The best Raspberry Pi 5 projects solve a recurring household problem rather than simply demonstrating what the board can do. The five most practical choices are Home Assistant for smart-home control, Pi-hole for network-wide DNS blocking, a home file server for shared files, Tailscale for private remote access, and Syncthing for automatic file synchronization.
A Raspberry Pi 5 is powerful enough for all five, but it is not essential for every one. Pi-hole, Tailscale and a basic Syncthing installation can run on older Raspberry Pis. The Pi 5 becomes more worthwhile when you want several services on one machine, faster storage, more simultaneous file transfers or room to expand.
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What makes a Raspberry Pi project genuinely useful?
A useful home project should run unattended for long periods, solve a problem you repeatedly encounter and remain understandable when something goes wrong. It should also have a sensible recovery path if the network, storage or power supply fails.
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That rules out projects that require constant tinkering, expose your home network unnecessarily or promise to replace professional hardware without matching its reliability. The projects below are practical because each has a clear household benefit and a clear point at which you should stop adding complexity.
#1 Best Overall
- Includes Raspberry Pi 5 with 2.4Ghz 64-bit quad-core CPU (8GB RAM)
- Includes 128GB Micro SD Card pre-loaded with 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, USB MicroSD Card Reader
- CanaKit Turbine Black Case for the Raspberry Pi 5
- CanaKit Low Noise Bearing System Fan
- Mega Heat Sink - Black Anodized
Before you start: the hardware every project shares
- Raspberry Pi 5: The board has a 2.4GHz quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor, Gigabit Ethernet, faster USB 3 connectivity and a PCIe 2.0 x1 interface for compatible M.2 storage. It is available with up to 16GB of RAM. See the official product specifications.
- Suitable power: Use a high-quality 5V/5A USB-C supply, such as Raspberry Pi’s recommended 27W supply. A 3A supply may boot the board but limits available peripheral current, which matters when using USB storage.
- Active cooling: Use an actively cooled case or an active cooler for continuous server workloads. Passive cooling may be adequate for light services, but sustained storage, database or multi-service use is a different workload.
- Reliable storage: A quality microSD card is acceptable for Pi-hole or Tailscale. An SSD or NVMe drive is preferable for Home Assistant databases, file serving, Syncthing and multi-service systems.
- Ethernet: Wired networking is strongly preferable for DNS, Home Assistant and file serving.
- Router access: Reserve the Pi’s address through DHCP so services can reliably find it.
- Recovery plan: Keep configuration backups, a spare microSD card or tested image backup, and a separate copy of important files.
The Pi 5 does not require 8GB of RAM for these projects. Four gigabytes is sufficient for Pi-hole, Tailscale, Home Assistant and basic file serving. Eight gigabytes is a sensible general-purpose choice if you plan to run several services or containers. Sixteen gigabytes is aimed at heavier self-hosting, development and experimentation rather than any individual project here.
Is microSD storage enough?
It can be. For a lightweight Pi-hole or Tailscale installation, microSD storage is a reasonable starting point. It is less attractive for a constantly changing Home Assistant database, a file server or a continuously synchronized folder.
An NVMe drive requires a separate M.2 adapter or HAT. The Pi 5’s PCIe interface can support this kind of storage, but PCIe Gen 2 is the safe default: Raspberry Pi documentation warns that Gen 3 is not certified and may be unstable. Booting from PCIe storage may also require bootloader and configuration changes. See the Raspberry Pi computer documentation.
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Best for: Bringing lights, plugs, sensors, thermostats and other devices into one household control system.
Home Assistant can replace a collection of separate vendor apps with local automations and a central dashboard. Its local installation can continue operating when the internet is unavailable, although cloud-dependent devices and integrations may stop working.
Why use a Pi 5?
The Pi 5 is a good dedicated appliance for a growing smart home. It has more headroom than older models and can use faster storage if the system retains a large history database or runs many integrations. For a very small installation, however, it is more power than necessary. Home Assistant Green is the easier plug-and-play alternative for someone who wants a dedicated smart-home appliance rather than a general-purpose server.
What you need
- Pi 5 with reliable power and active cooling
- Ethernet connection during setup and preferably during normal use
- At least 2GB RAM, according to Home Assistant’s current requirements
- MicroSD storage at minimum; SSD is preferable for long-term, high-history use
- Optional Zigbee, Thread or Matter radio
- Compatible smart-home devices
Installation path
- Install Raspberry Pi Imager.
- Select Home Assistant OS and then the Raspberry Pi 5 image.
- Write the image to a microSD card or supported storage.
- Insert the storage, connect Ethernet and power on the Pi.
- Open
http://homeassistant.local:8123from a device on the same network.
Home Assistant says the page is normally available within a few minutes and often within about a minute on a Pi 4 or Pi 5. If it is still unavailable after five minutes, check the network connection, reflash the storage and use an HDMI display for local troubleshooting if necessary. The official Raspberry Pi installation guide contains the current process.
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- Internet outage: Local automations may continue, but cloud-only devices will not.
- Wi-Fi outage: The Pi may be healthy while wireless devices disappear.
- Radio interference: Zigbee and Thread reliability depends on placement and channel selection.
- Camera workloads: Several camera streams or serious video analysis can make the Pi a poor fit. A dedicated NVR or stronger computer is more appropriate.
- Storage failure: Restore from a Home Assistant backup; the Pi itself is not a backup.
- Remote access: Do not forward port 8123 directly to the public internet. Use a properly secured access method such as Tailscale.
Choose Home Assistant if your main goal is to control the house. It is not merely a Raspberry Pi demonstration project; it is a household automation appliance.
Rank #2
- Includes Raspberry Pi 5 with 2.4Ghz 64-bit quad-core CPU (4GB RAM)
- Includes 128GB Micro SD Card pre-loaded with 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, USB MicroSD Card Reader
- CanaKit Turbine Black Case for the Raspberry Pi 5
- CanaKit Low Noise Bearing System Fan
- CanaKit Mega Heat Sink - Black Anodized
2. Pi-hole: block many ads and trackers across the network
Best for: Reducing advertising and tracking domains on phones, tablets, smart TVs, consoles and other devices that cannot use browser extensions.
Pi-hole works at the DNS level. Devices ask it to resolve domain names, and Pi-hole can refuse requests for domains on its blocklists. It provides query logs and allowlist and denylist controls while using very little hardware.
Why use a Pi 5?
A Pi 5 provides far more performance than Pi-hole needs. An older Pi or Pi Zero may be sufficient if you already own one. The Pi 5 makes sense if you want to combine Pi-hole with other services or simply want a newer, expandable machine.
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- Install Raspberry Pi OS Lite or another supported base system.
- Connect the Pi to Ethernet.
- Reserve its address in the router’s DHCP settings.
- Install Pi-hole using the current instructions in the official installation guide.
- Choose upstream DNS providers.
- Change the router’s LAN or DHCP DNS setting to the Pi-hole address.
- Renew a client’s DHCP lease or reconnect devices.
- Test several devices rather than assuming one successful test proves everything works.
Pi-hole’s documented one-step installer is:
curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bashPiping a remote script directly to Bash is controversial. Pi-hole documents alternatives that download the script first:
wget -O basic-install.sh https://install.pi-hole.net
sudo bash basic-install.shWhat Pi-hole cannot do
Pi-hole is not a universal ad blocker. DNS filtering cannot reliably remove advertising served from the same domain as the content, including some streaming-video advertising. It also cannot replace a browser’s privacy controls in every situation.
Blocking can break logins, payments, streaming or smart-home functions. Start with conservative lists, inspect the query log and allowlist only the domains needed to restore a specific function.
The main failure mode
If your router advertises only Pi-hole as DNS and the Pi goes offline, devices may appear to lose internet access even though the broadband connection is working. Keep a recovery note showing how to restore the router’s normal DNS setting. Do not expose Pi-hole’s DNS service to the public internet.
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Pi-hole is the best choice when the household problem is unwanted DNS requests across many devices—not when you need a general-purpose server.
Rank #3
- CanaKit Raspberry Pi 5 Essentials Starter Kit
3. A Raspberry Pi 5 home file server
Best for: Providing a central location for documents, scanned records, downloads, household media and shared folders.
A Pi 5 can act as a compact home file server using Samba or a dedicated storage distribution. It is more accurate to call this a small home file server than to imply that it is automatically equivalent to a multi-drive commercial NAS.
Why use a Pi 5?
Gigabit Ethernet is appropriate for ordinary household sharing, while USB 3 and the PCIe interface allow faster storage options. The board is compact and uses less space than repurposing a desktop computer.
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It is not a 10GbE storage appliance, and a single disk attached to a Pi is not redundant. If you need multiple drives, high availability, enterprise-style storage management or heavy simultaneous workloads, a dedicated NAS or mini PC may be the better purchase.
Recommended storage layout
- Use an SSD or NVMe drive for the operating system and active services.
- Use a separate external HDD or SSD for bulk data if capacity matters.
- Use a powered USB hub or independently powered enclosure for multiple spinning disks.
- Keep another copy of important data elsewhere.
Do not mistake RAID for a backup. RAID can improve availability after a disk failure, but it does not protect against accidental deletion, ransomware, theft or a damaged enclosure.
Beginner setup outline
- Install Raspberry Pi OS.
- Attach and format the external drive.
- Mount it by UUID so the mount remains stable after reboots.
- Install and configure Samba.
- Create a dedicated user and shared directory.
- Set read and write permissions deliberately rather than sharing the whole filesystem.
- Connect from Windows with
\hostnamesharename. - Connect from macOS or Linux through the network file browser.
Package names and configuration defaults can change with the Raspberry Pi OS release, so use the current documentation for the release you install rather than blindly copying commands from an old tutorial.
Failure modes to plan for
- Disk failure: A single disk can destroy the files stored on it.
- No backup: The Pi is not a backup merely because it stores files.
- Power loss: Sudden shutdowns can interrupt writes or damage filesystems.
- USB power and bandwidth: Multiple drives can exceed available peripheral power or share the same bus.
- Heat: Sustained storage, encryption and transfers benefit from active cooling.
- Internet exposure: Never expose SMB directly to the public internet.
For important household data, aim for the practical 3-2-1 rule: three copies, on two different types of storage, with one copy offline or off-site.
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Best for: Reaching Home Assistant, files and administration tools when you are away from home without exposing each service directly to the public internet.
Rank #4
- Includes Raspberry Pi 5 16GB with 2.4Ghz 64-bit quad-core CPU (16GB RAM)
- Includes 128GB Micro SD Card pre-loaded with 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, USB MicroSD Card Reader
- CanaKit Turbine Black Case for the Raspberry Pi 5
- CanaKit Low Noise Bearing System Fan
- Mega Heat Sink - Black Anodized
Tailscale is best understood as an access layer rather than a standalone home service. It can connect a phone or laptop to the Pi’s private network presence, allowing you to reach services that would otherwise be available only at home.
Typical uses
- Check Home Assistant while travelling
- Access files on the home server
- Administer Pi-hole remotely
- Connect selected household devices securely
- Share access with specific family members
Basic setup
- Create a Tailscale account.
- Install the Raspberry Pi package.
- Authenticate the Pi.
- Install Tailscale on the remote phone or computer.
- Confirm both devices appear in the same tailnet.
- Access the service using the Pi’s Tailscale address or name.
- Use access controls and grant only the permissions required.
Enable subnet routing only when you genuinely need access to other devices on the home LAN. It is more powerful, but it also increases the consequences of a compromised device.
What Tailscale does not guarantee
Tailscale protects the network path; it does not make weak passwords, outdated applications or vulnerable services safe. The applications behind it still need updates, strong authentication and sensible permissions. A Pi that is powered off, disconnected or corrupted remains inaccessible.
Tailscale also adds a third-party dependency. Readers who want maximum control can self-manage WireGuard, although that requires handling keys, routing, firewall rules and updates. Pi-hole’s documentation includes a WireGuard guide.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.5. Syncthing: automatic file synchronization between devices
Best for: Keeping selected household folders synchronized between a Pi, computers, laptops and other devices.
Syncthing is useful for documents, camera-import folders, work-in-progress files and household records. It creates replicated copies rather than presenting one central folder, which makes it different from a file server.
NAS versus Syncthing
- Home file server: A central location that devices connect to when they need files.
- Syncthing: Peer-to-peer synchronization that keeps selected folders copied between devices.
- Backup: A separate, preferably versioned and offline or off-site copy with a retention plan.
Syncthing is not automatically a complete backup system. If a file is accidentally deleted or encrypted by ransomware, synchronization can propagate the change to every connected device unless versioning, snapshots or another recovery system is in place.
Setup outline
- Install Syncthing on the Pi and configure it to start automatically.
- Install it on each participating computer or device.
- Pair devices using their device IDs.
- Share only selected folders.
- Choose the folder type carefully: send-and-receive for normal two-way synchronization, send-only for a source and receive-only for a destination copy.
- Enable file versioning on an appropriate destination.
- Test deletion and recovery before trusting the system with important files.
- Monitor disk capacity and synchronization status.
Important limitations
- Accidental deletion can propagate.
- Corrupted or encrypted files can propagate unless versioning or snapshots are enabled.
- Conflicts may not resolve in the way you expect.
- A second copy on the same Pi is not off-site protection.
- Large photo and video libraries may take a long time to synchronize initially.
- Cross-platform permissions and case sensitivity can create surprises.
- The Pi must have enough capacity for every replicated folder.
Syncthing is a more honest alternative to promising to build a complete private cloud. Use it for automatic copies and synchronization, then add a separate backup system for important data.
Best Value
- Includes Raspberry Pi 5 with 2.4Ghz 64-bit quad-core CPU (8GB RAM)
- Includes 32GB EVO+ Micro SD Card pre-loaded with 64-bit Pi OS, USB MicroSD Card Reader
- CanaKit Turbine Black Case for the Raspberry Pi 5
- CanaKit 45W PD Power Supply for the Raspberry Pi 5
- Display Cable - 6 foot (Supports up to 4K 60p)
Which project should you choose?
| Project | Best for | Pi 5 required? | Storage | Maintenance | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Assistant | Smart-home control | No, but useful headroom | Low to moderate | Moderate | Compatibility and storage failure |
| Pi-hole | Network-wide DNS filtering | No | Low | Low | DNS outage or overblocking |
| Home file server | Central household files | Not strictly, but useful | High | Moderate to high | No redundancy or backup |
| Tailscale | Private remote access | No | Low | Low | Overly broad access permissions |
| Syncthing | Automatic file replication | No | Moderate to high | Moderate | Propagated deletion or corruption |
What not to build on a Pi 5
A general-purpose Jellyfin or Plex transcoding server
Direct-play media serving may work when the client can decode the original file, but that is not the same as reliable transcoding. Jellyfin’s current hardware guidance warns that most single-board computers, including the Raspberry Pi and particularly the Pi 5, lack adequate hardware-acceleration support for an acceptable general transcoding experience.
If your household needs dependable video transcoding, consider a more suitable mini PC or dedicated server. Do not choose a Pi 5 simply because media servers appear on generic Raspberry Pi project lists.
A public-facing cloud service without security experience
Do not expose Home Assistant, SMB, Pi-hole or Syncthing administration ports directly to the internet. Use Tailscale or a properly configured VPN, keep software updated and understand the authentication and access controls of every service.
Your only backup repository
A Pi with one attached drive is not a backup strategy. Hardware failure, theft, accidental deletion and malware can affect both the original and the Pi-side copy.
A multi-drive redundant NAS without suitable hardware
The Pi 5 can serve household files, but multi-drive redundancy, drive health monitoring, sustained transfers and recovery procedures may justify a dedicated NAS or mini PC.
Bottom line
Choose Home Assistant for smart-home control, Pi-hole for network-wide DNS blocking, a home file server for shared files, Tailscale for access while away and Syncthing for automatic copies between devices.
Buy a Pi 5 when you want one flexible, actively cooled machine that can grow into several services. Use an older Pi for lightweight jobs you already understand. Choose a mini PC or dedicated NAS when you need serious storage, many containers, virtual machines, heavy camera processing or dependable media transcoding.
Quick Recap
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