Best Mini PCs for Home Servers in 2026
Quick Recommendation
Buy a Beelink EQ14 with an Intel N150. It costs around $160, sips 6–10W at idle, runs silent, and handles Plex, Nextcloud, Home Assistant, Pi-hole, and a dozen Docker containers without breaking a sweat. For most self-hosters, this is the sweet spot — you’ll spend more on electricity running a traditional tower in one year than you will buying this outright.
If you need more grunt for Plex 4K transcoding or running Proxmox with multiple VMs, step up to the Beelink EQ12 Pro (Intel N305, 8 cores) at around $350. If you want maximum performance and don’t mind spending $400+, look at the Beelink SER5 Max (AMD Ryzen 7 5800H).
What to Look For
CPU: The Only Spec That Really Matters
For self-hosting, you need a CPU that balances performance with power efficiency. Here’s the hierarchy:
- Intel N100/N150 (4 cores, 6W TDP): Handles 90% of self-hosting workloads. Enough for a dozen containers, one or two Plex 1080p transcodes, and light VM use.
- Intel N305 (8 cores, 15W TDP): Double the cores for heavy multi-container setups, Proxmox with several VMs, or multiple Plex transcodes.
- AMD Ryzen 5/7 (6–8 cores, 15–45W TDP): Overkill for most self-hosters but necessary for 4K Plex transcoding to multiple clients, heavy computation, or running a dozen VMs.
Intel Quick Sync (Plex Users: Read This)
Intel CPUs from Alder Lake onward (12th gen+, including N100/N150/N305) have hardware video transcoding via Quick Sync. This means a 6W N100 can transcode 4K→1080p Plex streams without breaking a sweat — something an AMD Ryzen chip without equivalent GPU acceleration can’t match. If you run Plex or Jellyfin with remote users, prioritize Intel.
RAM
16 GB DDR4 or DDR5 is the minimum you should buy. RAM is cheap, and containers add up. Docker overhead is small, but running Nextcloud + Immich + Jellyfin + Home Assistant + a database or two will consume 8–12 GB easily. Buy 16 GB. If the unit supports 32 GB and you plan to run VMs, consider it.
Storage
Most mini PCs ship with a single M.2 NVMe slot. A 500 GB SSD is enough for the OS, Docker volumes, and app data. Store your media, photos, and backups on a separate NAS or external drive — don’t try to stuff 10 TB into a mini PC.
Networking
Look for dual Ethernet ports — one for your LAN, one for management or as a WAN port if you’re running a firewall. Bonus if it’s 2.5 GbE instead of 1 GbE. Wi-Fi is irrelevant for a server — always use wired Ethernet.
Power Supply
The included barrel-jack adapter is fine. These units draw so little power that efficiency ratings (80+ Bronze, etc.) don’t matter the way they do for full towers.
Top Picks
1. Beelink EQ14 — Best Overall
The EQ14 ships with an Intel N150 (the N100’s successor — 6–10% faster, same power envelope), 16 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD, dual 2.5 GbE, and Wi-Fi 6.
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Twin Lake N150 (4C/4T, up to 3.6 GHz) |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 500 GB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Networking | Dual 2.5 GbE |
| Ports | 3x USB 3.2, 1x USB-C, 2x HDMI |
| Idle power | ~6–8 W |
| Load power | ~12–15 W |
| Price | ~$160 (as of Feb 2026) |
Pros:
- Dual 2.5 GbE is rare at this price
- N150 is a meaningful bump over N100 for the same TDP
- Expandable storage with dual M.2 slots
- Silent under normal workloads
Cons:
- DDR4, not DDR5 (marginal impact for server workloads)
- Only 4 cores — not enough for heavy VM use
Best for: The typical self-hoster running Docker containers. Plex + Nextcloud + Pi-hole + Home Assistant + a database or two. This handles it all at 8W idle.
2. GMKtec NucBox G3 Plus — Best Budget
At $150, the G3 Plus packs an N150, 16 GB DDR4, and a 512 GB SSD. It’s barebones but does the job.
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel N150 (4C/4T, up to 3.6 GHz) |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Networking | 1x 2.5 GbE |
| Ports | 3x USB 3.2, 2x HDMI |
| Idle power | ~6–8 W |
| Load power | ~12–15 W |
| Price | ~$150 (as of Feb 2026) |
Pros:
- Cheapest N150 option with 16 GB RAM
- 2.5 GbE included
- Compact form factor
Cons:
- Single Ethernet port — no second NIC for firewall setups
- Build quality a step below Beelink/Minisforum
- Single M.2 slot
Best for: Budget-conscious self-hosters who want to spend the minimum for a capable server.
3. Beelink EQ12 Pro — Best for Heavy Workloads
The EQ12 Pro steps up to the Intel Core i3-N305 — 8 cores and 8 threads. This is what you want if you’re running Proxmox with multiple VMs, handling many simultaneous Plex transcodes, or running compute-heavy containers like Immich’s machine learning.
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i3-N305 (8C/8T, up to 3.8 GHz) |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR5 |
| Storage | 500 GB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Networking | Dual 2.5 GbE |
| Ports | 4x USB 3.2, 1x USB-C, 2x HDMI |
| Idle power | ~8–12 W |
| Load power | ~30–40 W |
| Price | ~$350 (as of Feb 2026) |
Pros:
- 8 cores at 15W TDP — serious multitasking without serious power bills
- DDR5 RAM
- Dual 2.5 GbE
- Intel Quick Sync for hardware transcoding
Cons:
- $200 more than an N150 unit — worth it only if you need the extra cores
- Still 16 GB RAM (enough for most, but check if upgradeable to 32 GB for VM-heavy setups)
Best for: Proxmox users running 3+ VMs. Multi-user Plex servers. Immich with ML processing. Anyone who needs 8 cores but still wants single-digit idle watts.
4. Beelink SER5 Max — Best Performance
When 8 efficient cores aren’t enough, the SER5 Max brings AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (8C/16T) muscle. This is a full desktop-class CPU in a mini PC chassis.
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (8C/16T, up to 4.4 GHz) |
| RAM | 24 GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 500 GB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Networking | 1x 1 GbE |
| Ports | 4x USB 3.2, 1x USB-C, 2x HDMI |
| Idle power | ~15–25 W |
| Load power | ~55–65 W |
| Price | ~$420 (as of Feb 2026) |
Pros:
- 16 threads for serious VM and container density
- Strong single-core performance
- Good for compute-heavy workloads (media encoding, CI runners)
Cons:
- Higher power draw — 15–25W idle vs 6–8W for an N150
- Only 1 GbE (add a USB 2.5 GbE adapter or PCIe NIC)
- AMD Radeon iGPU can’t match Intel Quick Sync for Plex transcoding
- Louder under load
Best for: Power users who need raw compute. DevOps/CI workloads. Running 10+ VMs on Proxmox. Not the best choice for Plex transcoding — the Intel N305 does that better at one-third the power.
5. Used Dell OptiPlex 7050 Micro — Best Value
A refurbished OptiPlex 7050 Micro with an i7-7700T gives you 4C/8T at around $150–200 on eBay. It’s not as power-efficient as an N100, but the price-to-performance ratio is unbeatable if you don’t mind 20–35W idle draw.
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-7700T (4C/8T, up to 3.8 GHz) |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 (upgradeable to 32 GB) |
| Storage | 256 GB M.2 NVMe (upgrade to 1 TB for ~$50) |
| Networking | 1x 1 GbE |
| Ports | 6x USB 3.0, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI |
| Idle power | ~20–35 W |
| Load power | ~50–65 W |
| Price | ~$150–200 refurbished (as of Feb 2026) |
Pros:
- Unbeatable price for the performance
- Intel Quick Sync (7th gen — fewer codec profiles than N100 but still useful)
- 32 GB RAM capacity
- Rock-solid enterprise build quality
- Abundant on the used market
Cons:
- 3–5x the idle power of an N100 mini PC — adds ~$20–40/year in electricity
- Older platform — no DDR5, no PCIe 4.0
- No 2.5 GbE
- No Wi-Fi (irrelevant for a server)
Best for: Budget builds where upfront cost matters more than long-term electricity costs. Also great as a second/test server.
Full Comparison Table
| Beelink EQ14 | GMKtec G3 Plus | Beelink EQ12 Pro | Beelink SER5 Max | Dell OptiPlex 7050 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | N150 (4C/4T) | N150 (4C/4T) | i3-N305 (8C/8T) | Ryzen 7 5800H (8C/16T) | i7-7700T (4C/8T) |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 | 16 GB DDR4 | 16 GB DDR5 | 24 GB DDR4 | 16 GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 500 GB NVMe | 512 GB NVMe | 500 GB NVMe | 500 GB NVMe | 256 GB NVMe |
| Ethernet | 2x 2.5 GbE | 1x 2.5 GbE | 2x 2.5 GbE | 1x 1 GbE | 1x 1 GbE |
| Idle power | ~7 W | ~7 W | ~10 W | ~20 W | ~28 W |
| Load power | ~14 W | ~14 W | ~35 W | ~60 W | ~58 W |
| Price | ~$160 | ~$150 | ~$350 | ~$420 | ~$175 |
| Quick Sync | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (AMD) | Yes (limited) |
Power Consumption and Running Costs
Power consumption is the hidden cost of a home server. Here’s what each pick costs to run 24/7 at $0.12/kWh (US average):
| Mini PC | Idle (W) | Annual Cost (idle) | Load (W) | Annual Cost (load) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beelink EQ14 (N150) | 7 | $7.36 | 14 | $14.72 |
| GMKtec G3 Plus (N150) | 7 | $7.36 | 14 | $14.72 |
| Beelink EQ12 Pro (N305) | 10 | $10.51 | 35 | $36.79 |
| Beelink SER5 Max (Ryzen 7) | 20 | $21.02 | 60 | $63.07 |
| Dell OptiPlex 7050 (i7-7700T) | 28 | $29.44 | 58 | $60.96 |
The N150 units cost less than $8/year in electricity. Compare that to a traditional tower server drawing 100W idle: $105/year. Over 5 years, the N150 saves you $490 in electricity alone — more than the cost of the mini PC itself.
What Can You Run?
On an N100/N150 (4 cores, 16 GB RAM):
- Pi-hole or AdGuard Home — DNS ad blocking
- Nextcloud — file sync and storage
- Immich — photo management (ML features will be slow but functional)
- Jellyfin or Plex — media server with 1–2 hardware transcodes
- Home Assistant — home automation
- Vaultwarden — password management
- Uptime Kuma — monitoring
- Nginx Proxy Manager — reverse proxy
- All of the above simultaneously — they’ll use about 8–12 GB RAM combined
On an N305 (8 cores, 16 GB RAM):
- Everything above, plus:
- Proxmox with 2–3 lightweight VMs
- Multiple simultaneous Plex 4K→1080p transcodes
- Immich with faster ML processing
- Heavier databases (PostgreSQL with large datasets)
- CI/CD runners (Gitea Actions, Drone)
On a Ryzen 7 (8 cores/16 threads, 24+ GB RAM):
- Everything above, plus:
- Proxmox with 5+ VMs
- Heavy computation (media encoding, large builds)
- Multiple development environments
- Small Kubernetes cluster (k3s)
FAQ
Should I buy new or used?
Buy new if you value power efficiency and a warranty. A $160 N150 mini PC will pay for itself vs. a used tower through electricity savings within 2 years. Buy used (Dell OptiPlex) if upfront cost is the priority and you don’t mind higher power bills.
Do I need ECC RAM for a home server?
No. ECC RAM prevents bit-flip errors, which matter for enterprise file servers and ZFS pools holding irreplaceable data. For a home Docker server, standard RAM is fine. If you’re running TrueNAS with ZFS, ECC is recommended but not required.
Can I run Proxmox on these?
Yes, all of them. The N100/N150 handles 1–2 lightweight VMs well. The N305 and Ryzen options handle more. For serious virtualization, get the EQ12 Pro or SER5 Max and upgrade RAM to 32 GB.
Should I get a mini PC or build a NAS?
Different tools for different jobs. A mini PC is a general-purpose server — run Docker containers, VMs, and services. A NAS is optimized for storage — multiple drive bays, RAID, data redundancy. Many self-hosters run both: a mini PC for compute and a NAS for storage. See our Best NAS for Home Server guide.
How do I add more storage to a mini PC?
Most mini PCs have one M.2 slot and sometimes a 2.5” SATA bay. For bulk storage, connect a USB 3.0 external drive or a NAS over the network. Don’t try to turn a mini PC into a storage server — that’s what NAS devices are for.
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