Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Kobol Helios64

Ultimate Arm Powered NAS

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Kobol Helios64 launched in 2020; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Everest AI▲100

   Building the world’s fastest IPMI single board computer

   Mar 2026 · everest.us.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Arm AGI CPU▲140

   The world’s most efficient agentic CPU

   Mar 2026 · arm.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM▲255

   Userspace macOS translation layer for Linux ARM64. Contribute to wie-project/kakehashi development by creating an account on GitHub.

   Aug 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Confidential computing for high-assurance RISC-V embedded systems▲103

   Dear HN community! Looking forward to hearing your feedback on ACE (assured confidential execution), technology that implements VM-based trusted execution environment (TEE) for embedded RISC-V systems with focus on a formally verified and auditable firmware. We target high-assurance systems that can benefit from compartmentalization and hardware-backed isolation. The key ingredient called security monitor (firmware) is implemented in Rust. The formal specification is defined as annotations directly in code and gets translated to Coq using RefinedRust automation. ACE design is now part of the…

   2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Google Axion▲126

   Google’s first custom Arm-based CPU designed for datacenters

   2024 · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Ocean▲205

   Linux server you can fit in your pocket.

   2016 · getocean.io · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Pinaslab▲6

   NAS for SSD 4 bay based on Raspberry Pi 5

   2025 · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Crabs All the Way Down – Running Rust on Logic Gates▲34

   Made an ARM Thumb CPU from scratch in a digital circuit simulator for fun and decided to push the joke a little further and run real stuff on it, like a Web server, a Scheme interpreter, a MIDI player, and a VT100 emulator. This is basically a how-did-we-get-here blogpost, it's my second one of this kind, I'd love any feedback you might have.

   2022 · zdimension.fr · its alternatives →

9. 9
   An AVR based 8-bit Microcomputer▲43

   DAN64 is a open software and open hardware project to build an 8-bit microcomputer using an AVR microcontroller.

   2015 · usebox.net · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Pine A64▲201

    First $15 64-Bit single board super computer

    2015 · kickstarter.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    A better PC builder for the US, more parts and Ryzen (Ask HN follow-up)▲66

    AMD Ryzen 7 5700G, , 16 GB Ram, ASRock X570 Taichi, AMD X570…

    2017 · pc-kombo.de · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Cerebras Wafer Scale Engine (WSE-3)▲102

    World’s fastest AI chip with whopping 4 trillion transistors

    2024 · cerebras.ai · its alternatives →

13. 13
    WarpBuild – x86-64 and arm GitHub Action runners for 30% faster builds▲154

    Hey HN, I’m Surya and I’m excited to show you WarpBuild! WarpBuild provides fast, secure `x86-64` and `arm64` Github actions runners. This speeds up your workloads by 30%, at half the cost, and takes ~2mins to get started. We’ve been seeing pretty good results since we opened up signups a week ago and I’ve shared some numbers publicly here [1]. Currently, we support linux runners for Github organizations (not personal accounts) and MacOS support is coming soon (~Jan). The way the runners work is deceptively simple: Runners are assigned to hardware that is ideal for build workloads with fast…

    2023 · warpbuild.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Nvidia Blackwell B200 GPU▲146

    The world’s most powerful chip’ for AI

    2024 · nvidia.com · its alternatives →

15. 15RA
    Rust, ARM Cortex M, and a Generated HAL▲137

    2016 · jamesmunns.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    PlanetScale Metal▲127

    The fastest way to run databases in AWS or GCP

    2025 · planetscale.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    GigaDrive▲109

    World's fastest 2,800MB/s transfer speed, 4TB external SSD

    2021 · indiegogo.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Surface Studio 2▲90

    Microsoft release their most powerful Surface yet

    2018 · microsoft.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    A nibble-oriented CPU in Verilog to build a scientific calculator▲119

    The core question: how did HP's scientific calculators actually work at the gate level? That rabbit hole led to building one from scratch. The architectural decision everything else follows from: a decimal calculator should store numbers as BCD — one decimal digit per 4-bit nibble. A standard byte-oriented CPU (Z80, 6502) fights that layout constantly. So I designed a small custom CPU in Verilog where 4 bits is the natural data width and memory is nibble addressable. What the project covers: - Custom CPU: Harvard architecture, 12-bit ISA, 8-state execution FSM, hardware stack guard with a…

    May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Compile for Arm at native speeds in an emulated system▲63

    Runs AWS graviton2 images on intel, with native-speed compile times - valkmit/aws-graviton2-on-intel

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    O'Reilly Hardware - Chris Anderson on the future of drones and the open source hardware movement▲54

    Value is in the data, not the drone

    2016 · oreilly.com · its alternatives →

22. 22
    Helios▲66

    An extensible open-source mobile backend framework

    2014 · globalli.io · its alternatives →

23. 23
    TurboHub▲96

    Fast all-in-one SSD & multiport adapter

    2020 · kickstarter.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    DOCKCASE▲75

    World's safest M.2 NVMe smart SSD enclosure

    2022 · kickstarter.com · its 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 →