Installing Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi 4 & 5 – Complete Guide

Running Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi is one of the most cost‑effective and flexible ways to build your smart home hub. Whether you choose the well‑established Raspberry Pi 4 or the faster, more future‑proof Raspberry Pi 5, both offer a compact, energy‑efficient platform capable of managing lights, sensors, cameras, and automations with ease. This guide walks you through everything from hardware selection to first boot, so you can get your system up and running in minutes.

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Raspberry Pi 4

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Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kit

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1. Why Raspberry Pi 4 & 5 Are Great for Home Assistant

Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 are popular choices for running Home Assistant due to their compact size, low power consumption, and solid performance for small to medium smart home setups.

• Raspberry Pi 4: Quad‑core Cortex‑A72, up to 8GB RAM.

• Raspberry Pi 5: Quad‑core Cortex‑A76 (2.4 GHz), faster I/O with PCIe, up to 8GB RAM. If you’re looking for better performance and future‑proofing, Pi 5 offers noticeable speed improvements in database operations and add‑on responsiveness.

2. Required Hardware

To get started, prepare the following:

• Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 (minimum 2GB RAM, 4GB+ recommended)

• MicroSD Card – Application Class 2 (A2) or better, at least 32GB

• Official Power Supply – Pi 4: 5V/3A USB‑C, Pi 5: 27W USB‑C PD

• SD Card Reader (built‑in or USB)

• Ethernet Cable – Required for installation; can switch to Wi‑Fi later, but wired is more reliable

• (Optional) HDMI cable + monitor for troubleshooting

💡 Tip: Avoid mobile phone chargers or PC USB ports — they may not provide stable power.

3. Writing the Home Assistant OS Image

The easiest way is to use Raspberry Pi Imager:

1. Download Raspberry Pi Imager and install it.

2. Choose your device: Raspberry Pi 4 or 5.

3. Select the OS: Other specific‑purpose OS → Home assistants and home automation → Home Assistant. Make sure you choose the correct version for your Pi model.

4. Insert your MicroSD card and select it as storage.

5. Click Write and wait for the process to complete.

6. Safely eject the SD card.

If Pi Imager is unavailable for your system, manually download the Pi 5 image or Pi 4 image and flash it using Balena Etcher.

4. First Boot & Accessing Home Assistant

1. Insert the MicroSD card into your Raspberry Pi.

2. Connect the Pi to your router via Ethernet.

3. Plug in the power supply.

4. Wait ~1 minute (on Pi 4/5) for the system to initialize.

5. On your computer, open a browser and visit:

   • http://homeassistant.local:8123

   • Or http://homeassistant:8123 / http://<Pi_IP_Address>:8123 if the first option doesn’t work.

6. Complete the onboarding setup in your browser.

5. Troubleshooting Installation

• No web UI after 5 minutes: Re‑flash the SD card or try a different card.

• Boot issues: Connect a monitor via HDMI to view logs.

• Random reboots: Check that you’re using an adequate power supply.

6. Next Steps After Installation

• Create your first backup.

• Add integrations for your devices.

• Consider adding Zigbee, Z‑Wave, or Thread via USB dongles.

• For Pi 5: Explore upgrading to SSD storage via PCIe for faster performance.

7. Summary

With the right hardware and a reliable installation process, both Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 can be excellent platforms for Home Assistant. While Pi 4 is still capable for most use cases, Pi 5’s speed and expandability make it a stronger long‑term investment for larger smart home ecosystems.