Best Mini PCs for Proxmox Homelabs

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This guide helps you pick the best mini PC for Proxmox — five real, currently available machines across budget, mid-range, and premium tiers, with verified specs, honest trade-offs, and the context a newcomer needs to make a confident decision. Whether you’re flashing your first hypervisor or expanding to a multi-node cluster, the shortlist below covers it.

Why a Mini PC Makes Sense for a Proxmox Homelab

Proxmox VE is the homelab hypervisor of choice right now — free, open-source, and capable of running KVM virtual machines and LXC containers side-by-side, with ZFS storage management, clustering, and backup built in. The software side is sorted. The question every homelabber faces next is: do you build a full-size server rack, or do you run Proxmox on a mini PC?

For most home setups, the answer is the mini PC. A well-chosen one draws somewhere between 15 and 65 watts, fits on a shelf, makes almost no noise, and can run 8–15 VMs and containers simultaneously. Mini PCs save space and electricity — but buying the wrong one leads to bottlenecked virtual machines, restricted storage, and limited routing options. That’s what this guide is here to prevent.

If you’re also planning to run Home Assistant inside Proxmox — a very popular setup — take a look at our Best Zigbee Hub for Home Assistant guide for pairing ideas once your host is up and running.

What Actually Matters When Choosing a Proxmox Mini PC

Before the product picks, here’s what to pay attention to — because the spec sheet rarely tells the whole story:

• VT-x and VT-d (IOMMU): VT-x lets the CPU virtualise; VT-d (Intel) or AMD-Vi (AMD) lets you pass physical hardware — like a GPU or a USB Zigbee dongle — directly into a VM. Both need to be enabled in BIOS. AMD-based units generally enable this with less fuss in Proxmox.
• RAM ceiling and upgradeability: CPU benchmarks barely matter — a Ryzen 7 and a Core i5 will both run your containers just fine. RAM is the real bottleneck. Prioritise machines with socketed SO-DIMMs (not soldered), and aim for at least a 32 GB ceiling; 64 GB or 96 GB is better if you plan to grow.
• Dual storage slots: Two M.2 slots let you run a ZFS mirror — two NVMe drives in a RAID-1 configuration — which gives you data protection without needing a separate NAS. A single slot forces you to choose between the OS and your VM storage.
• NIC quality and count: Intel NICs (i225-V, i226-V) work out of the box on every major hypervisor. Realtek NICs work on Proxmox too, but can cause headaches if you ever try ESXi. Two NICs are valuable: they let you separate management traffic from VM traffic, or run a soft router like OPNsense in a VM.
• Thermal throttling: Some of these boxes benchmark great cold and then throttle hard after sustained load once the chassis heat-soaks. How much performance drops depends on TDP limit configuration, BIOS fan curve, and ambient cooling.

Quick-Pick Comparison Table

The Reviews

1. GMKtec NucBox G3 Plus — Best Budget Starter

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If you’re moving up from a Raspberry Pi and want a proper x86 machine to learn Proxmox on without spending real money, the G3 Plus is the most sensible starting point on this list. It’s powered by the Intel N150 — a four-core Twin Lake chip tuned for efficiency rather than raw performance — and it idles in Proxmox at a level of power consumption that makes leaving it on 24/7 essentially free to run. At 100% CPU load, you’re looking at around 21 watts, which is remarkable efficiency for a fully loaded machine.

Proxmox installs without drama on this hardware, and the Intel NIC means you won’t hit driver headaches if you ever want to spin up an OPNsense VM or experiment with ESXi. The RAM is a replaceable SO-DIMM slot that reaches 32 GB — more upgrade headroom than some rivals — and the top cover simply snaps off by hand, making storage and RAM swaps easy.

The catch: It ships with a single 2.5GbE port and no USB-C. For running Home Assistant, Pi-hole, a VPN gateway, and a couple of containers, that’s fine. If you want to segment VM traffic from management traffic, you’ll need a USB NIC or a managed switch. This is a learning machine and a light services box, not a router host.

• CPU: Intel N150, 4 cores
• RAM: Upgradeable SO-DIMM to 32 GB DDR4
• Storage: M.2 NVMe + SATA slots
• NIC: 1× 2.5GbE (Intel)
• Idle power: ~6–8W
• Price tier: Budget

2. Beelink EQ12 Pro — Budget Step-Up with 8 Cores and Dual Intel NICs

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The EQ12 Pro takes the same chassis as the base EQ12 and swaps in an Intel Core i3-N305 — an eight-core efficiency chip that delivers more CPU per watt than nearly anything else at this price tier. With 32 GB DDR5 and dual M.2 slots, a configured EQ12 Pro handles a real homelab stack: Proxmox running four to six VMs simultaneously with headroom to spare.

The networking situation is the EQ12 Pro’s headline feature for Proxmox users: it ships with dual 2.5GbE Intel adapters. That means out-of-the-box driver support on Proxmox and ESXi without any fiddling. You can bridge one NIC to your LAN for VM traffic and keep the other for Proxmox management — a clean separation that single-NIC budget machines cannot do. Users who’ve deployed it as a Proxmox node describe it as silent and trouble-free in long-term use.

The catch: The i3-N305 uses only efficiency cores with no Hyper-Threading, so per-thread performance is lower than AMD equivalents at a similar tier. It’s an excellent box for container-heavy workloads and light VMs, but if you’re planning to run beefy Windows VMs or compile code inside guests, step up to the SER8.

• CPU: Intel Core i3-N305, 8 efficiency cores, up to 3.8 GHz
• RAM: Up to 32 GB DDR5 (two SO-DIMM slots)
• Storage: Dual M.2 slots + 2.5-inch SATA bay
• NIC: 2× 2.5GbE (Intel)
• Price tier: Budget

3. Beelink SER8 — Best All-Round Mid-Range Proxmox Host

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For most homelabbers building a first or second Proxmox node, the SER8 hits the best balance of price, RAM ceiling, and compatibility. It’s powered by AMD’s Ryzen 7 8845HS — a Zen 4 part with 8 cores, 16 threads, and a 5.1 GHz boost clock. Beelink configures it up to 65 W in performance mode, and it sustains that without the hard throttling that plagues smaller chassis.

The storage configuration is a meaningful Proxmox advantage: it ships with two M.2 2280 NVMe slots running PCIe 4.0 x4. That means you can run a mirrored ZFS pool — two NVMe drives acting as a RAID-1 — for VM disk storage. ZFS mirror gives you bit-rot protection and read performance a single drive cannot match. The RAM is not soldered: two user-replaceable SO-DIMM slots support up to 64 GB DDR5-5600, with community reports of higher-density kits working in practice.

The 2.5GbE NIC uses the Intel i225-V controller — widely considered the most reliable consumer NIC for Proxmox, with driver issues largely resolved in kernel 6.8+. The Radeon 780M integrated GPU handles hardware video transcoding for Jellyfin or Plex via VAAPI inside an LXC container, without needing a discrete card. Beelink backs the SER8 with a three-year warranty — the longest in the compact desktop segment, and the most underrated specification in the buying decision.

The catch: One NIC only. If you need dual NICs for OPNsense or proper VM network separation, the UM890 Pro below is the better call. Community support around Beelink AMD units in the Proxmox forums is strong, which matters more than most specs when you’re troubleshooting at 11pm.

• CPU: Ryzen 7 8845HS, 8 cores / 16 threads, up to 5.1 GHz
• RAM: Up to 64 GB DDR5-5600 (two SO-DIMM slots)
• Storage: 2× M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 4.0
• NIC: 1× 2.5GbE (Intel i225-V)
• GPU: Radeon 780M (VAAPI transcoding)
• Warranty: 3 years
• Price tier: Mid-range

4. Minisforum UM890 Pro — Mid-Range with Dual NICs and OCuLink

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The UM890 Pro is the SER8’s main rival and wins on two specific points: it has dual 2.5GbE instead of one, and it adds dual USB4 ports plus an OCuLink port for fast external storage, networking adapters, or an external GPU dock. The Ryzen 9 8945HS is an eight-core, 16-thread Zen 4 chip a notch above the 8845HS, paired with the same Radeon 780M, so transcoding and iGPU workloads are covered.

The RAM ceiling is 96 GB on the official Minisforum page — significantly more headroom than the SER8’s 64 GB — and two user-upgradeable SO-DIMM slots make expansion straightforward. Two M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots with dedicated heatsinks keep NVMe temperatures in check under sustained VM disk I/O. The OCuLink port uses PCIe 4.0 x4 at roughly 64 Gbps — a faster path than USB4 for connecting an external GPU dock if you later want discrete inference acceleration.

The networking story is what makes this the right pick for anyone who wants to run a soft router or firewall VM alongside other services. Two separate 2.5GbE links let you put OPNsense or pfSense in a VM with one NIC bridged to WAN and one to LAN, while Proxmox management stays accessible on its own interface — a setup the SER8 cannot do cleanly with a single NIC.

The catch: The UM890 Pro chassis is bulkier than most 1-litre mini PCs. Some owners report the internal screws are overtightened from the factory, making first-time disassembly fiddly. Minisforum’s warranty is one year versus Beelink’s three — worth factoring into a 24/7 server decision.

• CPU: Ryzen 9 8945HS, 8 cores / 16 threads, up to 70.8 W TDP
• RAM: Up to 96 GB DDR5 (two SO-DIMM slots)
• Storage: 2× M.2 PCIe 4.0 (with NVMe heatsinks)
• NIC: 2× 2.5GbE + Wi-Fi 6E
• Expansion: OCuLink PCIe 4.0 x4, 2× USB4
• Price tier: Mid-range

5. Minisforum MS-01 — Premium Pick for Serious Clustering and 10GbE

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The MS-01 is in a different category entirely. It packs dual 10GbE SFP+ ports, dual 2.5GbE RJ45 ports, three NVMe M.2 slots, and a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot into a chassis roughly the size of a hardcover book. The SFP+ ports use the Intel X710 chip with independent heatsinks — the same controller found in enterprise gear — and it’s confirmed stable on Proxmox 8 using the standard ixgbe driver. No extra drivers, no hacks.

For Proxmox users, 10GbE matters the moment you want to move VM disk images between nodes, run Ceph distributed storage, or separate a fast storage network from your management network. With three NVMe slots, you can dedicate all internal storage to VM disk images and install Proxmox itself on a high-quality USB drive. The PCIe x16 slot lets you add a GPU for transcoding or inference — or a 10GBase-T card if you need copper 10GbE instead of SFP+. IOMMU is enabled in BIOS, which means GPU passthrough to VMs works.

Intel vPro support (on the i9-13900H SKU) gives you AMT remote management — remote KVM and out-of-band power control without a separate IPMI card. A rack mount for two MS-01 units is available, making a two-node Proxmox HA cluster possible in a 1U footprint.

The catch: The 10GbE ports are SFP+, not copper RJ45. To connect to a standard switch port, you need DAC (Direct Attach Copper) cables for short runs, or SFP+ transceivers for longer ones. Measured idle power sits around 25–29W — higher than the AMD boxes — and it gets louder under sustained load (approximately 44 dBA at full load). Buy it when you need what it offers, not because it looks good on a spec sheet.

• CPU: Intel Core i9-13900H, 14 cores / 20 threads
• RAM: Up to 64 GB DDR5 (two SO-DIMM slots; community reports of 96 GB)
• Storage: 3× M.2 NVMe + PCIe 4.0 x16 slot
• NIC: 2× 10GbE SFP+ (Intel X710) + 2× 2.5GbE RJ45 (i226-V)
• Management: Intel vPro / AMT
• Price tier: Premium

Which One Should You Actually Buy?

• Total beginner, tight budget: GMKtec NucBox G3 Plus. Flash Proxmox, spin up a Home Assistant VM, and learn the platform at almost zero running cost. Upgrade later when you know what you actually need.
• Budget with a bit more ambition: Beelink EQ12 Pro. Dual Intel NICs and eight cores open up network segmentation experiments that the G3 Plus cannot do.
• Most people, first proper Proxmox node: Beelink SER8. The three-year warranty, 64 GB RAM ceiling, dual NVMe for ZFS mirroring, and strong community support make it the lowest-risk mid-range choice.
• Need dual NICs or planning an eGPU later: Minisforum UM890 Pro. The second 2.5GbE and the OCuLink port justify the step up over the SER8 for those specific use cases.
• Running a multi-node cluster or need 10GbE: Minisforum MS-01. Nothing else in this form factor comes close for networking density and expansion.

If you’re running Home Assistant as one of your Proxmox VMs or LXC containers, you’ll also want to think about how you’re connecting your Zigbee devices. Our Zigbee Hub vs Dongle guide explains whether to pass a USB dongle through to your HA VM or use a network-based coordinator instead — a question that comes up constantly once Proxmox is running.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Proxmox install without issues on these mini PCs?

Generally yes. All five machines listed here have verified Proxmox installs reported by the community. Intel NIC machines (EQ12 Pro, MS-01) are recognised by the installer with no extra steps. AMD-based machines (SER8, UM890 Pro) work well too — AMDGPU loads without manual intervention, and IOMMU enables cleanly. The main thing to do before installing on any of them is to enter BIOS and verify that VT-d (Intel) or AMD-Vi (AMD) is enabled; it’s sometimes off by default. Proxmox’s own hardware forum is a good place to search for your exact model if you hit anything unexpected.

Can I run Home Assistant inside Proxmox on a budget N150 box?

Yes, comfortably. Running Home Assistant OS as a virtual machine in Proxmox is one of the most popular homelab setups right now. Even on an N150 machine like the G3 Plus, a Home Assistant VM alongside Pi-hole and a VPN gateway sits well within available CPU and RAM resources — the N150’s low idle power draw makes it well-suited to always-on service hosting. Just make sure your Zigbee or Z-Wave coordinator is either a network-attached device or properly passed through to the VM via USB.

What’s the difference between a VM and an LXC container in Proxmox, and which should I use?

A VM (virtual machine) is a fully isolated computer running inside your hardware — it has its own kernel, and the guest OS has no idea it’s virtualised. An LXC container shares the host’s Linux kernel but has its own filesystem and network namespace, making it far lighter on RAM and CPU. Run Home Assistant OS as a VM (it needs its own kernel and driver access), and run lightweight services like Pi-hole, Nginx Proxy Manager, or Wireguard as LXC containers. Proxmox makes creating both types straightforward — in the web UI, click Create VM or Create CT (CT stands for container) from the top-right button bar in the node view.