Best mini PCs for a home server
Small, frugal boxes for Home Assistant, Jellyfin, backups and a few virtual machines.
Editorial opinionReviewed Oct 28, 2026
A home server runs all day, so idle power, network ports and drive slots matter more than benchmark scores. In 2026 an Intel N150 box covers most homes; you only need more CPU for many virtual machines.
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#1 · Best overall
Beelink EQ14
Highly recommended- Processor
- Intel N150
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Network
- 2 × 2.5 GbE
- Great fit for
- Home Assistant · Media server · Router / firewall
from $385 (typical price)
Editorial opinionOverall 8.4/10Two Intel 2.5 GbE ports, two M.2 slots and a built-in supply: it does every home-server job well.
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#2 · Best as a NAS
Beelink ME mini
Recommended- Processor
- Intel N150
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Network
- 2 × 5 GbE
- Great fit for
- Home Assistant · Media server · Router / firewall · NAS
from $525 (typical price)
Editorial opinionOverall 8/10Six M.2 slots and 5 GbE in a 10 cm cube, for an all-flash NAS.
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#3 · Silent pick
ZimaSpace ZimaBoard 2
Recommended- Processor
- Intel N150
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Network
- 2 × 2.5 GbE
- Great fit for
- Home Assistant · Media server · Router / firewall
from $279 (typical price)
Editorial opinionOverall 7.8/10Fanless, two SATA ports and two Intel 2.5 GbE ports.
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#4 · Best renewed
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920q Tiny
Good budget option- Processor
- Intel Core i5-8500T
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Network
- 1 × 1 GbE
- Great fit for
- Media server
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Editorial opinionOverall 7.4/10Six cores, up to 32 GB and a PCIe slot for little money.
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#5 · For big homelabs
Minisforum MS-A2
Highly recommended- Processor
- AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX
- RAM
- 96 GB
- Network
- 4 × 10 GbE
- Great fit for
- Homelab / Proxmox · Desktop
from $799 (typical price)
Editorial opinionOverall 8.6/1016 cores, 10 GbE SFP+ and three SSD slots.
How we chose
- Network: 2.5 GbE, and two ports if it may become your router.
- Storage: at least two drive slots.
- Quick Sync for Plex and Jellyfin transcoding.
- Power and noise for 24/7 use.
- Prices checked in October 2026.