# Raspberry Pi Zero

77 Hacker News commenters recommended Raspberry Pi Zero and 23 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 8 years (6 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for low power draw, low cost, wifi, GPIO and a large body of online information. Critics point to limited I/O ports and scarce stock.

## Why people recommend it

- Low power draw (3 comments): "power consumption (and performance per watt) is the main reason I keep buying Raspberry Pi" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47297123)) "because of its low energy consumption when it's running continuously on a boat" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48264388)) "for its low power draw, wifi capabilities, decent memory (512mb), and low cost" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47038674))
- Cheap, low-cost board (4 comments): "a very nice and still lean board available for ~15$ worldwide at least until 2030" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48526428)) "A full Unix computer for $20 with GPIO, PWM, serial, i2c, USB, Camera and wifi." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50238436)) "for its low power draw, wifi capabilities, decent memory (512mb), and low cost" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47038674))
- Runs network services and light servers (4 comments): "A pi zero is more than capable of handling HTTP/1.2 and TLS 1.3 for a handful of connections per second." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48065241)) "has been running 24/7 on a Pi Zero with the same micro-SD card for some 4-odd years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47482623)) "the zero is the coolest PI imo . You can run nearly any network service on it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48070627))
- Huge online info and hat ecosystem (2 comments): "Raspberry pi's are cheap, easily available, and there is an absolutely massive trove of information about them on the internet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46715905)) "I am having a difficult time imagining a cheaper option, especially if you want something like the hat ecosystem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48316349))

## What people warn about

- Hard to buy, scalper prices (3 comments): "They're sold out almost entirely and none of the distributors can tell when the new batch gets in." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48488671)) "Here in Germany you cannot get them at all any more and the quoted price has gone up 3x." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48483920)) "I still havent been able to buy a Pi zero 2w from anywhere that isnt scalper prices." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50268678))
- Limited I/O, wifi-only, no hot-plug USB (3 comments): "The Pi Zero 2W is great, but data I/O (WiFi, USB, and micro SD) do limit use cases slightly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48484048)) "Just be aware that you’ll be stuck with wifi, or spending far more on ethernet adapters for them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46714499)) "the Zero's IO ports are annoying (eg, USB is not hot-pluggable!)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48064930))
- No sleep states, high idle power (4 comments): "Give us a Raspberry Pi Zero 3W with proper sleep states to reduce sleep power consumption, lower idle power while awake, and 1 GB of RAM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48314971)) "Give us a Raspberry Pi Zero 3W with proper sleep states to reduce sleep power consumption" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48281601)) "with proper sleep states to reduce sleep power consumption, lower idle power while awake" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48314688))
- Unusual provisioning and SD card problems (2 comments): "they're usually not very "normal". The process of provisioning is different" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46714543)) "broke 3 SD-cards, and it didn't even have the courtesy to fail fast" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47487190))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Raspberry Pi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/raspberry-pi.md): 425 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
- [SpacemiT K3](https://hackerapproved.com/p/spacemit-k3.md): 12 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Raspberry+Pi+Zero+2+W&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-2-w/)

## Cite as

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