That Old Raspberry Pi 4 in Your Drawer Just Got More Valuable. Here’s What to Do With It.

If you bought a Raspberry Pi 4 a few years ago, used it for a weekend project and then shoved it in a drawer, now’s the time to dig it out. Thanks to a run of price rises, a new Pi costs a lot more than it did, and that spare board is suddenly worth far more to you than the dust it’s been collecting.

Why Raspberry Pi Prices Keep Going Up

The Raspberry Pi built its reputation on being cheap. When the Pi 4 launched in 2019, the 2GB model cost $45 and the 4GB model $55. The Pi 5 arrived in late 2023 at $60 for 4GB.

That’s changed. Raspberry Pi raised prices in December 2025, then again in February, April and October 2026. The cause is memory. The Pi 4 and Pi 5 both use LPDDR4 RAM, and the cost of those chips has soared, with one report putting the rise at around sevenfold since 2025. Raspberry Pi has said memory costs have “risen very steeply over the past two years and continue to increase.”

The latest rise, on 1 October, took the 2GB Pi 4 to $67.50 and the 2GB Pi 5 to $77.50, according to Tom’s Hardware. The bigger-memory models went up even more sharply earlier in the year. In practice, a 4GB or 8GB Pi now costs roughly double what it did at launch, and UK prices have followed.

It’s the same squeeze that’s pushing up the price of graphics cards and full gaming PCs, which we covered in why your next gaming PC is going to cost more.

The one exception is the little Pi Zero 2 W, which uses an older type of memory that’s still plentiful, so its price hasn’t moved.

What This Means for Your Old Pi 4

A Pi 4 is still a very capable little computer, and it’s now a much more expensive one to replace. Before you sell it, bin it, or buy a new board for your next project, it’s worth knowing just how much an old Pi 4 can still do.

1. Turn It Into a Retro Games Machine

This is still the Pi 4’s best trick. Loaded with Batocera or RetroPie, it handles everything from the Atari 2600 through to the SNES, Mega Drive, arcade games and the original PlayStation with ease, and runs a good chunk of the N64 library. Plug in a controller and connect it to your TV, and you’ve got a living-room retro console for the cost of an SD card. Our beginner’s guide to Raspberry Pi retro gaming walks you through it, and our RetroPie vs Batocera comparison helps you choose the software.

You’ll only really need a Pi 5 if you want to push further into Dreamcast, PSP and heavier N64 games. Our guide to what the Pi 5 can actually emulate explains where the line is.

2. Build It Into an Arcade Cabinet

An older Pi is perfect for a bartop arcade build, where it’ll mostly be running classic arcade and 16-bit games that it handles comfortably. Our complete guide to building a bartop arcade cabinet covers the rest.

3. Make an Internet Radio or Music Streamer

Playing internet radio or streaming music to an old amp needs barely any processing power, so a Pi 4 is more than enough. Our Raspberry Pi internet radio guide shows how to set one up with free software. A Pi 4 can also run a home music server such as Navidrome, so you can stream your own music collection around the house.

4. Block Ads Across Your Whole Network

Pi-hole is free software that turns a Pi into a network-wide ad blocker, stopping adverts and trackers on every device in your home, including phones, smart TVs and consoles. It’s one of the most popular Pi projects for a reason, and it barely touches the Pi’s resources.

5. Run Your Smart Home

Home Assistant runs well on a Pi 4 and lets you control smart plugs, lights, heating and sensors from different brands in one place, without relying on someone else’s cloud service.

6. Or Sell It

If you really don’t want it, the higher price of new boards means there’s more demand for secondhand Pis. Check recent sold listings on eBay to see what yours is likely to fetch, and include the power supply and case if you still have them.

Don’t forget the Pis hiding inside other gadgets, either. Plenty of maker kits and smart devices from the last few years have a Pi 4 at their heart. Full disclosure: we’re practising what we preach, and have just listed our own Mycroft Mark II smart speaker on eBay. It’s a 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 with a touchscreen, camera and speakers built in, and it runs the open-source OpenVoiceOS assistant. (If the link no longer works, it’s sold.)

Thinking of Buying a New Pi?

If you’re buying from scratch, there are still sensible options:

• Buy only the RAM you need. For retro gaming, a 2GB or 4GB Pi is plenty. The 8GB and 16GB models have seen the biggest price rises and offer no real benefit for emulation.
• Consider a used Pi 4. For most retro projects, a secondhand Pi 4 is still excellent value.
• Use a Pi Zero 2 W for light jobs. For an internet radio or a handheld like the Retroflag GPi Case, the Zero 2 W’s price hasn’t changed.
• Watch out for inflated listings. Third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay sometimes list Pis well above the official price. Check an official reseller first.

For a complete starter setup, our roundup of the best Raspberry Pi kits for retro gaming covers the options.

The Bottom Line

The days of the £35 computer are, for now, behind us. But that makes the Pi you already own more useful, not less. Whether it becomes a retro console, a radio, an ad blocker or the brain of an arcade cabinet, an old Pi 4 is too good to leave in a drawer.

Prices are from Raspberry Pi’s official US pricing as reported at the time of writing (October 2026). UK prices vary by retailer, so check before you buy.