Chronicle: Cursor for Slides

Chronicle: Cursor for Slides

10/06/2025
The modern format of storytelling
chroniclehq.com

Chronicle: Deep Research Report

Description Rewrite

Chronicle is an AI-powered presentation platform that positions itself as the “Cursor for Presentations,” fundamentally reimagining how professionals create compelling visual narratives. The platform combines artificial intelligence with sophisticated design principles to transform raw thoughts into polished, interactive presentations in minutes rather than hours. Unlike traditional slide-based tools, Chronicle introduces a widget-based approach where everything is built using pre-designed, interactive components that come with pixel-perfect design, interactivity, and motion out of the box. The platform addresses the fundamental shortcomings of traditional presentation tools by eliminating the design burden on users while ensuring professional-quality output that goes beyond static slides to create engaging, web-like experiences.

Deep Service Report

Chronicle emerged from stealth mode in June 2025 with over 100,000 waitlisted users and a bold mission to revolutionize how ideas are visualized and shared. The platform represents a fundamental shift from traditional slide-based presentations to an interactive, scrollable canvas that prioritizes visual storytelling and design quality over speed alone. Founded by presentation experts who spent years hacking traditional tools like PowerPoint to achieve what should have been simple, Chronicle leverages recent advances in AI to finally build what founders had been trying to create manually for years.

The company has positioned itself as more than just slides, functioning as an intelligent agent that collaborates on messaging, design execution, and narrative flow. Chronicle handles the heavy lifting of conducting deep research, distilling key insights, and ensuring every element strengthens the narrative, empowering anyone to create presentations with the depth and polish that typically requires years of expertise. The platform’s design philosophy flips the traditional presentation paradigm by understanding what makes a story visually compelling, considering elements such as typography, spacing, visual hierarchy, and motion working seamlessly in the background.

Country

United States. Chronicle operates as a fully remote team across the United States, India, and Australia, with headquarters functions distributed between San Francisco and Sydney.

Key Features

  • Widgets-Based Creation: Everything in Chronicle is built with pre-designed widgets that come with pixel-perfect design, interactivity, and motion out of the box, allowing users to create polished outputs by simply dragging and dropping components.
  • AI-Powered Agent: Chronicle functions as an intelligent agent that collaborates on messaging, design execution, and narrative flow, conducting deep research and distilling key insights automatically.
  • Keyboard-First Experience: Powerful shortcuts and a keyboard-first workflow enable users to reach their finish line quickly without extensive mouse navigation.
  • Real-Time Collaboration: Teams can create, craft, and share stories together with real-time collaboration features.
  • Interactive Presentation Tools: Features like “Peek” and “Deep Hover” allow presenters to zoom in, highlight, isolate, or focus audience attention on specific elements, providing precision control over viewer engagement.
  • Mobile-Optimized Format: Presentations are transformed into bite-sized formats tailored for mobile consumption, allowing quick browsing of summaries with deeper dives when needed.
  • Seamless Integrations: Users can simply paste links to hundreds of tools they use, and Chronicle seamlessly packages their outputs into the presentation.
  • Template Library: Industry expert-created templates provide contextual guidance and best practices baked directly into the platform.

How It Works

Chronicle operates on a fundamentally different approach than traditional slide-based tools. Users begin with rough outlines, prompts, or existing content, and Chronicle transforms these into polished outputs in seconds. The platform uses a widget-based system where users drag and drop interactive, pre-designed blocks to create presentations, similar to arranging widgets on an iPhone.

The AI agent assists throughout the creation process by conducting research, generating outlines, and ensuring narrative coherence. Users can transform any widget into another to try different options without design hassle, and the platform’s keyboard-first experience allows for rapid navigation and editing. The system automatically handles typography, visual hierarchy, spacing, and motion design, ensuring professional-quality output without requiring design expertise.

For collaboration, teams can work together in real-time, with individual threads and spaces remaining private unless explicitly shared. The platform supports various input methods, including URL imports, PDF uploads, and direct prompting for AI-assisted creation.

Use Cases

Chronicle serves diverse professional scenarios across multiple industries. Startup founders use the platform for creating pitch decks that previously took hours of design work. Management consultants leverage Chronicle for client presentations, benefiting from its ability to distill complex information into visually compelling narratives. Marketing teams create campaign presentations and reports that engage stakeholders with interactive elements.

Educational institutions use Chronicle for academic presentations that capture and maintain student attention through its mobile-first, interactive format. Corporate executives utilize the platform for board presentations and investor communications, taking advantage of its professional polish and storytelling capabilities. Design agencies employ Chronicle for client proposals, appreciating its ability to showcase work without extensive design overhead.

The platform also serves individuals creating portfolio presentations, training materials, and social media content that requires professional visual standards. Remote teams particularly benefit from Chronicle’s collaborative features and mobile-optimized format for asynchronous communication.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Eliminates design burden while maintaining professional quality output
  • Significantly reduces presentation creation time from hours to minutes
  • Interactive features enhance audience engagement and attention management
  • AI-powered research and content generation capabilities
  • Real-time collaboration supports modern remote work environments
  • Mobile-optimized format addresses changing consumption patterns
  • Extensive template library provides expert-level starting points
  • Keyboard-first workflow increases productivity for power users

Cons:

  • Currently in public beta with some features still in development
  • Limited customization options may restrict users seeking full creative control
  • Handcrafted templates and layouts may not scale for all user preferences
  • Advanced image generation features are planned but not yet available
  • Learning curve required to adapt from traditional slide-based thinking
  • Relatively new platform with limited long-term user feedback

Pricing

Chronicle currently offers free access during its public beta phase. The planned pricing structure includes a free tier for unlimited decks with limited AI tokens, and a professional tier at $30 per month that removes Chronicle watermarks, adds guest editors, provides additional AI credits, and includes PDF/URL import capabilities for AI prompting. Enterprise pricing and features are available for larger organizations requiring advanced collaboration and management tools.

Competitor Comparison

Feature Chronicle PowerPoint Canva Prezi Tome Slidebean
AI-Powered Creation Yes Limited Limited No Yes Yes
Interactive Elements Yes Limited No Yes Limited No
Real-time Collaboration Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited
Mobile Optimization Yes Limited Limited Limited Limited Limited
Template Library Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited Yes
Widget-Based Design Yes No Limited No No No
Keyboard-First Workflow Yes Limited No No Limited No
Research Integration Yes No No No Limited Limited
Pricing (Monthly) Free (Beta) $6-22 $0-40 $3-59 $8-20 $8-29

Chronicle’s main competitors include established players like PowerPoint and emerging AI-powered tools like Tome and Slidebean. However, Chronicle differentiates itself through its widget-based approach, comprehensive AI integration, and focus on interactive storytelling rather than just slide creation.

Team Members

Mayuresh Patole – Co-Founder and CEO
Tejas Gawande – Co-Founder

Team Members About

Mayuresh Patole brings extensive experience in management consulting and product design to Chronicle. He holds a Dual Degree in Energy Sciences and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, graduating with a CGPA of 8.28/10. His professional journey includes roles as an Associate at The Boston Consulting Group, followed by positions as Experience Designer, Venture Architect, and Senior Venture Architect at BCG Digital Ventures in Sydney. Patole earned recognition as “Associate of the Year” at BCG and received the “Best Paper 2017” award from Springer for his academic contributions. His presentation expertise developed during university, where classmates frequently approached him after presentations asking about his specialized software, not realizing he was creatively hacking PowerPoint.

Tejas Gawande is a product expert with deep expertise in customer and go-to-market strategy, having worked across the United States and 10 APAC countries in eCommerce and management consulting. He graduated from IIT Bombay and has known Patole for over a decade. Gawande brings experience in growth and social media, having identified shifting patterns in information consumption and audience expectations shaped by social media platforms. He writes a product newsletter for over 2,000 subscribers and participated in the inaugural On Deck PM cohort. His background includes roles in strategy consulting and product management across various markets.

Mayuresh Patole:

Tejas Gawande:

Final Thoughts

Chronicle represents a significant evolution in presentation software, addressing fundamental limitations that have persisted in the industry for decades. The platform’s widget-based approach combined with AI-powered assistance creates a compelling alternative to traditional slide-based tools, potentially transforming how professionals create and deliver visual narratives.

The company’s impressive organic growth to over 100,000 waitlisted users without marketing investment demonstrates substantial market demand for more sophisticated presentation tools. The founders’ deep expertise in both presentation creation and product development, combined with their understanding of modern information consumption patterns, positions Chronicle well for market success.

However, the platform’s success will ultimately depend on its ability to maintain design quality and user experience as it scales beyond its current beta phase. The transition from traditional slide-based thinking to Chronicle’s widget-based approach may require significant user education and change management. Additionally, the competitive landscape includes well-funded AI-powered alternatives and established players with significant market presence.

Chronicle’s $7.5 million funding from prominent investors and angel investors from major tech companies provides a strong foundation for growth, but the company must execute effectively on product development, user acquisition, and market education to realize its ambitious vision of eliminating poor-quality presentations and revolutionizing workplace storytelling.

The modern format of storytelling
chroniclehq.com