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- Add "Integrations" to the top nav on the landing page and all 17 SEO pages (targeted at the nav Compare→Sign-In boundary; breadcrumbs untouched). - Contextually cross-link the 6 integration spokes from the what-is and open-source guides (YouTube/RSS/Weather/Google Slides/Canva/Power BI) — each spoke now has 5 inbound links instead of hub-only. - Remove the public "Status" footer link to /api/status from landing.html (endpoint stays for the admin panel + healthcheck; just not advertised). Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
218 lines
16 KiB
HTML
218 lines
16 KiB
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<title>Open Source Digital Signage Software - Free & Self-Hosted (2026) | ScreenTinker</title>
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<meta name="description" content="A guide to open source digital signage software. Own your data, pay no per-screen fees, and self-host or use the cloud. ScreenTinker is a free, MIT-licensed digital signage CMS.">
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<meta property="og:description" content="Own your data, pay no per-screen fees, self-host or use the cloud. ScreenTinker is a free, MIT-licensed digital signage CMS.">
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<span>Open Source Digital Signage</span>
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<h1>Open Source Digital Signage Software: Free & Self-Hosted (2026)</h1>
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<p class="lead">Open source digital signage lets you own your content, skip per-screen subscription fees, and run your screens on your own terms. Here is what it means, why it matters, and how ScreenTinker fits in.</p>
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<h2>What is open-source digital signage?</h2>
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<p>Open-source digital signage is signage software whose source code is publicly available under a permissive license, so anyone can inspect, run, modify, and redistribute it. Instead of renting access to a closed cloud platform, you get the actual application - the content management system (CMS) that schedules and pushes content, plus the players that run on your screens.</p>
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<p>ScreenTinker is an open-source digital signage CMS released under the <strong>MIT license</strong>. That license is about as permissive as it gets: you can audit the code, fork it, extend it, and deploy it commercially with no strings attached. You can run it as a managed cloud service or self-host it on a server you control - the same codebase either way.</p>
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<h2>Why choose open source over cloud SaaS?</h2>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>Data ownership.</strong> With a self-hosted open-source deployment, your content, schedules, device list, and logs live on infrastructure you control - not in a vendor's cloud. For healthcare, finance, government, and education, that is often a hard requirement.</li>
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<li><strong>No per-screen fees.</strong> Closed SaaS products charge a recurring fee for every screen, typically $5-15/screen/month. Self-hosting ScreenTinker replaces that with a flat server cost - a $5 VPS can run hundreds of screens.</li>
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<li><strong>No vendor lock-in.</strong> If a cloud vendor raises prices, pivots, or shuts down, your deployment goes with it. With MIT-licensed source you own your copy and control your own roadmap.</li>
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<li><strong>Auditable and MIT-licensed.</strong> You can read every line, run a security review, and satisfy procurement teams that need to know exactly what runs on the network.</li>
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<li><strong>Self-host or cloud.</strong> Open source does not force you onto your own servers. Start on the hosted free plan to evaluate, then self-host when you are ready - or stay on the cloud if you prefer managed hosting.</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>What ScreenTinker gives you</h2>
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<p>ScreenTinker is a full digital signage platform, not just a media player. Everything below is in the open-source project:</p>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>Content and scheduling:</strong> playlists, scheduling and dayparting, content expiry, and multi-zone layouts.</li>
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<li><strong>Multi-screen:</strong> video walls with multi-screen sync, group sync, kiosk mode, and offline-native playback that keeps running when the network drops.</li>
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<li><strong>Management:</strong> live remote control (Android players, with accessibility permission), auto-update/OTA, telemetry, a public API with scoped tokens, an agency portal, and white-label / reseller support.</li>
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<li><strong>Every player is free:</strong> Android TV / Fire TV (native APK), Samsung Tizen (.wgt), LG webOS, Amazon Vega OS, Raspberry Pi (free setup script), and Windows / ChromeOS / any browser via the web player.</li>
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<li><strong>Native widgets:</strong> <a href="/integrations/youtube-digital-signage.html">YouTube</a>, <a href="/integrations/rss-digital-signage.html">RSS</a>, <a href="/integrations/weather-digital-signage.html">Weather</a>, Clock, Text/HTML, Social, and a Directory-board. A universal <strong>Webpage</strong> widget embeds any framable public URL - published <a href="/integrations/google-slides-digital-signage.html">Google Slides</a>, <a href="/integrations/canva-digital-signage.html">Canva</a>, <a href="/integrations/power-bi-digital-signage.html">Power BI</a>, and live dashboards. See all <a href="/integrations/">integrations</a>.</li>
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<li><strong>Self-host switch:</strong> set <code>SELF_HOSTED=true</code> to unlock the enterprise plan, disable subscription and Stripe checks, and run unlimited devices for free.</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Open source vs the paid SaaS incumbents</h2>
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<p>The dominant hosted products - Yodeck, ScreenCloud, OptiSigns - are closed, cloud-only, and billed per screen. Here is how an open-source CMS compares:</p>
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<div class="compare-table-wrap">
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<table class="compare-table">
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<thead>
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<tr><th>Concern</th><th>ScreenTinker (open source)</th><th>Cloud SaaS (Yodeck / ScreenCloud / OptiSigns)</th></tr>
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</thead>
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<tbody>
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<tr><td>License / source access</td><td class="yes">Open source (MIT)</td><td class="no">Closed / proprietary</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Per-screen monthly fee</td><td class="yes">None</td><td class="no">$5-15/screen/month</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Self-host on your own server</td><td class="yes">Yes</td><td class="no">No</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Data location</td><td class="yes">Your server (or ST cloud)</td><td class="no">Vendor's cloud</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Air-gapped / offline LAN deployment</td><td class="yes">Possible</td><td class="no">Not possible</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Player apps included free</td><td class="yes">All platforms</td><td class="partial">Varies / add-on hardware</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Fork / customize the code</td><td class="yes">Yes</td><td class="no">No</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Vendor lock-in risk</td><td class="yes">None (you own it)</td><td class="no">High</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Managed cloud option available</td><td class="yes">Yes (free / $39 / $99)</td><td class="yes">Yes</td></tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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</div>
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<h2>How ScreenTinker compares to other open-source options</h2>
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<p>ScreenTinker is not the only open-source signage project - the two best-known alternatives are Xibo and Anthias (formerly Screenly OSE).</p>
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<p><strong>vs Xibo:</strong> Xibo is open source on the server side, but its player apps are not all free - the Android, Tizen, and webOS players are paid licenses. With ScreenTinker every player is free on every platform. See the <a href="/compare/xibo-alternative.html">ScreenTinker vs Xibo comparison</a>.</p>
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<p><strong>vs Anthias:</strong> Anthias is a lightweight single-screen player built for one Raspberry Pi at a time, without a true multi-device fleet CMS. ScreenTinker is a modern multi-device platform - manage Android TV, Fire TV, Tizen, webOS, Vega, Pi, and browsers from one dashboard. See the <a href="/compare/anthias-alternative.html">ScreenTinker vs Anthias comparison</a>.</p>
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<h2>Getting started</h2>
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<p>The fastest path is the hosted free plan - one device, no server to run. When you are ready to self-host, clone the repo:</p>
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<pre><code>git clone https://github.com/screentinker/screentinker.git
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cd screentinker/server
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npm install
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cp .env.example .env
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# edit .env with your domain, JWT_SECRET, and SELF_HOSTED=true
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node server.js</code></pre>
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<p>ScreenTinker runs on Node.js with a SQLite database, so a $5 VPS is enough to manage hundreds of screens. Full deployment details are in the <a href="https://github.com/screentinker/screentinker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GitHub README</a>, and the <a href="/guides/self-hosted-digital-signage.html">self-hosted guide</a> walks through reverse proxy, TLS, and backups.</p>
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<h2>Frequently asked questions</h2>
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<h3>Is ScreenTinker really free and open source?</h3>
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<p>Yes. ScreenTinker is released under the MIT license, so the full source code is public and you can audit, fork, and extend it. Self-hosting is free with unlimited devices; the managed cloud has a free plan plus paid tiers if you prefer hosted convenience.</p>
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<h3>What does the MIT license let me do?</h3>
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<p>The MIT license lets you run, modify, and redistribute the software - including commercially - with essentially no restrictions beyond keeping the copyright notice. You can build custom widgets, integrate it into your own systems, and white-label it.</p>
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<h3>Do I have to self-host to use open-source digital signage?</h3>
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<p>No. Open source means the code is available if you want it, but you can still use ScreenTinker's managed cloud. Many teams start on the hosted free plan and self-host later once their screen count grows.</p>
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<h3>Are all the player apps free?</h3>
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<p>Yes. Android TV / Fire TV, Samsung Tizen, LG webOS, Amazon Vega OS, Raspberry Pi, and the browser-based web player are all free on every platform, with no per-player license.</p>
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<h3>How is ScreenTinker different from Xibo?</h3>
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<p>Both are open source on the server, but Xibo charges license fees for its Android, Tizen, and webOS players. ScreenTinker keeps every player free on every platform.</p>
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<h3>How many screens can a self-hosted server handle?</h3>
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<p>ScreenTinker runs on Node.js and SQLite, which is efficient. A small $5/month VPS can comfortably manage hundreds of screens; larger fleets just need a bit more CPU, RAM, and storage.</p>
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<div class="related">
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<h2>Related guides</h2>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="/guides/what-is-digital-signage.html">What is digital signage? A complete guide</a></li>
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<li><a href="/guides/self-hosted-digital-signage.html">Self-hosted digital signage: complete guide</a></li>
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<li><a href="/guides/raspberry-pi-digital-signage.html">How to set up digital signage on a Raspberry Pi</a></li>
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<li><a href="/compare/xibo-alternative.html">Compare: ScreenTinker vs Xibo</a></li>
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<li><a href="/compare/anthias-alternative.html">Compare: ScreenTinker vs Anthias</a></li>
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<li><a href="/compare/yodeck-alternative.html">Compare: ScreenTinker vs Yodeck</a></li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="cta">
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<h2>Start with open-source signage</h2>
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<p>Try the hosted free plan in under a minute, or clone the repo and self-host today.</p>
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<a href="/app#/login" class="btn btn-primary" style="padding:14px 28px;font-size:16px">Start Free</a>
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<a href="https://github.com/screentinker/screentinker" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="btn btn-outline" style="padding:14px 28px;font-size:16px;margin-left:12px">View on GitHub</a>
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"@type": "Question",
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"name": "How many screens can a self-hosted server handle?",
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