5 Raspberry Pi alternatives that are cheaper and work just as well

The topic 5 Raspberry Pi alternatives that are cheaper and work just as well is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.

This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.

The Raspberry Pi has always been the go-to single-board computer (SBC) for hobbysists, makers, and tinkerers—and for good reason. It’s well documented, has a massive community, and runs a polished OS out of the box. The problem is that it’s not exactly cheap anymore, and you might be able to skip the Raspberry Pi without regretting it.

Thanks to a relentless surge in LPDDR4 memory prices, Raspberry Pi has been hiking prices across its lineup multiple times in quick succession. If you’re looking to pick one up today, the 8 GB variant alone can cost as much as $200. The 4 GB variant, hailed as the sensible budget option, is selling for well over $100 across retailers. Cheap isn’t what it used to be, and it might be time to start considering some actually cheap alternatives.

If you want to keep things seriously affordable without sacrificing too much performance, the Orange Pi Zero 3 is hard to beat. The 4GB RAM version costs around $30 to $40 based on where you buy it, which is less than half of the Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB) price.

For your money, you get an Allwinner H618 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, up to 4GB of LPDDR4 memory, built-in Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, and Gigabit Ethernet. It even does Micro-HDMI output at 4K 60FPS. The only major trade-offs are that you’re stuck with USB 2.0 ports and the software support, while functional, leans more towards Debian and Ubuntu without that polished Raspberry Pi experience.

However, if you’re up to speed with Linux, the software support shouldn’t be as much of a problem. Regardless, if your use case is a lightweight home server, a Pi-hole DNS sinkhole, or a small automation hub, this board gets the job done at a fraction of the price.

Orange Pi Zero 3 is a compact, low-cost single-board computer powered by the Allwinner H618 processor, offering Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and enough performance for home servers, networking projects, and lightweight Linux workloads.

The Orange Pi 3B makes a very compelling case for a Raspberry Pi 4 replacement. It starts at around $30 for the 2GB model and $40 for the 4GB model on AliExpress, comes with a Rockchip RK3556 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor running at up to 1.8GHz, and an ARM Mali-G52 GPU. You even have a built-in NPU delivering 0.8 TOPS for light AI inference tasks.

However, what really sets this board apart from the competition is its M.2 M-Key slot that supports both SATA and PCIe NVMe SSDs. That means you can ditch the finicky (and expensive) microSD cards and boot straight off an SSD, dramatically improving daily performance. Throw in Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 ports, and a 40-pin GPIO header compatible with Raspberry Pi accessories, and you’ve got a replacement that checks every requirement you might have at a much more reasonable price.

Orange Pi 3B is a versatile single-board computer powered by the Rockchip RK3566 processor, featuring Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NVMe SSD support, and enough performance for home labs, media servers, and general Linux projects.

The Libre Computer AML-S90X-CC, also called Le Potato, takes a different approach to SBCs. It’s designed to be as close to a Raspberry Pi drop-in replacement as possible, even sharing the same 86.9mm × 58.5mm form factor as the Raspberry Pi 2 and 3, and runs standard Raspberry Pi OS alongside Ubuntu and Android.

It is a little weaker on the hardware side, though. You get an Amlogic S905X quad-core Cortex-A52 processor at 1.5 GHz, up to 2GB of RAM, and a penta-core GPU capable of 4K H.265 video decoding. At roughly $35 for the 2GB model, it’s currently far cheaper than the Raspberry Pi 4 and Pi 5 on the market today. The main problem, however, is the lack of onboard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Sure, you can plug in a USB dongle if wireless connectivity matters, but it really shines in wired setups like a media server or light desktop.

Libre Computer Le Potato is a budget-friendly single-board computer based on the Amlogic S905X processor, offering Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO, 4K video output, and solid Linux support for media centers, home servers, and DIY projects.

The Banana Pi BPI-M5 is one of those boards that keeps getting overlooked, while it really shouldn’t. It’s powered by an Amlogic S905X3 quad-core Cortex-A55 clocked at 2.0GHz, comes with up to 4GB LPDDR4 memory, and even 16GB eMMC storage on board. There are also four USB 3.0 ports and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The built-in eMMC provides a faster, more reliable storage option compared to a microSD card right out of the box, without needing likely expensive NVMe drives.

Banana Pi, as a brand, has been around long enough to have a solid online community and a reasonably well-maintained wiki. The BPI-M5 also runs well under Armbian and supports Android, making it quite useful in media center and digital signage scenarios. If you can find one in the $40 to $50 range, it’s one of the oldest, most mature, and well-tested Raspberry Pi alternatives on the market.

Banana Pi BPI-M5 is a powerful single-board computer built around the Amlogic S905X3 processor, featuring 4GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, eMMC storage support, and enough performance for home servers, containers, and media applications.

Finally, if you must have a Raspberry Pi, consider the Raspberry Pi 3B+—the final revision of the Pi 3 line and guaranteed to stay in production until at least January 2030. You can usually find them for around $40-$50 on Amazon, nearly half the price of its more expensive siblings.

The specs are modest, though. You get a quad-core Broadcom BCM2837B0 Cortex-A53 at 1.4GHz, 1GB of RAM, dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, four USB 2.0 ports, and PoE support via a separate HAT. The only real limiting factor here is the 1GB of memory, as it makes multitasking clunky and rules out memory-intensive workloads. However, this $50 board can replace your entire smart home hub, and for projects like Pi-hole, a basic home server, or even a backup computer, it’s perfectly serviceable.

Raspberry Pi 3B+ is a compact single-board computer featuring a quad-core ARM processor, Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, making it ideal for DIY, IoT, and home server projects.

Every third-party board on this list will require some degree of tinkering compared to a brand-new Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi’s biggest advantage was never hardware, either—it was the excellent software support and documentation the community got from day one.

These alternatives trade some of that ecosystem polish and ease-of-use for more performance and a lower price. For most users who are comfortable with Linux and some experimentation, every single board here is a legitimate, cost-effective replacement. Just make sure to pick the right one according to the data your needs.