# A free Play Digital Signage alternative for small businesses > Canonical HTML: https://screenrig.ai/compare/play-digital-signage-alternative For most small businesses, screenRIG is the better and cheaper choice than Play Digital Signage: it is free, and your agent does the work. [Play's pricing page](https://playsignage.com/pricing/) says the first screen is free for 30 days and stays free if you post a review on an approved site, then $8, $12 or $16 per screen a month. We make screenRIG, and every Play Digital Signage fact here links to Play's own page. Updated October 28, 2026 · Checked October 28, 2026. > **You:** Put our grooming prices on the waiting room TV and our stamp card on the window TV. Bath and dry is $35 small, $45 medium and $60 large. Full groom is $55, $70 and $95. Nail trim is $12 for any size. Teeth brushing is $8 extra and de-shedding is $15. The stamp card is one stamp a visit: a free nail trim on the 4th and a free full groom on the 8th. > > **Agent:** Done. The waiting room TV shows the price grid, small, medium and large across the top, with the two extras underneath. The window TV shows the stamp card with both rewards. I took a screenshot of each screen and checked it. Each page took about five seconds to build and show. ## One message, two screens This is a real session on two test screens, run on 28 October 2026. The grooming shop and its prices are made up. ![The waiting room TV showing grooming prices: bath and dry, full groom and nail trim by small, medium and large, plus two extras, in amber on dark blue.](https://screenrig.ai/static-resources/images/screenshots/landing/compare-play-digital-signage-price-grid-bca54456.webp) *What the waiting room TV showed. The prices are the ones in the message, and nothing else is on the screen.* ![The window TV showing a stamp card: every 8th visit free, a free nail trim on the 4th visit and a free full groom on the 8th, in amber on dark blue.](https://screenrig.ai/static-resources/images/screenshots/landing/compare-play-digital-signage-stamp-card-a9ee420b.webp) *What the window TV showed, captured right after the other screen. The card calls stamps points.* Changing a price later is one more message, and the screen changes in place. Nobody opens an editor. ## What does Play Digital Signage cost after the first screen? [Play's pricing page](https://playsignage.com/pricing/) says to start with one free screen, then pick the plan that fits. The first screen is free for 30 days and free after that if you leave a review in that time on Capterra, G2, Trustpilot, Google, Software Advice or GetApp. Without a review, the free screen is removed. Your free screen includes every Pro feature. Every plan is billed per screen: Essential is $8, Pro is $12 and Ultimate is $16 per screen per month. You can pay monthly, or a year ahead for 10% off. | Screens | screenRIG | Play Essential ($8) | Play Pro ($12) | Play Ultimate ($16) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Free | $96 a year | $144 a year | $192 a year | | 2 | Free | $192 a year | $288 a year | $384 a year | | 3 | Free | $288 a year | $432 a year | $576 a year | | 5 | Free | $480 a year | $720 a year | $960 a year | | 10 | Free | $960 a year | $1,440 a year | $1,920 a year | Yearly cost is the list price times the number of screens times 12, paid monthly, before tax. The free first screen can take one screen's price off a row. Play lowers the rate as you add screens: at 10 screens its page shows $7.91, $11.86 and $15.81 a month, paid monthly. Hardware is left out. On screenRIG, Standard includes up to 50 screens, with no review to post. See [pricing](https://screenrig.ai/upgrades.md) for more. Play Digital Signage is a good fit if you like to design each slide yourself. [Its pricing page](https://playsignage.com/pricing/) lists a PowerPoint-like cloud editor and ready-made templates, and says all customers get free support by email and live chat, 24/7/365. > **How we checked.** Play Digital Signage's prices and terms come from the pages under Sources, read on 28 Oct 2026, in US dollars. Play Digital Signage is a trademark of its owner, and screenRIG is not affiliated with it. If a figure has moved, [tell us](https://screenrig.ai/contact.md). ## Which of your screens carry over? [Play's pricing page](https://playsignage.com/pricing/) lists 14 platforms, among them Android, Windows, macOS, Google TV, Amazon Signage Stick, Samsung Tizen, Linux, Raspberry Pi and BrightSign. Each of those has a screenRIG Player on [Downloads](https://screenrig.ai/downloads.md), and the Player web app opens in any modern browser. On a Raspberry Pi, the Player needs a Pi 4 or 5 with 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS. On screenRIG you read the code on the screen to your agent, and it pairs the screen. [Start](https://screenrig.ai/docs/start.md) shows how to connect your agent. ## Moving over from Play Digital Signage screenRIG has no Play Digital Signage importer. Your agent imports a folder of your originals instead, and the pictures and videos in a folder become a playlist. [Play's library help](https://playsignage.com/support/library/) says to click a file and then click Download. Put what you download, and the originals you still have, in one folder, then ask: > **You:** Move our Play Digital Signage pictures and videos here. They are all in the play-files folder. > > **Agent:** I imported 12 files, 11 pictures and 1 video, into one playlist called play-files. It took about fourteen seconds. price-list.pdf is not a picture or a video, so I left it out. Install the screenRIG Player on each screen, read me its code, and I'll connect it with its playlist. - **Prefer your originals.** [Play's library help](https://playsignage.com/support/library/) says it converts some files when you upload them: .heic and .heif become .webp, .tif and .tiff become .jpg, and each page of a PDF becomes an image. If you still have the original, use it. Your agent reads only the folder you give it. - **Check your renewal date.** [Play's pricing page](https://playsignage.com/pricing/) says an annual subscription is prepaid for a whole year. Keep the plan until each new screen matches, and take a screenshot of each one first. - **Schedules come next.** The import brings in pictures, videos and playlists. Schedules are one more message once the playlists exist. ## Questions ### Is Play Digital Signage free? For one screen, with a condition. [Its pricing page](https://playsignage.com/pricing/) says the first screen is free for 30 days, and stays free if you leave a review on an approved review site in that time. If you don't, the free screen is removed, and a later review reinstates it. Paid plans start at $8 per screen per month (checked 28 Oct 2026). ### How much does Play Digital Signage cost per screen? Essential is $8, Pro is $12 and Ultimate is $16 per screen per month, per [its pricing page](https://playsignage.com/pricing/). Paying a year ahead takes 10% off, and non-profits with a certificate get 20% off (checked 28 Oct 2026). ### Is PlaySignage the same as Play Digital Signage? Yes. The company calls itself Play Digital Signage, Inc. on [its pricing page](https://playsignage.com/pricing/), and its site is playsignage.com. This page uses the name the company uses. ### Does Play Digital Signage have an API? Yes. [Its pricing page](https://playsignage.com/pricing/) lists full-featured API access on Pro, and the free screen includes every Pro feature. On screenRIG the plugin, the command line and a remote MCP server are on every plan, so your agent can set up the account, pair a screen and publish without a plan decision first. ### What does screenRIG cost a small business? screenRIG is free. Pay only if you want more. Standard includes up to 50 screens, with no review to post and no logo or watermark on your screens. Paid plans add more than 50 screens, people to talk to, contract terms, custom work or a lot of storage, never a feature. See [pricing](https://screenrig.ai/upgrades.md). ## Put prices on your waiting room TV The grooming prices were one waiting room job. [Waiting rooms](https://screenrig.ai/use-cases/waiting-rooms.md) shows what else your agent puts on that TV. [Start](https://screenrig.ai/docs/start.md) connects your agent to your first screen. ## Sources - [playsignage.com/pricing](https://playsignage.com/pricing/) - [playsignage.com/support/library](https://playsignage.com/support/library/) - [screenrig.ai/upgrades](https://screenrig.ai/upgrades) - [screenrig.ai/downloads](https://screenrig.ai/downloads) - [screenrig.ai/docs/start](https://screenrig.ai/docs/start) - [screenrig.ai/use-cases/waiting-rooms](https://screenrig.ai/use-cases/waiting-rooms) ## Related - [Best Free Digital Signage Software (2026)](https://screenrig.ai/compare/free-digital-signage-software.md): screenRIG is free. Pay only if you want more. 15 free signage options, each read on its own page on 2026-10-27: free plans, trials and open source. - [Digital Signage for Waiting Rooms](https://screenrig.ai/use-cases/waiting-rooms.md): A queue screen that shows the ticket being served and drops the numbers when the desk's system goes quiet. screenRIG is free. Pay only if you want more. - [Free Digital Signage for Small Business](https://screenrig.ai/use-cases/small-business.md): A TV for your café, shop, gym or bar that your AI agent keeps current: hours, specials and offers. screenRIG is free. Pay only if you want more. - [Free Yodeck Alternative for Small Shops (2026)](https://screenrig.ai/compare/yodeck-alternative.md): screenRIG is free. Pay only if you want more. What Yodeck costs past one screen, and a counter promo your agent builds from one chat message. - [OptiSigns Alternative, No Logo on Screens (2026)](https://screenrig.ai/compare/optisigns-alternative.md): screenRIG is free. Pay only if you want more. OptiSigns' free plan puts its logo on your screens. See a café counter board your agent builds by chat. [Start free](https://screenrig.ai/docs/start.md). screenRIG is free. Pay only if you want more.