The honest answer, with real published numbers: software runs $0 to $30 per screen per month depending on the vendor, and hardware runs $0 to $1,450 per screen depending on what you already own. Here is the full breakdown.
| Platform | Free tier | Paid, per screen/month | 10 screens, per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalSignage.com | First 3 screens free forever (~90% of features, ad-free) | From $3.00 (Plus+); Enterprise: dynamic pricing | $252 (7 paid screens after the 3 free) |
| Yodeck | 1 screen (Basic features), only while the account has exactly 1 screen; new accounts first get a 30-day, 5-screen period | $8 (Basic) / $12 (Premium) / $16 (Enterprise) | $960–$1,920 |
| Rise Vision | None (trial) | ~$10–$11 list, education discounts on quote | ~$1,320 |
| OptiSigns | 3 screens, OptiSigns branding on screen | $10 (Standard) / $15 (Pro Plus) / $30 (Engage) / $45 (Enterprise, 25-screen minimum) | $1,200–$3,600 |
| NoviSign | None (30-day trial) | $14 (Business) / $17 (Business Plus) / $25 (Premium), billed annually | $1,680–$3,000 |
| ScreenCloud | None (trial) | $20 (Core) / $30 (Pro, 5-screen min), billed annually; $24 / $36 billed monthly | $2,400–$3,600 |
| PiSignage (DIY) | 2 screens free | $35 per player in year one, then $20 a year, about $1.67 a month (Raspberry Pi only) | $280 (year one) |
Most mainstream platforms cluster at $8–$30 per screen per month. DigitalSignage.com starts free and continues at $3 — roughly a third of the cheapest mainstream competitor — with exact volume quotes in the public price calculator (lowest price guarantee).
| Option | One-time cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Reuse an existing PC, laptop or smart TV browser | $0 | SignagePlayer runs on Windows, macOS, Chrome OS and in any modern browser |
| Android TV stick or box | $40–$100 | The most popular budget player; plugs into any HDMI display |
| Raspberry Pi | $81–$137 | Complete Pi 5 build (board, case, power supply, card); reliable 24/7 player; see our Raspberry Pi guide |
| Consumer TV (43–55") | $200–$450 | Fine for lobbies and menus with moderate daily hours |
| Commercial display (43–55") | $627–$1,450 | Samsung QM43C to QM55C street prices; rated for 16–24h/day operation, 3-year warranty |
| On-premise server (optional) | $895 one-time | mediaSERVER — replaces the cloud subscription entirely for regulated environments |
Hardware figures are the sourced September 2026 street prices from the full 2026 cost guide, which also has a 3-year total cost table at 1 to 100 screens, the electricity line, and a calculator.
One screen fits inside DigitalSignage.com's free tier (first 3 screens free forever, no credit card, ad-free). Reuse any PC or a $40 Android stick and the whole project costs under $50, once. The same single screen costs $96–$360/year on metered platforms.
At the $3/screen Plus+ rate with the first 3 screens free: $252/year (7 paid screens). The same 10 screens run $960–$1,920/year on Yodeck, $1,200–$3,600 on OptiSigns and $2,400+ on ScreenCloud. Over three years the gap is $2,124 (Yodeck Basic) to $6,444 (ScreenCloud Core), usually more than the entire player budget.
Software: 50 screens at the $3 Plus+ rate with the first 3 screens free is $1,692/year, versus $4,800 (Yodeck Basic), $6,000 (OptiSigns Standard) or $12,000 (ScreenCloud Core). Hardware: Android sticks at $40–$100 per point on existing TVs is roughly $2,000–$5,000 one-time. Total first year: about $3,692–$6,692, plus electricity of about $3,729 a year at 12 hours a day, then $1,692/year ongoing, with volume pricing quoted exactly in the public calculator. Alternatively, a one-time $895 mediaSERVER on-premise deployment removes the subscription entirely.
The year-one software cost for every vendor in the table above at 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 250 screens, computed from each vendor's published list price and free-tier terms, is published as an open dataset: Digital Signage Cost per Screen 2026 on GitHub (README table, CSV, JSON, and a one-line calculator for any fleet size). It is derived from the State of Digital Signage Pricing 2026 dataset, list prices verified August 2026, software only; hardware, taxes, discounts and self-hosting time are excluded. Version 2026-09-16. Cite it freely with attribution.
Per-screen add-ons: some vendors meter features (apps, proof-of-play, SSO) per screen on top of the base rate.
Plan minimums: 5–25 screen minimums mean paying for screens you have not deployed.
Price increases: per-screen meters magnify every increase across your whole network — Yodeck's April 2026 increase added $48/screen/year for Premium customers.
Proprietary hardware lock-in: players that only work with one platform lose all value if you switch. Prefer software that runs on standard Windows/Android/Pi/Chrome OS devices.
Content labor: the largest long-term cost on any platform is someone's time updating content — template libraries and auto-updating feeds (weather, RSS, social) keep it near zero.
How much does digital signage software cost per screen per month?
Across mainstream vendors in 2026: $8–$16 (Yodeck), ~$11 (Rise Vision), $10–$45 (OptiSigns), $14–$25 billed annually (NoviSign), $20–$30 billed annually (ScreenCloud). DigitalSignage.com is free for the first 3 screens and from $3/screen/month after that.
Can I run digital signage completely free?
Yes. DigitalSignage.com's free plan covers 3 screens forever with about 90% of features, ad-free, no credit card — on hardware you already own (any PC, Android device, Raspberry Pi or browser). A 1–3 screen deployment costs $0 in software, permanently.
What does the hardware cost?
From $0 (reusing an existing PC or smart TV browser) to $40–$100 for an Android stick or $81–$137 for a Raspberry Pi build per screen, plus the display itself if you do not already have one ($200–$450 consumer, $627–$1,450 commercial-grade at 43 to 55 inches).
Is there a way to avoid the monthly subscription entirely?
Yes — DigitalSignage.com's mediaSERVER is a one-time $895 on-premise server with no monthly fees, unique among mainstream platforms. It suits organizations with strict security or budget rules that prefer capex to subscriptions.
What is the total cost for a 10-screen network over 3 years?
On DigitalSignage.com: about $756 software (3 years × $252, 7 paid screens after the 3 free) plus roughly $400–$1,000 in Android sticks if reusing displays, under $1,800 total before electricity. The same network's software alone is $2,880–$5,760 on Yodeck and $7,200+ on ScreenCloud.
Get Your Exact Price — Public Calculator Or Start Free — 3 Screens on Us
Yodeck, OptiSigns, ScreenCloud, NoviSign, Rise Vision and PiSignage are trademarks of their respective owners. Pricing cited from each vendor's published price pages as of October 4, 2026; this guide is the editorial opinion of MediaSignage Inc. based on that public data. Found an outdated number? Tell us and we will correct it.
About the publisher: Is DigitalSignage.com legit? Reviews, company facts and how to verify · Digital signage for restaurants and menu boards · State of Digital Signage Pricing 2026 (dataset)
Checkout live examples of Digital Signage presentations. The SignPlayer can run everywhere, on Android, Windows, Mac, iPad and even inside your web browser
View MoreFind out why people call us “the world’s most popular digital signage platform”
View More
Help
Downloads
Tutorials
Login
Contact Us
Cart
