# Raspberry Pi Zero W

9 Hacker News commenters recommended Raspberry Pi Zero W and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Cheap, small single-board computer that runs Linux and Wi-Fi, recommended for learning, light server work and kernel testing. Main caveat: its 512MB of RAM struggles with heavier tasks.

## Why people recommend it

- Cheap, small and easy to start (2 comments): "You can absolutely learn how to program on a $17 raspberry pi zero w connected to an old monitor and keyboard nowadays." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47132065)) "It was cheap, small and easy to get up and running." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48320707))
- Runs Linux and Wi-Fi (2 comments): "what's the cheapest Linux module I can get that's widely supported, backed by a real company" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48317029)) "It runs Linux just fine. It talks wifi." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48262200))
- Fine for light always-on use (3 comments): "Almost 100% uptime except for a few days after a bad winter storm, pretty neat!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48066256)) "more or less perfect for this use-case" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48907161)) "The end result worked very well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48443306))

## What people warn about

- 512MB RAM too little for heavy work (2 comments): "My little 4x cluster of Zero Ws suffers to run a couple emulated mainframes and Z-80 machines." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281337)) "the Pi0Ws have only 512mb RAM each and that's useless now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49562477))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Raspberry Pi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/raspberry-pi.md): 425 recommend
- [Raspberry Pi Zero](https://hackerapproved.com/p/raspberry-pi-zero.md): 77 recommend
- [NVIDIA Jetson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-jetson.md): 28 recommend
- [Orange Pi 6 Plus](https://hackerapproved.com/p/orange-pi-6-plus.md): 18 recommend
- [Raspberry Pi 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/raspberry-pi-2.md): 12 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Raspberry+Pi+Zero+W&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Raspberry Pi Zero W", https://hackerapproved.com/p/raspberry-pi-zero-w/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).