Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to BotWave
Hi HN! I'm the author and maintainer of BotWave, a piece of software that lets people owning a Raspberry Pi (Zero to 4) broadcast on FM radio over a relatively small range. It also supports building a network of Raspberry Pis connected to a central server to manage them all. Disclaimer: I already know that Raspberry Pis produce a ton of harmonics, and that broadcasting on FM may be illegal depending on your country. It is not meant to be misused. PS: I already posted about it about 8 months ago, but since then it has become significantly more powerful, documented, and upgraded.
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
- 1
The project identifies as "Your Raspberry Pi FM network". It uses a fork of the well-known PiFmRds as a backend to stream audio on FM radio. It allows the control of multiple pi units with a central server, that can also be temporarly hosted on google cloud shell or github codespaces.
Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 2
I built a software-defined radio transmission platform that runs on a Raspberry Pi Zero W. It spawns its own WiFi hotspot and serves a web UI — connect from any device and you have a portable RF signal generator with 12 transmission modes: FM broadcasting with RDS, FT8, RTTY, FSK, POCSAG paging, Morse code, SSTV image transmission, voice cloning via live mic, spectrum painting, IQ replay, carrier wave, and frequency sweeps. Everything runs through a browser interface. Upload audio files, type messages, configure frequencies, and transmit. The Pi's GPIO pin does the actual RF generation via…
Feb 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 3
A few months ago, I was inspired by this post on Reddit, titled: Food items should have QR codes that instruct the microwave exactly what to do. Like high for 2 minutes, let stand 1 minute, medium 1 minutes.. I thought this was a pretty cool idea, and that it
2013 · madebynathan.com · its alternatives →
- 4
Snapcast is an open-source project that streams audio over network so it can be played synchronously, like Sonos. I recently set it up at home with some Raspberry Pis to play Spotify around my apartment. Here’s how I did it. I tried to show my work, so hopefully people can follow along (I’m no Raspb
2020 · oyvn.github.io · its alternatives →
- 5
Using the Raspberry Pi to water plants automatically
2017 · mtlynch.io · its alternatives →
- 6
Raspberry Pi 3▲4383nd generation with faster processor, wireless and Bluetooth
2016 · raspberrypi.com · its alternatives →
- 7
SUB/WAVE▲102Self-hosted radio with an AI DJ and one shared stream
Jul 2026 · getsubwave.com · its alternatives →
- 8
Using only a Raspberry Pi and an $11 video capture dongle, you can create your own KVM over IP device, allowing you to send keyboard input to a remote computer and capture its display.
2020 · mtlynch.io · its alternatives →
- 9BA
Hi. I heard HN likes e-paper gadgets so I wanted to share a little side project I’ve been working on with @sqfmi. We’re building Beepberry - a portable e-paper computer for hackers, designed for chatting on Beeper. My day job is running Beeper [0], but I will always have a soft spot for building hardware. I wanted to create a ‘weekend’ device that would let me stay in touch with friends and family, without the distractions of a full smartphone. I imagined a tiny, hackable e-paper screen with a physical keyboard, powered by a Raspberry Pi, that I could use to chat around my home…and pretty…
2023 · beepberry.sqfmi.com · its alternatives →
- 10
- 11
New Raspberry Pi Zero with wireless LAN and Bluetooth
2017 · raspberrypi.com · its alternatives →
- 12
Building a Bus Clock for my House using a Raspberry PI and Python. I won't miss the bus ever again!
2022 · purplehoisin.com · its alternatives →
- 13
Pi-card is an AI powered voice assistant running locally on a Raspberry Pi. It is capable of doing anything a standard LLM (like ChatGPT) can do in a conversational setting. In addition, if there is a camera equipped, you can also ask Pi-card to take a photo, describe what it sees, and then ask questions about that. It uses distributed models so latency is something I'm working on, but I am curious on where this could go, if anywhere. Very much a WIP. Feedback welcome :-)
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 14
A low power 1U Raspberry Pi cluster server for inexpensive colocation. - pawl/raspberry-pi-1u-server
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 15BA
Hello Hacker News, My co-founder and I have spent the better part of years developing a completely hackable Home Automation toolset that runs on a Raspberry Pi, or any machine running Linux. With just a Raspberry Pi and a $45 Z-Wave dongle (https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Z-Stick-Z-Wave-create-gateway/...), you can run a complete home automation system! Our hub will support any Z-Wave or Z-Wave plus device. We are cloud hosted service that doesn't require you to purchase any proprietary hardware. Our hub software runs on NodeJS and is completely open source. We encourage…
2018 · its alternatives →
- 16
- 17
2017 · kelu124.gitbooks.io · its alternatives →
- 18
radio-active▲80Play more than 30K radio stations from your terminal
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 19
Raspberry Pi 2▲2882nd generation with faster processor and more memory
2015 · raspberrypi.org · its alternatives →
- 20HA
2012 · jordanburgess.com · its alternatives →
- 21
Schedule programs, manage media, hand off to live broadcasts, and keep a single internet radio station running from your own server.
Aug 2026 · rdio-docs.vercel.app · its alternatives →
- 22RP
2013 · blog.davidsingleton.org · its alternatives →
- 23
- 24RP
2013 · raspberry.io · its alternatives →
Also compare
- An easy way of broadcasting radio around you (looking for feedback) alternatives
- PIrateRF – Turn a $20 Raspberry Pi Zero into a 12-mode RF transmitter alternatives
- I hacked my microwave with a Raspberry Pi alternatives
- Multi-room audio with Snapcast and Raspberry Pi alternatives
- GreenPiThumb – A Raspberry Pi Gardening Bot alternatives
- Raspberry Pi 3 alternatives
Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →