# The Macabacus Alternative for Consultants If you need consulting charts and AI slides without banking-grade Excel tools, Deckary delivers the features you actually use—at 40% less cost. **TL;DR:** Macabacus excels at Excel modeling, auditing, and enterprise brand compliance but lacks AI slide generation and is overkill for non-finance teams. Deckary offers consulting-focused with AI Slide Builder, Mekko charts, and 40% lower cost. Choose Macabacus if you build complex financial models daily and need Excel auditing. Choose Deckary if you're a consultant who needs charts, shortcuts, and AI slides without Excel complexity. ## Our users work at companies like Deckary helps consulting & industry firms to build better presentations ## How Deckary compares to Macabacus Consulting-focused features vs. banking-focused tools | Feature | Deckary | Macabacus | | --- | --- | --- | | Waterfall charts | | | | Mekko (Marimekko) charts | | Limited | | Gantt charts | | | | Excel linking | | | | Stacked bar charts | | | | AI & Productivity | | | | AI Slide Builder | | | | AI text polish | | Limited | | Consulting templates | | Enterprise only | | Keyboard shortcuts | 20+ PowerPoint | 100+ Excel-focused | | 1000+ icons & flags | | 22M+ logos only | | Consulting slide building | Optimized | Limited | | Financial modeling | Basic | Best-in-class | | Excel auditing | | | | Brand compliance | | | ## Pricing comparison Transparent pricing vs Macabacus's approach | | Deckary | Macabacus | | --- | --- | --- | | Free tier | 7-day trial | Yes | | Starting price | From $10/mo (billed annually) | $200/yr | | Premium tier | From $25/mo | Custom | | Enterprise | Custom | Custom | ## What consultants say Professionals who chose Deckary over Macabacus - "I don't build Excel models daily—I build decks. Deckary fits how consultants actually work." — BK, Brian, Strategy Consultant - "I didn't need a heavy Excel-focused tool. Deckary gives me the charts and shortcuts I actually use." — LM, Lauren, Management Consultant - "The AI Slide Builder sold me. I hadn't seen anything like it in other tools." — MT, Michael, Senior Associate - "I needed better Mekko chart support. Deckary delivered exactly what I was looking for." — PR, Priya, Principal Consultant - "Left banking for consulting. Don't need Excel auditing anymore—just need good charts." — CW, Christopher, Strategy Manager - "Saved $80/year and got features I actually use. Win-win." — SC, Sarah, Independent Consultant ## Why consultants choose Deckary over Macabacus The right tool for how you actually work - **AI Slide Builder included**: Describe a business problem, get a complete slide with consulting-style structure. Macabacus has no AI slide generation. - **Save 10% on your license**: Deckary costs $180/year with charts, icons, and AI included. Macabacus starts at $200/year with finance-focused features you may not need. - **Full Mekko chart support**: Build Marimekko charts for market sizing and competitive analysis. Macabacus focuses on finance charts, not consulting charts. - **Gantt charts built-in**: Project timelines with milestones, swimlanes, and dependencies. Macabacus doesn't focus on timeline visualization. - **PowerPoint-focused shortcuts**: 20+ keyboard shortcuts for alignment, distribution, and selection in PowerPoint. Macabacus shortcuts are primarily Excel-focused. - **Consulting templates**: Templates designed for strategy consulting, not investment banking. Frameworks, analyses, and slide structures consultants use daily. - **AI text polish**: Rewrite slide text in consulting tone with one click. Tighten, simplify, or make more actionable. Full AI text rewriting, not basic assistance. - **Mac-first experience**: Deckary works equally well on Mac and Windows. All features, all shortcuts, designed for consultants who use Mac. ## All the charting features you need Create consulting-grade charts in minutes, not hours ### Waterfall Charts Create bridge charts with automatic totals, subtotals, and connecting lines. Perfect for financial bridges and variance analysis. ### Mekko Charts Build Marimekko charts for market sizing and share-of-wallet analysis. Variable-width bars show both size and composition. ### Gantt Charts Project timelines with task bars, milestones, dependencies, and swimlanes. Link to Excel for dynamic updates. ### Excel Linking Charts link directly to Excel. Update your data, and the chart updates automatically. No manual re-work. ## The honest comparison Macabacus is the gold standard for investment banking productivity. It's trusted by 80,000+ professionals at 3,000+ firms, including leading banks, PE firms, and Fortune 500 companies. If you build complex financial models in Excel daily, Macabacus is excellent. **Where Macabacus wins:** Excel auditing and error detection. Industry-leading Excel-PowerPoint linking. 22M+ logo library for pitch books. Enterprise brand compliance and shared libraries. **Where Deckary wins:** AI Slide Builder for generating consulting slides from text. Full Mekko and Gantt chart support. 10% lower price ($180/year vs $200/year). Consulting-focused templates and workflows. PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts for slide building. **The bottom line:** Macabacus is built for investment bankers who live in Excel. Deckary is built for consultants who live in PowerPoint. If you spend more time on financial models than slides, Macabacus fits. If you spend more time building decks than models, Deckary is the better choice. ### Choose Macabacus if you: - Investment bankers building financial models and pitch books - Private equity and venture capital professionals - FP&A teams needing Excel auditing and error detection - Enterprise firms requiring brand compliance tools - Teams that rely heavily on Excel-to-PowerPoint linking ### Choose Deckary if you: - Strategy consultants who don't build complex Excel models - Individuals paying out of pocket - Teams who want AI slide generation - Occasional presentation builders (weekly/monthly use) - Mac-first users who primarily work in PowerPoint ## Switching from Macabacus ### What transfers seamlessly - Existing PowerPoint files work immediately - No data migration needed—Deckary is additive - Both add-ins can run simultaneously ### What needs adjustment - Different keyboard shortcut system - Deckary's chart workflow differs from Quick Charts - New icon and template libraries to explore **Our recommendation:** Install Deckary alongside Macabacus during your 7-day trial. Use Deckary for charting and slides, Macabacus for Excel modeling if needed. ## Ready to try the consulting-focused alternative? Deckary gives you the charts, shortcuts, and AI features consultants actually need—without paying for banking tools you won't use.