I’m running HA Core 2024.12.5 and HA OS 14.1 mostly because I fear upgrading is going to not perform well.
Even with these current versions though, using AdGuard add-on for home networking and I get unresponsive DNS resolution which impacts Internet connectivity at home.
Is the Raspberry Pi 3 model B 1GB is just not enough to run Home Assistant anymore?
That seems to be the consensus according to other posts by pi 3b 1gb owners.
Ugh. I see. Thanks Max.
Is there a recommended low-cost mini form alternative to the Raspberry? I imagine the 4 and 5 versions are going to be similarly out of date in a few years as well.
I installed HA to Pi3 once, just out of curiosity and i remember that it was paaaaainfully slow…
Read another topic when we discussed about where to install HA:
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/what-or-where-should-i-install-home-assistant-os-to/818007
I would probably not get a 2Gb version, but the 4Gb and especially the 8Gb will most likely be fine for many many years to come.
I write “most likely” just because there can always be some extreme thing that moves the circumstances.
There’s also this thread from someone who moved from a Pi3A (!) to a Pi5 and who couldn’t believe the jump in speed and performance.
Like Wally said above, I wouldn’t worry about the newer Pis being out of date. If 1Gb of RAM served you well for a few years, 4Gb of RAM should serve you 4x as much*.
By that time, you’ll probably be looking at the Pi8 
*Obviously this only applies if you don’t overwhelm your new Pi with a ton of Addons.
I went from a pi3 to a 5 and it was a disaster:
Moved to an Intel N100 platform, cheaper, more performant and upgradeable
I confirm that moving from Pi3A+ to Pi5 was an enormous jump… it is 200 times faster and perfectly stable (currently always updating to latest versions)
Solved all problems with Pi5…
It is working fine for me.
And I’ve PiHole, ESPHome and a few other things running aside on the same Pi
RAM is fine, for a 1Gb SBC
X86 is cheap so buying pi’s have no purpose anymore.
Pi is fine at $30 USD but after that you can buy small form factor X86 for $80uSDvthat bring greater stability
My personally I buy used 1 or 2U rack server with old x86 dual core. Mostly was needed for storage bays but I would look at used desktop these days. Something that can hold 2drives and can take pci cards for TPU/GPU etc.
I use pi’s for small install running a few sensors but their real benefit in cost and that is gone
yeah that makes sense about x86 being more affordable like the Intel N100 mention but what of the power consumption? got a spare desktop pc I can use but my UPS would probably only make it last 20-30 minutes on power out which is a shame (I guess I can probably get days with a minipc)
I plan for performance and mitigate downtime.
If my power is out for >20minutes there is a significant issue and HA operating is not a concern.
Get a larger UPS if more “on battery” operation is required
Or. Buy na old laptop, which use less power and the battery can act as an extra layer of UPS
