A free ProPresenter alternative for phones and tablets
ProPresenter is the serious tool in this category, and it earns that reputation. But it runs on a Mac or PC, and it costs real money — which rules it out for a lot of congregations before the conversation even starts.
GoSlide is a free worship presentation app built around a different constraint: no computer. A phone or tablet runs the whole thing.
Let's be honest about what ProPresenter is for
If your church does any of the following, ProPresenter is probably the right answer and you should stop reading:
- Multi-screen output — main screen, confidence monitors, stage display, lower thirds
- Video playback with alpha channel, or heavy motion backgrounds
- Live broadcast or streaming integration
- A paid or heavily trained production team running a rehearsed show
GoSlide does not try to compete on any of that. It would lose.
What most churches actually need
The majority of congregations need something much narrower: put the words on the screen, put the verse on the screen, don't crash, don't cost anything, and let a volunteer pick it up in five minutes.
That is the whole design brief for GoSlide.
The tablet is the system, not the remote
ProPresenter's companion apps let a phone act as a remote control, but a computer is still doing the work. With GoSlide there is no computer in the chain at all — the phone or tablet is the controller, and the display just shows a web page.
Real-time, not "eventually"
The controller and the output screen hold a live WebSocket connection. Advancing a slide on your phone changes the projected screen without a perceptible gap.
Scripture without leaving the app
Search a verse, pull it up, project it. Parallel translations are there when you want to show two versions side by side. No switching to a Bible app and screen-sharing it.
Offline by default
Everything needed to run a service is stored on the device. Church Wi-Fi is famously unreliable; losing it mid-song shouldn't end the service.
Side by side
| GoSlide | ProPresenter | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Paid licence |
| Runs the show from a phone/tablet | Yes | No — needs a Mac or PC |
| Installation | None — opens in a browser | Desktop installer |
| Lyrics & scripture projection | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-screen & stage display | No | Yes |
| Advanced video & motion media | No | Yes |
| Broadcast integration | No | Yes |
| Time for a new volunteer to learn | Minutes | Considerably longer |
| Best suited to | Churches with no dedicated hardware or crew | Churches running a production |
A reasonable middle path
Some churches run both. ProPresenter on the main screen for the flagship service, GoSlide for the midweek meeting, the youth room, the prayer service, or the church plant across town that doesn't have a media desk yet. Because GoSlide costs nothing and installs nothing, adding it to a second room isn't a budget conversation.
Getting started
- Open
goslide.app/tvon the smart TV or the display machine. No smart TV? See projecting from a phone to a TV. - Open goslide.app/app on your phone or tablet and pair it.
- Build the setlist from the built-in song bank, or paste your own lyrics.
- Run the service.