This latest main-line generation from the Raspberry Pi Project includes the Raspberry Pi 4 with 1GB to 8GB of onboard RAM as well as the Pi 400 and Pi Pico, which we’ll cover in separate sections below. As the latest model, the Pi 4 is among the hardest to find. It launched about two years ago with an MSRP of $35-$70, depending on the amount of RAM included. 

Review: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B: A capable, flexible and affordable DIY computing platform

Unfortunately, acquiring a Raspberry Pi 4 as a bare board right now will require a lot of patience, a deep pocket book, or both. The original price range has been impacted by price increases at the Raspberry Pi Project (brought on by increasing chip costs) as well as resellers attempting to exploit the scarcity to hike prices up. 

While the Raspberry Pi Project does price control the cost of the units at authorized merchants (to about $75 at the moment), those sellers frequently see their stock emptied within minutes of posting new availability, especially now that bots are being applied to the task of buying out boards for later scalping. Reliable outlets like Adafruit (one of the earliest and most trusted sources for Rasperry Pi hardware) have put buying limits and verification technologies in place to prevent being wiped out by bots. But, even then, enough legitimate, human customers remain to drain supplies rapidly. 

If you need a Pi 4 board immediately, expect to pay anywhere between $125 and $175, depending on the RAM included. If you must have a main-line Pi 4 board, but simply can’t stomach that level of price gouging, I’d recommend signing up for email notifications at Adafruit or Micro Center. Both companies offer retail prices far closer, if not in line with, the original MSRPs for Pi 4 boards at various memory levels. 

Also: 3 must-have Raspberry Pi accessories

If you choose to purchase your Raspberry Pi 4 from a seller not listed in this article, please make sure it is a reputable, well-reviewed retailer. The scarcity of Pi boards has led to an explosion in scams surrounding them. If a seller’s price for the board you’re seeking seem too good to be true, it probably is. Try to have patience, or save up some extra cash, and purchase your board through a reputable retailer, or at least from a reseller offering the product via a website that provides buyer protections in the event your order is not delivered, or is not as described.

The Raspberry Pi 400 is essentially a modified 4GB model of the Raspberry Pi 4 board with additional cooling which makes it safe for the unit’s CPU to run at a slightly different clock speed. Rather than being sold as a bare board, the entire Pi 4 is loaded into a compact 60% keyboard with its included I/O ports on the keyboard’s top edge. 

Also: Hands-on with the Raspberry Pi 400: Pleased and impressed

The inclusion of the keyboard may make this solution less than ideal for many applications one would want a Raspberry Pi 4 unit for. However, many other uses (gaming, text editing, media server applications, etc.) would have required the connection of a keyboard for control or text entry purposes anyway. Not only does the Pi 400 mean you don’t have to add an external peripheral for this purpose, but its unique supply means it also tends to be in stock for MSRP slightly more often than its bare-board cousins. 

The Pi 400 is also commonly offered as part of kits, frequently for the same price as the unit itself. The Adafruit option below includes a microSD card, data cable, power supply, mouse, and a beginner’s guide. You may still be looking at spending over $100 on it, but if you calculate in the cost of a discrete keyboard, that price might sting a bit less.

This even tinier-than-usual board includes only a single MicroUSB port and lots of solder points for headers or components of your choice. While it’s not well suited for the more advanced applications its larger brethren can handle, it’s perfect for tiny projects such as wearable electronics, single-use sensors, remote monitoring devices, and other uses that require minimal processing power. 

The Pi Pico can also be expanded via a variety of accessories designed to work with its headers, as well as via custom-designed breadboards, and various other add-ons capable of increasing its versatility. A newer version, the Raspberry Pi Pico W, even includes built-in wireless connectivity now. 

Review: Raspberry Pi Pico W: The Pi’s tiny sibling gets a wireless upgrade

It’s also, by far, the cheapest option available right now, and is generally more readily available at or around its MSRP. Even at double the original $4 price point for the wired model or $6 price point for the Pico W, it’s still an excellent value for the right project. 

The Raspberry Pi Zero line has been around since 2015 to offer a lower-cost option for users that don’t need the full computing power and I/O port selection of the full-sized Pi. Over the years, it’s been revised to add improved processors, new wireless connectivity options, and other improvements. 

Review: Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W: Low-cost single-board device gets a quad-core upgrade

The latest version in the line is the Pi Zero 2 W. Launched in late 2021, this model includes a system in a package (SiP) design based on the previous-generation Pi 3. This means it’s very close in capability (for the right project) to the Pi 4, and is often more easily acquired due to being a slightly less versatile option than its top-of-the-line siblings.

You should definitely check to see if the project you have in mind can be handled by the less powerful Pi Zero 2 W. But, if it can, you can generally purchase the units for something closer to their original MSRP than you’ll ever find a Pi 4. It may be the most cost-effective and readily available option for the right buyer. 

One of the most well-liked entries on our Best Raspberry Pi alternatives list, the NDVIDIA Jetson Nano aims to fill many of the same roles as the Raspberry Pi 4. It provides a similar set of I/O ports, 2GB of RAM, and a fairly identical set of extremely diverse applications.

While its close resemblance to the Raspberry Pi 4 means the Jetson Nano is also being bought up at an alarming rate, it unfortunately had a starting price that was already in excess of what the Pi 4’s inflated pricing was. This means you can expect to pay several hundred dollars for it today. Of course, given the scarcity of the Pi 4, it may just be the only option for some hobbyists that need a solution right now. Just make sure whatever plans you have for the NVIDIA Jetson Nano are compatible with its included chipset and I/O.