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.
- RoadmapInstagram follower counter
Live follower counts. On the roadmap.
- RoadmapFacebook follower counter
Live page follower counts. On the roadmap.
- RoadmapSpotify now-playing
The current track on your wall. On the roadmap.
- RoadmapFlight & 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/showwith 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.
- RoadmapNative 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.