3 Raspberry Pi Projects That Pay for Themselves

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In most other articles on RaspberryTips, I usually suggest getting some kind of accessory or buying a new model to run this or that app. Today, it’s the opposite. I want to show you a few projects you can run to save money (or even make some).

While a lot of folks are saying that Raspberry Pis are dead with current prices, you can still find some interesting ways to save money. For example, you can share your bandwidth, save on subscription costs, or replace expensive hardware with a Raspberry Pi.

I’ll highlight three of these that I find particularly impressive, even though there are many others I could discuss.

Share your Internet connection

One of the most popular ways to make money I’ve shared in the past on RaspberryTips is to use a service called EarnApp.

It basically runs in the background on any computer (Raspberry Pi or not) and occasionally shares your internet connection with big brands who want to run quick tests from your location.

You can install EarnApp on any Raspberry Pi model. It only uses the network, so it doesn’t have any CPU or RAM requirements. And it won’t affect your other services because it’s only used occasionally.

You can generally expect to make about $5 a month depending on your location, which means your Pi Zero is basically paid for itself after a few months.

Yeah, it won’t replace your full-time job anytime soon, but it’s pretty cool to have it running, especially if you already have a Pi running 24/7 for other services (like the one I’ll now talk about!).

By the way, there are some competitors of EarnApp that you can run on the same setup to maximize your earnings. Honeygain, for example, is another service I use and like (create your account here).

Save on subscriptions

This one won’t “make” you money but can save you a lot. How many recurring subscriptions do you have for services that could be self-hosted on your Raspberry Pi?

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You can probably cut Spotify for Jellyfin, suspend Netflix or other streaming platforms, and use Plex Media Server instead. But there are many other similar services you can self-host on your Raspberry Pi (check our list here).

There are also a bunch of VPN providers and privacy/security-based subscriptions that might not be useful once you set up your own VPN server on your Raspberry Pi. You can use either to access your home network remotely or to protect your privacy online.

I’m also using services like Immich or NextCloud, which could easily replace some Google subscriptions for free while keeping your data and files private.

You don’t really need a NAS

Speaking of Nextcloud, the best thing I did with one of my Raspberry Pis was to replace an expensive Synology NAS with a Pironman 5 case running NextCloud and a few other services.

It’s basically even better than the old Synology Samba share. It now syncs all my files in real time with all my devices. It’s absolutely silent (no fan or noisy hard drives), and it’s been running smoothly for years now.

Yeah, you might have to think about reliability, backup, security and other things to make sure you’re on the same level as a NAS that has all this built in (I don’t have RAID, for example, even though that’s an option on a Raspberry Pi). But overall, it’s much cheaper, and probably good enough for most people.

comparison between pi nas and traditional nas

Start here if you want to give it a try before deciding: Pi NAS: A Guide to Build Your Own Budget-Friendly NAS.

And if you want to check other project ideas on that topic of saving money, check your other articles here:

Want more project ideas? Check out my list of favorite Raspberry Pi projects. I’ve included links to tutorials and level and hardware requirements, so you don’t spend hours trying to find your next project.