How to Set Up Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi in 2026

By Jeremy Koski · September 16, 2026

Home Assistant is the most powerful open-source smart home platform available. It runs locally, supports over 2,000 device integrations, and does not send your data to the cloud. Running it on a Raspberry Pi gives you a dedicated, low-power hub that stays on 24/7. This guide covers everything you need to get Home Assistant running on a Raspberry Pi in 2026, from hardware selection to your first automation.

Hardware Requirements

Home Assistant needs a Raspberry Pi with enough RAM and storage to handle your device count and automation complexity. Here is what we recommend:

Installation Methods

There are three ways to install Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi. Each has trade-offs.

1. Home Assistant OS (HAOS) — Recommended for Most Users

HAOS is the official appliance-style installation. It runs a dedicated operating system with Home Assistant and its add-ons managed as a single unit. This is the easiest path and the one most people should take.

1. Download the HAOS image from the Home Assistant website for your Pi model.
2. Flash the image to your SSD or SD card using Raspberry Pi Imager or balenaEtcher.
3. Connect the Pi to your router with an Ethernet cable (WiFi setup is possible but Ethernet is more reliable).
4. Power on the Pi. Wait 5 to 10 minutes for the first boot to complete.
5. On your computer, go to http://homeassistant.local:8123 in a browser.
6. Follow the onboarding wizard to create your admin account.

2. Docker Container

If you already run Docker on your Pi (or prefer a container-based approach), you can run Home Assistant as a Docker container. This gives you more flexibility but requires more setup. You lose access to add-ons unless you set them up as separate containers, and supervisor features are limited.

Install Docker on your Pi, then run:

docker run -d \
  --name homeassistant \
  --privileged \
  --restart=unless-stopped \
  -e TZ=America/Chicago \
  -v /path/to/config:/config \
  -v /run/dbus:/run/dbus:ro \
  --network=host \
  ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable

Then access it at http://your-pi-ip:8123.

3. Supervised Installation

The supervised method gives you full add-on support on a generic Debian system. It is the most flexible option but also the most fragile. Updates can break it, and the Home Assistant team officially supports it only on specific Debian installations. Use this only if you have Linux experience and understand the trade-offs.

First Boot and Onboarding

Once HAOS is flashed and the Pi is powered on, the first boot takes 5 to 10 minutes. During this time, Home Assistant is initializing its database and setting up default integrations. When it is ready, the web interface appears at http://homeassistant.local:8123.

The onboarding wizard walks you through:

1. Name your home — Give your installation a name and set your timezone.
2. Create admin account — Set a username and password. Write this down.
3. Set location — Enter your address for weather, sunrise, and sunset data.
4. Review detected devices — Home Assistant scans your network and may find devices automatically.

Adding Devices

Home Assistant discovers many devices automatically through network scanning. For devices that need manual setup:

1. Go to Settings, then Devices and Services.
2. Click Add Integration.
3. Search for your device brand or protocol (e.g., Aqara, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Tuya).
4. Follow the integration-specific setup steps.

For Zigbee devices, you need a Zigbee coordinator. A SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus or a SkyConnect stick works well. For Z-Wave, the Zooz Z-Wave 800 USB stick is the current standard.

For more on smart home devices and protocols, see our smart home automation page.

Creating Your First Automation

Automations are where Home Assistant shines. Here is a simple example: turn on a light when motion is detected after sunset.

1. Go to Settings, then Automations, then Create Automation.
2. Add a trigger: select State, choose your motion sensor entity, set to detect when state changes to "on."
3. Add a condition: select Sun, set to "after sunset."
4. Add an action: select Call Service, choose light.turn_on, and select your target light.
5. Save and test by triggering the motion sensor after dark.

You can chain multiple conditions and actions. For example, turn the light off after 5 minutes of no motion, but only if no one is watching TV (using a media player state condition).

Backup Strategy

Backups are critical. If your Pi dies, a backup lets you restore everything to a new device in minutes.

1. Automatic local backups — HAOS creates automatic backups by default. Go to Settings, then System, then Backups to configure the schedule. Weekly full backups are a good starting point.
2. Remote backups Use the Samba Backup or Google Drive Backup add-on to push copies off the Pi automatically.
3. Manual snapshot before updates — Always create a full backup before updating Home Assistant or any integration.
4. Test your restore — A backup you never tested is not a backup. Restore to a spare SD card or SSD at least once to verify it works.

Next Steps

Once Home Assistant is running, explore the add-on store for features like Node-RED (advanced automation flows), ESPHome (custom DIY sensors), and Matterbridge (Matter device support). For VPN remote access so you can control your home from anywhere, see our guide on tech basics and VPN setup.

If you want professional help setting up Home Assistant, book an on-site visit and we will handle hardware selection, installation, device pairing, and automation setup for you.

For more on our approach to practical technology, read our post on why we keep using AI that breaks things.