DAKboard vs FamilyWall (2026): which should you pick?

Pick DAKboard if

• Fits if you want the family schedule on a wall screen
• Works for an office that wants meeting rooms and photos on a display

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you want to plan or book anything, since it only displays
• Tight if you stay on Free: 1 predefined screen, 2 calendars and DAKboard branding
• Watch out: calendars refresh every 60 minutes on Free and every 30 on Essential
• Watch out: extra screens cost $4 to $6 a month, and screens and hardware are sold separately

Pick FamilyWall if

• Fits if you want the family calendar, shopping list and chat in one private app
• Works for households that plan meals and track a shared budget, on Premium

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're staying free and live in Google Calendar, because sync is Premium only
• Pricey if you pay monthly through the US App Store, at $7.99 against $4.99 on the website
• Skip it if all you want is a calendar, since much of this is lists, messages and photos
• Watch out: the meal planner, budget tracker, documents and location sharing are all Premium
• Watch out: Premium covers only the first 5 circles an account made, and its pages contradict each other on ads

DAKboard

• The free plan is limited to 1 predefined screen and 2 calendars, and keeps DAKboard branding.
• Calendars refresh only every 60 minutes on Free and every 30 on Essential.
• Extra screens cost $4 to $6 a month depending on plan and billing, and the trial is only for users who have not tried Essential or Plus.
• DAKboard also sells its own displays and hardware separately, which these plans do not include.

FamilyWall

• The US App Store listing gives the monthly Premium price as $7.99, above the $4.99 on FamilyWall's website and Google Play listing. The yearly price is $44.99 on all three.
• Google and Outlook sync, the meal planner, budget tracker, timetables, documents and location sharing all need Premium.
• Premium applies to the first 5 circles an account created; any further circles stay on the free plan and cannot be chosen manually.
• The Premium page lists ad-free use as a Premium benefit, although the About page describes FamilyWall as ad-free.

DAKboard

Drag-and-drop screens

Arrange blocks for calendars, photos, weather, news and more on a custom screen. The free plan offers predefined layouts only.

Calendar sources

Add Google, Apple iCloud and Microsoft Office 365 calendars, Facebook Events, or any ICS feed, and show them as monthly, weekly, agenda or up-next views.

Any display

Runs in a browser on smart TVs, tablets and monitors, as a native app on Fire TV and Android, or on a Raspberry Pi with DAKboard's downloadable OS.

Screen loops and scheduling

Plus can chain screens into a loop and schedule when blocks or whole screens show or hide. Both are listed against the Plus plan.

Refresh speed by plan

Calendars refresh every 60 minutes on Free, 30 on Essential and 15 on Plus; Plus also has an instant display refresh.

Integrations

Essential and Plus open every integration, including Home Assistant, SmartThings, Todoist, stock quotes and external JSON data.

FamilyWall

Shared family calendar

A color-coded calendar shows one person's schedule or the whole family's at once. Any member can add or edit appointments, and reminders can be set for events.

Shopping and to-do lists

Shared shopping lists can be browsed offline in the store. To-do lists can be private or shared, and individual to-dos can be assigned to chosen family members.

Messenger, gallery and contacts

Family members post messages in threaded conversations, share photos and videos in a private gallery, and keep contacts such as a babysitter or doctor in a shared directory.

Calendar sync (Premium)

Premium connects Google and Outlook calendars to the family calendar and can subscribe to any public or shared calendar through its URL.

Meal planner and budget (Premium)

The meal planner lays out the week's meals, imports recipes from the web and turns a plan into a grocery list. The budget tracker records shared bills and everyday expenses.

Location and place alerts (Premium)

A map shows family members' recent and real-time positions, and alerts tell you when someone arrives at a saved place such as home or school. Each member chooses who sees their location.

DAKboard

• Free$0

  1 predefined screen layout, up to 2 calendars, TouchHub, photos, weather and news.

• Essential$5

  per month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly)

  2 custom screens (extra $4 a month), up to 5 calendars, all integrations, templates and custom CSS.

• Plus$8

  per month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)

  3 custom screens (extra $5 a month), unlimited calendars, 500 MB media library, screen loops and scheduling.

FamilyWall

• Standard$0

  Shared calendar, shopping lists, to-do lists, messenger and contact book. The Premium page does not mark this plan as ad free.

• Premium$4.99

  per month, or $44.99 billed annually

  Adds Google and Outlook.com sync, meal planner, recipe box, budget tracker, timetable, documents, family locator and place alerts, without ads. One subscription covers a circle.

DAKboard

• Annual discount

  Cheaper per month on yearly billing

  DAKboard's pricing page lists Essential at $5 a month and Plus at $8 when billed annually, against $6 and $10 billed monthly.

FamilyWall

• Annual discount

  About 25% less with annual billing

  The Premium page lists $4.99 per month or $44.99 billed annually. Twelve monthly payments come to $59.88, so paying for the year costs about 25% less.