I stopped reaching for Raspberry Pi when the $60 board hit $95
This title could be clearer and more informative.Try out Clickbait Shieldfor free (5 uses left this month).
Raspberry Pi price hikes — including multiple increases in 2025-2026 pushing the 4GB Pi 5 from $60 to over $85 and the 16GB model to $305 — have prompted a rethink of when to use a full SBC versus a microcontroller. For projects that don't need Linux, multitasking, or a full userspace, microcontrollers like the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 (RP2350) offer a cheaper, simpler, and more focused alternative. The author argues that capability only matters when a project can use it, and that too many hobby builds overpay for headroom they never touch. Raspberry Pi SBCs still make sense for open-ended or undefined projects, but microcontrollers are now the smarter default for single-purpose builds like sensors, relays, and automation widgets.
Table of contents
Most of my projects never needed Linux anywayThe price gap turned into a project design ruleThere are still good reasons to keep buying Raspberry PiThat still does not make Pi my default againMy workbench looks totally different nowSort: