Top 6 Raspberry Pi Digital Signage Platforms to Use in 2024

Read and analyze the list of Top Raspberry Pi Signage to pick the best Raspberry Pi Digital Signage platform for all your digital signage needs based on your requirements:

Digital Signages gather attention and they make a business or organization look more professional and attractive to work with.

Digital Signage can be used for plenty of purposes, for example:

1. For advertising a brand, promoting a sale, etc.
2. For giving some information (like flight status shown at airports, clocks/weather alerts on metro stations, etc.)
3. For educational purposes, such as in museums and colleges.
4. In churches, mosques, and other places, information is given about prayer times, among other things.

Raspberry Pi Signage Platforms: Detailed Review

What is the Raspberry Pi digital signage platform?

Raspberry Pi is a cheap computer that runs Linux. It has a set of GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) pins that allow its users to convert any TV or monitor into a computer cable that can access the internet and can be used for playing games, displaying content, and more.

Benefits of Raspberry Pi Signage:

Raspberry Pi proves to be a profitable option for digital signage, for example:

1. It is cost effective
2. It is energy efficient
3. Easy installation
4. Ease of use
5. Raspberry Pi is highly versatile and customizable, which makes it suitable for different business needs.
6. Ability to work offline

The digital signage services require you to pay for the number of screens you use. In addition, they offer playlist creation, content scheduling, content editing, automated alerting and more useful features.

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Who is this Article for?

This article is for everyone who is looking for a digital signage solution, for any purpose. We have provided a well-researched list of the top platforms that are affordable, scalable, feature-rich, and suitable for many use cases.

Some of them are even offering free trials so that you can test their suitability for your unique requirements, risk-free. So just go through the article to get in-depth details about each service provider. You will also get how-to guides and useful links in the article.

Why does Digital Signage Raspberry Pi Solution stand out?

The many benefits that the solution offers make it widely popular in today’s times. The versatile solution is reliable, flexible, affordable, and easy to use, all at the same time.

The top merits of a Raspberry Pi Digital Signage solution are less energy consumption and cost-effectiveness, which makes the solution stand out.

List of the Best Raspberry Pi Digital Signage

Here is the popular list of PiSignage Platforms:

1. Yodeck
2. piSignage
3. 1Play
4. Info Beamer
5. Screenly
6. Play Signage

Comparison Table of Top Digital Signage Raspberry Pi

Detailed Reviews:

#1) Yodeck

Best for being affordable, easy to use, and highly useful, all at the same time.

=> Look Through Yodeck Detailed Review Here

Yodeck offers professional digital signage solutions for Raspberry Pi. Some of the big companies like Adobe, Autodesk, Ford, and much more use Yodeck for delivering their content to thousands of screens.

The features that make Yodeck stand apart are Granular Access Controls, Audit Logs, Advanced Media Scheduling, Volume Schedules, Free Stock Images & Videos, and more.

Watch this video tutorial of Yodeck:

How it works:

1. Create your account.
2. Buy a media player. With their annual subscription, you’ll receive a complimentary Yodeck media player. Once plugged in, they provide you with a pre-configured media player that immediately starts working with your wifi credentials.
3. Now connect the player to your screen. You are now ready to post your content on the screen.

Features:

• The system supports videos, images, audio, and document files.
• Lets you display playlists, data dashboards, screen layouts, and more.
• Offers tools for uploading, editing, and displaying content on screens, from your PC.
• Lets you create designs from scratch.
• Easy to use, drag-and-drop tools.
• They accept payments through credit cards and wire transfers.

Pros:

• Affordable hardware and software solutions
• Good security
• Easy to use and install
• Easy system recovery
• Consumes very less power
• Forever free, for running 1 screen
• You can still use Yodeck if you have a media player other than that from Yodeck.
• Free stock images and videos

Why we consider Yodeck to be the best Raspberry Pi signage platform: Yodeck’s Raspberry Pi digital signage is trusted by organizations of all sizes. It is very easy to use and set up, and it is available at quite a low cost. You can use it for free if you want the services for just one screen.

The paid plans even offer some great tools for creating content from scratch. You can use their free templates that can be used for businesses of all industries.

Price: Price plans are:

• Standard: $7.99 per screen per month
• Pro: $9.99 per screen per month
• Enterprise: $12.99 per screen per month

#2) piSignage

Best for scalable services with Full HD display.

Businesses from across 140 countries have been using piSignage since 2014. They claim that they have added over 99k players so far.

piSignage can be used for Video Distribution, In-Store Promotion, Campus Information Screens, Corporate Communication, Digital Displays & Menus, and more.

Further Reading => List of the BEST Corporate Digital Signage Solutions

Watch a video demonstrating the capabilities of piSignage Digital Signage, which is powered by Raspberry Pi:

How it works:

1. You will first have to buy a Raspberry Pi kit if you don’t have one.
2. Now download the piSignage image and prepare the SD card as per the instructions.
3. Then sign up for a new account (which is free).
4. Register the player on the server.
5. Now you are ready to upload files, create a playlist, and deploy to the group.

Features:

• Runs on Raspberry Pi, Intel NUC, or any other Debian platform.
• Lets you upload your content as files or links.
• Built-in tools for ticker & advert insertion, layouts, campaign scheduling, TV control and more.
• Tools for distributing videos to your customers instantly, based on the subscription they have.
• Payments are accepted through PayPal and wire transfers.

Pros:

• Works offline
• Progressive downloads, web socket communication
• Good quality support
• Easy to use
• Affordable
• Secure platform
• You will get 2 licenses for free when you sign up.

Why we like piSignage: piSignage is an easy-to-use, do-it-yourself Raspberry Pi signage service provider. It is affordable and has many use cases. Their customer reviews are impressive. The customer support services are also good.

The platform is scalable and I would recommend it for businesses of all sizes.

Price: Their pricing is as follows:

• License fee: $25 per license (One-time fee)
• Subscription: $20 per year, per player

Website: piSignage

#3) 1Play

Best for those seeking a highly scalable, feature-rich digital signage Raspberry Pi service provider with multiple pricing options to choose from.

1Play Digital Signage is a cloud-based, prepaid service that allows you to play any type of media on screens. Founded in 2016, 1Play is an all-in-one Digital Signage Raspberry Pi platform that offers a flexible pricing model.

The set of features they are offering is commendable. If you are using many screens, screens then I would say 1Play is the best option available, as they charge less as you scale.

How it works:

1. Sign up for a new account
2. Buy the required hardware parts including a Raspberry Pi, a plastic or metal case, Class 10 Micro-SDCard 8GB or bigger, HDMI Cable, and One Official Raspberry Pi Power supply.
3. Download and install Raspberry Pi Imager.
4. Click on ‘CHOOSE OS’, then select ‘Freemium and paid-for OS’, then go for ‘Digital Signage OS’, then select ‘1Play Digital Signage’.
5. Plug in the SD card into Raspberry Pi and then plug in the ethernet cable.
6. Login with your account, and you will find information about the Recovery Hotspot.
7. Connect the HDMI cable to the TV.
8. Power up using a power supply.
9. Go to the ‘Playboxes’ section and add a new playbox using the Unique ID shown.
10. Set up the Wi-Fi credentials.
11. Wait for a few minutes until you see your new playbox marked as Online (Green).
12. Set playlists for display.

Features:

• Manage any number of screens, from anywhere.
• Set your TVs to turn On or Off at a specific, pre-set time.
• Provides the ability to see what is displayed on your screens almost instantly.
• Auto start and reboot, playlist scheduling, creating video walls, and more advanced, alluring features.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Works offline
• Affordable
• A free trial for 30 days
• Scalable platform
• Zero trust firewall
• SSL/TLS encrypted data channels
• Pay for what you use.
• Less energy consumption
• Compatible with all versions of Raspberry Pi

Cons:

• The installation process is lengthy.

Why we like 1Play: Businesses from all across the globe and many industries like Retail, Entertainment, Restaurants, Healthcare, Transportation, Education, Gyms & Fitness, Hospitality, and Offices trust 1Play.

The reason for its popularity is the ease of use it offers, along with the affordability and scalability of the platform. I would highly recommend 1Play if you want digital signage for numerous screens.

Further Reading => A Comprehensive Guide on What is Digital Signage

Price: Price plans are:

• Standard Price: €0.16 per screen per day
• Starter Price: €0.15 per screen per day
• Pro Price: €0.14 per screen per day
• Business Price: €0.13 per screen per day
• Ultimate Price: €0.12 per screen per day
• Enterprise Price: €0.11 per screen per day
• Best Price: €0.10 per screen per day

Website: 1Play

#4) Info Beamer

Best for being an advanced, secure, feature-rich Raspberry Pi signage platform.

Another easy-to-use, simple Raspberry Pi signage platform is Info Beamer. It allows you to manage any number of screens remotely. The automation it offers is praiseworthy. You can simply rely on this platform for all use cases.

You can go through their detailed documentation anytime to solve any issues or access their video tutorials too.

Features:

• Can be used for creating video walls, Interactive Touch Panels, Geo-fenced content, and much more.
• An easy-to-use web interface.
• Tools for creating animated and dynamic content.
• Standard security features like 2-factor authentication, Access Controls, Encryption, and more.
• Stripe and Paddle allow you to make payments.

Pros:

• Supports all Raspberry Pi models
• Easy to use
• Gets installed in minutes
• Good customer support
• Automated regular self-checks
• Automatic repair of eventual problems
• Automatically turns the screens On/Off at specified times.
• Offers useful documentation, video tutorials
• 4K and Full HD video playback

Cons:

• They charge you extra for content storage.

Why we like Info Beamer: Info Beamer is an easy-to-use, secure, and scalable digital signage platform for Raspberry Pi devices. It is affordable and offers a good range of features, including tools for creating animated content.

The platform has everything you could want from a digital signage service. I would recommend it for businesses of all sizes and industries.

Price: They charge for the number of devices you use, plus the storage space you use. So the pricing is:

• Devices: €0.25 for each device per day
• Storage: €0.02 for each GB per day

You can scale devices up or down any time, and pay for just what you use.

Website: Info Beamer

#5) Screenly

Best for screen management at scale.

Screenly is a popular Raspberry Pi signage platform. Some of the biggest known brands are their clients. They are currently delivering their services in 75+ countries.

You can upload a Google Slides slideshow on Screenly, display your Grafana content, use the free Screenly Weather app for displaying weather forecast, display clock on your screen with the help of the Screenly Clock app, available in the Screenly app store, and much more.

Features:

• They let you display images, videos, and web pages.
• You can create playlists and schedule the display of your content.
• SSO integration via SAML.
• You can monitor the health of each screen remotely
• Allows you to display content in a portrait & landscape layout
• They accept payments through Credit and Debit cards, bank transfers, and checks. Businesses can also pay through invoices. All bills need to be paid in USD. Bank transfers and payments through check are allowed with the Enterprise plan only.

Pros:

• 1080p Full HD or stunning 4K resolution.
• A free trial for 14 days.
• They offer volume discounts for large-screen deployments.
• There is no limit to content storage, playlists, and labels.
• Standard security features.
• A dedicated account manager for Enterprise accounts
• The digital signage players with Screenly will cache your content so that if the internet connection is lost and you cannot upload and schedule more content, the screen will display the cached content and will not go blank.

Cons:

• No in-built content creation tools are offered. But you can use the integrations to get the best results.

Why we like Screenly: Screenly has powered over 10,000 screens since its establishment. Amazon, Accenture, Wesco, Cansortium are some of their clients. They are offering standard security features with a nice feature set.

Further Reading => OptiSigns, ScreenCloud, ConnectedSign, Yodeck Alternatives

Price:

Their price plans are:

• Starter: $11 per screen per month (billed annually)
• Business: $17 per screen per month (billed annually)
• Enterprise: $25 per screen per month (billed annually)

Website: Screenly

#6) Play Signage

Best for advanced content creation tools.

Play Signage is undoubtedly a powerful platform for digital signage. The feature set they are offering is quite alluring. Businesses from many industries, including Banking, Cinema, Gas Station, Healthcare, Hospitality, Food, Retail, Transportation, Education, Gyms & Spas, Churches, and Advertising are currently using their services.

You can access Play Signage’s installation guide for Raspberry Pi Signage from their website and have a look at the list of supported players as well.

Features:

• They offer you advanced content-creating tools, animations, and much more.
• You can create and team and assign tasks.
• Alerts you if a screen goes offline.
• The Screen Capture feature shows you what is on your screen in real-time
• Analytical features that tell you total run time and more information
• Integration with Pixabay, GIPHY, and Unsplash allows you to get access to royalty and copyright-free images, videos, and animations.
• You can add Google Drive to your account so that easily access your files stored in the Google Drive
• You can schedule your content to be displayed on a specific time or date.

Pros:

• A free trial
• Easy to use and install
• Pre-defined templates to help you do your job easily. You can even edit the templates if you want
• You can upload content of any format, the application will convert it on its own, if needed.
• Works offline
• The platform supports English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, German, Danish, and Estonian languages.
• Audit Log, Two-Factor Authentication, Support for Video Wall and LED Screens, and more attractive features

Why we like Play Signage: Play Signage delivers Raspberry Pi digital signage solutions for small businesses as well as large corporations. Their customer support is highly appreciated by their clients. The platform is powerful and easy to use at quite reasonable prices.

Price: $18 per screen per month

Website: Play Signage

How to Use The Raspberry Pi For Digital Signage

Here is a beginner’s guide to set up Raspberry Pi. Follow these steps for setting up Raspberry Pi for digital signage software:

#1) Make sure you have the required hardware, which includes:

1. Raspberry Pi board
2. A 16 GB or larger Micro SD card
3. 5V, 2.5A, or higher Power supply
4. HDMI cable
5. A TV or a Monitor (to be used as the display screen)
6. An internet connection

#2) Now you will have to choose a digital signage software that is suitable for your unique requirements. Carefully go through the features offered by each one, for selecting a software. Some even offer tools for creating breathtaking content, which can be beneficial for you.

#3) Then you will have to configure the network and display settings in your Raspberry Pi system

#4) Now install and configure the digital signage software you have picked. Each software provider offers installation guides and video tutorials, which can be very useful.

#5) You are ready to publish your content through a Raspberry Pi Digital Signage solution.

#6) Make sure your Raspberry Pi is mounted with proper ventilation, behind the display screen, and enclosed (for protection).

How We Selected These Platforms

We have selected the top Digital Signage Raspberry Pi Platforms after examining the following factors about over 30 service providers available in the industry:

1. Affordability
2. Scalability
3. Customer support services
4. Customer satisfaction rate
5. Ease of use
6. Feature set they are offering
7. Security features
8. Free trials/discounts offered

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Since Raspberry Pi is an affordable yet powerful computer solution used for various purposes, we have come up with a well-researched list of the best platforms for Raspberry Pi Digital Signage.

The top platforms, as per our findings, are Yodeck, piSignage, 1Play, Info Beamer, Screenly, and Play Signage. These offer reliable digital signage solutions for Raspberry Pi at quite reasonable prices and are easy to use. Our detailed reviews section will help you a lot in deciding which platform to go for.

Yodeck is completely free for running a single screen; piSignage offers 2 free licenses as you sign up; 1Play, Screenly, and Play Signage offer free trials that can check their usability; Info Beamer has some beneficial automation. I must say, each of these is a great platform to go for!

Recommended Reading =>> Yodeck Review

Research Process

• Time Taken to Research this Article: We spent 27 hours researching and writing this article to get a useful summarized list of tools with a comparison of the top 5 for your quick review.
• Total Tools Researched Online: 32
• Top Tools Shortlisted for Review: 06