# DAKboard review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Wall display for calendars, photos and weather on any screen Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. DAKboard turns a TV, tablet, monitor or Raspberry Pi into an always-on display that shows calendars, photos, weather, news and other blocks you arrange on screen. It pulls in Google, iCloud, Microsoft 365 and ICS calendars. The free plan has one predefined screen and up to two calendars; paid plans add custom layouts. - **Category:** Calendar & Scheduling - **Made by:** DAKboard - **Website:** https://dakboard.com - **Runs on:** Web, Android - **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you want to plan or book anything, since it only displays. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, DAKboard has a free plan, and paid plans start at $5 per month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** 1 predefined screen, up to 2 calendars, photos, weather, news and RSS, with DAKboard branding. - **Free trial:** 30-day free trial of Essential for users who have not tried Essential or Plus. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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. | Read from https://dakboard.com/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with DAKboard before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Cheaper per month on yearly billing** (Annual discount): DAKboard's pricing page lists Essential at $5 a month and Plus at $8 when billed annually, against $6 and $10 billed monthly. Source: https://dakboard.com/pricing ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Families who want a shared calendar on a kitchen TV or tablet - Offices showing room availability or a team schedule on a wall screen - Hobbyists building a display on a Raspberry Pi ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. DAKboard turns any screen into a wall display of calendars, photos and weather, with a free plan and Essential at $5 a month billed annually. It only shows calendars you keep elsewhere, the free plan keeps DAKboard branding and one preset screen, and calendars refresh only every 60 minutes. - **Value for money: C.** Essential is $5 a month billed annually and Plus $8, around the category's $4.99 to $6.99 range. Hardware is sold separately. - **Free plan and trial: C.** Free plan: 1 predefined screen, up to 2 calendars and DAKboard branding. A 30-day Essential trial is for new users only. - **Features: D.** It displays calendars, photos and weather but needs a calendar elsewhere to show anything useful. It is not a calendar you plan in. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. You lay out screens and connect each calendar account. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web and an Android app, on any display, with Google Calendar, iCloud, Microsoft 365, Home Assistant, SmartThings and Todoist. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from DAKboard's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among calendar and scheduling apps - DAKboard's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 5 of the 89 other calendar and scheduling apps we grade, and level with 4. - It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 26 of 89) and worst on features (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $5 a month, against a middle price of $6.99 for the category: 24 of the 66 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 31 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/calendar ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** The plain part of DAKboard you could make: calendar and templates. What surrounds it you could not. The 3 things listed below take a company, not a weekend. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 80 of the 89 other calendar and scheduling apps grade higher. It costs $60 a year. - You could make: Calendar and templates: an app builder makes these well. - You could not: Connections that pull numbers from dozens of other services. - You could not: A real app for Android. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Google Calendar, Apple iCloud Calendar and Microsoft 365 among them. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Google Calendar, Apple iCloud Calendar, Microsoft 365, Home Assistant, SmartThings, Todoist, OpenWeather **Tags:** Calendar, Dashboards, Templates ## Alternatives - [Cozi](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cozi): Shared family calendar with shopping lists, to-dos and recipes. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cozi-vs-dakboard) - [TimeTree](https://toolgpa.com/tools/timetree): Shared calendar app for families, couples and groups. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dakboard-vs-timetree) - [FamilyWall](https://toolgpa.com/tools/familywall): Family organizer with a shared calendar, lists and messaging. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dakboard-vs-familywall) - [Google Calendar](https://toolgpa.com/tools/google-calendar): Online calendar from Google, free with a personal account. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dakboard-vs-google-calendar) - [Apple Calendar](https://toolgpa.com/tools/apple-calendar): Free built-in calendar for iPhone, iPad, Mac and iCloud.com. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/apple-calendar-vs-dakboard) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://dakboard.com/pricing - https://dakboard.com/site Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/dakboard Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).