Every player that can run your Xibo® CMS
A Xibo® display is defined by the protocol it speaks, not the badge on the box. Here is the full set of players (official, community and independent) and the honest trade-offs of each, because the real decision is usually about the hardware underneath.
A "Xibo® player" is any application that speaks the XMDS protocol to your CMS. Xibo Signage Ltd. publishes official players for Windows (free, open source), Linux (open source, community-contributed), and, under commercial per-device licenses, Android, LG webOS, Samsung Tizen and ChromeOS. Independent players extend that list to hardware Xibo® doesn't cover: XiPlay does this for BrightSign® purpose-built players.
Which one is right is rarely a software question. It's a hardware question: what class of device you're willing to run for years behind a screen nobody visits, and the player follows from it.
Our stake, up front: we build XiPlay, the last option below. The official players are good software and on their platforms they're the obvious choice; this page exists because the platform list has a gap, and because the trade-offs between hardware classes are real. Where we're biased, we say so.
Five ways to put a Xibo® display on a screen
Xibo® for Windows
The original official player: free, open-source software that turns a Windows machine into a Xibo® display.
- Suits
- Estates that already own Windows hardware, kiosk PCs, or need Windows-only peripherals alongside signage.
- Worth weighing
- Every screen carries a full PC: purchase cost, power draw, and a consumer OS that wants updates and occasionally a person. Fine where PCs are managed anyway; heavy for a wall-mounted screen nobody visits.
Xibo® for Linux
An open-source player for Linux desktops and boards, community-contributed within the Xibo® project.
- Suits
- Technical teams comfortable self-supporting, who want open source end to end.
- Worth weighing
- You are your own support path: reasonable for a lab or a technical estate, a real commitment for screens that must simply work.
Xibo® for Android
The official commercial player for Android devices, licensed per device with minor updates included for the current version.
- Suits
- Quick deployments on inexpensive hardware; tablets and consumer boxes where the price point matters most.
- Worth weighing
- The player is only as reliable as the box under it, and consumer Android hardware brings fans, flash wear and consumer-OS behavior to a 24/7 duty cycle. It works; the question is the site-visit bill over years.
Xibo® for webOS / Tizen / ChromeOS
Official commercial players that run directly on smart commercial displays, with no external player box at all.
- Suits
- Estates standardizing on LG/Samsung commercial panels who want the fewest boxes possible.
- Worth weighing
- Player and panel share fate: a display fault takes the player with it, and compute is whatever the panel shipped with. Capabilities like synchronized walls or external inputs depend on what the panel's platform exposes.
XiPlay for BrightSign®
This is oursAn independent player that implements Xibo®'s XMDS protocol (v3 & v4), so solid-state BrightSign® hardware joins your Xibo® CMS as an ordinary display, a pairing Xibo Signage Ltd. doesn't publish a player for.
- Suits
- Estates that want purpose-built, fanless signage hardware behind the screen: offline-first playback, genlock video walls and HDMI-In on XT-series, and air-gapped licensing for no-internet sites.
- Worth weighing
- Subscription rather than perpetual; BrightSign® hardware costs more up front than a consumer box (the case is total cost over years, not day one); and we're an independent product, not affiliated with Xibo Signage Ltd. or BrightSign LLC.
The same list as a fact table
Licensing facts per Xibo Signage Ltd.'s published information; always confirm current terms with the vendor before you commit an estate.
| Player | Publisher | License | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xibo® for Windows | Xibo Signage Ltd. | Free & open source Open source under AGPLv3 | Windows PCs / industrial PCs |
| Xibo® for Linux | Xibo Signage Ltd. (community-contributed) | Free & open source Community-contributed; Xibo® notes support is not currently offered | Linux PCs / SBCs |
| Xibo® for Android | Xibo Signage Ltd. | Commercial Perpetual license per device | Android boxes, tablets, some Android-based panels |
| Xibo® for webOS / Tizen / ChromeOS | Xibo Signage Ltd. | Commercial Perpetual license per device | LG (webOS) and Samsung (Tizen) System-on-Chip displays; ChromeOS devices |
| XiPlay for BrightSign® This is ours | XiPlay (that's us) | Commercial Per-device subscription: every feature included, no tiers | BrightSign® purpose-built players (XT, XD, HD, LS) |
What XiPlay on BrightSign® adds, and what it doesn't
The official players are not lesser versions of Xibo®; on the protocol's shared strengths they're equals. The differences concentrate where hardware and licensing architecture live. We mark something “not offered” only where the vendor's own published information says so; anything we haven't verified says “confirm with the vendor”.
| Capability | Official Xibo® players Windows · Linux · Android · webOS · Tizen · ChromeOS | This is ours XiPlay on BrightSign® XT · XD · HD · LS |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | ||
| Runs on purpose-built BrightSign® players Fanless, diskless hardware built for unattended duty | Not offered Xibo Signage Ltd. publishes no BrightSign® player | Included XT, XD, HD and LS series |
| Reliability | ||
| Cached offline playback Screens keep playing through network drops | Included A core Xibo®/XMDS design strength, shared by every player on this page | Included Plus licensing that degrades instead of blanking, so a lapsed screen keeps its last content |
| Self-healing watchdog A stalled player recovers without a site visit | Varies Depends on platform and OS; confirm for your platform | Built in |
| Advanced capability | ||
| Genlock video walls Frame-locked outputs, seamless spanning content | Not published Not a published capability of the official players; confirm with the vendor | Included Hardware genlock on XT-series; PTP-aligned sync groups |
| HDMI-In inside layouts A live external source as a layout region | Hardware-dependent Confirm for your platform | Included On XT-series hardware |
| Licensing | ||
| Fully air-gapped activation License a player on a network with no internet, ever | Confirm Ask the vendor about the commercial players | Included Signed offline license file, verified on-device against published public keys |
| License model | Free & open source (Windows, Linux) · perpetual per-device license (Android, webOS, Tizen, ChromeOS) | Per-device subscription: every feature included, movable to replacement hardware in the portal |
| Always confirm current capabilities and terms with the vendor before committing an estate. | See pricing 14-day free trial on every device, no card required. | |
The pattern behind the table: genlock, HDMI-In and years of fanless unattended duty are properties of hardware, and air-gapped activation is a property of licensing architecture. Neither can be added to a player by software alone. That's why the comparison is really BrightSign®-class hardware plus XiPlay's licensing, not player app vs player app. Full detail: every XiPlay feature · air-gapped licensing.
Pick the hardware class first: the player follows
Feature lists converge; hardware failure modes don't. Decide what belongs behind the screen for the next five years, and the player choice mostly makes itself.
Managed PCs already on site?
The free Windows player is hard to argue with, since you're already paying the PC tax anyway.
Lowest possible purchase order?
Android boxes win day one. Weigh the total cost over years before scaling the decision.
Fewest boxes on the wall?
SoC panels (webOS/Tizen) fold the player into the display, accepting that panel and player now share fate.
Unattended reliability, walls, HDMI-In, or air-gapped sites?
That's purpose-built player territory: BrightSign® with XiPlay, and we'll spec it honestly.
Xibo® player questions
Is there a free Xibo® player?
Yes. Xibo® for Windows is free and open source (AGPLv3), and there's a community-contributed open-source Linux player (Xibo® notes support is not currently offered for it). The official Android, webOS, Tizen and ChromeOS players are commercial, licensed per device.
Does Xibo® make a BrightSign® player?
No. Xibo Signage Ltd. publishes players for Windows, Linux, Android, webOS, Tizen and ChromeOS, but not for BrightSign®. Running Xibo® on BrightSign® hardware requires an independent player that implements the XMDS protocol; that's exactly what XiPlay is.
Why would I look beyond the official players at all?
Almost always because of hardware. The official list covers PCs, Android devices and smart-display panels, but not purpose-built signage players like BrightSign®. If you want fanless solid-state hardware, genlock video walls, HDMI-In, or fully air-gapped sites, the hardware choice pulls the player choice with it.
Can I run different player types on the same Xibo® CMS?
Yes. Every player here speaks XMDS to the same CMS, so mixed estates are normal and migrations can happen one display at a time. A Windows player, an Android box and a BrightSign® running XiPlay can all sit in the same display group.
Do Xibo® commercial player licenses transfer to XiPlay?
No. They're separate products from separate companies. Xibo®'s commercial players are licensed per device by Xibo Signage Ltd.; XiPlay is licensed per device by us, as a subscription keyed to the player's hardware MAC and movable to replacement hardware in our portal.
Next: running Xibo® on BrightSign® · which BrightSign® model to buy · migrating display by display
Testing player options? Add ours to the shortlist.
One SD card, your existing Xibo® CMS, 14 days of the complete software free, no card required. Put it on the screen that gives you the most trouble.