Should you build your own Gamma?
AI presentation and document builder for decks, docs, and sites
An AI slide generator is buildable, but Gamma's strength is layouts, editing model, exports, hosting, analytics, and shareable deck/site UX.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build me an AI slide-deck generator to replace Gamma. Requirements:
- A Node CLI around Slidev. `deck new "<topic>"` asks an LLM (key in .env) for
an outline, then slide-by-slide content as JSON: title, bullets, speaker
notes, layout name.
- Render that JSON to a Slidev slides.md; `deck preview` runs the Slidev dev
server, `deck export` writes PDF and PPTX.
- Five layouts: title, bullets, two-column, big-quote, image-right. Images are
optional via an image API key in .env; skip them cleanly when absent.
- One theme file for fonts and colors so every deck matches without redesign.
- `deck redo <n>` regenerates a single slide by number and leaves the rest
untouched.
- Decks are files in ./decks/<slug>/ (slides.md plus assets), kept in git and
hand-editable after generation. No database.
- No accounts, no telemetry; the only network calls are the LLM and optional
image API.
- Out of scope: a web editor, share links with analytics, collaboration.
slides.md in my editor is the editor.
- README: keys, export commands, and how to add a layout.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running. · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
What would building your own look like?
Prompt an LLM for outline, generate slide/cards JSON, render with templates, export PDF/PPTX, and host a share page.
What you will need
- LLM API
- slide renderer
- template system
- export pipeline
- hosted app
- optional image API
They pay because the output looks acceptable without wrestling with PowerPoint.
xpolished editor
xresponsive card model
xexports
xanalytics
xcustom domains
xtemplate quality
xcollaboration
How much does Gamma cost?
- Monthly billing
- $9/mo$9/mo · per person
- Per year
- $108/yr$108/yr
- On a Brazilian card, with 3.5% IOF
- R$47.03/moR$564/yr
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on Gamma’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | $0/user | $0/user | 400 starting AI credits with no monthly refresh; 10 slides/prompt; 50,000 input tokens; 2,000-credit balance cap; +200 credits/referral. |
| plus | - | $9/user≈ $9 | 1,000 credits/month; 75 slides/prompt; 100,000 input tokens. |
| pro | - | $18/user≈ $18 | 4,000 credits/month; 75 slides/prompt; up to 10 custom domains; API access. |
| ultra | custom | - | 20,000 credits/month; 75 slides/prompt; up to 100 custom domains. |
| team | - | $20/user≈ $20 | 6,000 credits/seat/month; 75 slides/prompt; up to 10 custom domains; 2-seat minimum. |
| business | - | $40/user≈ $40 | 10,000 credits/seat/month; up to 100 custom domains; 10-seat minimum. |
| enterprise | custom | - | Annual agreement; flexible team size and custom organization-wide credits. |
Free tier400 one-time starting AI credits; no automatic refresh; 10 slides/prompt; 50,000 input tokens; balance capped at 2,000 credits; +200 credits per referral
Billing termsPlus and Pro offer monthly + annual; annual is advertised as 28% cheaper; Ultra is monthly-only; Team and Business are annual-only; Enterprise uses an annual agreement
Additional costs1,500 extra credits cost $6; multi-user auto-recharge charges separately for each user who triggers it; credits are not pooled; unused paid credits expire after the subscription ends; Team requires 2 seats and Business 10
verified 2026-08-13 · source ↗
Is it cheaper to build or buy Gamma?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (weekend). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild Gamma?
Kinda. The core of Gamma is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: polished editor, responsive card model. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does Gamma cost?
Gamma costs about $9/mo (Plus, checked 08/13/2026), which is $108 per year.
What do I lose by replacing Gamma?
Honestly: polished editor; responsive card model; exports; analytics; custom domains; template quality; collaboration. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Gamma?
Yes: Slidev (Open-source Markdown/HTML slide deck generator; good foundation for a developer-oriented c). Using prior art is also vibecoding; the prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.