15 Easy Projects for Raspberry Pi Beginners (With Links)

When you begin using Raspberry Pi, you can quickly become overwhelmed by all the possibilities you can pursue. You can select a project that you are most interested in, but often, projects require a bunch of hardware or are too difficult for a beginner.

That’s why I created this list of 15 projects you can try, whatever your current level. For each one, I’ll link you to a step-by-step tutorial where no additional hardware is required (or I’ll give you the links if that’s not the case).

With guides and more info, it should be easy to go further on your own. Let’s get started.

If you’re looking for inspiration for your next Raspberry Pi project, I’ve put together a list of 75+ ideas with full descriptions, difficulty ratings, and links to tutorials. Whether you’re a beginner or more advanced, there’s something here for you. Grab the list for free here!

1 – Control Lights in a Smart Home

As you probably know, more and more lights are now being branded as “smart lights.” In general, you can at the lights on or off from your phone, and for some models, you can even change bulb colors.

I have a bunch of Philips Hue lights at home, and I love them. The app works well, so you can create routines and program everything. But how are these related to Raspberry Pi?

Well, Philips Hue kits include a hub that connects everything, and there’s an API on this hub.
It’s possible to manage everything with a few scripts (Python for example), and link it with something on your Raspberry Pi.

When you use the phone app, you have to change what times the bulb comes on depending on the season. Instead, I created a Python script that retrieves the sunrise and sunset times from an external API and programs the lights accordingly. This way, the lights are only on when necessary.

Purchase: Philips Hue Starter Kit | Philips Hue Starter Kit with Color Ambiance

Tutorials:

• Control Philips Hue Lights with Raspberry Pi: Ultimate Guide
• Getting Started With Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi

2 – Become Admin of a Minecraft Server

I don’t think I need to introduce Minecraft, the popular sand-box game with over 200 million sales worldwide. Minecraft has a minimal version on Raspberry Pi OS, the Pi Edition, but did you know you can run a Minecraft server with the full game?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khfBymR2xng

I was a huge fan of this game a few years ago, and even created my server that’s been a nice success. So, I naturally tried to install one on my Raspberry Pi to see how it goes, and the result was really interesting.

As the Minecraft server is single-threaded and mostly needs memory, it works well on Raspberry Pi 5, Pi 4 or 400, and 3B+ models.

Once installed, the idea is to build a world where you can invite friends to play with you and add new features to the game by installing plugins. Everything is possible once you’re set up. The installation is almost the same on a big Linux server as it is based on Java.

Tutorial: Minecraft Server on Raspberry Pi: The Only Guide You Need

3 – Try Out New Operating Systems

This one might not be a standard project idea, but it’s an important step when you start on Raspberry Pi. At the beginning, it’s a good idea to stay on Raspberry Pi OS to understand how it works and strengthen your skills from there.

But don’t stay on this distribution forever, you need to explore and try new things. There are many operating systems and Linux distributions available for Raspberry Pi (in fact, most of the popular systems have ARM versions now).

I have an entire article about my 15 favorite operating systems that you can check by clicking on the link, and a special selection of operating systems for beginners here. And I have a video comparing the top ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdM3N1Ja1-c&t=73s

Tutorials:

• Twister OS (Excellent OS for beginners)
• Ubuntu Linux
• Windows 11
• Arch Linux
• Chromium OS
• Pop!_OS
• BerryBoot on Raspberry Pi: Your Step-by-Step Guide

4 – Learn Linux Commands & Scripting

Linux commands and programming are two big topics you’ll need to tackle one day or another. If you are just getting started on Raspberry Pi and Linux, this might be a bit too soon. But keep this on your to-do list.

For the most exciting projects you’ll discover later, using the command line correctly is a prerequisite. Yes, you can always copy & paste from tutorials without understanding anything, but you’ll remove all the fun of a project by doing this.

There are thousands of commands available on Linux—and so also on Raspberry Pi. But you don’t need to know all of them. In fact, with a good understanding of the Linux file system and maybe 50 commands maximum, you should be able to do anything. That may seem a lot, but you’ll get to it step-by-step.

There’s also an entire chapter about Shell scripting in my e-book “Master your Raspberry Pi” if you’re interested in learning more.

Tutorials:

• The 57 Most Important Commands You Need to Know (with a link to a free cheat sheet)
• How to use Nano on Raspberry Pi

5 – Explore Code Logic with Scratch

I mostly spoke about Linux commands above, but programming is important too. Programming was the original goal of the Raspberry Pi (helping young students to learn how to code inexpensively). And there are still a bunch of tools pre-installed on Raspberry Pi OS to do this.

Scratch is a fun programming language, created especially for young people. The idea is to use blocks of instructions to create a basic algorithm. You can move a character, make him talk, interact with him, and more.

Here’s what it looks like:

I think it’s the only project here I don’t have a tutorial on yet, but there’s a lesson in my video course, the Raspberry Pi Bootcamp. It’s a course where I help you to get started on Raspberry Pi, choose your hardware, install the first applications and tackle your 5 first projects.

6 – Replace Commands with a Visual Interface

I mentioned that commands are mandatory to progress on Raspberry Pi, and now I’m going to suggest a way to bypass this and install an interface to do everything.

Yes, it’s possible, and depending on your goals with the Raspberry Pi, that might be a good solution. Not everyone has the intention to master everything on Raspberry Pi. If you’re using it mainly as a desktop computer with a few services, learning commands might not be your priority.

The good news is that there’s a tool named Webmin that allows you to manage everything from a web interface. You can configure the Raspberry Pi and all of its services from there. You can even install new packages from the interface and add new modules for specific applications.

It’s worth a try, whatever your goals.

Tutorial: Install Webmin – Configure Your Raspberry Pi Without Commands

7 – Play Steam Games on Raspberry Pi

After a few serious ideas, let’s get back to some fun. When we think about gaming on Raspberry Pi, we mainly think about retro-gaming: play Super Nintendo games on it. It’s fun, and we’ll get back to that topic later, but it’s not the focus here.

If you don’t know, Steam is the most popular gaming platform on PC and a big chunk of the new games are released directly on this marketplace. With 25 million players connected on average, that’s a good way to promote a new product for game editors.

Anyway, it’s possible to play Steam games on your Raspberry Pi. Yes, we need more power to run newer games, but the big idea here is that your computer is doing all the work. The Raspberry Pi is just a ported display of the game.

You plug your controller on the Pi, connect it to your PC, and that’s it, you can play any recent games on your Pi (Grand Theft Auto V, PUBG, CS:GO, Rust, etc.).

Tutorial: How To Play Steam Games on Raspberry Pi (Full Guide).

8 – Claim a Stake with Crypto Mining

Crypto mining is trending currently, with more and more people trying to make money from their computer idle time or by creating giant GPU farms. Unfortunately, the Raspberry Pi can’t compete with professional equipment.

The goal here is not really to make money, but rather to learn how it works. Cryptocurrencies and crypto-mining are fascinating topics, and you don’t need to be an expert on Raspberry Pi to explore them.

In a few minutes, you can install a miner on your Raspberry Pi and connect it to a specific cryptocurrency network. You can check out this video for more details:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9RCBtlDMD4&t=2s

Tutorials:

• How to Mine Monero on Raspberry Pi
• Mining Dogecoin with a Raspberry Pi: The Complete Guide
• 5 Best Cryptocurrencies To Mine With Raspberry Pi

9 – Centralize Data Storage on the Home Network

In general, the Raspberry Pi is used with a small SD card (32 GB to 64 GB is the most common according to a poll I gave to readers). But you can also use a bigger SD card (up to 1 TB is possible) or an external hard drive (with almost unlimited disk space for cheap).

Nice, we can add several terabytes of space on your Raspberry Pi, but why? The idea here is to build a server to keep your files on it and share them on your network. This way, you can access it from any device (even remotely). That’s what we call a NAS, or Network Attached Storage.

There are several easy solutions to install on Raspberry Pi, and it’s a great way to share non-important files (movies, software, etc.) or to have external backups of important files.

Tutorials:

• Raspberry Pi File Server
• Getting Started with OpenMediaVault on Raspberry Pi

10 – Transform the Pi into a Cloud

NextCloud can be seen as an upgrade to a NAS server. One difference is that you’ll access the files from a web interface, but the main interest is that there is a client to sync the files in real-time between your computer(s) and the server.

It’s also a better way to access the files remotely, as it’s more secure and allows you to access files easily from a smartphone or tablet.

But NextCloud is not only an application to share files. You can also install many other add-ons on the interface to do a large range of things (for example, I store passwords and contacts on mine).

Tutorials:

• Installing NextCloud on Your Raspberry Pi
• Getting Started with CasaOS on Raspberry Pi

11 – Block All the Ads

This one is very popular among Raspberry Pi users, so you might already know it. But even so, it’s a good project for beginners, so I had to put it in this list.

Maybe, you are using tools like AdBlock on your web browser to remove ads on some websites (I hope you have an exception for RaspberryTips if it’s the case!).

The idea here is to install an ad-blocker on your Raspberry Pi, and use your Raspberry Pi as a DNS server. This way, all the devices on your network using the Pi as a DNS server will no longer display ads (this includes computers, smartphones and tablet).

You’ll get a nice web interface to see the statistics and block/whitelist domains to customize your experience.

Tutorials:

• Install Pi-Hole on Raspberry Pi (Free Ad Blocker in 15 min)
• 3 Steps to Run AdGuard Home On Raspberry Pi

12 – Run Experiments Wearing a Sense HAT

A HAT (“Hardware Attached on Top”) is an extension card that you can add on your Raspberry Pi by plugging it on the GPIO pins.

The Sense HAT is one of the most popular you can buy. It includes many sensors (temperature, magnetometer, gyroscope, …), a joystick and a LED display matrix. So, it’s the best one to get started in this field.

The projects you can do with it are almost unlimited, and it’s a good way to learn Python while having fun (you can write and draw some funny things on the LED matrix).

I have two detailed tutorials on this topic, so I think that’s the best way to go from here. You need to buy a Sense HAT if you don’t have one yet, but it’s not expensive at all, and really worth it.

Tutorials: Introducing Sense HAT and Python | Using the Sensors and LED on Sense HAT
Purchase: Get your Sense HAT on Amazon

13 – Learn Python / GPIO

The next natural step is to learn more about Python and the GPIO pins (“General Purpose Input/Output”). Using a HAT is a great way to start in this field, but you can do even more.

As Python is an important component of the Raspberry Pi system (hence the name), it’s also essential to learn it as soon as you can. Many projects include Python scripts to control everything.

For example, the GPIO pins are really well integrated with Python. You’ll find Python libraries to interact with them (like for the Sense HAT). You can have various sensors plugged on them (inputs) or control external accessories like LED, screens and motors (output).

As a side note, I’ve learned a lot about Python and GPIO possibilities by using the Da Vinci kit from SunFounder. It comes with a ton of accessories and a PDF guide to learn to use all of them. I recommend it if you are serious about this.

Tutorials:

• Getting Started with Python on Raspberry Pi
• Getting Started with GPIO Pins on Raspberry Pi (Beginners guide)

14 – Play Tunes With a Portable Jukebox

Let’s finish off this list with two fun projects that are easy to install. You can play music at home with a Bluetooth speaker and your computer, but the advantage of using a Raspberry Pi is that you can control it even when your computer is off (or too far away ^^).

https://youtu.be/tBFMlV1CikM

There are several solutions that you can try with many possibilities. Obviously, you can play local files like MP3, but can also connect to other resources to listen to podcasts, web radios, or even Spotify.

Tutorials:

• Getting Started With Volumio On Raspberry Pi (Media Player)
• The 3 Best Ways to Use Spotify on Raspberry Pi

15 – Build a Retro-Gaming Arcade

The last one will not be a surprise for most of you, as many people are buying a Raspberry Pi especially for this purpose :). As I mentioned earlier, the goal here will be to play older games on the Raspberry Pi.

The Pi is not powerful enough to play recent games directly, but its hardware is a monster when compared to a SNES, Game Boy, or even a PlayStation 1.

I have a lot of tutorials on retro-gaming on this site, so you’ll find everything you need. Basically, the idea is to install an operating system built to easily play ROMs like Super Mario, download the games you want to play and transfer them to the Raspberry Pi.

If you have no idea which system to choose, I compared them in this video:

https://youtu.be/lqdz089kY3s

You’ll need a controller to play games on your Raspberry Pi. Here is my current recommendation. It’s not very expensive and will work for any console (including the N64 which had a specific controller).

I also recommend finding an SD card with thousands of games already on it because downloading them one-by-one is a waste of time, and you risk getting malware depending on which source you use.

Tutorials:

• Retropie
• Recalbox
• Batocera
• Lakka

That’s all for today! For more general project ideas, check out my ultimate list of suggestions here: All The Best Raspberry Pi Project Ideas. With so many ideas at your fingertips, you can’t go wrong!

Whenever you’re ready, here are other ways I can help you:

The RaspberryTips Community: If you want to hang out with me and other Raspberry Pi fans, you can join the community. I share exclusive tutorials and behind-the-scenes content there. Premium members can also visit the website without ads.

Master your Raspberry Pi in 30 days: If you are looking for the best tips to become an expert on Raspberry Pi, this book is for you. Learn useful Linux skills and practice multiple projects with step-by-step guides.

The Raspberry Pi Bootcamp: Understand everything about the Raspberry Pi, stop searching for help all the time, and finally enjoy completing your projects.

Master Python on Raspberry Pi: Create, understand, and improve any Python script for your Raspberry Pi. Learn the essentials step-by-step without losing time understanding useless concepts.

You can also find all my recommendations for tools and hardware on this page.