CONFIRMED
Arduino has ended the introductory pricing on its VENTUNO Q AI board. From 19 October the board sells at its official retail price of $399, up from $299. Arduino blames a sharp, industry-wide rise in memory module costs. Customers who already pre-ordered keep the old price.
What we know
Arduino confirmed the change in a post on the Arduino Blog titled “A letter to our community: VENTUNO Q reaches its official price,” dated 19 October 2026 and signed by Chief Product Officer Marcello Majonchi. The letter says of the $399 price that “it is the honest price of delivering this AI computer, and this much ambition, in today’s market.”
That works out to a $100 jump, roughly 33 percent. The Arduino US Store listing for the VENTUNO Q, SKU ABX00181, now shows $399.00.
On the reason, Arduino says the cost of key components, especially memory modules, has risen sharply across the industry and is still climbing. The company says it absorbed those increases for as long as it could.
The timeline matches what Arduino promised. According to the Arduino Blog, as quoted by Hackster.io, Arduino introduced the VENTUNO Q in March with a promise of an introductory price under $300. It opened orders in August at $299. Hackster.io reports that early buyers also got a bundled 65W USB PD power adapter.
Arduino says anyone who already pre-ordered keeps the introductory price, honored in full. The letter also says the board sold out twice and that orders have kept coming since.
The hardware hasn’t changed. Per Arduino’s product page:
- Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ-8275 processor, rated at 40 dense TOPS
- 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM shared by the NPU, CPU and GPU
- Octa-core Qualcomm Kryo CPU up to 2.36 GHz
- STM32H5F5 microcontroller at 250 MHz
- 64 GB industrial-grade eMMC, plus an M.2 slot for NVMe (PCIe Gen 4)
Arduino’s letter also says the software keeps improving at no extra cost. The next Arduino App Lab release will add new AI models and support for third-party accessories such as Raspberry Pi HATs and MIPI CSI cameras. Qualcomm Linux software stack support for the VENTUNO Q is already live in beta on GitHub.
Hackster.io’s headline calls the hike expected. Liliputing and Technobezz also reported the increase, citing Arduino’s statement on rising component costs.
What we don’t know yet
Arduino’s letter names memory modules as the main rising cost but gives no breakdown. We don’t know how much memory pricing moved or what share of the $100 it accounts for.
The letter doesn’t say whether $399 is fixed or whether memory prices could push it further. It also doesn’t say whether the 65W power adapter that Hackster.io says shipped with early orders is still included at the new price. Check the listing before you check out.
Arduino hasn’t given a release date for the next App Lab update with HAT and MIPI CSI camera support. It also hasn’t said when the Qualcomm Linux stack will leave beta.
What it means
The headline frames the hike as a deadline, but if you hadn’t ordered yet, it has already passed. The letter and the price change both land on 19 October, and the US store already shows $399. The $299 price now applies only to existing pre-orders. If you have one, keep it.
For everyone else, the question is whether the board is worth $399. The spec sheet makes a fair case. You get 16 GB of LPDDR5 shared across CPU, GPU and NPU, 40 dense TOPS, an M.2 slot with PCIe Gen 4 for fast NVMe storage, and a 250 MHz STM32H5F5 on board for real-time I/O. That last part matters for robot builders. The Linux side runs the models while the microcontroller handles motor timing and sensors without fighting a scheduler.
The memory explanation fits the hardware. A board built around 16 GB of LPDDR5 is exposed to memory pricing in a way a small microcontroller board is not. Arduino hasn’t published numbers, though, so treat the reason as the company’s account rather than an audited cost sheet.
The software roadmap is the other half of the value. Raspberry Pi HAT support would open up a big existing accessory market, and MIPI CSI cameras matter for vision projects. Both are promised for the next App Lab release, not shipping today. If your build depends on either one, wait for that release before spending $399.
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