Smart Photo Frame Alternative

Q: How much does Pixette cost?

The app is free, and the free tier plays up to 500 photos with shuffle, video and an always-on screen. Used as a real photo frame you'll want Premium, which lifts the photo limit and adds face detection, Ken Burns, overlays, EXIF filters and scheduled sleep for less than $5 a year. A store-bought smart frame is $70–$250 up front, plus cloud fees on some brands.

Q: Are my photos uploaded to the cloud?

No. Pixette streams them from your NAS over your own network, or plays them straight from the tablet. Nothing reaches Pixette or any third party. Most smart frames store your photos on the manufacturer's cloud.

Q: What happens to my photos if Pixette goes away?

Nothing. They never depended on it. Your photos are ordinary files on your own NAS, so you'd point another slideshow app at the same folders. A frame tied to a maker's cloud can stop working entirely if that service shuts down.

Q: Do I need a NAS to use Pixette?

No. Pixette also plays photos stored on the tablet. For the full experience it connects natively to Synology Photos and Immich, or to any NAS with WebDAV such as QNAP, Nextcloud and TrueNAS.

Q: Which tablet can I use as the frame?

Any iPad on iOS 13 or later, or an Android tablet on Android 7.0 or later. Older devices do fine because Pixette caches resized copies locally. Pixette also runs on all-in-one Android displays, the 21-to-32-inch touch panels built for permanent installation.

Q: What if I don't already own a tablet?

Then Pixette isn't free for you, and I'd rather say so. A decent second-hand iPad or Galaxy Tab runs $50–$100, plus a few dollars for a stand, which is close to an entry-level smart frame. With no tablet and no NAS, a dedicated frame may genuinely be the easier buy.

Aura and Nixplay keep your photos in their cloud, behind an account. Pixette turns a tablet you already own into a private frame fed by your own NAS.

Why not just buy a smart frame? #

They're simple and nicely made, but they hold a handful of photos on someone else's cloud, and you pay for the hardware to do it. Pixette works the other way round: your whole library stays on your own NAS and plays on a tablet you already own.

< $5/yr

For Premium. The free tier covers the basics

Photos uploaded. Everything streams from your own NAS

∞

Your whole library with Premium (500 photos on the free tier)

Pixette vs. a store-bought smart frame #

	Tablet + Pixette	Store-bought smart frame
Upfront cost	Free on a tablet you already own. If you don't have one, a good second-hand tablet is $50–$100, plus a stand from a few dollars up	$70–$250 for the frame itself
Ongoing cost	Free tier for the basics, Premium under $5/year for the rest	From nothing to recurring cloud fees, depending on brand
Where your photos live	On your own NAS or the tablet itself. Never uploaded, no account	Uploaded to the manufacturer's cloud, behind an account
Photo library size	500 photos free, your whole library with Premium Premium	Limited by the frame's storage or cloud plan
Adding new photos	Save them to your NAS and they appear automatically	Upload through the maker's app or email, one frame at a time
Screen	Any tablet from 7″ up, so you reuse a screen as sharp as Retina	Fixed size; bigger and sharper costs more
Smart framing	Face detection keeps faces centred; blurred fill replaces black bars Premium	Basic crop-to-fit
Scheduled sleep & wake	Screen off overnight, back on in the morning Premium	Varies; some offer a simple on/off timer
Videos	Plays your videos inline between photos	Limited or not supported
No lock-in	Your photos are ordinary files. If Pixette disappeared, point any other app at the same folders	A discontinued cloud can leave the frame unable to show new photos
Look & finish	A tablet in a stand or frame. Glossy screen, visible camera unless a mat hides it	One purpose-built object, often matte, with no visible tech
Out-of-the-box setup	Needs a NAS (or local photos) and a few minutes to connect	Plug in and go
Ready as a gift	Best for people who already run a NAS	Nothing to manage; hand it over and it works

Rows marked Premium need Pixette Premium, under $5 a year. The free tier still shuffles up to 500 photos, with video and an always-on screen.

When a store-bought frame is the better pick #

Pixette isn't for everyone. A ready-made frame is the simpler choice when:

You don't own a NAS and don't want to run one.
You don't own a tablet either, and a good second-hand one costs about as much as an entry-level frame.
You want zero setup: plug it in and walk away.
It's a gift for someone who won't manage an app or a NAS.
You want a finished object with a matte display and no visible tech.

Leaning that way? An inexpensive tablet frame gets you most of the polished look. See the photo-frames guide.

How the Pixette frame works #

Point Pixette at your NAS

Connect to Synology Photos, Immich, or any NAS with WebDAV and pick your folders.

Mount an old tablet

Any iPad (iOS 13+), Android tablet (Android 7.0+) or all-in-one Android display in a frame, stand or wall mount.

Let it run

A shuffled slideshow of your whole library, with sleep & wake for overnight quiet.

Full walkthrough in the photo-frames guide, plus setup guides per NAS. Want it bigger? Pixette also runs on all-in-one Android displays. Still choosing the app? See Pixette vs. Fotoo, nFolio and FrameSway.

Frequently asked questions #

How much does Pixette cost?

The app is free, and the free tier plays up to 500 photos with shuffle, video and an always-on screen. Used as a real photo frame you'll want Premium, which lifts the photo limit and adds face detection, Ken Burns, overlays, EXIF filters and scheduled sleep for less than $5 a year. A store-bought smart frame is $70–$250 up front, plus cloud fees on some brands.

Are my photos uploaded to the cloud?

No. Pixette streams them from your NAS over your own network, or plays them straight from the tablet. Nothing reaches Pixette or any third party. Most smart frames store your photos on the manufacturer's cloud.

What happens to my photos if Pixette goes away?

Nothing. They never depended on it. Your photos are ordinary files on your own NAS, so you'd point another slideshow app at the same folders. A frame tied to a maker's cloud can stop working entirely if that service shuts down.

Do I need a NAS to use Pixette?

No. Pixette also plays photos stored on the tablet. For the full experience it connects natively to Synology Photos and Immich, or to any NAS with WebDAV such as QNAP, Nextcloud and TrueNAS.

Which tablet can I use as the frame?

Any iPad on iOS 13 or later, or an Android tablet on Android 7.0 or later. Older devices do fine because Pixette caches resized copies locally. Pixette also runs on all-in-one Android displays, the 21-to-32-inch touch panels built for permanent installation.

What if I don't already own a tablet?

Then Pixette isn't free for you, and I'd rather say so. A decent second-hand iPad or Galaxy Tab runs $50–$100, plus a few dollars for a stand, which is close to an entry-level smart frame. With no tablet and no NAS, a dedicated frame may genuinely be the easier buy.

Try the frame that uses your own photos

Download Pixette for free and turn a spare tablet into a private, NAS-powered photo frame.