Your questions, answered

A Windows desktop app that generates and edits fully editable PowerPoint decks from a brief or source files (Excel, PDF, Word...), with help from an AI backend you configure yourself. It isn't an online service: everything runs locally on your machine, except calls to the AI backend you chose.

SlydeForge is a personal project, proprietary — all rights reserved by its author. The app is free to download and use, but it isn't an open-source license (no OSI label) and the source code isn't provided. Contributions are always welcome — send yours via the contact form, it will be reviewed by the author before being merged.

Yes — SlydeForge keeps evolving, with regular updates. The changelog mirrors the exact file shipped in the zip: what you read there is exactly what was actually released, no marketing rewrite.

No — there is no SlydeForge server that receives your presentations. Only the data needed for a specific AI action (the JSON for the slide concerned, your theme tokens, and a screenshot of the slide when editing by prompt) is sent directly to the AI backend you configured, with your credentials — unless you use the SlydeForge API from a paid tier, in which case that same data goes through the SlydeForge server and then OpenAI, our subprocessor for this specific use only.

Manual editing, preview, PowerPoint export and history are 100% local and work without a connection. AI features require a connection, unless you use a local backend (Ollama) or voice narration via the Piper engine (fully offline).

Three engines to choose from: Edge (free, online, no key), Piper (free, 100% offline — nothing leaves your machine) and ElevenLabs (cloud, API key at your own cost). If privacy of the narrated text matters, Piper is the only one of the three that sends strictly nothing externally.

For backends you configure yourself (Copilot Enterprise, GitHub Models, OpenAI/Azure/Ollama-compatible API), no, never: the key or token stays at your own cost, entered in your own settings, and is never shared with or stored by slydeforge.com. If you subscribe to a tier that includes the SlydeForge API (Starter/Standard/Pro AI), no key is needed either: SlydeForge hosts the AI access for you, within the included monthly token quota.

SlydeForge itself is free to download, and the full AI engine works right from this free tier with your own access to a backend (GitHub Copilot Enterprise, GitHub Models, an OpenAI/Azure-compatible API, or local Ollama — free). Optional subscription tiers (Essential, Starter AI, Standard AI, Pro AI) add access to the full component catalog and/or AI tokens covered by SlydeForge through the SlydeForge API (see the next question), so you don't have to manage your own key. Some marketplace components also remain available as a one-time purchase, independent of any subscription. Full details of the business model in the legal notice.

It's the "hosted" AI option included with the Starter AI, Standard AI and Pro AI tiers: instead of configuring your own key with a provider, your AI requests go through the SlydeForge server and then OpenAI — our only subprocessor for this specific case — within a monthly token quota tied to your tier. That quota and its usage are visible at any time in your account portal. The other three backends (Copilot Enterprise, GitHub Models, OpenAI/Azure/Ollama-compatible API) remain entirely outside SlydeForge's scope, whichever tier you're on.

Directly from the component's page (workflow components or interactive components), as a one-time purchase or a subscription depending on the component: enter your email, pay by card via Stripe, then find the purchase in the app via the "Restore my purchases" screen. If a subscription tier already covers that component, the page points you to pricing instead of offering a separate purchase.

No password to create or remember: you get in automatically from the app, which recognizes your installation, or via a one-time link emailed to the address used for the purchase — valid for a limited time, and invalidated the moment it's used once. That's a deliberate choice: SlydeForge never creates or stores a password, not even a hashed one, so there is nothing to steal if the site were ever breached, and no risk from a weak or reused password.

Inside, you'll find your subscription status, your AI token usage for the current period if your tier includes the SlydeForge API, downloadable invoices, and the installation keys tied to your purchases. You can also change tier there (prorated) or cancel — never with a single click: canceling requires re-entering the purchase email and then confirming via a second email, so a stray link (a shared inbox, a public computer) can never let someone else act on your behalf.

Use the "Restore my purchases" screen in the app (or the equivalent form in your account portal) with the email used at purchase: a verification link is sent to you, and the purchase is then linked to the new installation. An email address is linked to only one installation at a time.

Yes, within 14 days of the purchase (one-time component or subscription), no justification needed, via the contact form — under the statutory right of withdrawal. After that window, a canceled subscription runs until the end of the period already paid for, with no refund; a one-time-purchased component remains yours indefinitely, including after canceling a subscription that included it.

Not today: SlydeForge is designed, packaged and tested for Windows 10/11 only. Since the code is Python (PySide6), a port would be theoretically possible, but it isn't planned or guaranteed at this stage.

No. Installation runs in user mode, no admin rights required, and works behind a corporate SSL-inspection proxy thanks to the Windows certificate store (truststore) — built for a locked-down machine.

Yes. Each user's configuration and data are stored separately (a per-Windows-account %APPDATA% folder) — a shared install never mixes up two users' projects or credentials.

Two ways: the site's contact form, or the 👍/👎 feedback built directly into the app after each AI action (optional comment, verified by email before publication to limit abuse).