Summary

• Raspberry Pi isn't the only option for your next project; consider Orange Pi, Odroid, or Rock Pi for high performance workloads.
• From ad-blocking Pi-hole to home servers, SBCs offer versatile project possibilities beyond Raspberry Pi.
• Whether it's a media server, emulation machine, or home automation, SBCs are perfect for tinkering and experimenting with DIY projects.

Single Board Computers, or SBCs, are cool little devices that you can program and tinker with to build a variety of projects. Thanks to their beginner-friendly design and a highly inspired community of enthusiasts, the Raspberry Pi family is considered the king of the SBC industry. That said, you don’t necessarily have to stick to the Raspberry-flavored boards just so you can build a project or two.

Certain boards, such as the Orange Pi 5, Odroid H3+, and the Rock Pi 5 B can outperform even the fastest Raspberry Pi model with ease. So, we’ve compiled a list of eight project ideas that will work on any SBC, not just the ol’ reliable Raspberry Pi family.

8 Pi-hole

After all, it’s not called a Raspberry Pi-hole

If you’ve been a part of the Raspberry Pi landscape, chances are you may have already turned the device into a network-wide ad blocker with the help of the amazing Pi-hole project. That said, for those unable to get their hands on these elusive boards due to their tragically small supply, there's no reason to subject yourself to online ads.

Since the Pi-hole package is supported by Ubuntu, CentOS Stream, Armbian OS, and a few other operating systems, you can get this project to work on pretty much any ol’ SBC, be it the most powerful Odroid H3+ or an affordable Banana Pi BPI-M2 Zero.

7 NextcloudPi server

A great way to build an affordable personal cloud

Whether you’re a proud owner of a premium NAS enclosure or you’ve built a NAS using nothing but your wits, an old system, and a USB drive containing the OS of your choice, an SBC-based NextcloudPi server is the best way to host your own cloud.

If you want the full SBC-based home cloud experience, you can even build a NAS with a palm-sized board, and use another SBC to host your files online!

6 VM server

Using Kubernetes and Docker

Virtual machines are great ways to mess around with an operating system without breaking the underlying hardware. And there’s no better way to tinker with virtual machines than installing them on an affordable SBC and controlling them from your main PC.

With the Raspberry Pi Foundation increasing the cost of the newer boards, there’s little reason to stick to the SBC lineup, as there are plenty of other machines that can provide the same performance for cheaper prices.

5 Multi-camera surveillance system

For real-time monitoring

Turning my Raspberry Pi into a security camera is my favorite use for the device, though you can replicate this project on pretty much any SBC. The MotionEye package, and even the MotionEyeOS, are compatible with multiple SBC models and work fine without requiring additional tweaks.

You’re not limited to MotionEye either; ZoneMinder is another application that lets you run a multi-camera security system straight from your SBC. In fact, I’d advise you to go with the more powerful SBCs if you want better performance when setting up motion detection on more than three camera modules.

4 Media server

Especially if your SBC supports hardware-accelerated H.264 encoding

A media server using the LibreELEC image was one of the first projects I tried out when I first got my Raspberry Pi Zero W in 2017. While the transcoding performance was terrible, I decided to replicate this project on my Raspberry Pi 5 last year. But since the Raspberry Pi 5 lacks hardware encoding, it’s still not good enough for a full-fledged media server.

Fortunately, several SBC families work well with LibreELEC. You can even ditch the Kodi-based LibreELEC and switch to Plex or OSMC if you want to experiment with other media server images.

3 Emulation machine

Built with RetroPie

If you’re even remotely interested in the world of video game emulation, then you must have heard of RetroPie. One of the most feature-laden emulator packages, RetroPie is compatible with a wide range of devices, including many SBCs, handhelds, and even PCs!

As if that’s not enough, you can even find forks of RetroPie created specifically for your particular SBC. While the installation procedure (and even the general UI) can get somewhat complex if you're a complete novice, RetroPie remains my recommended emulation tool for any SBC enthusiast.

2 Web server

Hosting personal websites on your SBC

If you’re a member of the coding community and want to get your hands dirty with SBC computing, hosting a web server is the best way to get started. You don’t need to purchase any crazy equipment or browse GitHub hours on end just to find a repository that's compatible with your miniature system: a simple LAMP server can work on most SBCs out there.

For a minimalist HTTP server, you can simply go for the open-source Apache web server toolkit. If you want more bells and whistles, you can set up Maria DB to manage databases and install PHP to add dynamic content to your web pages. All these packages can work on Linux-based operating systems, making an SBC-powered project a solid way to show off your technical skills.

1 Home automation system

Somewhat difficult, but a lot of fun if you're into tinkering

The home automation category encompasses a ton of projects, ranging from simple LEDs that you can control from your smartphone to voice-controlled switches and motion-detecting doors. As long as you have an SBC with IO pins, you can connect a breadboard to the mini-system and use it to build smart home devices. Heck, you can even use a microcontroller like Arduino and still expect decent performance from your home automation setup.

Sure, the complexity of these projects can increase exponentially if you're not well versed in coding or don't have a lot of experience with your SBC. That said, it’s one of the best ways to put any old SBC to good use.

Which projects do you plan to build with your SBC?

Those were some of our favorite project ideas for single-board computers. Unfortunately, many non-Raspberry Pi SBCs are prone to driver issues, which is why you may have a hard time getting a specific project to run on your particular model.

Therefore, I’d always recommend beginners to get familiar with the world of SBCs using a Raspberry Pi, before transitioning over to the other SBC families. But if you’re here to build something with the good ol’ Raspberry Pi boards, then we have several beginner and advanced projects you can work on using everyone's favorite SBC family.