Comparison between Deckset and Marp

[yhatt]

We are making an effort that to be able to have power of expression like a Deckset.

Originally posted by @yhatt in yhatt/marp#60 (comment)

Since 2015, the development of Marp has got great influence from Deckset, and there are very similar power of expression in both now.

This is thorough comparison of features between Deckset and Marp. You may find this helpful to migrate into Marp if you have used Deckset!

Basics

	Deckset	Marp
Released as	Paid app (w/ free trial)	Open-sourced ecosystem
OS	macOS, iOS (Preview)	Linux, macOS, Windows
Export to	PDF, JPG, PNG	HTML, PDF, PPTX, JPG, PNG
Built-in themes	19 themes and many color variations	3 themes and a few color variation
Custom theme	By tweaking exist themes	By fully-customizable CSS
Aspect Ratio Switch	✅ (GUI)	✅ (<!-- size: 16:9 -->)
Preview Window	✅ (GUI)	✅ (--preview option in CLI)

Markdown features

	Deckset	Marp
Line breaks	✅ (<br> tag to force)	✅ (<br> tag to force)
Tables	✅	✅
Formulas	✅	✅ (KaTeX / MathJax)
Syntax highlighting	✅	✅
Highlight lines of code	[code-highlight: 2]	❌ (💡 marp-team/marp-vscode#146 (comment))
Automatic scaling for code block	✅	✅ (Limited support)
Emojis	:+1:	:+1:
Fit headings	# [fit] xxx	# <!--fit--> xxx
Footnotes	[^1]: xxx	❌
Columns	[.column]	via custom HTML and CSS (#192)
Presenter notes	^ Presenter notes	<!-- Presenter notes -->
Background image		
Fit background image		
Multiple background images	Put multiple 	Put multiple 
Background filter	✅ by default ( to disable)	 (CSS filter)
Zoom in background		
Split slides		
Force apply filter in split slides		 (CSS filter)
Inline image		
Fill inline image to the slide		❌ (💡 <img src="xxx.png" style="width:100%" /> w/ enabled HTML)
Custom scaling for inline image		 (Absolute unit only) <img src="xxx.png" style="width:50%" /> w/ enabled HTML
Image grids	Put multiple 	❌ (Use custom style)
Videos	![video.mov]()	❌ (💡 <video src="video.mov" controls /> w/ enabled HTML)
Audios	![audio.mp3]()	❌ (💡 <audio src="audio.mp3" controls /> w/ enabled HTML)

Commands (directives)

	Deckset	Marp
Header	❌	<!-- header: xxx -->
Footer	footer: xxx	<!-- footer: xxx -->
Slide numbers	slidenumbers: true	<!-- pagniate: true -->
Build lists	build-lists: true	Use * / 1) as bullet list marker (Fragmented list)
Slide transition	slide-transition: true	Experiment in Marp CLI (marp-team/marp-cli#447) <!-- transition: fade -->
Use headers as slide dividers	slide-dividers: #, ##, ###, #### (global only)	<!-- headingDivider: 4 --> or <!-- headingDivider: [1,2,3,4] --> (global only)
Specify theme	theme: xxx (global only)	<!-- theme: xxx --> (global only)
Customize theme	via command	via CSS (<style>)
Auto scaling	autoscale: true	❌

[ctnelson1997]

Thanks for posting this. For anyone wondering what to do in 2022, 100% go with Marp.

I've inherited a slide deck from a previous instructor that was written with Deckset and it has been an absolute nightmare. Not only is it paid software, but it is only available for Mac, cannot export slides to pptx, and doesn't even have a built-in text editor. I've gone out of my way to buy a Mac Mini, download Deckset, and pay for a license of software that is little more than a glorified visualizer. Deckset is the absolute definition of vendor lock. It is not at all worth the little extra functionality that you get over Marp.

Kudos to the Marp team for their work; I've slowly been salvaging the Decksets into Marp presentations.

[yhatt]

I'm happy that you like Marp. We are focusing on vendor-free, framework-free, and frill-free. 😄