spectacle)
- [Marp](https://toolgpa.com/tools/marp): Markdown presentation ecosystem with PDF and PowerPoint export. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/marp-vs-spectacle)
- [remark](https://toolgpa.com/tools/remark): Markdown-driven slideshow tool that runs in the browser. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/remark-vs-spectacle)
- [impress.js](https://toolgpa.com/tools/impress-js): Open-source presentation framework using CSS3 transforms. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/impress-js-vs-spectacle)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026:

- https://nearform.com/open-source/spectacle
- https://github.com/FormidableLabs/spectacle

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/spectacle
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).