Honest comparison
Where we win, and where we do not
Hosted signage platforms are good at things we are deliberately not good at. If those things matter more to you, buy one, you will be happier, and we would rather say so here than six weeks into a pilot.
| Self-hosted (this) | Hosted signage platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost at 100 screens | Hosting only | Per screen, per month, forever |
| Where your content lives | Your server | Their cloud |
| Works with no internet | Yes, including on an isolated network | Usually not |
| Interrupts another running app | Yes, on Android | Rarely |
| Emergency alert latency | Under 1s with a socket, 2 to 5s without | Typically 1 to 5s |
| Setup effort | You install it, or we do | Sign up and go |
| Who patches the server | You | Them |
| Uptime is whose problem | Yours | Theirs |
| Content survives the vendor | Yes, it is your server | No |
| Audit trail on your premises | Yes | Depends on plan |
Straight answer
When you should not buy this
If nobody in your organisation is willing to own a server, buy a hosted platform. Self-hosting is cheaper and more private precisely because you are doing the part they charge for, and a system nobody patches is worse than a subscription nobody enjoys paying.
If you have three screens in one room, the arithmetic does not favour us either. Per-screen pricing is painful at a hundred screens and perfectly reasonable at three.
And if you need someone contractually on the hook for uptime at four in the morning, that is a support contract, not a licence. We can talk about one, but be clear that is what you are buying.
When you should
Where this is plainly the better answer
A lot of screens
Past about twenty, per-screen pricing dominates every other consideration. That is the crossover in practice.
Data that cannot leave
Healthcare, government, defence, anything with a procurement process that asks where the data lives.
Networks you do not trust
A factory floor, a remote site, anywhere the connection is a question rather than an assumption.
One at a time
Already running one of these?
The table above is the argument in general. If you have a particular platform in mind, there is a page for it - what that product is genuinely good at, what changes if you move, and when you should stay put.
ScreenCloud
Same job, on your own server, without the per-screen line on the invoice.
Yodeck
For estates that outgrew per-screen billing, or cannot send content off site.
OptiSigns
The same estate, licensed per site rather than per screen, on infrastructure you own.
Xibo
Also self-hosted. The difference is how much of your week it asks for.
Rise Vision
Strong in schools. The question is where the data sits and what the alert path is.
NoviSign
Same capability, on your own infrastructure, priced by estate rather than by screen.
Still deciding?
Tell us the situation and we will tell you honestly whether this is the right fit, including when it is not.
No open demo, no sign-up wall, a person reads every request.