Raspberry Pi Zero

What hackers pick instead

• Raspberry PiRecommended for its reliable long-term software support, huge community and flexibility as a small Linux box with GPIO, though critics say prices have climbed and performance-per-watt lags.425recommend
• NVIDIA JetsonRecommended for running AI models and robotics on a small, low-power board with strong GPU performance, though critics say software support is short and poorly maintained.28recommend
• Orange Pi 6 PlusPeople recommend it for strong multicore CPU performance, large RAM and fast I/O for an ARM board. Critics agree its driver and kernel support lags, so it suits SBC tinkerers.18recommend
• Raspberry Pi 2Long-lived board that people run unattended for years; the older model still gives good value, though one critic found it struggled with heavy workloads.12recommend
• SpacemiT K3Fast enough for everyday desktop use, with RVA23 vector support and strong multi-core speed. Critics say it costs too much for what it delivers.12recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 110 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Give us a Raspberry Pi Zero 3W with proper sleep states to reduce sleep power consumption, lower idle power while awake, and 1 GB of RAM

   Mixed · May 2026 · in “News about Raspberry Pi 6 and Microcontroller Development – Jeff Geerling”

2. Raspberry pi's are cheap, easily available, and there is an absolutely massive trove of information about them on the internet.

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Setting Up a Cluster of Tiny PCs for Parallel Computing”

3. I am having a difficult time imagining a cheaper option, especially if you want something like the hat ecosystem.

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “News about Raspberry Pi 6 and Microcontroller Development – Jeff Geerling”

4. A pi zero is more than capable of handling HTTP/1.2 and TLS 1.3 for a handful of connections per second.

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Serving a Website on a Raspberry Pi Zero Running in RAM”

5. The Pi Zero 2W is great, but data I/O (WiFi, USB, and micro SD) do limit use cases slightly.

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Raspberry Pi 5 – 16 GB, $350”

6. power consumption (and performance per watt) is the main reason I keep buying Raspberry Pi

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Apple's 512GB Mac Studio vanishes, a quiet acknowledgment of the RAM shortage”

7. has been running 24/7 on a Pi Zero with the same micro-SD card for some 4-odd years

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Project Nomad – Knowledge That Never Goes Offline”

8. a very nice and still lean board available for ~15$ worldwide at least until 2030

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “FreeOberon – Open-Source, Cross-Platform, Free Pascal/Turbo Pascal-Like Language”

9. A full Unix computer for $20 with GPIO, PWM, serial, i2c, USB, Camera and wifi.

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Recreate the Apollo Guidance Computer”

10. because of its low energy consumption when it's running continuously on a boat

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Ilma, a Navtex Receiver for Raspberry Pi”

11. for its low power draw, wifi capabilities, decent memory (512mb), and low cost

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Show HN: Diffuji – a diffusion-powered instant camera”

12. the zero is the coolest PI imo . You can run nearly any network service on it.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Serving a Website on a Raspberry Pi Zero Running in RAM”

13. I consider the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero to be among the best values on the market

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “1GB Raspberry Pi 5, and memory-driven price rises”

14. they're usually not very "normal". The process of provisioning is different

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Setting Up a Cluster of Tiny PCs for Parallel Computing”

15. I have found the Pi Zero 2W to be surprisingly capable for Pi sized jobs.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “DRAM pricing is killing the hobbyist SBC market”

16. the Zero's IO ports are annoying (eg, USB is not hot-pluggable!)

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “Serving a Website on a Raspberry Pi Zero Running in RAM”

17. They're sold out almost entirely and none of the distributors can tell when the new batch gets in.

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Raspberry Pi 5 – 16 GB, $350”

18. Just be aware that you’ll be stuck with wifi, or spending far more on ethernet adapters for them.

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Setting Up a Cluster of Tiny PCs for Parallel Computing”

19. Give us a Raspberry Pi Zero 3W with proper sleep states to reduce sleep power consumption

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “News about Raspberry Pi 6 and Microcontroller Development – Jeff Geerling”

20. with proper sleep states to reduce sleep power consumption, lower idle power while awake

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “News about Raspberry Pi 6 and Microcontroller Development – Jeff Geerling”

21. Here in Germany you cannot get them at all any more and the quoted price has gone up 3x.

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Raspberry Pi 5 – 16 GB, $350”

22. I still havent been able to buy a Pi zero 2w from anywhere that isnt scalper prices.

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “Raspberry Pi Zero 3W and Pi 4 Model A spotted in device trees”

23. broke 3 SD-cards, and it didn't even have the courtesy to fail fast

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Project Nomad – Knowledge That Never Goes Offline”

24. lower power consumption and moving away from GPIO would be awesome

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “News about Raspberry Pi 6 and Microcontroller Development – Jeff Geerling”

25. A 256MB Raspi Zero can comfortably drive a HDMI-connected display at 1080p60, and not even drop frames when rendering textured+shaded 3d

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “How to build a circular LCD clock”

26. Something like a Raspbery Pi Zero 2 W already comes pretty close to that and without the penalty of memory communication/bandwidth.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “1.38 Millimeter Microcontroller”

27. these don't have programmable IOs (PIO), though, which may make it more difficult if you want fine timing control of your GPIO

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”

28. a $15 Pi Zero or $50 NUC or really any computer that can run a basic Linux server would do the job exactly the same or better

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “I ditched OpenClaw and built a more secure AI agent (Blink and Mac Mini)”

29. As an added bonus, the same cable powers the Pi, creating a setup as simple as plugging the Pi into your iPad

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux Runs on Raspberry Pi RP2350's Hazard3 RISC-V Cores (2024)”

30. decided to self-host it on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 after discovering that an Ethernet adapter existed for it

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?”

31. its Cortex processor is leaps and bounds better, with a quad-core vs the Pi Zero's single-core

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “PSPi 6 – Raspberry Pi in a PSP”

32. You could fit a pi zero and rtl in an enclosure not much larger than the one they've printed.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “An ESP32 based plane radar for my desk”

33. Zero 2s can still hit that price, can't they? With much better CPUs than the 2014 dream.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “News about Raspberry Pi 6 and Microcontroller Development – Jeff Geerling”

34. A Pi Zero 2 or even a Pico are much more inline with the classic Raspberry Pi ideology.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “The death and rebirth of my home server”

35. still useful if you need something that can run normal software but not a full mini pc

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “News about Raspberry Pi 6 and Microcontroller Development – Jeff Geerling”

36. Raspberry Pi being a safer source for hardware, and it allows much more customization

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Show HN: Open-source private home security camera system (end-to-end encryption)”

37. grab an rP0-2W and attach desired indicators, sensors, actuators and transceivers

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Forth – Is it still relevant?”

38. For anything that needs GPIO, I find it much easier to just run it on a Zero 2W.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Raspberry Pi and mini PC home lab prices hit parity as DRAM costs skyrocket”

39. $20 Pi Zero and PiHole, except for the fact that somebody else is managing it

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “'Your Frustration Is the Product'”

40. doesn't use ddr2 ram to ensure that it can still be made far into the future

    Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Raspberry Pi 5 – 16 GB, $350”