What is the best Vestaboard alternative?

Split-Flap TV. You get the same split-flap board experience from €19.99/month per screen, on any screen size, with menus, live data and scheduling built in, instead of a fixed 132-character panel bought outright for $3,500.

Is there a cheaper alternative to a Vestaboard?

Yes. A Vestaboard costs $3,500 plus $119/yr for Vestaboard+. Split-Flap TV runs on a screen you already own from about $19/month per screen, so the first year costs a fraction of the hardware alone.

Does Split-Flap TV really look like a Vestaboard?

It gives you the same Solari split-flap experience, the iconic flip and the click-clack sound, rendered on your screen. Each character mechanically flips into place with the same motion.

What do I give up versus the hardware?

The physical object. You do not get a machined panel on the wall. You also do not get the $3,500 bill, the two-person install, or the thousands of moving parts that can jam.

It's a subscription rather than a one-time purchase. With no hardware to buy, constant updates, and a free 7-day trial with no card, it works out far cheaper for almost everyone.

§ Vestaboard alternative

The Vestaboard alternative that runs on your own TV.

Same iconic Solari flip, same click-clack, no $3,500 panel to buy and no two-person install. Split-Flap TV is software: it turns a screen you already own into a split-flap board, on any screen size, from €19.99/month.

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€19.99

Split-Flap TV, per screen / month

Vestaboard: $3,500 + $119/yr Vestaboard+

§ The difference

What actually changes.

Nothing to buy

A Vestaboard is a $3,500 panel you own. Split-Flap TV runs on the TV, tablet or monitor already on your wall.

Any screen size

Vestaboard is fixed at 132 characters. Software fills whatever screen you point it at, from a 24" menu board to a video wall.

Nothing to jam

Thousands of moving flaps, motors and bearings, versus none. There is no maintenance and no service call.

Live in 5 minutes

No two-person install and no lead time. Install the app, log in, send a board to the screen.

More than messages

Menus, price lists, photos, news, weather and live JSON/XML data, scheduled by time of day.

Cancel anytime

A subscription from €19.99/month per screen, with a free 7-day trial and no card required, instead of thousands up front.

§ 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.

Vestaboard hardware at $3,500 plus $119/yr for Vestaboard+, versus Split-Flap TV at about $19/mo per screen (Economy, billed annually).

Screens1

Years3

Split-Flap TV, you pay

$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

Real rooms, real screens.

Every board below is Split-Flap TV running on a screen the venue already owned. No mechanical panel, no installer, no lead time.

Weighing more than one option? Vestaboard alternatives compared puts the $999 Note, a custom mechanical board and the software route next to each other on what they show and what they cost over time.

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
Running 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 at Malcolm Yards, Minneapolis
That is a television on the wall, not a $3,500 mechanical board.

The Paper Planes flagship store on Lafayette Street, New York, with a split-flap board visible through the window — Paper Planes, New York
Big enough to read from the sidewalk. Sizing is a screen choice, not a hardware purchase.

§ 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 →

All split-flap competitors, compared

Every mechanical board and DIY build, side by side with Split-Flap TV, plus the savings calculator.

Read the comparison →

Get the board, skip the $3,500 panel.

7 days free, no card. Then pick the plan you love.

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