while Stream Deck it’s a great product, it’s expensive, the software can be heavy, and you feel stuck with relatively neat buttons that aren’t satisfying to press in any way, shape, or form. There are a ton of alternatives, but many of them also present problems. Using an old tablet is very slow. It doesn’t come with customizable buttons like buying a cheap macro pad Stream Deck’s, and using the phone app provides absolutely no tactile feedback.
To get a device with mechanical feel, integrated display and native home assistant support, it really needs to be built. The Stream Deck dominated the market by being a special plastic box with limited switches and a high price tag. Building one is all about unlimited customization, mechanical feel, and open source software.
Get full customization
And amazing tactile feedback
To get started, you need to choose the brains behind your project, and picking up an ESP32-S3 is the secret sauce to making or breaking your own edition of the Stream Deck. This particular chip is fantastic because, unlike the Raspberry Pi, it’s not too expensive, and it’s overpriced for what you use it for.
It also has a big plus: built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, enough GPIO pins for a button matrix, and native support for ESP Home or LVGL to drive small displays. Thanks to native USB support, it can also act as a human interface device, meaning your computer treats it like a literal keyboard with no drivers required.
But the real way to compare your setup to the retail competition depends on the setup itself. Opt for the tactile feel of the Stream Deck over the soft plastic feel. For switches, you can buy mechanical keyboard switches like Gateron Yellows or Cherry Reds. The great thing about this is that you can choose any mechanical key you like to press and it’s great for you. If you want something quiet, you can take it. If you want something with a really loud, clicky feel, you have that option too. A touch-sensitive click makes macro triggering intuitive and sets your build apart from the competition.
For a display, you can use an inexpensive 1.9-inch or 2.4-inch LCD or OLED display built into the case to show what layer you’re in, or display live PC stats like your CPU temp, Discord pings, and other notifications. In this case, you can choose either a 3D printed or modified project box. One thing to remember here is the week. You don’t want your build to look light and hollow, as that can just end up looking weak. Make sure your DIY deck has weight. You can use metal inserts for this and it gives a more premium feel than the hollow Elgato alternative.
- Brand
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AITRIP
- Connection Features
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UART, USB
Using an ESP32 chip is the cheapest way to achieve this setup. Plus, the ESP32 even has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on every board, making the microcontroller great for projects where you can’t keep it physically connected to your computer all the time.
Next is the software you use, and this is where the power of open source comes to the rescue. Option A uses FreeTouchDeck or ESP32-StreamDeck. These custom GitHub projects provide a web-based GUI for dragging and dropping macros, making it very easy to build your Stream Deck alternative.
If you want a next-level setup, then using ESP Home and Home Assistant definitely gives you a premium level of integration. Your buttons don’t just control your computer; they really control your home. One button changes your ether light, dims the room, and launches OBS at the same time.
You can get more features than your DIY version
Layers are what make your version stand out
One way to put your DIY setup ahead of the retail competition is to get more access without investing in more switches. While Elgato expects you to buy the XL version to get more keys, the $2 component can unlock unlimited potential with your DIY edition.
The biggest limitation of physical macro pads is network lock. You start out with a few shortcuts for OBS, but soon you want keys for Photoshop, Spotify, and your smart home. Suddenly, even 15 buttons are pressed.
The problem with folders in a standard Stream Deck is that navigating through folders usually requires sacrificing some of your precious keys to the back or next keys. It’s slow, manual, and destroys your muscle memory. If you’re in the middle of a stream or high-stakes edit, you don’t want to be navigating through menus.
The solution is a rotary encoder. By adding a clickable rotary encoder to your DIY build, you can change the basic user interface of your deck. Instead of clicking folders for scrolling action, just turn the knob. Each click of the encoder changes the entire 3×3 or 4×4 grid to a new profile, and you can set profiles such as gaming, video editing, office/coding, and home automation to control all these elements from one device.
In addition, the encoder is also a button with a push action. You can program a push to instantly return to your home profile or act as a global mute/panic button. Unlike a touchscreen, the encoder gives you physical calls; you can feel exactly how many layers you’ve gone through without having to look down.
Using small IPS displays means you have dynamic icons when you turn the button, the screen, or the small OLEDs below the buttons. If you’ve switched to amateur mode, updates are instant. You get a clear, high-contrast label or icon for the current layer.
Additionally, if your DIY setup is connected to Home Assistant via Wi-Fi or a PC-side script, the screen can display more than just icons on your game layer. It can show you your current CPU temps. It can show you the current brightness of your office lights on your smart home layer. The advantages of DIY is that you get complete customization, which is not available with the Elgato Stream Deck.
Save yourself some money
And get better results
For just $30 in parts and a day of soldering, you have a device that beats the $150 retail product. In the software-as-a-service world, there’s something very satisfying about having the hardware and code behind one of the products you use on your desk every day. Once you’ve built your own DIY streaming deck alternative, you’ve got a whole new level of customization, automation, and integration.
