No tiers · No per-screen pricing · No credit card

Every feature.
Free while in beta.

SplitFlap TV charges $21.99 to $53.99 per screen per month and gates images, weather, news and its API behind higher tiers. During the Deckboard beta there is exactly one plan: everything, free. Honest exceptions are marked Roadmap below.

Boards & Messages

The core: type it, flip it, on as many boards as you like.

  • Unlimited message boards

    Create as many boards and messages as you want. There is no cap, and no plan where there would be one.

  • Menu boards, updated from your phone

    Daily menus that flip into place. Change a dish from the control panel — no reprinting, no ladder.

  • Live price lists

    Prices flip the moment they change — cafés, bars, retail, tap lists.

  • Image boards — photo & mosaic

    Send any JPG/PNG. Photo mode slices it across the flaps (picture-flap); mosaic mode quantizes it to color chips, Vestaboard-style pixel art. Both included.

  • Logos, artwork & custom frames

    Brand marks and mixed frames — compose text, color chips and image slices tile by tile in a single frame.

  • Bold text

    Inline {b}…{/b} bold anywhere in a message.

  • Text colors on every board

    Eight signature flap colors as inline text color — plus solid color-chip tiles for patterns and pixel art. Free, not a $39.99 tier.

  • Share links

    Every board has a shareable read-only display link — and the free board generator makes account-free share links from the homepage.

Channels & Live Data

Boards that update themselves. Every channel included, free.

  • Split-flap clock

    12/24-hour, optional date line. Also free with no account at /clock.

  • Calendar & date

    Day, date, optional week number.

  • Countdown & timer

    Count down to a date or run a timer. Layout adapts to your grid. Also free at /countdown.

  • Inline live variables

    {time}, {date}, {temp}, {countdown:…}, {price:BTC}, {feed:…} — drop live values into any message.

  • Weather

    Location-based current conditions and 3-day outlook, auto-refreshed. Free — not gated behind a $39.99 tier.

  • News headlines

    Rolling headlines from BBC, Reuters or AP, rotating with a source ticker line.

  • Crypto ticker

    BTC, ETH, SOL and your own list, refreshed every minute. No “Cockpit” surcharge.

  • Custom JSON feeds

    Point a board at any public JSON URL and bind fields into your template with {feed:path}. Refresh down to every 5 seconds — free, not $53.99/month.

  • Guest welcome

    Departure-board welcomes for hotels and venues — rotate guest names through a template automatically.

  • Poker channel

    Fifty famous hands replayed street by street with live equities. Nobody else has this. We checked.

  • Channel gallery built in

    Every channel lives in the control panel as a card — configure and send. No marketplace, no per-app pricing.

  • Roadmap
    Instagram follower counter

    Live follower counts. On the roadmap.

  • Roadmap
    Facebook follower counter

    Live page follower counts. On the roadmap.

  • Roadmap
    Spotify now-playing

    The current track on your wall. On the roadmap.

  • Roadmap
    Flight & departure boards

    Real departure data for the authentic airport board. On the roadmap — the aesthetic is already here.

Display & Realism

The reason it looks and sounds like the real thing.

  • Photorealistic flaps

    Hinge shadows, curvature, slap-and-settle motion. Flat rectangles need not apply.

  • Four density presets

    Ultimate / High / Medium / Low — fixed box-to-font ratios derived from your screen. Replaces rows-and-columns fiddling (a fixed-grid override exists for exotic installs).

  • Responsive auto-tiling

    Tiles are added as the window grows; a symmetric letterbox holds the frame until the next row or column fits. Portrait and landscape both just work.

  • Engineered flap sound + volume

    Per-flap double-click, cascading decrescendo, stereo panning across the board. Per-board toggle and a volume slider — not one looped sample with an on/off switch.

  • Six themes

    Classic, Amber, Terminal, Paper (light), Navy, Crimson. Glyph contrast ≥ 7:1 in every one.

  • Purpose-chosen display font

    A condensed face selected so characters fill the flap, self-hosted with the app. We publish our metrics — glyphs at 78% of flap height, 6% tile gap — because readability is the product.

  • Fullscreen & keep-awake

    One tap for fullscreen; the display grabs a wake lock so your TV doesn’t sleep. Keyboard shortcuts for sound, density, theme.

Control & Automation

A control panel that feels instant — the competitor’s is rated 1.8★.

  • Live WYSIWYG control panel

    Type directly onto a live preview board from any browser — phone, tablet, laptop. No app install, no per-device setup dance.

  • Playlists — pages that rotate

    Mix messages, channels and images on one screen with per-item timing, reorder by drag, optional shuffle.

  • Scheduling & dayparting

    Breakfast board at 8, cocktails at 6. Rules run server-side — the board changes itself even if your phone is off.

  • Command history with one-click replay

    Your last 50 pushes with source badges — replay yesterday’s board in one click, pin favorites. No competitor has this.

  • Multi-screen management

    Every board in one account, each with its own display link. Same content everywhere or different per screen — with no per-screen fee.

  • User preferences

    Your density, theme and sound defaults follow your account onto every new board.

  • Automatic updates

    It’s a web app. Refresh and you’re on the latest version — no firmware, no app-store review lag.

API & Developers

Documented in the open — no request form, no NDA.

  • Push API

    POST /api/boards/:id/show with an API key. Messages, channels, images, playlists, schedules — everything the control panel can do. Read the docs.

  • API keys

    Named keys, shown once, revocable any time. Prefix-identified in your key list.

  • Fast data on every plan

    Custom feeds refresh down to every 5 seconds, crypto every 60 — KPI walls, queue counts, scores. No $53.99 “Cockpit” tier standing between you and your own data.

  • Semantic payloads

    You send meaning (“message”, “countdown”, “image”), displays render adaptively — the same push looks right on a phone and a 65-inch TV. Grid-bound row/column bindings can’t do that.

  • Documentation library

    Full endpoint reference with curl examples, plus guides — and this page doubles as the honest comparison shopping guide.

Platforms

If it has a browser, it’s a split-flap display.

  • Browser playback on any TV — today

    Smart-TV browser, Chromecast tab, Fire TV browser, a Raspberry Pi, an HDMI laptop: open your board URL, tap fullscreen, done. No sideloading via “Downloader”, no missing Roku app.

  • 5-second setup

    Their promise is 5 minutes with an app install. Ours is a URL.

  • Portrait, landscape, ultrawide

    Auto-tiling fills whatever shape the screen is — including video-wall panels, each just another free browser window.

  • Keep-screen-alive built in

    Wake lock plus reconnect logic with offline fallback — the board stays up all day, and comes back by itself.

  • Phone, tablet, desktop control

    The control panel is responsive web — manage every screen from anywhere with nothing to install.

  • Roadmap
    Native TV apps

    Fire TV / Apple TV / Android TV apps are on the roadmap. Browser playback works everywhere today, which is why they’re not first.

Free Tools & the Beta Deal

Their lead magnets, our actual product.

  • Board generator

    Type a message on the homepage, share a live link. No account, no PNG-only consolation prize.

  • Split-flap clock

    deckboard.party/clock — fullscreen, 12/24h, seconds toggle, themes. Free, no signup.

  • Countdown maker

    deckboard.party/countdown — pick a date, get a shareable fullscreen countdown. Free, no signup.

  • Menu savings calculator

    Easiest math in signage: reprints cost money, SplitFlap TV costs $21.99+/screen/month, Deckboard costs $0 during beta. You just used it.

  • No trial countdown

    No 7-day clock ticking on you. It’s free while in beta — every feature, no credit card required.

  • Free in every currency

    USD, EUR, GBP and CAD users pay identically: nothing. (Annual billing discount: also nothing.)

  • Priority support for all

    During beta everyone is the priority tier — feedback goes straight to the people building it.


The full honest comparison

Deckboard vs the field

Tier prices below are what SplitFlap TV charges to unlock that row (Economy $21.99, Business $39.99, Cockpit $53.99 — per screen, per month). Hardware columns included for completeness: gorgeous machines, different budget.

Feature Deckboard SplitFlap TV Vestaboard Festaboard FlapDisplay
Price Free while in betaevery feature included $21.99–$53.99per screen / month $3,499+ $119/yr for channels Freeaccount required from $180/modulequote, 20–30 day lead
Type Browser software TV-app software Hardware Browser software Hardware
Runs in any browser (no install) native apps only, no web player, no Roku, Fire TV sideload n/a n/a
Photoreal flap rendering hinge shadows, curvature, motion flat tiles real flaps flat tiles real flaps
Fits any screen automatically auto-tiling + letterbox manual rows/columns fixed 6×22 fixed 6×22 fixed, built to order
Density presets Ultimate / High / Medium / Low
Published font & spacing metrics
Flap sound engineered cascade, stereo pan, volume slider one sample, on/off mechanical — no control modeled clacks, on/off mechanical — no control
Text colors free all plans 8 color chips themes only custom printed
Color-chip pixel art free+ image mosaic mode custom flaps
Image / picture-flap boards free Business $39.99 picture-flap hardware
Clock / date / countdown / timer free all plans Vestaboard+ $119/yr clock ✓, rest “coming soon” basic
Weather free Business $39.99 Vestaboard+ $119/yr coming soon
News headlines free Business $39.99 Vestaboard+ $119/yr coming soon
Crypto / stocks crypto free Cockpit $53.99 Vestaboard+ $119/yr coming soon
Custom JSON feed binding freerefresh to 5 s Business $39.99~1 s refresh needs Cockpit $53.99 local API for custom apps coming soon custom development
Push API, publicly documented open docs + curl examples Business $39.99endpoints not public docs gated behind request form proprietary, per project
Scheduling & dayparting free all plans on/off times
Playlists / multiple pages + shuffle, per-item timing auto-rotate messages
History with one-click replay view-only history
Multi-screen cost Freeevery screen +$21.99–$53.99per additional screen +$3,499per additional board single shared board +$180per module
Video walls a free browser per panel one licence per panel custom, from $15,000 large grids, quoted
Instagram / Facebook counters Roadmap Business $39.99
Spotify now-playing Roadmap Business $39.99 Vestaboard+ $119/yr coming soon
Flight / departure data Roadmap
Native TV apps Roadmapbrowser playback today no Roku; Fire TV via sideload n/a n/a
Setup Open a URL app install + account1.8★ App Store rating wall mount, 30 min account (email OTP) 20–30 day production
Try it without an account on the homepage, right now 7-day trial signup

Sources: splitflaptv.com pricing & docs, vestaboard.com, festaboard.com, flapdisplay.com — as published, July 2026. Spot an error? Tell us and we’ll fix it. Hardware boards are wonderful objects; if you have $3,499 and a stud finder, we get it.

One plan. $0. Every feature.

Free while in beta — help us tune the most faithful split-flap ever put on a screen.