What are the alternatives to a split-flap display?

Three, broadly: a mechanical board you buy outright (Vestaboard from $3,500, Oat Foundry from around $15,000), a DIY build from parts, or software like Split-Flap TV that runs the same Solari flip on a TV you already own from €19.99/month per screen.

Which split-flap display is cheapest?

Software, by a wide margin. There is no hardware to buy, so a single screen costs about $19/month rather than thousands up front. Use the calculator above to see the figure for your own number of screens and years.

Do I lose the real split-flap look?

No. Each character mechanically flips into place with the same motion, and you can turn the click-clack sound on. What you lose is the install, the lead time and the thousands of moving parts that can jam.

Can software show more than a mechanical board?

Yes. Menus, price lists, photos and overlays, news, weather, live JSON/XML data and scheduling are built in, on any screen size rather than a fixed character grid.

§ Competitors

Every split-flap board, compared.

Mechanical split-flap displays start at $3,500 and run past $15,000, take weeks to build or a two-person install, and have thousands of moving parts. Split-Flap TV gives you the same Solari flip as software, on a TV you already own, from €19.99/month per screen.

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€19.99

Split-Flap TV, per screen / month

Versus mechanical boards at $3,500 to $15,000+

§ Comparison

Side by side.

	Split-Flap TV	Vestaboard	Oat Foundry	DIY build
Choose rows & columns	You choose	Fixed 6×22	Fixed at build	Fixed at build
Change colour any time	Any colour	Fixed flaps	Fixed at build	Fixed at build
Portrait or landscape	Either, the app rotates	Landscape only	Fixed at build	Fixed at build
Price	From €19.99/mo	$3,500	$15,000+	Parts + weeks
Runs on your TV	Yes	No (hardware)	No (hardware)	No (hardware)
Any screen size	Yes	Fixed 132 chars	Custom build	Whatever you build
Menus · social · live data	Yes	Limited	Limited	DIY only
Setup	5 minutes	2-person install	Weeks	Build it yourself
Moving parts to break	None	Thousands	Thousands	Thousands
Pair a screen by scanning a code	Yes	No	No	Build it
See which screens are live	Yes, in the dashboard	No	No	Build it
Check any screen remotely	Screenshot on demand	No	No	Build it
Comes back on after a power cut	Yes, on its own	Keeps last message	Keeps last message	Build it
Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Community only

§ Savings calculator

See what you’d save.

Split-Flap TV at about $19/mo per screen (Economy, billed annually), against what the mechanical boards cost over the same period.

Screens1

Years3

Split-Flap TV, you pay

$0

Oat Foundry costs $0

You save $0

Vestaboard costs $0

You save $0

A DIY build has no fixed price: parts, plus weeks of your time.

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§ In the wild

What it looks like in practice.

The same software on four very different screens, in a bar, a cafe, a food hall and a retail flagship.

A large split-flap tap list at Chomp in Newport showing twelve beers with brewery, style, ABV and state, on a cedar wall — Chomp, Newport RI
A full tap list, updated when the keg changes rather than when someone reprints.

A split-flap board showing live news headlines on the wall of L'Avion Cafe in New York, beneath a row of world clocks — L'Avion Cafe, New York
Live news headlines. A fixed mechanical panel cannot pull a feed.

A purple split-flap board reading THE STATION, YOU HAVE ARRIVED in a designer food hall lounge — The Station, Minneapolis
Any screen size. The board is as big as the TV you choose.

§ Questions

Good to know.

§ Keep comparing

Weighing up the others?

Split-Flap TV vs Oat Foundry

Custom-built mechanical boards, priced from around $15,000, with a build measured in weeks.

Read the comparison →

Split-Flap TV vs Vestaboard

A $3,500 mechanical panel, fixed at 132 characters, plus $119/yr for Vestaboard+.

Read the comparison →

Get the board. Skip the hardware.

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