Xibo
Digital signage system (CMS) to schedule content on screens, notably menus and opening hours, hosted by the vendor or installed yourself (open-source code under the AGPL licence). Players for Windows, Android, LG webOS and Samsung Tizen: the Windows player is free, the others are sold under a perpetual licence; when self-hosting, major updates are paid. 14-day trial. The page gives neither a price per screen nor languages; the vendor itself says self-hosting usually costs more than a plan.
Showing a web page full-screen on a TV connected to a small computer, with a daily menu that changes with the service time, is a project of a few hours. What makes Xibo useful at larger scale: remotely managing several screens across several sites, planning a fallback display when offline and handling rights. For a restaurant with one or two screens, a scheduled web page is enough; the open-source tool makes sense once you manage around ten screens or several venues.
What you lose
- Remote management of a fleet of screens.
- Ready-made players for Windows, Android, LG and Samsung.
- Offline caching.
- The vendor's updates and support.
Existing alternatives to Xibo
- AnthiasOpen source
Open-source digital signage (GPL-2.0, dual-licensed with a commercial version), designed for a Raspberry Pi connected to a screen.
- PiSignageOpen source
Open-source digital signage server for Raspberry Pi players, with playlists and scheduling.
What a home-built tool costs once it exists
- Hosting and database: a server cost, and automatic backups you actually test.
- Security and GDPR: dependency updates, an HTTPS certificate, protection of your customers’ data.
- Upkeep time: who fixes the tool on a Saturday night in the middle of service if the server goes down?
The prompt to build it yourself
Build a menu display for a dining-room screen, replacing digital signage software. Context: a restaurant with a TV above the counter, a small computer plugged into it, 3 services a day. To do: - A full-screen web page that shows the daily menu (dishes, prices, allergens) from a carte.json file. - An automatic change by time: breakfast, lunch, dinner, with a welcome page between services. - Page rotation every 15 seconds when the content is longer than the screen. - A password-protected admin page to edit dishes, prices and mark a dish «sold out». - Automatic page reload when the file changes, and a fallback display if the network goes down. Out of scope: managing several screens, videos. Stack: an HTML/JavaScript page served by a small Node server, launched full-screen at startup. README: installation on the small computer, automatic start, backing up carte.json.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does Xibo cost, and what do you really pay for?
- Listed price: free. What the subscription covers and is hard to maintain yourself: Remote management of a fleet of screens.; Ready-made players for Windows, Android, LG and Samsung.; Offline caching.; The vendor's updates and support..
- What free or open-source alternatives to Xibo exist?
- Anthias (open source), PiSignage (open source). Options to compare before committing to a custom build.
- Where do you start to build an equivalent of Xibo?
- Copy this page’s prompt into Claude, Codex or Cursor to get a first prototype. Then plan for hosting, data backups and GDPR compliance: that is what costs the most to maintain over time.
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