Updated November 2026 for Home Assistant 2026.10 and the current Raspberry Pi Imager. Home Assistant OS is the only install method on a Pi that is still officially supported, and it is the one this guide uses.
A Raspberry Pi is still the most common way to start with Home Assistant. It is cheap, quiet, uses a few watts, and runs Home Assistant OS, which handles updates, backups and apps for you. The whole install takes about 30 minutes, most of it waiting.
What you need
- A Raspberry Pi 5 or Pi 4 with 4 GB of RAM or more. A Raspberry Pi 5 kit with the official power supply and an active cooler is the simplest buy.
- The official power supply. 27 W USB-C for the Pi 5, 15 W for the Pi 4. Weak phone chargers are the number one cause of random reboots and corrupted cards.
- Storage. A 32 GB or larger high endurance microSD card works, but an SSD (solid state drive) lasts much longer under Home Assistant’s constant database writes. On a Pi 5, an M.2 NVMe HAT with an SSD is the best option. NVMe is a small, fast type of SSD, and a HAT is an add-on board that sits on top of the Pi. On a Pi 4, use a USB 3 SSD.
- An Ethernet cable for the first boot.
- Optional: a Zigbee or Thread radio. If you plan to use Zigbee sensors or Matter over Thread devices (both are low power wireless standards used by many sensors and bulbs), a USB radio like the Home Assistant Connect ZBT lets the Pi talk to them directly. Plug it in with a short USB extension cable so it sits away from the Pi’s USB 3 ports, which cause interference.
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SONOFF ZBDongle-E (Zigbee 3.0 USB)Cheap, well supported Zigbee coordinator for ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT.Check price on AliExpressAqara Hub M3 (Matter controller, Thread border router)Brings Aqara Zigbee devices into Matter and acts as a Thread border router.Check price on AliExpress
Intel N100 mini PCLow power, often fanless, plenty for Home Assistant, Frigate and a few containers.Check price on AliExpressWhich Raspberry Pi should you use
- Pi 5 (4 GB or 8 GB): the best choice for a new install. Fast, and it boots from NVMe.
- Pi 4 (4 GB or 8 GB): still perfectly fine for a typical home.
- Pi 3: it runs the 64-bit image, but the UI, history and updates are slow. Use it only to try things out.
- Pi Zero, Pi 1, Pi 2: not supported.
If you already own an old mini PC or office desktop, that is often a better host than a Pi. More on that option at the end.
Step 1: Install Raspberry Pi Imager
Download Raspberry Pi Imager from raspberrypi.com/software for Windows, macOS or Linux and open it. It has Home Assistant OS in its list, so you do not need to download an image separately.
Step 2: Flash Home Assistant OS
- Connect your microSD card or SSD to your computer. For an NVMe drive, use a USB enclosure for flashing.
- In Imager, click Choose device and pick your Pi model.
- Click Choose OS, then Other specific-purpose OS > Home assistants and home automation > Home Assistant, and select the Home Assistant OS image for your Pi.
- Click Choose storage and select your card or SSD. Double check it is the right drive, because it gets wiped.
- Click Next. If Imager offers OS customisation, skip it. Home Assistant OS does its own setup.
- Confirm and wait for the write and verify to finish.
Balena Etcher still works if you prefer it, but then you need to download the image yourself from the Home Assistant installation page.
Step 3: First boot
- Put the card or SSD in the Pi (or mount the NVMe drive on its HAT).
- Connect Ethernet, then power.
- Wait. The first boot downloads the latest Home Assistant and can take up to 20 minutes. Do not pull the power during this.
Step 4: Open Home Assistant and onboard
On a computer or phone on the same network, go to:
http://homeassistant.local:8123If that name does not resolve, look up the Pi’s IP address in your router’s client list and use http://192.168.1.50:8123 with your own IP. The preparation screen shows progress until it is ready.
In the onboarding wizard you can either create a new smart home or restore a backup. For a new one, create your user, set your home location (used for sunrise, sunset and the weather), choose your units and currency, and look at the devices Home Assistant discovered on your network. You can skip any you do not want yet.
Step 5: Do these five things right away
- Reserve the IP address. In your router, create a DHCP reservation for the Pi. That is a setting that gives a device the same network address every time, so Home Assistant is always at the same place.
- Install updates. Settings > System > Updates, or the Updates entry at the top of Settings.
- Turn on automatic backups. Settings > System > Backups. Store copies off the Pi, on a network share or Home Assistant Cloud. An SD card is not a backup location. Our backup and recovery guide has the details, including the encryption key you must save.
- Add a few useful apps. File editor and Terminal & SSH are the usual first ones. Apps are extra programs that run next to Home Assistant. Since Home Assistant 2026.2 add-ons are called apps, under Settings > Apps. See our list of must-have apps.
- Get community integrations. On 2026.11 and newer they come from the built-in Marketplace, on older versions from HACS. Our HACS guide covers both.
For the rest of the basic setup (areas, users, the energy dashboard and so on), follow our first steps in Home Assistant guide.
Moving from a microSD card to an SSD later
You do not have to reinstall from scratch. Create a full backup and download it, flash Home Assistant OS to the SSD the same way as above, boot from the SSD and choose to restore the backup during onboarding. On a Pi 4 you may need to update the bootloader first so it can boot from USB. Raspberry Pi Imager has a bootloader option under Misc utility images.
Troubleshooting
- homeassistant.local does not load. Wait the full 20 minutes, then try the IP address. Some networks and older Windows setups do not resolve .local names.
- It worked, then started freezing. Check the power supply first, then the SD card. A failing card causes slow pages, failed updates and database errors.
- Zigbee devices drop off. Move the USB radio away from the Pi and SSD with an extension cable. USB 3 noise sits right on the 2.4 GHz band.
- The Pi 5 runs hot. Use the active cooler. A throttled Pi feels like a slow Home Assistant.
When a Pi is not enough
A Pi 5 handles a normal home with hundreds of entities easily. You outgrow it when you want local voice processing, camera object detection, or to run other services next to Home Assistant. At that point a used mini PC running Home Assistant OS is the usual next step. We cover the wider picture in self-hosting Home Assistant without the cloud. One thing to know if you go that way: some cheap NVMe drives have a power saving bug that can freeze the whole machine. We explain the fix in this NVMe freeze write-up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Raspberry Pi is best for Home Assistant in 2026?
A Raspberry Pi 5 with 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM, ideally booting from an NVMe SSD. A Pi 4 with 4 GB or more is still fine. A Pi 3 works but is slow.
Can I run Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 3?
Yes, with the 64-bit Home Assistant OS image, but expect a slow interface and long update times. It is fine for testing, not for a home you rely on.
Should I use a microSD card or an SSD?
An SSD. Home Assistant writes to its database all the time, which wears out microSD cards. If you start on a card, use a high endurance one and keep backups off the Pi.
Why can I not reach homeassistant.local:8123?
The first boot can take up to 20 minutes. After that, use the Pi’s IP address from your router, for example http://192.168.1.50:8123, since some networks do not resolve .local names.
Do I need Ethernet for Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi?
It is strongly recommended for the first boot and for daily use. You can set up Wi-Fi later under Settings > System > Network, but a wired connection is more reliable.
