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Smart Photo Frame Alternative

Aura, Nixplay and most smart frames keep your photos in their cloud behind an account. Pixette turns a tablet you already own into a private photo frame powered by your own NAS. No uploads, your whole library on screen.

Why not just buy a smart frame? #

Store-bought frames like Aura or Nixplay are simple and nicely made, but they only hold a small handful of photos, kept on someone else's cloud, and you pay for the hardware (sometimes a subscription too) 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, or on a second-hand iPad or Android tablet for around $50–$100 if you don't.

< $5/yr

A free tier covers the basics; the full frame experience is Premium, under $5 a year

0

Photos uploaded. Everything streams from your own NAS, or plays straight from the tablet

∞

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

Pixette vs. a store-bought smart frame #

A side-by-side look at a tablet running Pixette versus a typical dedicated smart photo frame.

  Tablet + Pixette Store-bought smart frame
Upfront cost Free app on an iPad or Android tablet you already own. If you don't have one, a good second-hand tablet is roughly $50–$100, plus a stand or frame from a few dollars up $70–$250 for the frame itself
Ongoing cost Free tier for the basics; the full frame experience is Premium, less than $5/year From nothing to recurring cloud fees, depending on brand
Where your photos live On your own NAS, never uploaded anywhere Uploaded to the manufacturer's cloud servers
Photo library size Up to 500 photos free; your whole library, thousands of photos, with Premium Premium Limited by the frame's storage or cloud plan
Works without a NAS Also plays photos stored locally on the tablet, so no NAS is required Photos must be sent to the frame or its cloud
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, 7–13″ or bigger, so you reuse a screen as sharp as Retina Fixed size; bigger, higher-resolution panels cost more
Smart framing Face detection & Fill Screen keep faces centred, no black bars Premium Basic crop-to-fit
On-screen info Optional clock, date, place and album-name overlays Premium Usually none
Scheduled sleep & wake Turns the screen off overnight and 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
Extra displays Add as many tablets as you like to one NAS Buy a separate frame for every room
Privacy & accounts Runs on your home network; no third-party account Typically needs the maker's cloud and an account
No lock-in or obsolescence Your photos are ordinary files on your NAS. If Pixette ever goes away, point any other app at the same folders and nothing is lost A discontinued cloud can leave the frame unable to sync or show new photos
Reuses hardware Gives an old tablet a second life, with no e-waste A brand-new device to buy and eventually replace
Look & finish A tablet in a stand or frame. The screen is glossy and the camera shows, unless you hide it behind a mat A single purpose-built object, often with a matte anti-glare panel and 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, less than $5 a year. The free tier still gives you a shuffled slideshow of up to 500 photos with video and an always-on screen.

On balance, a tablet with Pixette comes out ahead on 15 of 18 points. The 3 where a dedicated frame wins are listed right below.

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 (though Pixette can also play photos stored on the tablet itself).
  • You don't already own an iPad or Android tablet, and buying a nice second-hand one (about $50–$100) can cost as much as an entry-level frame.
  • You want zero setup, so you can 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, purpose-built object with a matte display (though a tablet frame or stand is inexpensive).

Leaning that way but still want your NAS library? You can get most of the polished look with an inexpensive tablet frame. See the photo-frames guide.

How the Pixette frame works #

1

Point Pixette at your NAS

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

2

Mount an old tablet

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

3

Let it run

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

Full walkthrough in the photo-frames guide and the setup guides for your NAS.

Frequently asked questions #

How much does Pixette cost compared with a smart photo frame?
Pixette is free to download and has a free tier, but the features that make a great photo frame (face detection, Ken Burns, on-screen overlays and scheduled sleep/wake) are part of Premium, which costs less than $5 a year. A store-bought smart frame is typically $70–$250 up front, and some brands charge cloud fees on top. If you already own a tablet, Pixette is a small fraction of the cost.
Is Pixette free, or do I need to pay?
It's freemium. The free tier plays up to 500 photos with a shuffled slideshow, video and an always-on screen. To use it as a proper photo frame most people will want Premium, which unlocks unlimited photos, face detection, overlays, EXIF filters and scheduled sleep/wake, all for less than $5 a year. Either way your photos stay on your own NAS, so you're never locked in.
Are my photos uploaded to the cloud?
No. Pixette streams your photos directly from your NAS over your own network, or plays them straight from the tablet. Nothing is uploaded to Pixette or any third-party server. Most smart frames, by contrast, store your photos on the manufacturer's cloud.
What happens to my photos if Pixette goes away?
Nothing at all. They never depended on Pixette. Your photos live on your own NAS (or device) as ordinary files, so if the app were ever discontinued you'd simply point another slideshow app at the same folders. A smart 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 can play photos stored locally on the tablet, so you can use it without a NAS. 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 work well because Pixette caches resized images locally. See the photo-frames guide for frame, stand and wall-mount ideas.
What if I don't already own a tablet?
Then Pixette isn't free for you, and we'd rather say so. You'll need an iPad (iOS 13+) or an Android tablet (Android 7.0+). A decent second-hand one (an older iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab, say) runs about $50–$100, plus a few dollars for a stand or frame. That gets close to the price of an entry-level smart frame, so if you have neither a tablet nor a NAS, a dedicated frame might genuinely be the easier choice. Pixette makes the most sense once you already own a tablet, or want one that does more than show photos, and you keep your library on your own NAS.

Try the frame that uses your own photos

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

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