Raspberry Pi is a family of low-cost, credit card-sized single-board computers and microcontrollers developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK-based charity founded in 2008 by Eben Upton. Originally designed to make programming accessible to students, it has grown into a broad platform used by hobbyists, educators, and industrial engineers worldwide. As of March 2025, 68 million units have been sold, making it the best-selling British computer of all time. The company went public on the London Stock Exchange in June 2024 under ticker RPI, operating as Raspberry Pi Holdings.
Product Families
Raspberry Pi hardware falls into five main families:
- Flagship series — full Linux OS, credit card form factor, broad I/O. Current top model: Raspberry Pi 5.
- Keyboard series — flagship hardware embedded in a keyboard chassis. Pi 400 (Pi 4-based), Pi 500 (Pi 5-based, 8GB RAM), Pi 500+ (Pi 5-based, 16GB RAM + 256GB M.2 SSD, mechanical RGB keyboard).
- Zero series — minimal form factor, full Linux, low power. Current model: Zero 2 W (quad-core, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth).
- Compute Module (CM) series — industrial/embedded form factor with no GPIO pins or ports; pairs with a custom baseboard. Current: CM5.
- Pico series — microcontroller (not a full computer), based on the RP2040 chip. Programmable via MicroPython or C/C++; no Linux, no removable storage. Current: Pico 2 W.
Current Flagship Models
Raspberry Pi 5
The Pi 5 is the current top-tier flagship, representing a 2–3x CPU improvement over Pi 4. Key specs:
- Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz
- 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4X RAM variants (16GB variant added in 2025)
- First Pi with PCIe connectivity, enabling NVMe SSD support via M.2 HAT
- Dual 4K HDMI output, USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0
- 40-pin GPIO header
- Requires active cooling — the official Active Cooler (heatsink + fan) is strongly recommended
- Starting at $60 (4GB) / $80 (8GB)
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B
Still widely used; 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB RAM variants available. Quad-core Cortex-A72 @ 1.8 GHz. Dual 4K micro-HDMI, USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0.
Accessories Ecosystem
Official accessories from Raspberry Pi Ltd include power supplies (USB-C for Pi 4/5), cases, the AI HAT+ 2 (generative AI on Pi 5, $180), M.2 HAT+ (NVMe SSD support), Camera Modules, Display modules, and a range of HATs (Hardware Attached on Top) for audio, PoE, and I/O expansion. Third-party ecosystem is extensive.
Operating System
The primary OS is Raspberry Pi OS (Debian-based Linux), installed via the Raspberry Pi Imager tool. Pi 4, 5, and Zero 2 W all support 64-bit OS. A wide range of other Linux distributions and specialized OSes (RetroPie, Home Assistant OS, Ubuntu) are also compatible with flagship models.
Common Use Cases
Media centers, home automation hubs, retro gaming systems, personal servers and NAS, magic mirrors, DIY robotics, network-level ad blocking (Pi-hole), AI/ML edge inference (Pi 5 + AI HAT), educational programming environments, and industrial embedded systems via Compute Modules.
Hardware Longevity Policy
Raspberry Pi commits to keeping SBC products in production for a minimum of ten years. It publishes guaranteed end-of-life manufacturing dates, making it viable for long-term industrial and commercial deployments. The original Pi 1 Model B (2012) remained in production as of 2025.