Castit as a DS Templates alternative
DS Templates is a template platform that publishes into the digital signage software you already run. Castit is the whole system: content, scheduling, players, and monitoring in one cloud platform, installed and supported by certified partners. DS Templates suits teams keeping their current CMS; Castit suits teams that want one system for every screen.
DS Templates in brief
DS Templates describes itself as a digital signage content platform, and says it is a content platform only, not a full CMS. Its templates work alongside the digital signage software you already use.
You pick a professionally designed template, adjust it in a visual editor with your own colors, fonts, and logo, and publish it by pasting a URL into your digital signage CMS. DS Templates says it works with virtually every CMS that supports web content, names Scala, MagicInfo and VXT, Uniguest, Navori, Broadsign, and Telelogos among them, and offers a native API that builds its templates into a CMS's own editor. Templates can pull in live data from sources such as Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Power BI, Google Workspace, news, and weather. The company is based in Tilburg, in the Netherlands, publishes its prices per screen per month, offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, and runs a referral partner program.
Based on DS Templates' own website, checked on 6 November 2026. Products change, so check the details with DS Templates before you decide.
Castit and DS Templates side by side
What each company says on its own website, checked on 6 November 2026. To see all five alternatives in one table, go to Castit alternatives.
| Castit | DS Templates | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A digital signage platform: content, scheduling, players, and monitoring | A content platform with ready-made templates; in its own words, not a full CMS |
| Making content | Slide Creator and the media library, in the dashboard that runs the screens | A visual editor with ready-made templates, in your own branding |
| Getting it on screen | Castit's own players, on the screens and devices you choose | A URL you paste into the digital signage CMS you already use |
| Players | Android, Samsung Tizen, LG webOS, Windows, Linux, the Web Player and the Castit Android player | The players of the CMS it publishes to |
| Live data | Built-in apps, such as Power BI, calendars, Excel and Google Sheets, RSS, news, and weather | Integrations such as Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Power BI, Google Workspace, news, and weather |
| Scheduling and playback | In Castit: time-based schedules, offline playback from local storage, and proof of play | In the CMS it publishes to |
| Free option | Essential: 21 days of the complete product on up to ten players, then one player free with no end date | A 14-day free trial, no credit card |
| Paid plans | Professional, priced on request | Prices per screen per month, published on its website |
| Setup and support | Certified partners install and support the screens, with Castit for second-line support | Direct, plus a referral partner program |
What Castit brings
Castit is one system for the whole job, from the first slide to the screen on the wall, with a partner nearby to install and support it.
- Content, scheduling, players, and monitoring sit in one cloud dashboard, so there is no second system to keep in step with the first.
- Slide Creator makes on-brand slides you design once and reuse, and built-in apps bring in Power BI dashboards, calendars, spreadsheets, news, and weather.
- Certified partners scope the setup, install the screens, and come on site, with Castit behind them for second-line support.
When DS Templates may suit you better
If you are happy with the digital signage software you run today and want better-looking content for it, DS Templates is built for exactly that: it works alongside your CMS, with no system switch.
Its templates cover many industries and can carry live data. Moving to Castit means moving content, scheduling, and players to one platform. That is a bigger step than adding templates, and it makes the most sense when you want a single system for every screen, or when the one you have is due for replacement.
Questions to ask both
The answers matter more than any feature list, so put the same questions to each.
- Do you want to keep the digital signage software you have, or replace it?
- Who makes the content each week, and how much design help do they need?
- Where is content scheduled, and what happens on screen when the network drops?
- Who installs the screens, and who answers when one fails?
- What does the whole setup cost per screen, once the software, the content, and the support are added up?
Castit and DS Templates: common questions
Is DS Templates a digital signage CMS?
Not by its own description: DS Templates calls itself a content platform only, not a full CMS. You publish its templates by pasting a URL into the digital signage software you already use. Castit is the whole system, with content, scheduling, players, and monitoring in one dashboard.
Can I make on-brand content in Castit itself?
Yes. Slide Creator, built into Castit, makes on-brand slides you design once and reuse, and built-in apps bring in live content such as Power BI dashboards, calendars, Excel and Google Sheets boards, news, and weather. Everything is scheduled and published from the same dashboard. See the apps.
Can I try Castit for free?
Yes. Castit Essential, the free plan, starts with 21 days of the complete product on up to ten players, with no credit card, and then one player keeps running for free. DS Templates offers a 14-day free trial, also without a credit card. See what Essential includes.
Does Castit keep playing when the network drops?
Yes. Screens keep playing from local storage during an internet outage and catch up when it's back. Remote monitoring shows each player's status, and proof of play logs what ran, by screen, date, and time.
See Castit next to DS Templates
Try it free. Take the slide your team rebuilds every week and run the same screen on Castit.
21 days of the complete product on up to ten players, then one player stays free forever. No credit card needed. Prefer a guided tour? Book a demo.