Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Screenly

Screenlite is an open-source digital signage platform that provides a centralized web CMS to manage content, schedules, and display devices. It pairs a backend CMS with lightweight players to render content across web, desktop, and embedded devices.

Key Features

• Centralized CMS for creating, scheduling, and organizing playlists and screen layouts
• Separate player component that renders content on screens (web player and platform-specific players planned)
• Device and schedule management for single screens or large fleets
• Background job processing for publishing and sync using BullMQ and Redis
• Persistent storage with PostgreSQL and S3-compatible object storage for media
• Modern web UI built with React and Tailwind CSS, client state via Zustand and data fetching via TanStack Query
• API-first design and queued workflows for integrations and scalable deployments

Use Cases

• Retail or hospitality screens for menus, promotions, and rotating content
• Corporate internal communications and lobby displays across multiple sites
• Event, transit, and informational displays that require scheduled content

Limitations and Considerations

• Project is in public development and not yet recommended for production use
• Client-side experience is partially incomplete and may contain bugs or missing features
• Database migrations may be non-incremental during early development, potentially requiring database resets

Screenlite aims to be a simple, modern, and extensible digital signage solution with a focus on scalability and security. It is well suited for evaluation, experimentation, and community contributions while core features and stability continue to mature.