Raspberry Pi vs Mini PC: 5 Reasons to Choose a Pi for Your Project

The framing: where the Pi fits and where it doesn't​

Campanale's view is that mini PCs have taken over the territory the Pi once owned. That territory is homelab services, light server duty and general tinkering. He argues that x86 hardware is easier to work with and faster for those workloads. That is a reasonable rule of thumb, but it is the author's opinion. Software compatibility and performance depend on the specific workload and the specific machines being compared.

The Pi keeps an edge in five areas:

• Native GPIO for controlling hardware.
• A published production lifetime.
• Low-power and constrained-power deployments.
• Camera and vision ports.
• A hardware, OS and remote-access stack from one vendor.

1. Direct hardware control through GPIO​

The Pi has a 40-pin GPIO header built into the board. A typical mini PC doesn't, so you need an adapter or a microcontroller bridge to switch relays, drive LEDs or read sensors. Campanale's examples are an e-ink desk status board mounted behind a picture frame, and a small battery-powered robot with motors, servos and sensors. These are his own projects, not tests I could verify.

Mini PCs aren't locked out of electronics work. They just reach it through extra hardware rather than native pins.

GPIO pins are low-voltage signal lines with electrical limits. Relays, motors and other real loads need suitable driver circuitry. Don't wire them straight to a pin.

2. Long-term availability​

Raspberry Pi publishes "obsolescence statements" on its product pages. The Pi 3 Model B page says the board will remain in production until at least January 2028. The Pi 5 is listed as staying in production until at least January 2036. That is a minimum commitment, not a guarantee that retailers will stock every variant.

For anyone building a product, kiosk or lab rig that needs identical replacement units, this matters. It is a real point in the Pi's favor.

Campanale also claims that no mini PC maker would keep a model in production for 13 years. I couldn't verify that, so treat it as opinion. The defensible version is narrower. Raspberry Pi is unusually explicit about product lifetimes, and mini PC vendors generally don't publish comparable commitments.

3. Low power and constrained power​

Here the original article needs a correction.

• It says the Pi 5 draws 1.2 to 1.6W when idling, and that the POWER_OFF_ON_HALT=1 bootloader setting drops that to about 0.01W.
• Raspberry Pi's documentation says something different. By default, the Raspberry Pi 5 consumes around 1 W to 1.4 W of power when turned off.
• The setting should drop the power consumption when powered down to around 0.01 W. So both figures describe the shut-down state, not a running idle Pi.
• Jeff Geerling's widely cited write-up says the same. A Pi 5 will still sit there consuming 1.2-1.6W when completely shut down.

Running idle power is much higher. A 2026 power roundup from raspberry.tips measured about 3.0W for a headless Pi 5 (4GB) on Wi-Fi, and around 3.6W with Ethernet, USB and HDMI attached. I haven't verified those figures independently, and results vary by setup. A Pimoroni forum user reported 2.3W to 4W after halt with the setting enabled, so your numbers may differ.

The setting itself works like this:

1. Open the bootloader configuration with sudo rpi-eeprom-config -e.
2. Set POWER_OFF_ON_HALT=1. Geerling's guide also sets WAKE_ON_GPIO=0.
3. Save and reboot so the EEPROM change is written.

On the Pi 5, the documentation says this setting places the PMIC in STANDBY mode where all outputs are switched off. The power button still boots the board. The reason it isn't the default is that some HATs have an issue with the 3v3 rail being powered off, but the 5V ... active. Test with your own HATs before deploying.

Power options for the Pi 5 are USB-C at 5V/5A, or PoE+ through a separate PoE+ HAT. The "one Ethernet cable" story therefore needs extra hardware and a compatible PoE switch. Remote wildlife cameras and weather stations are sensible uses for a Pi. Saying a mini PC could "never" do them overstates the case. The accurate point is that a Pi suits tight power and space budgets better.

4. Camera ports and on-device vision​

The Pi 5 has two four-lane MIPI camera/display connectors. A mini PC can take a USB webcam, but it has nothing equivalent to a native camera bus. The connectors on the Pi 5 are the smaller format, so older camera cables may need an adapter.

Two Raspberry Pi cameras come up in the article:

• Camera Module 3: Raspberry Pi's specs for the Sensor Assembly variant list a Sony IMX708 sensor with 11.9 megapixels and phase-detection autofocus. The article puts the module at $25. I couldn't verify current pricing, so check a reseller.
• AI Camera: it uses Sony's IMX500 sensor, which runs neural-network inference on the sensor. The article prices it at $70. Raspberry Pi's product brief is the source for that figure, though I couldn't open the brief myself. The on-sensor processing is a specific feature of this camera. It doesn't mean any camera on a Pi does its own AI.

5. One vendor for hardware, OS and remote access​

Raspberry Pi Connect is the main practical benefit here. Raspberry Pi's product page describes it as a secure remote-access service offering browser-based screen sharing, a remote shell and remote updates. The individual tier is free for unlimited devices. An organisation tier costs $0.50 per device per month and adds fleet features such as bulk provisioning, a management API and an audit log.

Setup is simple. Raspberry Pi Imager can write the OS and configure Connect in one step, and the service starts on first boot. Raspberry Pi says no ports need opening and no network configuration is required.

Two caveats apply to the claim that it's "already installed." The documentation says Connect needs Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm or later. It is included by default in the Desktop and Full images. Lite ships a version that does remote shell but not screen sharing. Devices also have to be linked to a Connect account.

Campanale compares this to Apple's integration and wishes Windows had something similar. Windows already has Remote Desktop and Quick Assist, though neither works quite like a free browser portal. That comparison is his opinion.

Price: the 16GB Pi 5 and the mini PC argument​

The article's price claim checks out. Raspberry Pi announced on November 2, 2026 that the 16GB Pi 5 rises by $80 to $385. It blamed a lack of alternative supply for 16GB DRAM along with other component shortages. The 16GB Compute Module 5 variants rose by $40. The Pi 500+ price was held.

For readers, the practical advice from Raspberry Pi itself is to avoid paying for more memory than you need. It points to lower-density variants and earlier models as ways to keep costs down.

The $385 figure is a list price for the top-end model. It isn't a like-for-like comparison with any particular mini PC. A fair comparison has to count memory, storage, power supply, case, cooling and accessories. A 16GB Pi 5 is an extreme case. Most of the five jobs above need far less memory.

A quick decision guide​

Bottom line​

Campanale's conclusion holds up. If the project doesn't use GPIO, MIPI cameras, constrained power or the Pi's lifetime commitments, a mini PC is likely the easier choice, especially at the Pi 5's current memory-driven prices. Three of the article's claims need softer wording: the power figures, the "never feasible" statements and the 13-year claim. The core advice to match the board to the job still stands.