Better, faster, cheaper Raspberry Pi alternatives

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NanoPi NEO Plus2
The NanoPi NEO Plus2 is less than half the size of the Raspberry Pi, but it packs a performance and storage punch
- H5 quad-core A53 ARM Cortex processor
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB eMMC storage
- 2 x USB ports
- Gigabit ethernet
All that for $25.
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Huawei HiKey 960
The Huawei HiKey 960 is essentially a PC running Android.
At a whopping $239 it's not cheap, but it certainly has the horsepower to handle whatever task you want to throw at it.
- Kirin 960 SoC Quad Core ARM (4 x 2.3GHz ARM A73 cores, and 4 x 1.8GHz ARM A53 cores)
- ARM Mali G71 MP8 GPU
- 3GB LPDDR4 RAM
- 32GB of UFS flash storage
More information.
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
ODROID-XU4
ODROID-XU4 is a new generation of computing device with more powerful, more energy-efficient hardware and a smaller form factor, and costing only $59.
Offering open source support, the board can run various flavors of Linux, including the latest Ubuntu 16.04 and Android 4.4 KitKat, 5.0 Lollipop and 7.1 Nougat.
- Samsung Exynos 5422 Cortex-A15 2Ghz and Cortex-A7 Octa core CPUs
- Mali-T628 MP6 (OpenGL ES 3.1/2.0/1.1 and OpenCL 1.2 Full profile)
- 2 GB LPDDR3 RAM PoP stacked
- eMMC5.0 HS400 Flash Storage
- 2 x USB 3.0 Host, 1 x USB 2.0 Host
- Gigabit Ethernet port
- HDMI 1.4a for display
- Size : 83 x 58 x 20 mm approx.(excluding cooler)
- Linux Kernel 4.9 LTS
More information.
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Cubieboard4 CC-A80 High-performance Mini PC Development Board
Not only does the Cubieboard4 pack a punch, it can output 4K video, making it a great choice for those wanting to build a media center or a gaming platform.
At $160, this board doesn't come cheap, but it's a solid basis on which to build a project on.
- Octa-core big.LITTLE Cortex-A15/7 processor
- 64-core IMG PowerVR G6230 GPU
- 2 GB RAM
- 64 GB storage
- 2x USB Host, USB 3.0/2.0 Dual-Role (host/device)
- Ethernet MAC
- 4x SPI, 7x TWI, 7x UART
- 4x SD/MMC
More information.
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Parallella
The Parallella computer is a high performance, credit card sized computer based on the Epiphany multi-core chips from Adapteva. Starting at $99, the Parallella can be used as a standalone computer, an embedded device or as a component in a scaled out parallel server cluster.
- 16-core Epiphany RISC SOC
- Zynq SOC (FPGA + ARM A9)
- Gigabit Ethernet
- 1GB SDRAM
- Micro-SD storage
- Up to 48 GPIO pins
- HDMI, USB (optional)
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
BBC micro:bit

While the BBC micro:bit is primarily aimed at schools, its low price (about $16) and ease of use makes it a great tool for learning and prototyping on.
The micro:bit is powered by a 32-bit ARM Cortex processor and comes with a built-in accelerometer, magnetometer and Bluetooth.
A unique feature of the micro:bit is the integrated 5x5 LED matrix that offers 25 individually programmable red LEDs to use as a basic display or output.

Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
PixelPro
The PixelPro features a i.MX6Q Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 running at 1.0 GHz, with 2D and 3D GPUs and an embedded 2GB 64-bit DDR3 RAM, which means that it is capable of running rich multimedia applications, embedded web servers, digital entertainment systems, industrial control systems, and high definition video.
At $129.95, the PixelPro is not cheap, but you get a lt of power for the cash.
- Freescale i.MX6Q Soc Quad Core ARM Cortex-A9 up to 1GHz
- 2GB of RAM
- WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- Gigabit Ethernet
- PCIe x1
- USB 2.0
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Arduino INDUSTRIAL 101
A $40 Arduino that's idea for integration into a commercial or industrial product.
- Atheros AR9331 processor
- 64MB of RAM
- 16MB of flash storage
- USB 2.0
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
C.H.I.P.
At $9, C.H.I.P. is a perfect demonstration of how cheap computing has become. You get what would only a few years ago have been desktop power on a tiny board.
- 1.0GHz CPU
- 512MB of RAM
- 4GB of storage
- Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
NanoPC-T3
The NanoPC-T3 is the bigger brother of the NanoPi 2 Fire, and features an octa-core processor which has enough power for commercial and industrial applications.
- Samsung S5P6818 octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 up to 1.4GHz
- 1-2GB of RAM
- 8GB of flash storage
- Gigabit Ethernet
- USB 2.0
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
NanoPi 2 Fire
A cheap, $23 quad-core powered board that's ideally suited for hobbyists.
- Samsung S5P4418 quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 up to 1.4GHz
- 1GB of RAM
- Gigabit Ethernet
- USB 2.0
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Raspberry Pi Zero W
OK, OK, I know that technically the Zero W is a member of the Raspberry Pi family, but this one is too awesome to not list!
Why?
Because for only $10 it offers a very impressive feature set:
- 1GHz, single-core CPU
- 512MB RAM
- Mini-HDMI port
- Micro-USB On-The-Go port
- Micro-USB power
- HAT-compatible 40-pin header
- Composite video and reset headers
- CSI camera connector
- 802.11n wireless LAN
- Bluetooth 4
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Banana Pi M3
Banana Pi M3 is a super charged single board computer with an Octa-core processor and 2GB of RAM. It also features Gigabit Ethernet, 2 USB, SATA, WiFi, Bluetooth, and HDMI connection. It can run on a variety of operating systems including Android, Lubuntu, Ubuntu, Debian, and Raspbian.
- Octa-core 1.8GHz CPU
- 2 GB RAM
- 8 GB eMMC flash storage
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth onboard
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
cloudBit
The easiest way to create internet-connected devices - no programming, soldering or wiring required. IFTTT support allows it to connect with any web service, like Facebook, Gmail and Twitter, or hardware like NEST and Philips HUE.
All for just $59.95.
- Freescale i.MX23 ARM926EJ-S processor
- 64MB of RAM
- 802.11b/g/n
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Omega 2

The Omega 2 from Onion Corporation comes with built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) and on-board flash storage - all for $5!
The board runs a custom Linux distro that's based on OpenWrt but you can also choose to run FreeBSD.
The modular nature of the Omega 2 means that you can easily add features such as Bluetooth or GPS to suit your needs.

Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
MinnowBoard MAX

The MinnowBoard MAX is an update of the popular MinnowBoard, and features a 64-bit Intel Atom E3800 processor, 2GB of RAM, and Intel HD Graphics.
There's also a SATA port allowing the MinnowBoard MAX to be hooked up to a hard drive.
At $139 it's not a cheap board, but it does offer a number of high-end features.

Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
BeagleBone Black
BeagleBone Black is a low-cost, community-supported development platform for developers and hobbyists. This $55 board allows you to boot Linux in under 10 seconds and get started on development in less than 5 minutes.
- AM335x 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8512MB DDR3 RAM
- 4GB 8-bit eMMC on-board flash storage
- 3D graphics accelerator
- NEON floating-point accelerator
- 2x PRU 32-bit microcontrollers
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Udoo Quad
A $135 quad-core board that's just as at home running Android as it is Linux.
- Freescale i.MX 6 ARM Cortex-A9 quad core 1GHz CPU
- Vivante GC 2000 + Vivante GC 355 + Vivante GC 320 GPU
- Integrated accelerators for 2D, OpenGL ES2.0 3D and OpenVG
- Atmel SAM3X8E ARM Cortex-M3 CPU (same as Arduino Due)
- RAM DDR3 1GB
- 76 fully available GPIO: 62 digital + 14 digital/analog
- Arduino-compatible R3 1.0 pinout
- HDMI and LVDS + Touch2 Micro USB (1 OTG type a+b)
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
VoCore
A coin-sized Linux computer that is totally open-source, and costs $20. This is a small, low-cost, totally open-source (both the hardware and software) computer that's ideal for projects such as IoT or building your own custom router.
- 360MHz MIPS CPU
- 32MB of RAM
- 8MB of flash memory
- Ready equipped with header pins for sound, USB 2.0, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi
More information
Published: July 5, 2017 -- 13:00 GMT (06:00 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

13 of 19 NEXT PREV

Here is a selection of single board computers for homebrew projects and automation, with prices starting at only $5. (Updated July 5, 2017)

Banana Pi M3

Banana Pi M3 is a super charged single board computer with an Octa-core processor and 2GB of RAM. It also features Gigabit Ethernet, 2 USB, SATA, WiFi, Bluetooth, and HDMI connection. It can run on a variety of operating systems including Android, Lubuntu, Ubuntu, Debian, and Raspbian.