Raspberry Pi 5 vs Raspberry Pi 4: Is It Worth Upgrading?

It’s 2026 and people are still searching for answers on the Raspberry Pi 5 vs Raspberry Pi 4.. Well, the Pi 5 release was the biggest generational leap in Raspberry Pi’s history. That said, the Pi 4 is cheaper, and still very capable. So is the Pi 5 actually worth upgrading to, or is the Pi 4 still the smarter buy in the current economy? Through many hours of benchmarking, that’s the question I hope to help you with today! Throughout this comparison I’ll reference my full Raspberry Pi 5 review and my guide on how to power the Raspberry Pi 5. You can also see the two boards measured head-to-head on sbc.compare’s Raspberry Pi 4 vs Pi 5 page. Raspberry Pi 5 vs Raspberry Pi 4: The Short Answer Realistically? The Raspberry Pi 5 is 2-3x faster than the Pi 4, it adds PCIe support for NVMe, AI accelerators, and whatever else you can think of via HATs/adapters, and it’s overall a more capable machine. That said, it costs more, and it needs active cooling to really get the best of it. If you’re…