Free Digital Signage Software — What You Really Get
An honest look at free digital signage software. What free plans include, the usual limits, when free is enough and when it is worth paying.
By the onday team · · 4 min read
"Free digital signage software" is one of the most searched phrases in this field, and the results are a mix of real free plans, 14-day trials and open-source projects that need a server. This guide explains the difference and what to check before you invest time in any of them.
Three things called "free"
Free plans. A paid product with a permanently free tier, usually limited to a small number of screens. onday's Starter plan is this kind: one screen, free for as long as you use it.
Free trials. Full access for a limited time, then you pay or lose access. Useful for evaluating, but not free software.
Open-source software. Free to download. You host it, secure it, update it and fix it. That suits organisations with technical staff and time. For a café owner it is rarely the cheap option once hours are counted.
What to check on a free plan
Free plans differ in ways that matter. Go through this list before you build your content in one.
- How many screens? One, three, or more.
- Is there vendor branding on your screen? Some free plans show the vendor's logo or a watermark over your content.
- Does it expire? A free plan should have no end date.
- Which content types are included? Images are universal. Video, web pages and scheduling are sometimes held back.
- How much storage? Video fills storage quickly.
- Do you need a credit card to sign up? Not a deal-breaker, but a sign of how the upgrade path works.
- What does the next step cost? If you outgrow free, will the second screen cost a few dollars or a different order of magnitude?
What onday's free plan includes
So you can compare like for like, here is the Starter plan.
| Starter (free) | |
|---|---|
| Screens | 1 |
| Storage | 1 GB |
| Images, video and web content | Yes |
| Playlists and scheduling | Yes |
| Web and PWA player | Yes |
| Credit card to sign up | No |
| Time limit | None |
The limits are the single screen and 1 GB of storage. Team roles and live web dashboards are part of the Pro plan.
When free is enough
A free plan is a complete answer more often than vendors would like you to think.
- One screen in one place. A menu board, a reception display, a notice screen.
- Mostly images. A gigabyte holds hundreds of full-HD images.
- One person updating it. No need for roles and permissions.
If that describes you, use the free plan and stop reading pricing pages.
When it is worth paying
- You have more than one screen. This is the usual trigger.
- Several people need access. Roles let a colleague change content without access to billing or settings.
- You use a lot of video. Storage runs out.
- The screen matters to the business. Priority support has a value when a menu board is dark at lunchtime.
On onday the next step is Pro at $19 a month for up to 10 screens. Because that is a price for the account and not for each screen, the second screen and the ninth cost the same: nothing extra. Our cost guide compares this with per-screen pricing.
Could you just use a USB stick or a slideshow?
Yes, and for a single screen that never changes it is a fair choice. Most TVs will loop photos from a USB stick. The drawbacks appear the first time you want to change something: you have to be at the TV, with the stick, and there is no scheduling, no remote update and no way to know the TV has stopped.
A looping Google Slides presentation in a browser is a step up. It updates remotely. It still has no scheduling or status reporting, and a browser left alone on a TV has a habit of showing pop-ups. Our guide to showing slides and dashboards on a TV covers how to do this properly.
A sensible way to evaluate
- Sign up for one or two free plans. Avoid trials until you have a shortlist.
- Put the same three pieces of content on each: an image, a short video and a web page.
- Change something from your phone and time how long the screen takes to update.
- Leave it running for a full working day and see whether it is still playing in the evening.
- Look up the price for the number of screens you expect to have in two years.
Step five is the one people skip, and it is the one that decides the long-term cost.
Try onday free
Create an account, open the web player on any screen and pair it with the code shown. There is no credit card and no time limit. If one screen is all you need, it stays free.
