Free digital signage software, or paid: where the tipping point sits
It is a fair question, and the honest answer fits in one sentence: for a single screen and content that rarely changes, free software does the job. Beyond that, what you save on a licence you pay in time. Here is exactly where the tipping point sits — and how to measure it on your own case rather than take our word for it.
Let us be clear
What free software does very well
Genuinely free digital signage software exists, often open source, and some of it is excellent. Three situations where it is enough, no argument.
One screen, one site
A screen in a waiting room, a loop of three visuals that changes once a month. Free software handles that perfectly well, and you need nothing more.
Technical skill on hand
If someone on your team enjoys tinkering with a Raspberry Pi, reading documentation and handling an update, free becomes a real option — and an interesting one.
A project to validate before investing
Testing the idea of digital signage at zero cost, to win internal support, is a sound approach. That is precisely why we offer a full trial rather than a demo.
The tipping point
Where free software starts costing more
The shift does not come from a missing feature, but from a change of scale. Three thresholds come up again and again with our customers.
One screen: free holds up
With a single screen, everything is within arm’s reach. If the display freezes, you notice it walking past and you restart the player. Updates happen on the spot, with a USB stick or by plugging in a keyboard.
- ✓A fault is visible and fixed in minutes
- ✓Content rarely changes, so the time spent stays low
- ✓Nobody else needs to touch it
This is the case where we will tell you ourselves that a subscription brings you nothing right now.
Several screens, several sites: free turns against you
The day you move to five screens across three sites, every action is multiplied by five. Changing a visual becomes a round trip. A fault is reported by a customer, or not at all. And the one person who knew how to do it goes on holiday.
- ✓One update = one trip per screen, or remote access you build yourself
- ✓No fault reporting: a black screen can stay black for days
- ✓No backup: one dead player, and the content has to be rebuilt
- ✓No record of who changed what, and no per-person permissions
This is the moment the real cost of free becomes visible: it is counted in hours, and the hours of a manager or a technical lead are worth more than a subscription.
Comparison
Free or paid, line by line
No product is named in this table: free offers change quickly and a name-by-name comparison would be wrong within six months. The criteria, on the other hand, are ones you can check yourself against whichever solution you are considering. Our plans are set out on the subscriptions page, and we also keep a comparison of the software on the market.
| What to look at | Free software | EMITY subscription |
|---|---|---|
| Number of screens | Often one, sometimes three | 1 to 1,000 screens per account |
| Updating content | On site, or remote access you build yourself | From the browser, on one screen or all of them |
| Time-based scheduling | Rare, or something you script yourself | Included: by hour, by day, by period |
| Fault reporting | None: a black screen is discovered on site | The platform flags the screen that stopped responding |
| Content backup | Yours to organise | Included, content kept online |
| Screen compatibility | Depends on the hardware, often an imposed player | Every manufacturer, with or without a player |
| Security updates | Yours to track and apply | Applied by the vendor |
| Support and training | Community forum | Certified reseller, training included |
| Per-user permissions | Rarely, one shared login | Per person, with scope and history |
| If it breaks on a Saturday | You, or nobody | A named contact |
What sets us apart
What free software will not do for you
These are not features locked behind a paywall: they are design choices that require a team behind the product.
Your existing screens keep working
We are the only vendor to guarantee compatibility with every manufacturer. Free software generally imposes its own player or hardware; a branded screen, for its part, locks you into its own software. Here a mixed estate is driven from a single dashboard.
One contract for six business needs
Digital signage, interactive kiosks, visitor sign-in, queue management, room booking and live sports scoring all live in the same platform. One contract, one training session, one contact — where you would otherwise add up as many tools as you have needs.
Digital ink, which nobody else supports
EMITY is the first French vendor to drive digital ink panels: zero consumption for as long as the display does not change, five years of battery life, readable in full sunlight. A sustainability argument free software does not cover.
IPTV and signage in one interface
Broadcast live television and your own content on the same screens, without juggling two systems. Useful in hotels, in waiting rooms, in a sports club.
Video walls with no drift
Master-slave synchronisation starts several screens on the same frame, at the same millisecond. That is what separates a video wall from a row of screens.
Triggered by touch
NFC and RFID let an object picked up by a visitor launch a video on the screen beside it. In a showroom or a store, the display stops being a passive loop.
You already have software
Switching without throwing away the hardware
The most common objection is not the price: it is the fear of starting over. It is a fair one, and it has an answer.
Taking over an existing estate: the Replay label
If your screens run on free software today, or on a competitor’s, the hardware stays where it is. We take over the existing estate and connect it to the platform: that is what we call the Replay label.
- ✓Screens already installed are kept
- ✓A connected Samsung (Tizen), LG (webOS) or Android screen receives the E-SOFT app directly, with no player
- ✓Any other screen with an HDMI input works with an E-BOX player
- ✓Training is included, delivered by a certified reseller
A French vendor since 2018, EMITY is distributed through a network of certified resellers across France and Europe: your contact is a person you can reach.
The right way to decide
Do not take our word for it: measure
You were looking for free software. Here is our proposal, which answers that intention exactly without asking you to choose blind.
Three months, not two weeks
Long enough to go through a real trading season, change the content several times and see what the display brings you. Two weeks is not enough to judge.
On the full Excellence plan
Not a crippled version: the highest plan, with the widgets, the interactive kiosks and SSO. You test the maximum, then step down if that is enough.
Up to three screens
Enough to put the things that matter most to the test: updating several screens remotely at once, and time-based scheduling.
No commitment and no card details
Nothing to cancel, no bank details to hand over. If you stop after three months, nothing happens.
They trust us
EMITY in a few figures
A French vendor since 2018, distributed through a network of certified resellers across France and Europe.
+7,000
connected screens
+1,000
customer accounts
+130
distribution partners
+20
countries
Frequently asked questions
