At a glance

• Beautiful AI locks users into rigid templates that force them to adjust their message, while Alai generates dynamic layouts that best convey the message.

  
  

• Beautiful AI generates one option for every slide, whereas Alai generates 4 options.

  
  

• Beautiful AI has no ability to iterate with AI after the first draft, whereas on Alai the user and the AI can iterate on top of each other’s work.

  
  

• Overall, Beautiful AI has added AI as an afterthought to its product. The AI cannot generate diagrams and charts, its AI-generated images are often random and generic, and the fixed template system generates simple, repetitive slides.

  
  

• Beautiful AI’s fixed height prevents converting content to a doc whereas Alai allows users to create docs and reduce the need to shuffle across multiple products.

  
  

• Beautiful AI focuses on enterprises, offering only high-priced plans ($45/month or $12/month billed annually) while Alai provides generous free credits and affordable monthly plans starting at $16.

Fixed templates vs dynamic layouts that best fit your content

Beautiful AI generates slides using a small fixed library of templates. This approach doesn’t work well because often the content doesn’t perfectly fit any template. Also, once a template is finalized, the layout is nearly impossible or very difficult to modify. For example, users:

• Cannot add new elements or reposition content outside the predefined slots.

  
  

• Cannot convert one layout into another when your idea evolves.

  
  

• Cannot mix layout patterns or build structures that don’t exist in the library.

This forces users to change their message to fit the template rather than adapting the layout to fit their message. Users must either compromise their content or start over from scratch.

Alai takes a content-first approach. Each layout is dynamic and therefore the AI is able to generate the best layout to convey the message. Once the layout is generated:

• Add, move or remove elements as the idea evolves.

  
  

• Try many different layouts and visualizations for the same content without starting over.

Example: In Image 1 below, the user started with three sections to highlight the core strengths of Pfizer, but then they added another block with key achievements to land their message better. This simple slide is impossible to create on Beautiful AI but is easy to create on Alai.

Image 1: Slide created on Alai that is impossible to create on Beautiful because it doesn't support adding multiple text blocks

Beautiful AI added AI as an afterthought vs Alai is AI-first

Beautiful AI stops after the first draft vs Alai's AI continuously iterates with the user

Beautiful AI generates a single option per slide and provides no way to iterate using AI. Often the message doesn’t land because it tries to fit the content into one of the templates from their fixed library. Once the slide is generated, there’s no way to iterate with AI.

Alai generates 4 options per slide. Once an option is chosen, the user can use AI to rewrite content, try different visualizations or change layouts completely. For example, ask the AI to rewrite the copy for clarity, convert a bullet list into a timeline or switch a timeline to a circular process. The user and the AI work truly as allies where either can iterate on top of the other’s work.

Beautiful AI cannot generate charts and diagrams using AI

Beautiful AI has just added AI on top of their old existing product. The slides it generates only use basic text and image blocks. It cannot generate free-canvas diagrams like Venn diagrams, quadrants, onion diagrams, comparison charts, etc. Alai is AI-first and therefore the AI can do whatever the user can do. For example, similar to Image 2 below, if the content requires the use of complex diagrams and charts, then Alai will be able to create these while still allowing the user to easily edit them.

Image 2: Venn diagram slide generated by Alai which is impossible to create on Beautiful AI.

Alai generates far superior AI images

Beautiful AI’s image generation is quite basic and there’s no control over the image models. Very often it picks random stock images that do not match the topic at all. For example, similar to Image 3 below, the user tried generating a slide on LLMs using RAG to improve performance and got a completely random image of a woman holding her baby.

Image 3: Beautiful AI generates random images instead of matching them to the content

Alai generates far superior images because:

• Alai’s AI is fine-tuned to generate images only when they would meaningfully complement the text.

  
  

• Even then, since Alai shows 4 options, it takes a balanced approach to show a few options without images so that the user has a real choice to opt-in for images.

  
  

• Alai’s AI image generation takes your theme into account, allows you to choose art styles, and pick between different AI models so that the images never look out of place.

  
  

• If the user is adding a new image to an existing slide then they can use the “Use slide context” button to generate a relevant image without having to write a custom prompt from scratch.

Image 4: Alai generates relevant AI images based on the user's context

Beautiful AI has a fixed-height canvas that prevents converting content to a doc and limits layout options

Beautiful AI has a fixed-height canvas. There is no way to create a more dense version of your presentation that can be used more like a document. This means manually converting the presentation into a document using another platform. In Alai, since the slide can be infinitely tall, the user does not need to shuffle across multiple tools to cater to different audiences.

The fixed height also forced Beautiful AI to keep the templates very basic. All the templates have just one heading combined with one big element. This only works for low- to medium-density slides and very often fails even at that as the elements are not very customizable. For example, in Image 5 below, a user generated a company overview plus key metrics slide using a circular process and sections element on Alai. This kind of simple, yet critical slide is impossible to create on Beautiful AI.

Image 5: Alai slide with circular process and metrics. Not possible on Beautiful because only one main element allowed on the slide.

Beautiful AI primarily caters to enterprises

Beautiful AI has either a $45/mo or a $12/mo (annual) subscription. This means that the user cannot realistically try the product without signing up for their annual plan.

In contrast, most of Alai’s features are available for free with many free AI credits available. There are also multiple monthly subscriptions starting from just $16/mo to unlock the full power of Alai.