Which Digital Menu Board CMS is Right for You?

Which Digital Menu Board CMS is Right for You?

Compare top Content Management Systems (CMS) platforms and find your fit 

A CMS (Content Management System) is the software that runs your digital menu pricing, scheduling, promotions, and daypart changes. The Howard Company is software-agnostic: rather than locking you into one platform, we help you choose the right one for your stores. These are our three leading CMS options. Every one of them handles pricing, scheduling, and promotions, but not every operator needs the same features, so the best fit depends on your POS, your hardware, how hands-on you want to be, and your budget.

Digital menu board CMS comparison for Navori, Nanonation, and Neon screen

Last updated: June 23, 2026 At a Glance

The Howard Company & Navori
The Howard Company & Nanonation
The Howard Company & Neon Screens
Feature Navori Nanonation Neon
Best fit for Enterprise signage Kiosks & POS integration QSR menus & POS integration
Licensing Perpetual license SaaS subscription SaaS subscription
POS integration Open API / JSON connectors; datafeed-driven pricing (no named POS) Square for Drive-Thru (founding partner); Clover, PAR Brink, Oracle MICROS (company-level) Toast, Olo, PAR Brink, QU Beyond, Spot On, Crisp, Clover, NCR, CBS North Star
Price management Datafeed — manual entry or external databases (RSS, Google Sheets, and more) POS-driven POS-driven
Hardware compatibility LG & Samsung SoC, Stix 3800 player, Windows Media Player LG & Samsung SoC, Windows Media Player LG & Samsung SoC, Amazon Signage Stick, Android TV, Lenovo, Chrome OS
Content editing Customer-manageable editor (PowerPoint-like) No customer design tools — developer edits Adaptive widgets + Canva integration
Sold-out (86ing) Tag / sticker 86ing POS-driven 86ing POS-driven 86ing
Standout features Template editing, user permission levels, customer editability, vehicle recognition POS data integrations, kiosk support Template editing, POS data integration, overhead audio
OCS compatible
Dayparting

Best Fit & Feature Breakdowns

Nanonation - Best for Kiosks & POS integration

Nanonation is the best digital menu board CMS for operators running Square for Drive-Thru or needing kiosk support alongside their menu boards.

  • SaaS subscription licensing

  • Square for Drive-Thru founding partner (launched May 2026) — the strongest POS proof point

  • Also integrates with Clover, PAR Brink, and Oracle MICROS at the company level

  • Kiosk support and POS-driven 86ing for sold-out items

  • Dayparting; OCS compatible; runs on LG & Samsung SoC and Windows Media Player

  • Note: no customer design tools, content changes are handled by a professional developer

Neon - Best for menus & POS integration

Neon is the best digital menu board CMS for operators running Toast, Olo, or another supported POS who want pricing and 86ing to update automatically.

  • SaaS subscription licensing

  • POS / API integration with Toast, Olo, PAR Brink, QU Beyond, Spot On, Crisp, Clover, NCR, and CBS North Star 

  • Adaptive widgets for easy content edits, plus Canva integration

  • Overhead music & announcements with a substantial built-in library

  • Dayparting and POS-driven 86ing for sold-out items

  • OCS compatible; runs on LG & Samsung SoC, Amazon Signage Stick, Android TV, Lenovo, and Chrome OS

 

Frequently Asked Question's

 Navori uses a perpetual license and is best for enterprise signage. It offers a customer-manageable PowerPoint-like editor, template editing, user permission levels, and vehicle recognition for drive-thru, but has no named POS integration — pricing is datafeed-driven via RSS, Google Sheets, or external databases. Nanonation is a SaaS subscription built for kiosks and POS integration, with Square for Drive-Thru as a founding partner and additional integrations with Clover, PAR Brink, and Oracle MICROS; content changes require a developer. Neon is also a SaaS subscription and best for QSR menus, offering the broadest POS compatibility — Toast, Olo, PAR Brink, QU Beyond, Spot On, Crisp, Clover, NCR, and CBS North Star — plus adaptive widgets, Canva integration, and overhead audio. All three support dayparting, OCS, and POS-driven or tag-based 86ing. 

 Neon. It connects directly with more POS systems than any other platform we offer — Toast, Olo, PAR Brink, QU Beyond, Spot On, Crisp, Clover, NCR, and CBS North Star — so pricing and sold-out items update automatically without manual edits. It also includes adaptive widgets and Canva integration for easy content changes, overhead music and announcements, dayparting, and POS-driven 86ing. For a QSR operator who wants live menu accuracy and minimal manual maintenance, Neon is the right fit. 

 Neon integrates with Toast, along with Olo, PAR Brink, QU Beyond, Spot On, Crisp, Clover, NCR, and CBS North Star. Nanonation integrates with Square for Drive-Thru, Clover, PAR Brink, and Oracle MICROS. Navori does not offer named POS integration — it uses datafeed-driven pricing via open API and JSON connectors instead. If Toast integration is a requirement, Neon is the platform to evaluate. 

 It means we don't sell you our platform — we match you to the right one. Most digital signage providers offer a single CMS and fit every customer to it regardless of POS, hardware, or how the team actually operates. The Howard Company offers three platforms — Navori, Nanonation, and Neon — and recommends based on your specific situation: which POS you run, which hardware you have or plan to buy, how hands-on your team wants to be with content, and your budget. The right CMS is the one built for your operation, not the one easiest for us to sell. 

 Navori uses a perpetual license — you purchase the software outright and own it, rather than paying an ongoing monthly or annual subscription. This is a meaningful budget difference over a multi-year rollout. Nanonation and Neon are both sold as SaaS subscriptions. If total cost of ownership over five-plus years is a priority, Navori's perpetual model is worth comparing directly against the subscription costs of the other two platforms. 

A digital menu board CMS (Content Management System) is software that lets you create, schedule, and update the content displayed on your digital menu screens. Instead of manually swapping out printed menus or editing individual screen files, a CMS gives you a centralized platform to control what appears on your displays across one location or hundreds. You can update pricing, add limited-time offers, swap out images, and schedule daypart content all from a single dashboard. For restaurants and foodservice operators, a digital menu board CMS is the backbone of a modern display setup, connecting your menu content to the screens your customers see.

 Not sure which fits? That’s the point of being software-agnostic — we’ll match the right CMS to your POS, hardware, and team.