RP2040 vs Arduino UNO: which board for learning and making?
The RP2040 is a 32-bit dual-core design with programmable I/O that can become almost any interface. The Arduino UNO R3 is the 8-bit classic with the largest tutorial library in hobby electronics. On raw specs the Pico wins nearly everywhere except 5 V logic and ecosystem, and this page compares both on Raspberry Pi’s and Arduino’s own figures.
Specifications
| Specification | RP2040 (Pico) | Arduino UNO R3 |
|---|---|---|
| MCU | Arm Cortex-M0+, 32-bit | Microchip ATmega328P, 8-bit AVR |
| Cores / clock | Dual-core, up to 133 MHz | Single-core, 16 MHz |
| RAM / flash | 264 KB SRAM in six banks; firmware runs from external QSPI flash — 2 MB on Pico boards | 2 KB SRAM, 1 KB EEPROM, 32 KB flash (0.5 KB reserved for the bootloader) |
| Radios | None on the chip. The Pico W adds 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (802.11n) and Bluetooth 5.2 on board | None |
| Voltage | 1.8–3.3 V I/O; Pico boards accept about 1.8–5.5 V on VSYS and generate 3.3 V themselves | 5 V logic; 7–12 V into the power jack recommended (6–20 V limit) |
| Typical power | SLEEP and DORMANT states; no deep-sleep figure is published, so the board around the chip decides | No low-power modes or sleep currents are published: the board draws operating current whenever it is powered |
| Price class | Budget. Raspberry Pi publishes $4 for the Pico and $6 for the Pico W | Mid. About $29 from Arduino’s official store |
Figures are typical values from the linked sources, not guarantees. Prices are the manufacturers’ published prices where they publish one; resellers vary.
How to choose
Choose the RP2040 when…
- The project is I/O-heavy: PIO state machines implement interfaces the ATmega328P cannot even sample, from LED protocols to VGA.
- Memory matters: 264 KB of SRAM leaves room for buffers that 2 KB never will.
- The budget is tight — $4 buys the full chip on a Pico board.
Choose the Arduino UNO when…
- The lesson, shield or library you are building on assumes an UNO and 5 V parts.
- You want the microcontroller socketed and replaceable when a pin dies.
- The project is meant to stay small: 32 KB of flash imposes that, and the constraint is part of the learning.
Where to go next
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