Our mini PC buying guide covers what to look for once you've decided a mini PC is the right choice — but for a lot of beginners, the actual first question is which of the three cheapest starting points to pick at all: a mini PC, a Raspberry Pi, or a laptop you already own. The honest answer is "it depends what you're running first," so this guide is organized around specific first projects rather than a single winner.
The three options, quickly
- A used mini PC (Dell OptiPlex Micro, Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny, or a new N100-class box) — an x86 CPU, 8–16GB RAM typically, $0–$200 depending on new vs used.
- A Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 — an ARM-based single-board computer, 4–8GB RAM typically, $50–$100 for the board alone (plus a case, power supply, and microSD card or SSD).
- An old laptop or desktop you already own — whatever CPU, RAM, and storage it happens to have, $0 to start.
Side-by-side comparison
| Mini PC | Raspberry Pi | Old laptop | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU architecture | x86-64 | ARM | x86-64 (almost always) |
| Typical idle power draw | 6–15W | 3–7W | 10–25W (often higher due to screen/battery circuitry) |
| Cost to start | $0–$200 | $70–$150 all-in | $0 |
| App/OS compatibility | Runs nearly anything (Proxmox, TrueNAS, any Docker image) | ARM-only images required; some apps lack official ARM builds | Runs nearly anything, same as a mini PC |
| Hardware transcoding for video | Yes, on Intel chips (Quick Sync) | Very limited — not a good media server CPU | Depends on age/CPU, often weak or absent |
| Expandability | Often has an extra SATA/NVMe slot or USB3 | USB-only storage, no internal drive bays | Fixed to what the laptop has, occasionally one drive swap |
| Noise | Silent to near-silent | Silent (usually fanless) | Fan noise varies, some older laptops run hot and loud under load |
Matched to specific first projects
Pi-hole (network-wide ad blocking)
This is the one project where all three genuinely work well, and it's exactly why Pi-hole is the classic first Raspberry Pi project — it's named after the Pi for a reason. Pi-hole's resource needs are tiny (it's mostly just answering DNS queries), so a Raspberry Pi's low power draw and near-silent operation make it a great fit if Pi-hole is all you plan to run on that device. If you already know you'll add more services later, though, putting Pi-hole on a mini PC or old laptop as one of several containers is more efficient than dedicating a whole separate device to it.
A media server (Jellyfin or Plex)
This is where the Raspberry Pi falls behind. Media servers benefit heavily from hardware transcoding — converting video on the fly for a device that can't play the original file natively — and Intel chips with Quick Sync Video (found in most mini PCs and many laptops) handle this efficiently, while a Raspberry Pi has no comparable hardware transcoding path for this use case and will struggle with more than a stream or two, especially at 4K. See our mini PC buying guide for which specific chips support Quick Sync. For media, pick a mini PC or a laptop with a reasonably modern Intel CPU; skip the Pi.
Immich (self-hosted photo backup)
Immich runs machine-learning models for face recognition and smart search in the background, which is noticeably more CPU- and RAM-hungry than a simple file server. It technically runs on a Raspberry Pi, but expect slow thumbnail generation and sluggish ML feature indexing on a large library. A mini PC with 8–16GB RAM handles Immich comfortably and is the better fit unless your photo library is small and you're patient with background processing.
Home Assistant (smart home automation)
Home Assistant is genuinely light on resources for a typical home's device count, and the Raspberry Pi is one of its officially supported and widely used platforms (Home Assistant even publishes a dedicated Raspberry Pi image). This is a case where the Pi is a legitimately excellent, purpose-built choice, not just a budget compromise.
The case for each option
- Choose a mini PC if you want one machine to eventually run several different services (media, photos, Pi-hole, Home Assistant) side by side — its x86 compatibility means you'll never hit an "ARM build not available" wall, and it has the CPU headroom to grow.
- Choose a Raspberry Pi if your first project is specifically Pi-hole or Home Assistant, you want the lowest possible power draw and noise, and you're comfortable accepting that some Docker images and apps either lack ARM builds or perform worse on ARM.
- Choose an old laptop if your goal is to try self-hosting at zero cost before committing to buying anything — just be aware that older laptops often idle at higher wattage than a purpose-built mini PC due to their screen, battery-charging circuitry, and less efficient power design, and a missing or degraded battery can sometimes cause a laptop to shut down unexpectedly if you leave it permanently plugged in.
arm64 tag — it's a five-minute check that avoids a frustrating dead end later.
You don't have to pick just one, long-term
A common pattern among people a year or two into this hobby: a Raspberry Pi quietly running Pi-hole and Home Assistant around the clock, plus a separate mini PC or small server handling media and photos. The low, fixed cost of running Pi-hole on a Pi (a few dollars a year in electricity) makes it reasonable to keep as a dedicated always-on device even after you've added a bigger machine for everything else — see our cost breakdown for the actual electricity math on both.