5 cool and creative ways to use a Raspberry Pi

Almost every version of the Raspberry Pi has cool and creative projects that you can go really deep down the rabbit hole with. From setting up your own modern ISP to hacking a retro console, there are more than five. There are many versions of this nifty little device on the market right now, so be sure to check out each Raspberry Pi series to see which one you should buy if you don’t already have one.

The Raspberry Pi is a list of single board computers (SBCs) that was originally aimed at hobbyists, but is now also widely integrated into the industrial and educational sectors. Supporting different versions of Linux, these low-power computers can serve as the heart of tons of projects. It also helps that there is still some sort of support for them, with some operating systems even choosing to create specific versions for the hardware.

With so many different projects, these are a handful that will not only impress anyone you show them to, but will also give you a fascinating ride on the educational path. Learning by DIY will never seem as cool as when you finish following the instructions and see the work you’ve accomplished.

One of the leading content creators in the Raspberry Pi and SBC space is Jeff Geerling. One project Geerling outlined in April 2026 was to recreate a dial-up service powered by the Pi itself. There’s a great video covering it, and the project is open source, available via GitHub to get you started, including an Ansible playbook for semi-automatic setup.

Now, is this going to impact your modern life? Probably not, but would you rather look at another Raspberry Pi-powered smart mirror or do something cool? The PiSP (if you will) under Geerling’s configuration will max out at 56KB, just like the good old days. In the video, Geerling also shows how to turn the small connection into a Wi-Fi connection with an Apple AirPort. It’s mostly useless, but damn if it’s not cool.

There are also alternative guides for more in-depth explanations of what’s going on. We recommend the unfortunately named Doge Microsystems, which offers a comprehensive guide on creating your own ISP.

With the Raspberry Pi 5 and a compatible add-on like the AI ​​HAT+ or the harder-to-find AI Kit, you can create an AI-powered video surveillance solution. All this without having to rely on products owned by unknown Chinese companies or Amazon, which don’t have the best track record when it comes to protecting your data. All it needs is an SD card (or SSD) with the free Home Assistant operating system, which can be easily installed via the official Raspberry Pi installer.

Frigate is a free and open source network video recorder that can serve as a hub for security cameras. It now supports the AI ​​kit sold by the company, which includes a Hailo 8L neural processing unit (NPU). This connects via the PCIe slot and will elevate Frigate into a tracking machine. The 8L can help you track people, cars, or anything else you configure Frigate to keep tabs on. The examples given, such as traffic monitoring on a busy road, show that a small piece of kit can manage multiple entities at once.

Since the Raspberry Pi is a lightweight component, your security system won’t be consuming wads of cash when you shell out for your next electricity bill. As you add hardware to your setup, you can scale Frigate to meet your needs and record footage separately, which you will own completely. All you need to do is find one of the best security camera options for you and check that it is supported on Frigate.

Surprisingly easy to do, but also incredibly tedious, creating your own keyboard with a Raspberry Pi is incredibly well documented online. Leveraging huge community support, there’s even a dedicated custom firmware called QMK that lets you understand how you want your buttons to work. This is the same software that Raspberry Pi uses with the Pi 500, All-in-One Keyboard, and SBC device. Alternatives to this firmware include TMK, KMK, and ZMK, all of which focus on different features.

This would primarily be a Raspberry Pi Pico project, using the microcontroller to not only provide the required software, but also power it. Some on the net offer detailed videos or blogs on building split keyboards for ergonomics, and there are also macro pad projects for those who want to try their hand on a smaller scale. Building one will give you your own Elgato Stream Deck-like device, except you built it for a lot less.

Building your own DIY keyboard is the ultimate test of soldering and cable management. Not only will you need to study stabilizers and learn how to avoid ghosting when typing (when the connections are crossed it will sometimes enter another key), but you will also need to figure out which setup is best for your hands. Keyboards may not look like it, but they can be incredibly interesting, and creating your own will familiarize you not only with the Raspberry Pi ecosystem, but also with the one thing most of us use every day.

As rabid collectors drive up prices on almost all pop culture and geek technology, including those old beige PC cases we had, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find used GameCube games at a reasonable price. Nintendo may be working on getting versions to the Switch, but what are the chances that games like “Cubivore,” “PNO3,” or “Custom Robo” will ever come to the service? This is where the PicoBoot comes in.

Using a Raspberry Pi Pico and a little soldering, you can turn your GameCube into a complete jukebox of classic cube goodness. PicoBoot will effectively sideline the original software, allowing homebrew software like Swiss to take control. When combined with an SD card charger, you will be able to play a multitude of games from the system.

It’s also a great way to bring your GameCube back to life if it’s been sitting unused for years. A faulty disc drive can be completely ignored by choosing to load games via an SD card. This also means you won’t have to search for or rely on software exploits or other software changes that need to be repeated between power cycles.

An incredibly cool, if niche, project, DreamPi is software that uses a Raspberry Pi to bring an original Sega Dreamcast console back online. When the console launched in 1999, it came with a plug-and-play modem, perfect for using “SegaNet” or “Phantasy Star Online.” However, with Sega on the ropes and the console’s rapid death in 2001, the company ultimately shut down all of its online services in 2003 for online gaming on the system.

The entire DreamPi project is incredibly well detailed and documented, with written and video guides to follow. There are a few extra items you’ll probably need to pick up, like an RJ-11 phone cable and a modem or USB adapter if you’re using the Pi Zero line, since there’s no standard USB port. However, it is not an overtly lengthy process, with four main steps to follow.

DreamPi supports almost all Raspberry Pis, except the Pico (the microcontroller does not support the software) and the Raspberry Pi 5. When connected via DreamPi, you will have access to 52 online games, including the recently fan-translated “Rune Jade”, a Japan-exclusive action role-playing game in the same vein as Diablo. Some games without multiplayer have seen online leaderboards resurrected and supported on the platform.