Free Digital Signage for a Church in 2026: Announcements and Lobby Screens for $0
Quick answer: yes. A church with 1 to 3 screens can run digital signage in 2026 for $0 in software. DigitalSignage.com gives the first 3 screens free forever: no credit card, no ads, no watermark. That covers a lobby, a children's check-in and a fellowship hall. For a single lobby TV, ChannelOS gives 1 screen free forever in the TV's own browser. Elsewhere the catch is a shrinking cap, vendor branding, or a trial that ends. The only spend is a $30 to $60 player stick if nobody has donated one.
Ready to put your first screen up? Create a free DigitalSignage.com account: 3 screens free forever, no credit card, no ads, no watermark, and your church's first screen is live in about ten minutes on the TV you already own.
Create your free account What the free plan includes
What to put on the screen
- Service times. Sunday and midweek times, with holiday changes scheduled ahead.
- Sermon series. The current series artwork and this week's passage, swapped each Sunday.
- Giving QR code. A code that opens your online giving page, on every slide.
- Event calendar. Small groups, youth nights and volunteer sign-ups from a Google Sheet or calendar feed.
- Welcome message. Where first-time visitors find coffee, the nursery and the connect desk.
All five run on DigitalSignage.com's free tier: templates, scheduling, Google Sheets, RSS, weather, QR codes, social feeds and emergency override. A wider look at small venues: the schools, churches and gyms guide.
Free plans that fit a church
| Vendor | Free plan | Fits when | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalSignage.com | 3 screens forever, no ads, no watermark, 1 GB | A lobby, a children's check-in and a fellowship hall | Storage cap; proof of play is Enterprise |
| ChannelOS | 1 screen forever, no watermark | One lobby TV | $5 to $6 per screen per month after |
| OptiSigns | 3 screens | You accept its logo in the lobby | Logo on screen; $10 to $30 per screen per month |
| PosterBooking | Up to 10 screens | A large campus, no budget | Offer may change; paid rates not published |
| PiSignage | 2 screens | A volunteer already runs Raspberry Pi players | Annual license, about $1.67 per screen per month |
| Xibo (open source) | Unlimited, self-hosted | A volunteer can run a server | You run the server; Android, webOS and Tizen players are paid |
| Anthias (Screenly OSE) | Free, one Raspberry Pi per screen | One or two screens, updated one at a time | Each Pi managed alone; no central cloud |
Yodeck has offered new accounts only a 30-day trial since March 2, 2026, then $8 to $16 per screen per month. ScreenCloud is trial only, from $20 per screen per month.
Hardware you already own
The TV in the lobby is the display. Any HDMI TV works.
Behind it, use a $30 to $60 Android TV stick or box, a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, or an old Windows PC. A Chromebox, a Chrome OS Flex machine or an iPad on a stand also works. With ChannelOS, the TV's own browser is the player.
DigitalSignage.com's free SignPlayer runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and Android TV, Chrome OS and Chrome OS Flex, Raspberry Pi, iPad and any browser. It caches content offline, so a Wi-Fi drop never blanks the lobby screen. Fire TV sticks work with ChannelOS, OptiSigns and PosterBooking.
Set it up in ten minutes
- Create a free DigitalSignage.com account. No credit card.
- Pick a church or welcome template in SignStudio.
- Add service times, the sermon artwork, the giving QR code and an event list.
- Install SignPlayer on the stick or Pi and enter the pairing code from SignStudio.
- Set the schedule: the welcome loop on Sunday morning, the event calendar midweek.
- Mount the TV where people wait, by the coffee.
- Add screens 2 and 3 free. Screen 4 onward is $3 per screen per month.
When free stops being enough
Paying starts at the 4th screen, or when you need proof of play, white-label, on-premise hosting or SSO. The rate is $3 per screen per month on Plus+, or a one-time $895 mediaSERVER license. At 10 screens that is about $360 a year, against $960 at Yodeck, $1,200 at OptiSigns and $2,400 or more at ScreenCloud. Worked examples: the cost per screen guide.
Related guides
- Best free digital signage software 2026
- Digital signage for religious facilities
- Digital signage for schools, churches, gyms and small business
- Digital signage cost per screen 2026
- State of Digital Signage Pricing 2026 dataset
Frequently asked questions
Can a church run digital signage for free?
Yes. DigitalSignage.com gives the first 3 screens free forever, with no credit card, no ads and no watermark. That covers a lobby, a children's area and a fellowship hall. ChannelOS gives 1 screen free in the TV's own browser. The only cost is a $30 to $60 player stick if a member has not already donated one.
What is the best free digital signage software for a church?
For 1 to 3 screens with no branding on them, DigitalSignage.com. The free tier covers welcome templates, a scheduled sermon series, a giving QR code and an event calendar. OptiSigns gives 3 free screens but shows its logo, and PosterBooking allows up to 10 while its offer lasts.
Do I need special hardware for free church digital signage?
No. Use the TV you already have, with a $30 to $60 Android TV stick, a Raspberry Pi, an old PC or Chromebox behind it. SignPlayer runs on all of those and caches content locally, so the lobby screen keeps playing if the Wi-Fi drops on Sunday morning.
What happens when I add more than 3 screens?
Screens 1 to 3 stay free. Screen 4 onward costs $3 per screen per month on Plus+, or a one-time $895 mediaSERVER license. At 10 screens that is about $360 a year, against $960 at Yodeck, $1,200 at OptiSigns and $2,400 or more at ScreenCloud.
This guide is maintained by MediaSignage Inc., the operator of DigitalSignage.com, which is one of the vendors compared. Last verified September 18, 2026.