What hardware do I need to run Home Assistant?

The recommended hardware is a Raspberry Pi 5 (4GB or 8GB) or the dedicated Home Assistant Green box ($99). For larger setups, an Intel NUC or mini PC with an SSD is more reliable. Avoid running HA on a Pi 3 — it's too slow for modern HA with add-ons.

What is the difference between Home Assistant OS, Container, and Supervised?

Home Assistant OS (HAOS) is the easiest — it's a full OS image that manages everything including add-ons. Container runs HA in Docker without add-on support. Supervised is HAOS add-on support on an existing Linux host. For beginners, HAOS on a dedicated device is the right choice.

Can Home Assistant work without an internet connection?

Yes. Home Assistant is designed for local control. Automations, device control, and the dashboard all work offline. Some integrations (weather, remote access via Nabu Casa) need internet, but they degrade gracefully.

How do I add Zigbee devices to Home Assistant?

You need a Zigbee coordinator (USB dongle like the SkyConnect or SONOFF dongle). Then use the ZHA integration (Settings → Devices → Add Integration → Zigbee Home Automation) or install the Zigbee2MQTT add-on. ZHA is simpler; Z2M supports more devices.

Guide12 min read · Updated April 2026

Getting Started with Home Assistant in 2026

A complete, engineer-written guide to installing and configuring Home Assistant OS — from hardware selection to your first automation. Includes a free downloadable automation pack at the end.

Free Automation Pack

20+ ready-to-import YAML automations for this guide — presence detection, time-based lights, security alerts, and more.

Download on GitHub

1. Choose Your Hardware

Home Assistant runs on almost anything, but your choice of hardware determines reliability and upgrade headroom. Here's what we recommend in 2026:

Easiest

Home Assistant Green

$99

Plug-and-play, no config needed. Best for non-engineers.

Best Value

Raspberry Pi 5 (4GB)

$80

Best balance of cost, performance, and add-on headroom.

Most Powerful

Intel N100 Mini PC

$150–200

Most power for large installs (100+ devices, many add-ons).

You'll also need a Zigbee coordinator if you plan to use Zigbee devices.

2. Install Home Assistant OS

Home Assistant OS (HAOS) is the recommended installation method. It handles updates, add-ons, and backups automatically.

Download the Home Assistant Imager
Select your hardware type (Raspberry Pi / Generic x86) and target drive
Flash and boot. First boot takes 5–10 minutes to unpack
Visit http://homeassistant.local:8123

Quick access

# Flash to SD card or SSD using the HA imager
# Download: https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/

# After first boot, open:
http://homeassistant.local:8123

3. Add Zigbee Support

Plug in your Zigbee USB coordinator, then choose either ZHA (built-in, easiest) or Zigbee2MQTT(more device support). Here's the Zigbee2MQTT config for the SONOFF dongle:

configuration.yaml

View on GitHub

# Zigbee2MQTT configuration.yaml snippet
mqtt:
  server: mqtt://core-mosquitto
  user: mqtt_user
  password: !secret mqtt_password

serial:
  port: /dev/serial/by-id/usb-ITead_Sonoff_Zigbee_3.0_USB_Dongle_Plus_...
  adapter: ezsp

advanced:
  network_key: GENERATE
  pan_id: GENERATE
  channel: 25  # avoid WiFi channels 1, 6, 11

4. Your First Automation

Here's a presence-based automation that turns off your living room lights 5 minutes after everyone leaves home. Copy this into your automations.yaml:

automations.yaml

Download all 20+ automations →

# automations.yaml — presence-based lights
alias: "Living Room — Auto Off When Empty"
description: "Turn off lights 5 min after everyone leaves"
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: group.all_people
    to: "not_home"
    for:
      minutes: 5
condition: []
action:
  - service: light.turn_off
    target:
      area_id: living_room
mode: single

5. Essential Add-ons

Zigbee2MQTT

Best Zigbee integration. Supports 3000+ devices.

Mosquitto MQTT Broker

Required for Z2M. Runs locally.

ESPHome

Flash and manage DIY ESP8266/ESP32 sensors from HA.

Node-RED

Visual automation builder — great for complex flows.

Studio Code Server

VS Code in your browser for editing YAML configs.

Uptime Kuma

Monitor your local services and get alerts when they go down.

Frequently Asked Questions