Classic Pi Projects

The "what do I do with my new Pi?" answer. Most of these projects have dedicated category pages elsewhere on this site — this page is the cross-link map and a "which Pi is right for which project" guide. For software-side detail follow the links.

Network-wide ad blocking / DNS

• ★ Pi-hole — the canonical Pi project; recursive DNS + blocklist + admin UI. Runs fine on Pi 3 / Zero 2 W / Pi 4 / Pi 5. See DNS Infrastructure.
• AdGuard Home — Pi-hole alternative with DNS-over-HTTPS / DoT built in. Often paired with Unbound for full recursive DNS. Same hardware story. See DNS Infrastructure.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 4 2 GB or Pi Zero 2 W is plenty. Don't waste a Pi 5 on this.

Smart home automation

• ★ Home Assistant OS on Pi 4 8 GB or Pi 5 — see Self-Hosted Automation.
• ★ Zigbee2MQTT / Zigbee Home Automation with a USB-Zigbee dongle (Sonoff ZBDongle-E, SkyConnect, ConBee II) on the same Pi.
• ★ Frigate NVR — object-detecting NVR; pair with Coral USB or Pi AI HAT+. Pi 5 is the minimum for >1 camera; Frigate generally prefers a mini-PC for >4 cameras.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 4 8 GB minimum, Pi 5 8/16 GB ideal. Boot from SSD or NVMe — SD-card death will eventually corrupt your HA config.

3D printer host

• ★ Klipper + Mainsail / Fluidd on Pi 4 / Pi 5 — see Klipper Printer UIs and Print Host Hardware.
• ★ OctoPrint on Pi 4 — same.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 4 2 GB is fine; Pi 5 is overkill for one printer but useful for input shaping computation.

Retro gaming

• ★ RetroPie — the classic; EmulationStation + RetroArch + dozens of emulators. Pi 4 sweet spot, Pi 5 supported but a few cores still being optimized. See Pi OS Distributions.
• Lakka — LibreELEC-based, RetroArch only.
• Batocera — more polished out-of-box; runs on Pi and x86.
• RecalBox — kid-friendly defaults.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 4 4 GB is the sweet spot; Pi 5 8 GB if you want PS2 / N64 expansion-pak / GameCube emulation (still rough on Pi 5). Pi Zero 2 W for handheld builds (RG350-class through Pi 0 mods).

Bitcoin / Lightning node

• ★ Umbrel — most polished; full home-server platform with BTC at the core. See Pi OS Distributions.
• RaspiBlitz — venerable Bitcoin/Lightning node distro.
• Citadel / Start9 (StartOS) — alternatives.
• MyNode — paid lifetime license.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 4 8 GB or Pi 5 8 GB + 1 TB+ SSD. Don't try this on SD or under 8 GB.

HiFi streamer

• ★ Volumio — audiophile-focused streamer OS; works with HiFiBerry / IQaudIO HATs. See Pi OS Distributions and HATs & Accessories.
• MoOdeAudio — FOSS-purist alternative.
• piCorePlayer — tiny "headless squeezebox client" build of Tiny Core Linux.
• Snapcast — multi-room audio sync; ARM-friendly.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 3B+, Pi 4 2 GB, or Pi Zero 2 W with audio HAT.

Media server

• ★ Plex / Jellyfin / Emby — see Self-Hosted Photos & Media.
• Honest take: Pi 5 can serve transcoded 1080p to 1-2 clients. For multi-stream / 4K transcode get a mini-PC with iGPU (Intel UHD / Quick Sync).
• Recommended Pi: Pi 5 8 GB minimum for Jellyfin; mini-PC is genuinely better — see SBC vs. Mini-PC.

Self-hosted photos

• ★ Immich on Pi 5 16 GB — works but slow on ML jobs (face recognition, smart search). See Self-Hosted Photos & Media.
• PhotoPrism — alternative; lighter.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 5 16 GB + NVMe for the library + external HDD for primary photo storage.

Magic mirror / smart display

• ★ MagicMirror² — modular smart-mirror framework; runs on Pi 3+ / Pi 4. Hundreds of community modules.
• DAKboard — commercial competitor.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 3B+ or Pi 4 2 GB; behind any HDMI display facing through a 2-way mirror.

SDR / radio reception

• ★ RTL-SDR Blog v4 dongle + Pi 4 — receive everything from FM to ADS-B.
• ★ dump1090 — ADS-B aircraft tracking; FlightAware feeder image is Pi-blessed.
• OpenWebRX — web-based SDR receiver for sharing your radio over a browser.
• rtl_433 — receive 315/433 MHz wireless sensors (weather stations, garage doors).
• gqrx — desktop SDR app on Pi.
• GR-GSM / KrakenSDR — niche / advanced.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 4 4 GB; good antenna matters more than Pi spec.

Network monitoring / homelab

• ★ Pi running Tailscale subnet router on a Pi 4 / Pi Zero 2 W — see VPN Mesh.
• ★ Uptime Kuma on Pi 4 — see Self-Hosted Monitoring & Uptime.
• Wireguard / Headscale on a Pi.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 4 2 GB or Pi Zero 2 W is plenty.

Educational / "first Pi" projects

• ★ gpiozero LED + button + temp-sensor projects — see GPIO Libraries.
• CamJam EduKit — sensor kits with worksheets; Pi-Foundation-blessed.
• Pico W classroom kits — for teaching MCU concepts; see MCU Platforms.
• Recommended Pi: Pi 5 8 GB or Pi 400/500 with GPIO breakout.

Niche but cool

• Pwnagotchi — Pi Zero 2 W "Tamagotchi for Wi-Fi handshakes." Educational pen-test toy.
• DeskPi Pico Mate / Lite — handheld retro consoles built on Pi 5 + LCD.
• AstroPi — sensor-loaded Pi running on the ISS; Pi Foundation runs annual student programs.
• stratux — ADS-B receiver for general aviation pilots; Pi 3 + RTL-SDR.
• OctoPrint w/ AI failure detection (Obico, OctoEverywhere) — see Klipper Printer UIs.

What not to use a Pi for

Honest answers:

• Multi-stream Plex transcoding — get a mini-PC. See SBC vs. Mini-PC.
• Local LLM serving (any useful size) — get a mini-PC with iGPU/Ryzen AI, or use an AI SBC (Jetson).
• Heavy CI runner — Pi will get crushed; use a mini-PC.
• Big database — Pi 5 with NVMe is fine for SQLite-class workloads; Postgres with serious load wants a mini-PC.

Pick this if…

• First Pi project, network-level wins: Pi-hole / AdGuard.
• Smart home: Home Assistant OS on Pi 5 + boot from SSD.
• 3D printer host: Klipper + Mainsail (Pi 4 fine).
• Retro gaming (handheld): Pi Zero 2 W with handheld kit.
• Retro gaming (TV): Pi 4 + RetroPie.
• Bitcoin / Lightning: Umbrel on Pi 5 8 GB + 1 TB SSD.
• Audiophile streamer: Pi 4 + HiFiBerry + Volumio.
• SDR / radio: Pi 4 + RTL-SDR Blog v4.
• Magic mirror: Pi 3B+ + MagicMirror².
• Multi-stream media / transcoding: mini-PC, not a Pi.