Buy the Amazon Signage Stick for most digital signage. It costs $99.99, plugs into the TV, sets up in about 10 minutes and works with more than 80 signage platforms. Choose a Raspberry Pi if you are technical, if you use Yodeck and want its free Pi player on an annual plan, or if you need built-in Ethernet or two screens from one player. A bare Pi 4 starts at $35, but you add a case, a power supply and a microSD card, and you install the operating system yourself.
How do they compare?
| Amazon Signage Stick | Raspberry Pi 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $99.99 | From $35 (1 GB) for the board; Pi 5 16 GB $305 |
| Extras to buy | Ethernet adapter, optional ($14.99) | Case, 15 W USB-C power supply, microSD card, micro-HDMI cable |
| Memory | 2 GB | 1, 2, 3, 4 or 8 GB |
| Storage | 16 GB built in | microSD card |
| Video out | One HDMI, up to 4K 60 Hz | Two micro-HDMI, up to 4K 60 Hz |
| Video formats | HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, H.265, H.264, VP9, AV1 | H.265 up to 4K 60; H.264 up to 1080p 60 |
| Network | Wi-Fi 6E; Ethernet by adapter | Wi-Fi 5, Gigabit Ethernet built in |
| Built for signage | Yes: starts your CMS in kiosk mode | No: a general-purpose computer |
| Setup | Phone app, pick your CMS, pair. About 10 minutes | Flash an operating system to the microSD card, then install and set up the player |
| Software | More than 80 signage platforms in Amazon's directory | Platforms with a Pi player, such as Yodeck |
Specs are from Amazon's listing and raspberrypi.com. Prices were read on Amazon and raspberrypi.com in September 2026. The Pi 5 page shows only the 16 GB price; lower-memory boards are sold through resellers.
Two rows need a note. The Pi's two HDMI ports can drive two screens from one board, which a Stick cannot. And the Pi 4 decodes H.264 video in hardware only up to 1080p, so 4K signage video must be H.265 on a Pi.
How does Yodeck handle Raspberry Pi signage?
Yodeck is the best-known signage platform built around the Pi. Per Yodeck's own pages:
- The Yodeck Player is a pre-configured Raspberry Pi with Yodeck installed. You plug it in and it starts playing.
- Two models: Yodeck Player (1 GB, up to 1080p) at $85, and Yodeck Player Plus (4 GB, 4K, 32 GB storage) at $155.
- Free with an annual plan: the 1 GB player with an annual Basic plan, the Plus with annual Premium and Enterprise plans.
- Your own Pi: Yodeck publishes an image you flash to a microSD card with Raspberry Pi Imager or Etcher. It asks for a Class 10 card of at least 8 GB, 16 GB recommended.
The trade-off is lock-in. A Yodeck Player runs Yodeck. If you change platform later, you reflash or replace the hardware. To compare other platforms, see the best Yodeck alternatives.
Yodeck also runs on the Amazon Signage Stick, which is in Amazon's CMS directory. So a Yodeck customer can use either.
What about supply and price?
Pi prices have moved. In April 2026 PCMag reported the third Raspberry Pi price rise in four months, blamed on a memory shortage. The Signage Stick is sold by Amazon in seven countries. If one fails, order the same model again.
What goes wrong on a real install?
- Pi: microSD cards wear out after many writes, and a cheap card is a common cause of failure. A weak power supply causes random restarts. A bare board behind a TV needs a case that lets heat out.
- Signage Stick: Wi-Fi behind a TV can be weak; add the Ethernet adapter where it is. Power it from its own adapter in a wall socket, not from the TV's USB port.
Who should buy which?
Signage Stick: you want the fastest setup, no operating system to maintain, remote restart and screenshots, and hardware you can reorder. See the Signage Stick review and the full cost per screen.
Raspberry Pi: you are technical, you are committed to Yodeck (the free player makes the Pi the cheaper choice there), you want wired Ethernet without an adapter, or you want two screens from one player.
Looking at other cheap players? Compare the Signage Stick with a Walmart onn or with an Nvidia Shield.
Where Brix fits
Brix has no Raspberry Pi app. It runs on the Amazon Signage Stick, Fire TV, Android boxes and Windows PCs. On the Signage Stick, Brix can take screenshots, reboot the Stick and turn the TV on and off from the CMS. Setup takes about 10 minutes: pick "Brix Signage" in the Stick's setup and pair it in the CMS (setup guide).
Brix costs $6 per screen per month billed annually, or $8 billed monthly. If you already run a fleet of Pis you are happy with, keep them on a platform that supports the Pi.
Start a free 7-day Brix trial. No card needed.