Updated for 2026. This guide covers Home Assistant OS installation on Raspberry Pi 3, 4, and 5, using the current Raspberry Pi Imager workflow.

Install Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi: Complete Guide

Running Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi is the most popular self-hosted setup for smart homes. It’s local-first, energy efficient, and capable enough for hundreds of devices. This guide covers the modern install process using Raspberry Pi Imager (the official tool that replaced Balena Etcher for this purpose), works for Pi 3, Pi 4, and Pi 5, and answers the question everyone asks: yes, Pi 3 can run Home Assistant, but you probably shouldn’t use it.

Can You Run Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi 3?

Yes, but with caveats. The Raspberry Pi 3 (Pi 3 Model B and Pi 3 Model B+) can run Home Assistant OS, but the experience is noticeably slow. Database operations, the UI loading, and large automations all feel sluggish. Long-term you’ll outgrow the hardware quickly as you add integrations and history data.

For new installs, the recommendation is:

• Pi 5 (4GB or 8GB): best performance, NVMe storage support, easily handles 500+ entities. Recommended.
• Pi 4 (4GB or 8GB): still the most popular HA platform. Plenty fast for typical home setups.
• Pi 3: only if you already own one and it’s free. Will work for small setups (50-100 entities) but plan to migrate up.
• Pi Zero / Pi 1 / Pi 2: not supported. Don’t try.

Hardware Requirements

What you need to get started:

• Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB+) or Pi 5 (4GB+): Pi 5 if you can get one, Pi 4 is fine
• Power supply: official USB-C PSU (Pi 4 needs 3A, Pi 5 needs 5A). Cheap chargers cause SD corruption and random reboots. Use the official one.
• Storage: either a 32GB+ high-endurance microSD card (SanDisk High Endurance, Samsung PRO Endurance) OR an NVMe SSD with HAT (Pi 5) or USB SSD (Pi 4). SSD is highly recommended for long-term use – microSD wears out under HA’s constant writes.
• Ethernet cable: wired connection during setup is much more reliable than Wi-Fi
• Optional: case with fan: Pi 4 and Pi 5 run hot under load, especially Pi 5. An active cooling case prevents throttling

Step 1: Download Raspberry Pi Imager

Raspberry Pi Imager is the official Pi flashing tool. It’s free, available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and has Home Assistant OS baked into its OS picker – no need to download images separately.

Get it from raspberrypi.com/software. Install and open it.

Note: Balena Etcher used to be the recommended tool, and still works if you download the HA OS image manually. But Raspberry Pi Imager is the official choice now and the workflow is simpler.

Step 2: Flash Home Assistant OS

1. Insert your microSD card (or connect your SSD) to your computer
2. Open Raspberry Pi Imager
3. Click Choose Device: select your Pi model (Pi 4, Pi 5, etc.)
4. Click Choose OS: scroll to Other specific-purpose OS > Home assistants and home automation > Home Assistant
5. Select Home Assistant OS [your Pi version]
6. Click Choose Storage: pick your SD card or SSD
7. Click Next, then No when asked about custom settings (HA OS handles its own setup)
8. Confirm overwrite, wait for flash and verify (5-10 minutes)

Step 3: Boot Your Pi

1. Insert the flashed SD card or SSD into the Pi
2. Connect Ethernet cable (highly recommended for first boot)
3. Connect power
4. Wait 5-20 minutes on first boot – HA OS downloads the latest core and sets up. The Pi LED will flicker during this. Don’t unplug.

Step 4: Access Home Assistant

Once the first boot completes, open a browser on a computer on the same network and go to:

http://homeassistant.local:8123

If homeassistant.local doesn’t resolve (Windows without Bonjour, some networks), find the Pi’s IP address on your router admin page, then use:

http://[your-pi-ip]:8123

For example, http://192.168.1.50:8123.

You’ll see the onboarding screen. Create your admin account, set your location (used for sun/sunset automations and timezones), and you’re in. HA will auto-discover devices on your network during this step.

Step 5: Initial Configuration

After the onboarding wizard:

• Set a static IP or DHCP reservation: from your router, reserve the Pi’s IP so it doesn’t change. The IP is how integrations and other devices find Home Assistant.
• Set up backups: go to Settings > System > Backups. Configure automatic backups, ideally pushed to Google Drive, Nabu Casa, or a network share via an add-on.
• Update HA Core: check Settings > System > Updates. Apply any pending updates.
• Install add-ons: Settings > Add-ons. Useful starter add-ons: File Editor, SSH & Web Terminal, Samba share, Mosquitto MQTT broker (if you’ll use ESPHome or Shelly devices).

Pi 4 vs Pi 5 for Home Assistant

If you’re choosing between them:

• Performance: Pi 5 is roughly 2-3x faster than Pi 4 for typical HA workloads
• NVMe support: Pi 5 has a native PCIe slot for NVMe SSDs via an M.2 HAT. Pi 4 only does USB SSDs (slower, less reliable)
• Power consumption: Pi 5 draws more idle power and needs better cooling
• Price: Pi 5 is more expensive but the performance gap is worth it for new builds
• HA OS support: both are officially supported, fully working out of the box

For a new install in 2026, get a Pi 5 with an NVMe HAT and a small SSD. The setup costs more upfront but is the most reliable long-term.

SD Card vs SSD: Why SSD Matters

Home Assistant writes to disk constantly: database entries for every state change, log files, history graphs. SD cards have limited write cycles, and HA’s workload can wear out a consumer-grade SD in 6-18 months. Symptoms of a dying SD: random reboots, slow UI, integrations failing intermittently, corrupted database.

If you must use microSD, get a “High Endurance” model designed for surveillance cameras (SanDisk High Endurance, Samsung PRO Endurance). Otherwise, run HA from an SSD – either USB on Pi 4, or NVMe on Pi 5. You’ll thank yourself in a year.

Alternative: Home Assistant Yellow or Green

If building a Pi from scratch sounds like work, Nabu Casa (the company behind HA) sells turnkey hardware:

• Home Assistant Green: prebuilt small box, plug and play, ~$100. Best for beginners.
• Home Assistant Yellow: more powerful, includes Zigbee/Thread radio, supports CM4/CM5 compute modules, ~$200. Best if you want to skip the Pi setup entirely.

Both run HA OS, both are fully supported, both are essentially “Home Assistant Pi with extras”. For DIY-minded users, a Pi is cheaper and more flexible. For someone who just wants HA running, the Green is the simplest path.

Common First-Boot Issues

• Can’t reach homeassistant.local:8123: try the IP address instead. Check your router for an unknown device that appeared after powering the Pi.
• First boot takes forever: normal, 10-20 minutes is fine. The Pi is downloading the current HA version. Don’t pull power.
• Pi LED is solid green but no web access: HA is still installing in the background. Wait 30 minutes before troubleshooting.
• Random reboots after a few hours: underpowered USB-C charger. Use the official Pi power supply.
• Slow UI, especially on Pi 3 or Pi 4 with SD: the SD card is dying or always was slow. Move to SSD.

Conclusion

Installing Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi is straightforward with Raspberry Pi Imager – flash, boot, configure. The hardware choice matters more than the install process: pick Pi 4 or Pi 5, use an SSD if you can, plug in Ethernet for the first boot, and use the official power supply. With those four things right, the install is rock solid and your HA setup will run for years.