10 Different Uses for the Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is an incredibly versatile device with a wide range of different uses for a relatively low price tag.

Thanks to the device’s low power usage and decent performance, it has quickly become a jack of all trades. Projects can range from an RFID attendance system to a simple media center.

The GPIO pins featured on the Raspberry Pi allow you to extend its functionality even further. With these pins, you can plug in various components that significantly increase the number of different uses for your Raspberry Pi.

The list below showcases ten different uses for the Raspberry Pi.

01 - An affordable Plex Server

One of the most popular uses for the Raspberry Pi is to set it up as an affordable Plex Server.

While the Raspberry Pi isn't quite powerful enough to transcode media itself, it is more than capable of streaming data from your hard drive to the Plex client.

Learn how to set up Plex

02 - Easy Digital Signage

Another excellent use for the Raspberry Pi is to manage your digital signage.

The Pi is perfect for this as it has more than enough power to run most media files. Newer Raspberry Pi's can even drive two screens at once and handle 4K displays.

Screenly is the software that allows us to handle digital signage from your Raspberry Pi relatively easily.

Installing the Screenly Software

03 - Networked Print Server

You can use your Raspberry Pi to bring networked printing to even older printers.

To achieve this, all you need to do is set up your Raspberry Pi to operate as a print server and connect your printer using its USB cable.

Your devices will be able to use this server to print from your printer. You can even connect multiple printers to this.

Setting up a Print Server

04 - Weather Station using the SenseHAT

Using your Raspberry Pi as a weather station is a straightforward process if you own the official Sense HAT.

The Sense HAT is a special addon that comes packed with a wide range of sensors that allows you to get the temperature, humidity, and more.

Make your own Weather Station

05 - Setting up a Torrent Box

Another use for the Raspberry Pi is to run it as an affordable always-on torrent box.

The Raspberry Pi makes an excellent torrent box as it is cheap to run and has more than enough power to download multiple torrents at once.

There are multiple ways of setting up a torrent box, whether you want to use Transmission or Deluge.

Setting up as a Torrent Box

06 - A Cheap Media Center

One of the most popular uses for the Rasberry Pi is to use it as an affordable media center.

To achieve this, we will be using the popular software called Kodi.

Kodi allows you to easily play all of your media, be it music, videos, or photos. You can even use it to watch Netflix on your Raspberry Pi.

Setup an Affordable Media Center

07 - Retro Gaming Machine

Another widespread use for the Raspberry Pi is to set it up as a retro gaming machine.

While the Raspberry Pi might not be powerful enough to run modern games, it is more than strong enough to run many classics.

Using your Pi, you can run and play games from the SNES, PlayStation, and more.

Transform you Pi with Emulators

08 - Networked Storage

You can even use your Raspberry Pi to work as a low cost and low power network-attached storage.

Plug a large USB hard drive into your device and set up some small packages, and you will have a working NAS.

Set Up a NAS

09 - An RFID Attendance System

Thanks to the GPIO pins' inclusion, the uses for a Raspberry Pi is pretty much endless.

One of the coolest projects you can do is to connect an RFID reader to your Pi and set up an RFID attendance system.

While a more complicated project, it is perfect for showcasing the Raspberry Pi's abilities.

Build an RFID Attendance System

10 - Setup a Security Camera Network

The Raspberry Pi can even be used as a security camera network manager.

Using the MotionEYE software, you can link multiple cameras through your Raspberry Pi.

All of these cameras are easily accessible through a simple web interface.

Set up a Security Camera Network