Beam vs Display
Beam and Display are both personal productivity tools. Beam is aimed at developers and creators, while Display is aimed at developers and small businesses. Both have a free plan.
Open individual windows from one Mac as native windows on another
Shared workspace where AI agents publish docs, prototypes and apps
| Pricing | Freemium · $12 | Freemium · $12 |
| Starting price | $12/mo | $12/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Developers, Creators, Freelancers, Small businesses | Developers, Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers |
| Platforms | macos | web |
| Country | — | EE |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Beam if
Developers and creators with two Apple silicon Macs who want a remote app to behave like a local window instead of a full screen share.
- Uses one remote app without taking over the whole desktop
- Window traffic goes directly between your Macs, not through Beam's servers
- Free plan has no card requirement and no limit on host Macs
Look elsewhere if: People who need to reach Windows or Intel machines or control a whole remote desktop across platforms (Jump Desktop, Parsec).
Choose Display if
Product and engineering teams that already generate HTML docs and prototypes with coding agents and want one private place to share, review and version them.
- Works with any agent, so Claude and Codex users can edit the same doc
- Unlimited free viewers and commenters on every plan
- Flat Team price covers up to 150 editors
Look elsewhere if: Teams that mainly need a classic wiki or office-file storage with mature compliance paperwork (Confluence, Google Drive).
Beam vs Display pricing
Beam
- Free$0Host unlimited Macs, join share links, 20 minutes a day of use
- Monthly$12/moUnlimited use on every Mac you own, send share links
- Yearly$84/yrSame as Monthly; works out to $7/mo billed annually
- Lifetime$199One-time payment, all future updates, direct connections
- Team$12/seat/moOr $84/seat/yr; 20% off from 10 seats, one invoice
Display
- Free$01 editor, 3 gated docs, 50 MB, unlimited viewers
- Solo$12/mo1 editor, 5 GB, version history; $9/mo billed yearly
- Team$79/moUp to 150 editors, 100 GB, Shared Spaces; $59/mo yearly
- Business$265/mo1 TB, 365-day audit logs, sharing controls; $199/mo yearly
- EnterpriseCustom150+ editors, SAML SSO, signed DPA, SLA, custom storage
Beam · Key features
- Single windows from another Mac open as native windows with Dock and Command-Tab entries
- Beam several windows at once or share an entire display
- Direct typing, shortcuts, two-way resizing, app audio and clipboard sync
- Works with headless Mac minis and Mac Studios that have no display
- Encrypted Mac-to-Mac connection on local Wi-Fi or over Tailscale
- Guest share links open one window in any browser, view-only by default
Cons
- macOS only, with Apple silicon and Sonoma or later required on both Macs
- Free use is capped at 20 minutes a day
- Devices without the Mac app, such as phones, only get browser links
Display · Key features
- Publish agent-made HTML and Markdown docs to stable private URLs
- MCP server, CLI and Claude connector for agents such as Codex and Cursor
- Version on every publish, with restore on Solo and higher plans
- Line-level comments that agents can read and resolve
- In-browser editing for people with edit access
- Spaces and folders for docs, images, PDFs and data files
Cons
- No SOC 2 report yet, per the vendor's security page
- SAML single sign-on only on the custom Enterprise plan
- Version history and folders require at least the paid Solo plan
Beam vs Display: FAQ
Do Beam and Display have a free plan?
Yes, both Beam and Display have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.