Xerxes Pi 2026 and Nano: A $49 Raspberry Pi CM5 Homelab Kit

Building a homelab usually means juggling power bricks, USB hubs and a tangle of cases. Rapid Analysis wants to make that tidier. The company, whose Xerxes Pi raised funds in 2025, has launched a new Kickstarter for a Xerxes Home Lab ecosystem. It has two carrier boards: the slim Xerxes Pi 2026 for Raspberry Pi CM4 and CM5 modules, and the larger Xerxes Nano for NVIDIA Jetson and Turing RK1 modules. According to CNX Software, the campaign has already passed its funding goal.

• Xerxes Pi 2026: Raspberry Pi CM4 and CM5 support, an M.2 NVMe slot on the underside, gigabit Ethernet with optional PoE+, and a 120 x 40 mm blade footprint
• Xerxes Nano: NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super (up to 16GB) or Turing RK1 (up to 32GB), M.2 PCIe Gen 3, an SFP+ cage and an OCuLink port
• Pricing: Kickstarter rewards start at $49 for one Xerxes Pi 2026 board with PoE accessories, heatsink and enclosure
• Funding: the campaign has passed its $6,996 (AU$10,000) goal

Xerxes Pi 2026 Specs: A Blade for Raspberry Pi CM5

The Xerxes Pi 2026 is a narrow carrier board that stands upright in a 1U rack. It accepts Raspberry Pi CM4 and CM5 compute modules, plus compatible alternatives, through two 100-pin connectors. The headline upgrade over the 2025 board is an M.2 M-key socket on the underside. It runs at PCIe Gen 2 x1 for NVMe SSDs, and a microSD slot covers modules without eMMC.

Networking uses a Broadcom gigabit Ethernet port with optional PoE or PoE+. A single network cable can power and connect each blade, which makes a stack of Raspberry Pi boards far neater. Other features include:

• Qwiic connector for I2C and I2S peripherals, including digital audio
• Mezzanine connector breaking out CSI camera and HDMI signals
• Serial debug header and boot jumper for headless setup and easy OS flashing
• PWM fan header and status LEDs, powered by USB-C or PoE

What Can the Xerxes Nano Run?

The Xerxes Nano is the local-AI half of the kit. It is a 120 x 60 mm board for NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super modules with up to 16GB, or Turing RK1 modules with up to 32GB of RAM. It offers up to three lanes of M.2 PCIe Gen 3 storage, gigabit Ethernet with PoE, and an SFP+ cage for faster networking. The standout is an OCuLink port that can connect external GPUs, AI accelerators or other PCIe devices. CNX notes that support depends on the module, drivers and power budget.

Both boards run the operating systems their modules support, including Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu Server and NVIDIA JetPack. That means familiar self-hosted apps such as Docker, Home Assistant, Immich and Open WebUI work as expected.

How Much Does the Xerxes Home Lab Cost?

According to CNX Software, the Kickstarter tiers are:

• Gadgeteer, $49: one Xerxes Pi 2026 board, PoE accessories, heatsinks and an enclosure
• Ultimate Home Lab, $280: six Xerxes Pi boards with a mini rack
• Agentic AI Studio, $280: one Xerxes Nano, four Xerxes Pi boards and a rack
• Ultimate Enterprise, about $559: twelve boards

Rapid Analysis also previewed the Xerxes Compute Module X. It is a "Lite" CM5 alternative built on a Rockchip RK3566 with a 1 TOPS NPU and 8GB of RAM. It is offered as a roughly $100 add-on with estimated shipping in December 2026.

Open-Source Homelab Hardware

This project is unusually open. KiCad design files for the Xerxes Pi are on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license. Printable rack designs range from single-board enclosures to 12-slot 19-inch racks. An open-source macOS menu-bar app finds boards over SSH, monitors RAM, disk and fan speed, and manages Docker containers. Windows and Linux versions are planned.

If you are planning your first rack, our Home Assistant hardware guide and earlier look at CM5 carrier boards for drones and robots are good companions. For more Raspberry Pi and SBC news, see our mini computer coverage. As with any crowdfunded hardware, back with realistic expectations on delivery timing.

Sources: CNX Software — October 16, 2026; Rapid Analysis Xerxes repository, GitHub — October 2026.