Top 10 Digital signage software free & open source in 2021

If you want to save some money while setting up Digital signage displays, then here are some best free and open-source Digital signage software solutions to install on Windows and other platforms.

Digital Signage is a term used for showing digital media such as advertisements and information on digital screens such as TV, kiosk, Tablets, dedicated signage display, and any other. And software that compile, control and manage the media content on a or multiple digital screens is known as the digital signage software.

Such software allows users to create and upload their own representation, images, films, and flash animations to distribute them to the output media, and then display them in a time-controlled fashion. Digital signage networks can distribute global content over the entire network as well as local content to individual locations within a few minutes.

Well, of course when we are managing multiple screens to display rich media content, it requires a fast connection to a central network management system, which can be implemented via LAN or WLAN, for example. Digital signage advertising shortens the waiting time and satisfies the need for information. With help of this technology employees, customers, or visitors can be informed about important news, statistics, and the latest events.

When we talk about digital signage software, it has a highly fragmented industry with hundreds of software vendors competing with each other to be a part of your business. However, more or less the components of digital signage solutions are very similar, except some would have more features, better plans, or support.

There are four essential components of any digital signage solution:

• Software that stays on the media player (or within the display)
• Content management / distribution software
• Device management software
• Content creation software

Well, there are lots of non-profit organizations, offices, or government institutes that don’t want to spend money on software when their demands are not much. In such cases, they can go for free or open-source digital signage software. And here we have tried to cover some of the best ones.

 

Best free digital signage software 2021

The listed software placement is not based on some ranking instead randomly…

Concerto – Open Source

Concerto is an open-source Web-based digital signage solution thus only needs a browser to manage displays on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, or any other OS you are using. It can display graphical, video, and textual messages. For installation virtual images are available for instant deployment.

Features:

• Linux based Web solution
• Upload graphical and textual content via a web interface
• Submission moderation
• Content scheduling and management
• Access control
• Multiple format casting and Multi-screen support
• Graphical template
• Supports UTF-8 languages

Website link-  Concerto-signage.org 

 

Pisignage

As its name suggests, PiSignage is another cloud-based digital signage software tool that offers 2 licenses free of cost, and for more, the user has to pay 25$ per license. However, being an open-source project, the users can install it on their own servers as well. It is suitable for small businesses without spending much on hardware as its player is available for Raspberry Pi including Intel NUC, Chromebox, or Chromecast.

The platform has been used widely for video distribution, streaming, digital signage, info displays, dashboards, notice boards, menu-display, etc. Furthermore, Pisignage UI is very compact and intuitive to manage campaigns centrally.

Key Features-

• OpenSource
• Simply but intuitive UI
• piSignage player offers flexibility to play multi-zone, multi-type content & nested playlists
• Supports Youtube, Streaming content, Media RSS, PDF, etc.
• Works offline
• Advanced Scheduling
• Remote shell, event logging, auto restart & more.
• Remote upgrade

Website link- Pisignage.com

 

Intuiface

Intuiface is a freemium solution to display content on Signboard displays. It is an intuitive digital software that allows users to interactively manage content and hardware. With the help of Intuiface, the user can even display 3D files along with other common media content. It comprises three parts Composer- to create content, Player- to play the media and other content on devices, and Analytics- to analyze the user interaction and engagement with your content. It is available in four versions- Free, Essential, Premier and Enterprise.

Features of the Free one:

• Create, Play, Publish and Share content
• Create Reusable Assets
• Unlimited Data Tracking
• 5 GB of free cloud Storage
• Technical Support
• 10 emails per day sending with attachments
• Share content and downloading of the player via URL
• Data collection
• Drag-and-drop Interface
• Remote provisioning, deployment, and monitoring
• Multi-platform support- Windows, Chrome, Android, and more…

Website link– intuiface.com

 

Digital signage Free

One of the best free digital signage software to easily convert TV screens into signage boards in restaurants, hospitals, offices, gas pumps, and other small and medium businesses. The user can create the presentation or the media content on his PC to push an unlimited number of displays remotely.

Digitalsignage.com’s SignagePlayer software is available to download for Windows, Android, macOS and also can be embedded using HTML snippet on a web page. It is based on an open-source framework available through the public Apache repository. It supports HTML5, Flash, HD videos, MRSS, Weather, Live TV, a robust open-source software development kit, and much more.

Key Features:

• Pre-built Templates
• Supports Multiple Platforms
• Unlimited display management
• Analytics
• Content Scheduling
• And more…

Website link–  digitalsignage.com

 

Screenly Open Source Edition

Screenly has two editions one is Open Source Edition (OSE) and free to use digital signage software whereas the other one is Enterprise, which starts with 29.95/month/display. Well, the Opensource edition is the same as the paid one, backed by the community and maintained by Screenly but without any official support. To install Screenly OSE you need to have Raspberry pi dedicated hardware.

Key Features:

• Support different content types, and schedule content
• Multiple digital signs support
• Automatic software updates, and two-factor authentication
• Low resources and power consumption because of Raspberry Pi support
• Unlimited Screens
• System Status Dashboard

Website Link- Screenly.io/ose/

 

Xibo Open Source Digital Signage

Just like Screenly, Xibo is also an Open source project along with paid Cloud pre-hosted solution. Xibo Digital Signage is also a low-cost and high-performance solution that supports multiple platforms for display management such as Windows, Android, Ubuntu, webOS, and SignageTizen SSSP.

Key Features:

• Layout designer
• Content Scheduling
• Powerful Widgets
• Diagnostic information straight on its interface
• Support wide range of players
• Easy Docker installation
• White Label

Website links- Github page and official website

 

Opensignage – Free Digital Signage solution

Opensignage is another best free digital software signage tool in the market to centrally control display networks and show rich media content to the targeted audience. Just like most of the tools, this also offers a user-friendly web-based Content Management System (CMS) to create and style content.  The OpenSignage Narrowcasting client software is available for Windows, Linux, and Android.

Key Features:

• Free support and updates
• Unlimited displays
• Clear design
• Content scheduling
• Extensive media library
• Easy to install

Website link– Opensignage.com 

 

Play Digital Signage

This digital signage system has limitations in free plan i.e only one screen per user. Thus, if you have a small office or business where you don’t need more than one signage display then this one is good to ruminate. Whereas the paid subscription is available at $18/month.

The app of Play digital signage system is available for Microsoft Windows, Amazon FireOS, Mac OSX, Raspberry PI, Android, ChromeOS, Linux, and Samsung Tizen SmartTV.

Key Features 

• Content scheduling
• Remote display management
• Multiscreen playing
• Customizable templates
• Media library
• Built-in file converter
• Allows you to create a team for your project.
• Works offline
• Alerts & Notifications
• Screen Capture
• Analytics
• Integrated Pixabay, GIPHY, and Unsplash for free images

Website link– Playsignage.com

 

ScreenHub

ScreenHub is a free cloud-based content management and digital signage software that allows users to easily create and share their content to all connected signboards with help of the Internet. It works with both Windows and Linux-based systems. However, some users may find some complications while setting it up.

Features:

• Compatible with all synchronous systems such as Linsn LED, NovaStar, and DBStar.
• 5GB storage and 100MB Max Upload
• Huge Content Library
• Financial Content
• Advanced Weather
• Slide Editor, Streaming Video, Social Media Integration, and Campaign Scheduling
• Phone/Email Support
• Hardware Monitoring

Website link– Crrusled.com/screenhub 

 

Telemetrytv

Another free solution but again with One Device limitation in the free plan. To use Telmentrytv on more than one device, the users have to go for paid plans starting from $12/mo. It supports Chromebox, Windows 10, Linux, macOS, or Android devices to display your content on TVs.

Key features-

• 70+ Turn-key Apps
• Microsoft OneDrive  and Google Drive Integration
• Desktop App and Email support
• Media Storage of 1GB
• Multiple Playlists Per Device
• Device Uptime Monitoring
• Mac, Win10 & Linux Desktop App
• Playlist Content Scheduling
• Canva Editor
• Supports Interactive Touch Kiosks

Website link– Telemetrytv

 

FAQs:

• What does Digital Signage mean?
  Digital signage (digital notice board) means displaying numerous contents such as news, presentations, video clips, or important current information on a digital screen such as TV with the help of digital signage software & hardware  Digital signage makes it possible to transmit interactive media content to the point of sale, restaurants, Malls, stations, Airports, waiting rooms, in authorities or exhibition stands, from which the visitors can gain individual knowledge.
• Who uses Digital signage software?
  Digital signage software is suitable for all companies, authorities, and other organizations that want to advertise themselves or distribute useful information and news in their own buildings, in public spaces, at trade fairs, exhibitions, and other events. Compared to a printed poster, timetable, or agenda, you can quickly update your digitally generated content at any time and transfer it to the connected displays.
• What content can be displayed with digital signage software?
  With digital signage software, we can display various types of media, text, and files such as news, presentations, video clips, weather forecast, events dates, product prices, catalog, and much more information can be displayed digitally on a screen.