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digital-signage/optisigns-comparison.md
2026-07-15 17:32:04 -04:00

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OptiSigns Feature Replication — Build Plan

What OptiSigns Costs You

Plan Price Per
Standard $10/mo Unlimited screens
Pro $15/mo Unlimited screens
Pro Plus $30/mo Unlimited screens
Add-on: Video Wall $25/mo extra
Add-on: Background Music $15/mo extra

Feature Comparison — OptiSigns vs Our Build

Tier 1 — MVP (Phase 1, ~2 weeks)

Feature OptiSigns Our Build
Upload images + videos
Playlist (ordered sequence)
Playlist (shuffle mode)
Multi-tenant customers
Unlimited devices per customer
Pi registration via code (Fire TV/Android) (custom)
Fullscreen kiosk playback
Device identification overlay (planned)
Monthly cost $10-$30 $0 (on your infra)

Tier 2 — Parity (Phase 2, ~1 week)

Feature OptiSigns Our Build
Content scheduling (time-based)
Multi-user per tenant
Thumbnail preview in CMS
Drag-drop reorder playlist
Device auto-update on content change
Monthly cost $15 $0

Tier 3 — Surpass (Phase 3, ~1 week)

Feature OptiSigns Our Build
API for remote control (built-in)
Custom branding (no OptiSigns logo) ($30 plan) (ours)
Device identification (Ctrl+I)
Sho'Nuff integration (text-to-broadcast)
Dark ops-portal theme
Monthly cost $30 $0

Phase 1 — Feature Descriptions (MVP)

Content Management

  • Upload images (.jpg, .png, .webp) and videos (.mp4, .mov, .webm)
  • View in grid with thumbnails
  • Delete content
  • per-tenant content library (customers only see their own)

Playlist Builder

  • Create playlist → name it → drag items into order
  • Toggle shuffle mode (ordered vs random loop)
  • Assign playlist to one or multiple devices
  • Auto-play from first item when assigned

Device Management

  • See all devices per customer with status (Online/Offline)
  • View device details: name, serial, IP, model, last seen, current playlist
  • Assign playlist to device
  • Remote identify (triggers overlay on screen)
  • Registration code generator

Pi Player

  • Chromium fullscreen kiosk mode
  • Polls API every 60s for playlist
  • Preloads next media while current plays
  • Loops playlist (ordered or shuffled)
  • Hidden identify overlay (Ctrl+I × 3)
  • Auto-updates when playlist changes (no reboot needed)

Registration Flow

  1. Customer portal generates registration code → displays as QR + text
  2. Pi boots → runs registration script
  3. Script calls API with code + serial
  4. Server registers device under customer tenant
  5. Pi receives token + device ID
  6. Pi starts polling immediately

What OptiSigns Does That We WON'T Build (save $30/mo)

Feature Why Skip
Microsoft 365/Google Workspace integration Not relevant for signage
Power BI / Salesforce dashboard display Overkill for restaurant menus
Interactive experiences (touch) Not needed for basic signage
Video wall (multi-screen sync) Rare use case, future
Background music licensing Legal/complex, separate project
Wireless presentation (AeriCast) Different product entirely
Enterprise SSO/SAML Not needed yet

Savings

Service Cost After Cancel
OptiSigns ~$15-30/mo $0 🎉
Your infra $0 (already running) $0
Net savings ~$180-360/yr

What You're Really Paying For

OptiSigns is $10-30/mo for something you can run on a $5/mo netcup VPS with Pis you already have. The only value they add is the player app and the CMS UI — both of which we build once and own forever.

Cancel OptiSigns as soon as Phase 1 is live. Want me to start building Phase 1 after Cartagena?