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The return of home servers: Why more and more people are hosting their data themselves again

More and more data is being stored in the cloud. Photos, videos, documents, and backups are therefore often held by large corporations. The problem with this is that we users give up some control over our data. At the same time, data protection is becoming increasingly important for many people. The monthly costs for cloud services are also constantly rising. As a result, home servers are currently experiencing [...]

The best Raspberry Pi alternatives 2026 – More power for smart home, home server, and AI projects

The best Raspberry Pi alternatives 2026 – More power for smart home, home server, and AI projects
Raspberry Pis have been the standard computers for hobbyists and programmers for years. These can be used in many areas.

These are already used by hobbyists in the following areas.

With Raspberry Pis, you can easily set up your home as a smart home.

Another point is that these computers consume very little power, allowing you to create a cost-effective home server.

Raspberry Pis are also very well suited for retro games.

They are also great machines for learning to program.

Raspberry Pis are also good devices for IoT projects.

However, the market for hobbyist computers has changed significantly.

Many users need more power, and new manufacturers are entering the market. Some of these manufacturers have better specifications than Raspberry.

Let's compare the exciting alternatives to Raspberry

Why look for alternatives at all?

Raspberry Pi is no longer the cheapest solution. For powerful models, prices are higher.

There is limited computing power for modern AI applications.

More RAM is becoming increasingly important.

Users want: Local AI, home servers, Docker, virtualization, and media servers.

Typical use cases would be:

Home Assistant, Netcloud, Plex, Jellyfin, Pi-hole, VPN server, local chatbots.

Alternatives:
Orange Pi 5 Plus – The Powerhouse

One alternative would be the Orange Pi 5 Plus.

This features a Rockchip RK3588 processor and can have up to 16GB of RAM. It has NVMe SSD support and fast networking. Furthermore, USB 3.0 ports.

Advantages:

It has more power than the Raspberry 5. It is ideal for multiple services simultaneously. AI applications are possible. It has fast data transfer.

Practical examples would be:

Ideal for home servers

Similar to the Raspberry, the Orange Pi 5 Plus is also well-suited as a home server. Similarly, you can use it for a Smart Home Hub. It is also well-suited for video streaming. You can also use it well to build your own cloud.

However, the Orang Pi comes with the following disadvantages

There is a much smaller community and unfortunately fewer tutorials.

Odroid N2+ – The Workhorse

The Odroid N2+ is very energy-efficient and is highly recommended for stable continuous operation. It also has good Linux support.

The Odroid N2+ is well-suited for your NAS system. Furthermore, it can be used well for your Home Assistant.

It can also be used as a Docker. It would also be well-suited as a VPN gateway.

Furthermore, it can be used well as a Pi-hole. Pi-hole is a network-wide ad blocker and DNS sinkhole that blocks ads, trackers, and malware for all devices on your home network.

Its advantages are as follows:

The Odroid has low power consumption. It is reliable and has good cooling.

It is interesting for 24/7 activity usage.

Rock 5B – For Multimedia and AI

The Rock 5B has a powerful GPU.

It has 8K support.

It also features a modern ARM architecture.

The model is well-suited as a media server, for video editing, local AI models, and computer vision.

Examples include: surveillance camera with AI, facial recognition, image analysis, and voice assistant.

The advantages are high performance and it is future-proof.

The disadvantage is the higher price.

Libre Computer – The Budget Alternative

The Libre Computer is interesting because it is inexpensive for getting started. It is Raspberry Pi compatible and many projects work directly.

Libre Computers are suitable for students, beginners, and for programming courses.

Good projects would be a weather station, smart home sensors, small web servers, learning processes.

Khadas VIM4 – The Premium Class

The Khadas ViM4 is of higher quality construction than the other models. It features powerful hardware and this has modern interfaces.

The target audience is developers, professionals, and multimedia enthusiasts.

Areas of application include those with a smart display, media center, AI features, or digital signage.

Mini PCs as an alternative to single-board computers

The reasons why mini PCs are becoming increasingly popular compared to single-board computers are: they offer more performance, run Windows or Linux operating systems, and are expandable.

Examples of mini PCs include Beelink, Minusgorum, and Geekom.

Use cases include local AI, home labs, virtualization, and your own cloud.

Advantages over Raspberry Pi include more RAM, faster SSDs, and more powerful processors.

Which alternative suits which user?
Smart home users should opt for an Odroid N2+ or a Home Assistant.
For home server operators, we recommend the Orange Pi 5 Plus.
AI enthusiasts are best advised to choose a Rock 5B or a mini PC.
Beginners are best off with a Libre Computer, and multimedia fans are best advised with a Khadas VIM4.

Outlook 2026 and beyond

The development is that AI will come directly to single-board computers. ARM processors are becoming more powerful. There will be more local applications instead of cloud. Smart homes are also growing continuously.

Conclusion

The Raspberry Pi remains important. However, the competition is getting stronger. Users benefit from an ever-increasing selection. For almost every use case, there is now a better alternative. The future belongs to powerful, energy-efficient mini-computers.

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