Short answer: there is no single CPU, RAM or disk-size minimum for every Home Assistant installation. The clearest official baseline is a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 with at least 2 GB of RAM and a 32 GB microSD card (an A2 card is preferred). Home Assistant Green provides a fixed reference configuration—quad-core 1.8 GHz Arm processor, 4 GB RAM and 32 GB eMMC—but those are Green’s product specifications, not a universal requirement. Generic x86-64 installs must be 64-bit, boot through UEFI and use a boot device with 512-byte logical sectors. Your real storage requirement depends mainly on Recorder history, the entities you record and how long you retain data.
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This guide separates published installation requirements from workload-dependent sizing, so you can decide whether existing hardware is suitable or which type of host to buy.
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What Home Assistant officially supports
Home Assistant can run as a dedicated appliance or on hardware you already own. The official installation page lists Home Assistant Green, Raspberry Pi, Odroid, generic x86-64 computers, containers and virtual machines as supported approaches. The installation overview is available at Home Assistant’s installation guide. Its hardware FAQ says, “Home Assistant Green is the recommended option for most people,” because it is a prepared, dedicated hub rather than a computer that you must configure yourself.
That recommendation is about setup and maintenance, not a claim that Green is the fastest or only suitable machine. Reusing an x86 computer, running a virtual machine on a server or installing a container can make sense when you already have infrastructure or want other services on the same host. Those options also put more responsibility on you for operating-system updates, backups, boot configuration and power management.
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Official requirements at a glance
| Installation path | CPU guidance | RAM guidance | Storage guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Assistant Green | Rockchip RK3566, quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 at 1.8 GHz | 4 GB LPDDR4X | 32 GB eMMC |
| Raspberry Pi with Home Assistant OS | Raspberry Pi 4 or Raspberry Pi 5 | At least 2 GB | At least 32 GB microSD; A2 is ideal |
| Generic x86-64 with Home Assistant OS | 64-bit-capable Intel/AMD-class system; no universal speed or core-count floor is published | No general minimum is published in the installation guide | UEFI-bootable device with 512-byte logical sectors |
| Container or virtual machine | Host must support the selected container or virtualization platform | Allocate for Home Assistant and the other workloads sharing the host | Managed by the host; Home Assistant OS data-disk rules apply only when you use Home Assistant OS |
The figures in this table come from the Green specifications, the Raspberry Pi installation guide and the generic x86-64 guide. They are not a performance table. Home Assistant does not publish a matrix saying that a particular processor, memory size or disk supports a certain number of entities, integrations, cameras or retained days.
Raspberry Pi requirements
Minimum board and memory
The current Raspberry Pi instructions require a Pi 4 or Pi 5 and at least 2 GB of RAM. The documentation does not state a universal minimum CPU frequency, nor does it promise a specific workload capacity for a particular Pi model. A board that meets the stated floor can boot and run Home Assistant OS, but your integrations and history settings determine how much headroom you need.
MicroSD capacity and type
Use a microSD card with at least 32 GB of capacity; the guide says an A2-rated card is ideal. Capacity printed on a card is not the same as free space after formatting and system updates, so avoid treating 32 GB as a forecast for years of database growth. A higher-endurance card is a sensible reliability choice for a system that writes history continuously, but the official requirement itself is the 32 GB minimum and A2 preference.
Power and networking
Follow the Pi installation page’s power-supply guidance for your exact board. An underpowered Pi can reboot or lose attached USB devices even when the CPU and RAM are adequate. Ethernet is described as more reliable than Wi-Fi for the Home Assistant host, particularly when the hub is expected to remain reachable while wireless infrastructure is restarting. You can install over Wi-Fi, but a wired connection removes one variable from troubleshooting.
When a Pi is a good fit
- Choose it when you already own a Pi 4 or Pi 5 and want a compact, dedicated appliance.
- Plan around the microSD card as a replaceable, finite storage medium rather than assuming it will absorb unlimited history.
- Check the power supply before adding USB radios, storage or other peripherals.
Home Assistant Green: the fixed reference configuration
Green removes most hardware-selection decisions. Its published specification is a Rockchip RK3566 system-on-chip with four Arm Cortex-A55 cores at 1.8 GHz, 4 GB of LPDDR4X memory and 32 GB of eMMC storage. Those values are documented on the Home Assistant Green product page.
Because the processor, memory and internal storage are fixed, Green is easier to size than a self-built host: you do not have to match a board, power adapter, boot medium and enclosure. The trade-off is that you are accepting one appliance configuration rather than selecting a faster processor, more memory or a larger internal disk for a specialized workload. The 32 GB eMMC figure should still be read alongside your Recorder policy; it is not an official promise of a particular number of retained days.
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Generic x86-64 Home Assistant OS requirements
Architecture and firmware
The generic x86-64 guide requires a 64-bit-capable computer and UEFI boot. It also specifies that the boot device must expose 512-byte logical sectors. Drives that use native 4K sectors only are not supported by the documented boot process. These are compatibility requirements, not a recommendation for a particular Intel or AMD model.
No published CPU or RAM floor
The x86-64 documentation does not set a general processor speed, core-count or RAM minimum. That means you should verify the machine’s firmware, architecture and storage behavior instead of selecting a CPU based on a headline GHz number. A modern low-power mini PC may be a practical dedicated host, while an older desktop may work but consume more electricity. Home Assistant’s official material does not provide benchmarks that convert processor or memory specifications into an entity or integration limit.
Boot-drive checks before installation
- Confirm that the system can boot in UEFI mode rather than legacy-only mode.
- Confirm that the intended boot drive reports 512-byte logical sectors.
- Back up anything on the target drive: installing Home Assistant OS replaces its contents.
- Check that the machine can run continuously and that its network adapter is supported.
Containers and virtual machines
Home Assistant can also be installed in a container or virtual machine, as listed on the official installation overview. In these arrangements, the host—not Home Assistant alone—determines the practical CPU and RAM budget. You must allocate enough resources for the Home Assistant process plus every other service, guest or container using that machine.
There is no official universal allocation table in the reviewed installation material. Avoid copying an arbitrary “minimum VM” number and presenting it as a Home Assistant requirement. Instead, monitor host CPU load, memory pressure and storage latency after enabling your actual integrations. A VM can be convenient when you already operate a hypervisor, while a container generally requires more decisions about networking, USB device access, backups and supervised components than a dedicated Home Assistant OS appliance.
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Home Assistant’s official pages provide product specifications and boot prerequisites, not workload benchmarks. They do not establish that a certain CPU handles a fixed number of automations, that a given RAM amount supports a specific camera count or that one processor generation is required for a particular integration.
Use the published numbers as eligibility checks, then size for the way you will use the system:
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- Basic automation hub: lights, switches, sensors and a modest history workload usually favor reliable power, storage and networking over a high clock speed.
- Large integration set: many cloud services, frequent polling and complex automations increase processing and memory activity, but no official formula translates those variables into a minimum specification.
- Long-running host with other services: leave memory and CPU capacity for the operating system, backups, monitoring and every neighboring VM or container.
- Camera-heavy setup: determine where video recording and analysis run. Do not assume the Home Assistant host’s published appliance specification is a camera-processing benchmark.
When choosing between two otherwise compatible hosts, consider architecture support, power draw, cooling, upgradeability and the storage medium. Clock speed alone is not a meaningful comparison across different CPU architectures.
Storage: boot capacity is not history capacity
What occupies the disk
Home Assistant OS needs space for the operating system, add-ons, backups, logs and the Recorder database. The Raspberry Pi guide’s 32 GB microSD recommendation and Green’s 32 GB eMMC are starting points for those platforms, not a universal retention guarantee. A system that records many entities at short intervals can consume storage faster than one that records a small set of slowly changing sensors.
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The Recorder integration documentation says SQLite is used by default and documents a default retention period of 10 days. You can change retention and exclude entities so that noisy or unimportant data is not stored. Purging removes old records, but the documentation cautions that deleting rows does not necessarily make the database file immediately smaller; repacking is a separate operation.
Because retention and entity selection are configurable, there is no honest universal statement such as “Home Assistant needs exactly X GB.” Watch free space after enabling your integrations and choose a retention period that matches the history you actually consult.
SQLite recovery headroom
If SQLite corruption requires Home Assistant to create a new database, the Recorder documentation says free space of at least 2.5 times the existing database size is essential for recovery. This is a recovery condition, not a recommendation that every installation reserve a disk 2.5 times larger than its total capacity. It is a reason to avoid running the host with the filesystem nearly full.
Adding a separate data disk on Home Assistant OS
Home Assistant OS can use a secondary internal SSD or HDD, or a USB-attached SSD or HDD, as its data disk. The procedure and warnings are documented under Common tasks for Home Assistant OS.
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- Choose a target disk with greater capacity than the current boot disk.
- Back up anything on that target: moving the Home Assistant data disk overwrites it.
- Connect the internal or USB storage and follow the Home Assistant OS data-disk procedure.
- After migration, verify that the system boots, that add-ons and Recorder data are present and that free space is reported correctly.
USB SSDs draw more power than a microSD card. Home Assistant specifically notes that power can be an issue on some systems, using a Raspberry Pi 3 with its official power supply as an example where the additional load may be tight. If the host becomes unstable after attaching USB storage, test the power supply, cable, enclosure and hub before blaming the database.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Choosing the right path
Pick Green when simplicity is the priority
Green is the most straightforward choice if you want a dedicated hub with published, fixed specifications and minimal assembly. You trade expansion flexibility for a predictable appliance configuration.
Pick a Raspberry Pi when you want a small DIY host
A Pi 4 or Pi 5 meeting the 2 GB RAM floor is the documented route. Budget for a suitable power supply, a 32 GB-or-larger A2 microSD card and preferably Ethernet. Plan a backup and replacement strategy for the boot card.
Pick x86-64 when you are reusing a compatible computer
An existing 64-bit computer can be economical and may offer internal SSD capacity or expansion. Confirm UEFI and 512-byte logical-sector compatibility before erasing a drive. Power consumption and noise may be higher than with an appliance-class board.
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This route suits users comfortable managing shared infrastructure. Reserve resources for all workloads, map required USB devices and networking deliberately, and maintain backups at the host and Home Assistant levels.
Pre-install checklist
- Decide whether you want a dedicated managed appliance or a self-managed host.
- Match the platform to the documented architecture and boot requirements.
- Verify RAM and storage minimums for the selected path.
- Estimate Recorder growth from the entities and retention period you intend to use.
- Leave recovery headroom instead of filling the filesystem.
- Confirm power, cooling and network reliability, especially before adding USB hardware.
- Back up any disk before installation or data-disk migration.
Common sizing mistakes and fixes
Mistake: treating 32 GB as a universal answer
Fix: regard 32 GB as the published Pi and Green starting point, then account for Recorder retention, backups and add-ons.
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Mistake: buying by GHz alone
Fix: verify architecture, firmware, memory, storage type, power and the workload sharing the host. Official documentation does not provide cross-architecture benchmarks.
Mistake: ignoring the boot device format on x86-64
Fix: check UEFI support and 512-byte logical sectors before installation; native-4K-only drives do not meet the documented requirement.
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Mistake: moving data to a USB SSD without checking power
Fix: confirm the host and power supply can handle the enclosure and drive, especially on Raspberry Pi hardware.
Mistake: running with no free-space margin
Fix: monitor the database and retain enough free space for normal operation and the documented 2.5-times-database-size SQLite recovery condition.
What the official figures do—and do not—tell you
The published specifications answer whether a platform meets its installation prerequisites. They do not predict response time, maximum automations, camera capacity or database lifetime for your particular configuration. Those outcomes depend on integrations, update frequency, retained history, add-ons, backups and other services on the host. Start with the official floor for your platform, then observe resource use and free space after the system is running.
Quick Recap
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