Since the 1970’s homebrew computer kits have been popular with many electronic enthusiasts. As more companies moved to selling fully assembled computers, the home brew became more about selecting which hardware to put in your computer and less about building the computer itself. Homebrew clubs continued to form allowing computer enthusiasts to get together and discuss new hardware and software options.
This section is dedicated to the modern retro-computer homebrew hobbyist who are either looking to build their own 8-bit computer from kits or discrete components or who have developed modern day projects. If you have or know of a homebrew project not listed here, please feel free to reach out to us in the Contact Us section of this site.
Ben Eater’s breadboard computer kits (6502)
RC2014 Project (Z80)
Do you want to understand how computers work and maybe build one of your own?
Ben Eater has created a video series of 8-bit breadboard computers based on the 6502 processor. If you are interested in following along and building your own breadboard computer, you can source the parts yourself or purchase one or more of his kits by visiting
RC2014 is a simple 8 bit Z80 based modular computer originally built to run Microsoft BASIC. It is inspired by the home built computers of the late 70s and computer revolution of the early 80s. It is not a clone of anything specific, but there are suggestions of the ZX81, UK101, S100, Superboard II and Apple I in here. It nominally has 8K ROM, 32K RAM, runs at 7.3728MHz and communicates over serial at 115,200 baud.
Click here to visit the official website
Commander X-16
Welcome! The Commander X16 is David Murray aka The 8-Bit Guy’s dream computer, designed to evoke the same fondness and nostalgia many of us had for 8-Bit computers, whilst retaining closeness to the hardware from a programming perspective, unlike the Raspberry Pi and others. But more than that, it is intended not only as an educational tool but to solve some of the issues of finding an 8-Bit system to tinker with today; namely ever-increasing costs, auction site price gouging/sniping, lack of replacement parts, and unreliability of 30-year old hardware.