A UPshow (EverPass) alternative that costs $0 and pays you back
UPshow was acquired by EverPass Media in July 2024 and now leads with commercial sports streaming — NFL Sunday Ticket, ESPN+ for Business — plus entertainment channels, signage, and promotions on quote-based pricing. PiAds is the opposite bet: free signage for partner screens, your content first, and 70% of every local ad booking to you.
UPshow built a strong on-premise entertainment and promotions product, then became the technology inside EverPass, whose center of gravity is licensed sports for bars, restaurants, casinos, and healthcare. That's a real product with real value — if your customers come for the game, a Sunday Ticket license matters more than a menu board. But it's something you pay for, priced by quote, on their hardware, and the screen never earns anything back. PiAds is for the other screens and the other venues: menus, promos, and announcements that are yours, ad slots you open and price, local advertisers you approve, 70% of each cleared booking to you, and $0 software for partner screens on the Fire TV Stick already behind the TV.
Being honest: if you need licensed live sports in a bar, EverPass/UPshow is one of the few legitimate ways to get it, and its engagement features (trivia, social walls, gamified promos) are more developed than PiAds' signage-first toolkit. PiAds does not stream sports and never will.
UPshow (EverPass) vs PiAds at a glance
| UPshow (EverPass) | PiAds | |
|---|---|---|
| What's on screen | Licensed sports + entertainment channels; your promos layered on | Your playlists and schedules; ads only in slots you open |
| Pricing | Quote-based, paid subscription | $0 for partner screens; $10/mo if ad-free |
| Earn from your screens | No | Local ad marketplace — you keep 70% |
| Ad control | Not applicable — no third-party ads sold for you | Approve or decline every campaign; set dayparts and prices |
| Hardware | Their device | Fire TV Stick, Android TV, Raspberry Pi, or browser you own |
| Best for | Sports bars needing licensed games | Menu boards, promos, and screens that should pay for themselves |
What it costs as you grow
| Screens | UPshow (EverPass) / month | PiAds / month |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quote (paid) | $0 |
| 5 | Quote (paid) | $0 |
| 20 | Quote (paid) | $0 |
EverPass/UPshow pricing is quote-based; third-party listings put legacy UPshow entry plans around $50–$99+ per month per location, and sports licenses are priced by establishment classification. PiAds is $0 for partner screens that enable approved ad slots and pays 70% of each cleared local booking. Pricing as of September 2026.
Where UPshow (EverPass) falls short
- •Paid, quote-based pricing — historically from around $50–$99+ per month per location before the EverPass sports bundle
- •Sports-and-entertainment first; your own content is the promotion layer, not the program
- •Your screen is a cost line: no ad marketplace, no revenue share to the venue
- •Platform in transition since the 2024 acquisition — back-of-house tools were spun out, sports licensing leads the roadmap
Where UPshow (EverPass) beats PiAds — honestly
- •PiAds has no live sports or licensed entertainment channels
- •UPshow's engagement layer (trivia, social feeds, gamified promos) is richer than PiAds' signage toolkit
- •No network ad fill: if no local business books your screen, it earns nothing that month
The comparison UPshow (EverPass) can't enter
Every signage platform — UPshow (EverPass) included — treats your screens as a cost. PiAds is the only one with a built-in local advertising marketplace: nearby businesses book slots on your screens, you approve every ad, and you keep 70% of the revenue. The software is $0 for partner screens, so the screen is an income line, not a cost.
The 30-minute switch
Most single-venue migrations from UPshow (EverPass) finish inside an hour — here's the low-risk order.
Sign up free — no card. The guided setup creates your venue in a minute.
Pair ONE screen (or just the built-in web player — no hardware needed to test).
Re-upload your media and let onboarding build your first playlist and schedule.
Run both platforms side by side for a week.
Move your remaining screens — pairing each takes about a minute.
Cancel the old subscription. Optionally open ad slots and start earning.
Switching from UPshow (EverPass), answered
What happened to UPshow?
EverPass Media acquired UPshow on July 2, 2024. The UPshow platform now powers EverPass, which leads with commercial sports streaming such as NFL Sunday Ticket alongside entertainment channels, digital signage, and promotions.
How is PiAds different from UPshow / EverPass?
EverPass is paid sports-and-entertainment TV for venues with signage layered on. PiAds is free signage for partner screens where your content is the program, local businesses book the ad slots you open, you approve each one, and you keep 70%.
Can PiAds show live sports?
No. PiAds plays what you upload and schedule plus approved local ads. If your venue needs licensed games, keep a sports platform on that TV and run PiAds on the menu board and other screens.
Do I need special hardware?
No. PiAds runs natively on the Fire TV Stick or Android TV device you already own, on Raspberry Pi, or in any browser, with a free iOS app for management.
Is PiAds really free?
Yes for partner screens that enable approved ad slots. Screens without ad slots are $10 per screen per month or $100 per year.
Try the alternative that pays you back
Free for partner screens, no card. Pair one screen — or just the web player — and run it next to UPshow (EverPass) for a week.
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