In fact, the affordable SBC marketplace is huge, which means you should have plenty of options. But do you really want to swap the Raspberry Pi for a competitor device?

What Raspberry Pi Alternatives Are Available?

A wealth of alternative single-board computers are available to buy. Raspberry Pi might be the biggest name and have been able to establish a vast manufacturing and distribution operation, but the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 have reset things somewhat.

Now, any board manufacturer with the desire to supplant the Raspberry Pi is in with a chance.

Our guide to Raspberry Pi alternatives will provide a picture of what is available. Beyond this, some strong Raspberry Pi competitors have entered the market as potential usurpers.

Here are seven reasons you might feel it’s time to forget about the Raspberry Pi and try a different SBC.

1. Poor Raspberry Pi Availability

Perhaps the most obvious problem with buying a Raspberry Pi is that you can’t actually buy a Raspberry Pi.

Checking approved resellers, it’s a depressing story. While various tools are around that will help you find where Raspberry Pis are in stock, it’s usually a case of receiving an email when one is available.

Aside from occasional undesirable models like the Raspberry Pi 3 Model A and original Raspberry Pi Zero, supply is low. And that isn’t even the worst problem trying to buy a Raspberry Pi at the moment.

However, it’s not all bad news. In December 2022, it was announced that supply chain issues had eased and Raspberry Pi boards would be easier to buy in 2023.

2. The Price of Raspberry Pi Has Skyrocketed

As well as supply being low, the price is high.

When the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with 4GB of RAM was released in 2020, it cost around $55. Two years later and the price is closer to $80. The 8GB model was $75 on launch; that price has skyrocketed to around $200 for a barebones kit.

This is a pattern that can be seen across the entire range of later-generation Raspberry Pis. If a Pi is available to buy, the price is far higher than originally stated. It’s the law of supply and demand in action, where demand exceeding supply causes prices to rise.

Even the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, released in 2021, is hard to source.

3. Raspberry Pi Still Has No eMMC

While it is now straightforward to boot the Raspberry Pi from an SSD or HDD, other boards (including the ultra-rare Raspberry Pi CM4) have eMMC (embedded Multi Media Card) storage. This means that the eMMC can be used to boot an OS, a faster option than microSD, and without the cables and potential additional power requirements of an SSD or HDD.

Le Potato (Libre Computer’s AML-S905X-CC) features an eMMC interface, while the Banana Pi M3 has 8GB eMMC preinstalled.

The fact that the Raspberry Pi 4 misses this key hardware is disappointing. It’s a shortcoming that has to be resolved if the Raspberry Pi 5 ever appears.

4. Competitor Boards Are Racing Ahead

It isn’t just eMMC where Raspberry Pi falls behind. Many of the new features that are introduced on each revision are several years old when they arrive. The rationale given is that these improvements are now affordable.

But if the Raspberry Pi itself cannot be considered affordable in today’s world, reasons to stick with it evaporate. When it comes to competitor boards, many of these are available without waiting in a queue.

If I can buy a Banana Pi for the same price as the Raspberry Pi but with better features, guess which one I’ll go for?

5. Raspberry Pi OS Has Better Alternatives

If you don’t want to consider alternative boards, you might look at different Raspberry Pi operating systems.

Originally launching as Raspbian, Raspberry Pi OS has evolved the computing experience on the Raspberry Pi. However, other OSs now provide a better desktop experience.

For example, all versions of Ubuntu can run on a Raspberry Pi. This arguably runs better than Raspberry Pi OS, while DietPi and other lightweight Raspberry Pi operating systems can all claim superior performance to Raspberry Pi OS Lite.

At this stage, with so many operating systems for the Raspberry Pi, there is really no reason to stick with the default OS.

6. The Raspberry Pi 4 Temperature Problem

Releases of the Raspberry Pi computer have traditionally been pretty smooth and largely bug free. However, the arrival of the Raspberry Pi 4 came with a range of head-scratching issues.

A problem with the running temperature of Raspberry Pi 4 models – before overclocking was factored in – resulted in the bizarre advice to stand the SBC on its side when powered up. While the issue was eventually resolved with a firmware update, the fact it got through QC still rankles.

The short-lived Raspberry Pi 4 1GB model also raised questions. Canceled in 2020, the board seemed pointless when sold alongside 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB models. While the 1GB Raspberry Pi 4 made a comeback in early 2022 as a response to short supplies of the other models, that model too is largely exhausted.

7. That Raspberry Pi Social Media Storm

If you already had doubts about the long-term viability of the Raspberry Pi, its social media conduct won’t have helped.

In December 2022, the official @Raspberry_Pi Twitter account announced a new hire:

Followers were perturbed to learn in the linked blog post that the new hire was former police officer with a background in building surveillance devices using Raspberry Pi.

“I used to be a police officer tackling serious organized crime and terror threats across the east of the UK,” Toby tells us. “I was a Technical Surveillance Officer for 15 years, so I built stuff to hide video, audio, and other covert gear. You really don’t want your sensitive police equipment discovered, so I’d disguise it as something else. The variety of tools and equipment I used then really shaped what I do today.”

Responses from Raspberry Pi’s followers on Twitter and Mastodon were less than favorable.

Another Twitter user collected some further responses from the account:

Considering everything else that has impacted Raspberry Pi users over the past few years, this reaction is bewildering. Given high-profile press reports in the UK (where the Pi is designed and built) concerning ad hoc police surveillance and stalking, it is inconceivable that the hire was announced in such a way.

The Influential Raspberry Pi Isn’t the Only SBC Around

We’ve enjoyed 10 years of the Raspberry Pi. In that time, the mini-computer has revolutionized everything from computer education to retro gaming and robotics. But this success has come with a price: low availability, inflated prices, and a drop in quality control standards.

The Raspberry Pi has been hugely influential, with many copycat devices around. Most of these offer improved system specs and more regular release cycles, something that leaves the Pi playing catch-up with each new model. This alone should be enough to convince that while Raspberry Pi is an important player in the hobbyist market, there are plenty of viable (and in most cases superior) alternatives.