# The 20 Best Single-Board Computers of All Time

> From pocket-sized boards that launched the whole maker movement to power-packed AI-ready contenders, this lineup spans over a decade of tinkerer favorites and cult classics. Which one earns your vote?

*By YPB Team · Published August 24, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-20-best-single-board-computers-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Raspberry Pi 5** — score 1000/1000
   The 2023 flagship Raspberry Pi with a custom RP1 I/O chip and a major CPU speed jump, setting the current bar for hobbyist SBC performance.
2. **Rock Pi 4** — score 856/1000
   A Radxa board built around the RK3399 chip that earned a cult following for offering desktop-tier performance and PCIe expansion years ahead of mainstream Pi boards.
3. **NanoPi NEO** — score 660/1000
   An ultra-tiny, ultra-cheap FriendlyElec board that became a favorite among hobbyists for stuffing Linux into the smallest possible embedded projects.
4. **Raspberry Pi Zero W** — score 642/1000
   A 2017 wireless-enabled, wallet-sized board that squeezed a full Linux computer with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth into a form factor smaller than a stick of gum.
5. **Libre Computer Le Potato** — score 642/1000
   An affordable Amlogic-based board designed as a close pin-compatible alternative to the Raspberry Pi 3, popular for Kodi media-center builds.
6. **Raspberry Pi 4** — score 642/1000
   The 2019 quad-core board that brought USB 3.0, dual 4K display output, and up to 8GB RAM to the Raspberry Pi line, becoming a workhorse for makers worldwide.
7. **NVIDIA Jetson Nano** — score 582/1000
   A 2019 board built around a CUDA-capable GPU, aimed squarely at hobbyist robotics and edge AI/computer-vision projects.
8. **LattePanda 3 Delta** — score 582/1000
   A full x86 Windows/Linux-capable board with an onboard Arduino co-processor, giving makers a genuine PC alongside microcontroller-grade I/O.
9. **Odroid XU4** — score 513/1000
   A 2015 Hardkernel board with a Samsung Exynos octa-core chip and USB 3.0, long regarded by enthusiasts as a serious performance alternative to the Raspberry Pi.
10. **Original Raspberry Pi** — score 513/1000
   The 2012 credit-card-sized computer that launched the entire modern SBC hobbyist movement and made cheap computing accessible to schools and tinkerers.
11. **BeagleBone Black** — score 434/1000
   A 2013 open-hardware board known for its real-time PRU coprocessors and deep GPIO access, favored for industrial and embedded control projects.
12. **Odroid N2+** — score 434/1000
   A Hardkernel board with a beefy Amlogic hexa-core chip, prized in the SBC community for outrunning the Raspberry Pi 4 on raw CPU benchmarks.
13. **Orange Pi 5** — score 342/1000
   A 2023 Rockchip RK3588S board offering desktop-class multi-core performance and an NPU for AI workloads at a fraction of comparable hardware cost.
14. **Asus Tinker Board** — score 342/1000
   A 2017 board from Asus pairing a Rockchip SoC with Raspberry Pi-like form factor, notable for its higher native RAM bandwidth and Gigabit Ethernet.
15. **Khadas VIM3** — score 342/1000
   A compact Amlogic-based board with a built-in NPU, popular among enthusiasts for its metal enclosure options and Android/Linux dual-boot flexibility.
16. **Raspberry Pi 3 B+** — score 233/1000
   A 2018 refinement adding Gigabit Ethernet and faster Wi-Fi, widely used in retro-gaming and home-server projects during the Pi 4's early scarcity.
17. **Next Thing C.H.I.P.** — score 233/1000
   A 2015 crowdfunded $9 computer that briefly captured the maker community's imagination before the company folded, now a cult collector's item.
18. **Pine A64** — score 233/1000
   One of the earliest budget 64-bit ARM boards from Pine64, which built a loyal open-source community and later spawned the whole PinePhone/PineBook ecosystem.
19. **Banana Pi M2 Zero** — score 103/1000
   A Raspberry Pi Zero-compatible board from the long-running Banana Pi line, popular as a budget alternative with a similar compact footprint.
20. **Radxa ROCK 5B** — score 103/1000
   A high-end RK3588 board with PCIe and NVMe support that positioned itself as a genuine desktop-replacement SBC.

Tags: raspberry pi, computers, hardware, electronics, maker