Let’s be honest: nobody actually likes making slide decks. You spend three hours formatting text boxes and aligning images, and you haven’t even written the actual content yet. That’s why you’re here looking at AI tools.
I’ve been testing every AI presentation generator I can get my hands on to cure my own “Blank Page Syndrome.” Two names keep popping up: Gamma and Pitch.
But these aren’t just two versions of the same thing. After using them both for real projects, I realized they have completely different philosophies. I put them head-to-head to build a pitch deck for a fake startup to see which one actually gets the job done.
Here is the cheatsheet if you’re in a hurry.
KEY TAKEAWAYS: THE QUICK VERDICT
- Best for “I need a deck in 5 minutes”: Gamma. It literally writes the content and designs the slides simultaneously. It feels like magic.
- Best for “I need total design control”: Pitch. It’s a professional design tool that happens to have AI features. The templates are stunning, but it takes more work.
- The Export Dealbreaker: Gamma exports to editable PowerPoint files (PPTX). Pitch focuses on PDF or web-links; their PPT export is often static images or beta features.
- My Advice: Use Gamma for the first draft/internal meetings. Use Pitch for the final investor presentation.
The Core Difference: “Writer” vs. “Designer”
Before we look at the slides I made, you need to understand how these tools “think.”
Gamma thinks like a writer. You type text (or paste notes), and it wraps a design around your words. It treats slides more like fluid web pages.
Pitch thinks like a designer. It gives you a rigid, beautiful canvas and asks you to fill it. The AI is there to assist, but you are still the pilot.
The Test: Building “NeonDog”
To keep this fair, I gave both tools the exact same mission: Create an 8-slide pitch deck for “NeonDog,” a premium late-night dog walking service for busy city professionals.
Here is what happened.
Round 1: Gamma (The Speed Run)
I logged into Gamma, clicked “Create New,” and selected “Generate.” I typed my prompt about NeonDog and hit enter.
The Experience:
It was genuinely fast. Gamma didn’t just give me templates; it generated the outline first, let me tweak the bullet points, and then—right before my eyes—it started building the slides.
The Result:
In under 60 seconds, I had a full deck. And I don’t just mean pretty pictures. Gamma wrote the actual copy.  It figured out the “Problem” (busy professionals working late) and the “Solution” (vetted night walkers), effectively following the standard investor deck framework without me explicitly telling it every detail.
- Pros: It fills in the knowledge gaps. If you have a half-baked idea, Gamma bakes the rest of the cake.
- Cons: The layouts are “flexible.” If you try to drag a text box to a specific pixel, you can’t. Gamma uses “cards” and blocks, similar to a website builder like Notion. You can’t just move things anywhere.
Round 2: Pitch (The Aesthetic Approach)
Next, I went to Pitch. I used their “Start with AI” feature.
The Experience:
Pitch asked me for the prompt and a color palette. The generation process felt a bit more like a lottery spin. It spat out a draft, but immediately I noticed a difference.
Pitch didn’t write as much content. It gave me great headers, but the body text was often generic placeholders like “Add details here.” It relied heavily on me to provide the substance.
The Result:
However, the look was superior. The typography was tight, the spacing adhered to strict principles of visual hierarchy, and the stock photos it selected felt more “curated” and less random than Gamma’s choices.
- Pros: The “Editor” is robust. Unlike Gamma, if I want to move a circle shape 5 pixels to the left, I can. It feels like a simplified PowerPoint or Figma.
- Cons: The AI is hit-or-miss with content length. Sometimes the text overflowed the text boxes, requiring me to manually fix font sizes.
The “Edit” Friction Test
This is where most people quit AI tools. The draft looks okay, but can you fix it?
Editing in Gamma:
This is weird if you are used to PowerPoint. You don’t drag boxes. You use a slash command menu (like in Notion) to add columns, images, or toggles.
- My take: It’s incredibly fast if you accept the constraints. If you are a control freak about pixel-perfect alignment, you will hate it.
Editing in Pitch:
This feels familiar. Click, drag, resize.
- My take: It’s intuitive, but it’s manual labor. The AI doesn’t “fix” the layout if you delete a paragraph; you have to fix the white space yourself.
The Export Reality Check (Crucial!)
This is the feature that usually decides it for my corporate friends.
Gamma:
I clicked export, and it gave me a .pptx (PowerPoint) file. I opened it in PowerPoint, and it was actually editable. The text was text, the images were images. It wasn’t perfect, but it was 90% there. This is huge if you need to send a deck to a boss who hates new software.
Pitch:
Pitch really wants you to share a link. You can export a PDF, and it looks crisp. But getting a fully editable PowerPoint file out of Pitch has historically been a pain point (often resulting in flattened images rather than editable text fields, though they are improving this).
Pricing: What’s the Damage?
- Gamma: The free tier is generous (400 credits). You use credits to generate decks. I made the NeonDog deck and still had credits left. The Pro plan ($8/user/month) removes the “Made with Gamma” badge, which you’ll definitely want to do for client work.
- Pitch: There is a free tier, but it’s limited. To get the PDF export without watermarks and access advanced analytics, you need the Pro plan ($20/month per member). It’s pricier because it’s a full design suite, not just a generator.
So, what’s the bottom line?
After building the same deck twice, the winner depends entirely on your role.
Choose Gamma if:
You are a founder, a salesperson, or a consultant who needs to get an idea out of your head and onto a screen fast. The fact that it writes the copy and handles the layout dynamically makes it the ultimate productivity tool. It’s my go-to for internal updates and first drafts.
Choose Pitch if:
You are a designer or a brand manager who needs a polished, investor-ready deck where every pixel matters. The AI here is a jump-starter, not the whole engine. Use it if you care more about aesthetics than automation.
My final verdict?
I personally subscribe to Gamma. For me, the problem isn’t making things look pretty (I can do that later); the problem is getting started. Gamma kills the blank page better than anything else I’ve tested.
Have you tried either of these? Or is there a new tool I missed? Drop a comment below—I’m always looking for the next best thing.
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