The Raspberry Pi 5 family is getting both cheaper and more expensive at the same time, with a new low-end 1GB configuration arriving just as the rest of the lineup moves up the price ladder. For hobbyists, educators, and embedded developers who have long relied on Raspberry Pi as the default “cheap but capable” board, that combination of a fresh budget option and higher overall costs marks a meaningful turning point.
Instead of a simple spec bump, the latest changes reflect a platform under pressure from global memory markets and the AI boom, even as it tries to stay true to its low-cost roots. I see a company trying to thread a narrow needle: keep the Raspberry Pi 5 relevant and accessible with a $45 entry point, while acknowledging that the era of ultra-stable, rock-bottom pricing on higher capacity boards is on pause.
Raspberry Pi 5’s new 1GB tier reshapes the entry point
The headline change is straightforward: there is now a Raspberry Pi 5 with 1GB of RAM, and it lands at a price of $45. That figure matters because it reestablishes a clear budget anchor for the fifth-generation board, which previously started higher and risked drifting out of reach for classrooms, makerspaces, and first-time tinkerers. By explicitly branding this as a 1GB Model within the Raspberry Pi 5 family, the company is signaling that the low end of the range is not an afterthought but a deliberate part of the product strategy, as detailed in coverage of how $45 fits into the broader lineup.
For many of the classic Raspberry Pi use cases, 1GB is still enough to be useful. A headless Home Assistant install, a Pi-hole DNS blocker, a small MQTT broker, or a simple robotics controller can all run comfortably within that memory ceiling. The new board gives those projects a modern CPU, GPU, and I/O platform without forcing buyers to pay for RAM they will never touch, which is especially important for bulk deployments in education or industrial settings where shaving a few dollars per unit scales into real money.
Higher capacity boards climb in price, at least for now
The flip side of the new entry tier is that the rest of the Raspberry Pi 5 range is getting more expensive. The company has explicitly framed this as a case where it Temporarily Raises Prices on Higher Capacity Boards, a phrase that captures both the scope and the intent of the change. In practice, that means the 4GB and 8GB variants that many desktop and development users gravitate toward will cost more than they did earlier in the product’s life, a shift that is already reflected in listings for the Raspberry Pi 5 as a product.
For anyone who has treated Raspberry Pi as the default low-cost desktop, these increases will sting. A 4GB or 8GB Raspberry Pi 5 paired with a case, power supply, storage, and a modest monitor was already creeping into the territory of used mini PCs and older laptops, and the new pricing makes that comparison even sharper. The company is effectively asking power users to shoulder more of the cost burden so that the platform can keep a genuinely affordable configuration in the catalog, a trade-off that will test how much goodwill the brand has built over the past decade.
Memory markets and AI demand are driving the squeeze
The company is not shy about pointing to the culprit: memory prices are rising, and AI is a big part of the story. In its own explanation, Raspberry Pi has cited “the current pressure on memory prices, driven by competition from the AI infrastructure roll-out,” a line that captures how data center demand for DRAM is rippling all the way down to tiny single-board computers. That context is echoed in analysis that notes how Raspberry Pi computers “just got more expensive” as part of a broader shift in component costs, a trend that is already visible to anyone who has tried to price out DDR4 or LPDDR4 modules for PCs and servers and is now filtering into Raspberry Pi computers.
In that light, the Raspberry Pi 5 price changes look less like opportunism and more like a defensive move to keep the business sustainable while DRAM costs are elevated. The company has been explicit that these are not meant to be permanent hikes, describing them as a response to a constrained market that could ease if supply catches up with AI demand. That framing matters because it reassures long-time users that the organization still sees itself as a low-cost computing provider first, even if it has to ride out a rough patch in the memory market.
“Temporary” hikes and the promise of a reset
Raspberry Pi is not only raising prices, it is also promising that the increases will not last forever. The company has said that it views the current situation as a temporary distortion and that, When DRAM pricing normalizes, it intends to bring board prices back into line with its mission. Reporting on the announcement notes that Raspberry Pi has framed these hikes as explicitly short term, with a clear commitment to re-evaluate once the AI-driven memory crunch eases, a stance that is laid out in coverage of how Raspberry Pi wants to realign pricing with its low-cost computing mission.
As a user, I read that as both reassurance and a test of credibility. Raspberry Pi has a track record of holding prices steady for long stretches, even through supply chain chaos, which gives some weight to the promise that the current hikes are not the new normal. At the same time, the company is now on the hook to follow through: if DRAM prices fall and board prices do not, the community will notice, and the narrative will shift from “temporary adjustment” to “quiet repricing.”
What the new lineup means for different kinds of users
The practical impact of the new 1GB tier and higher prices on larger boards will vary depending on how people use Raspberry Pi 5. For educators and workshop organizers, the 1GB Model at $45 is a lifeline, because it restores a clear, predictable cost per seat for basic programming, electronics, and Linux literacy classes. A classroom that needs 30 boards can now budget around a fixed entry price again, instead of being forced into higher capacity models that add unnecessary cost for simple Python or Scratch lessons, a dynamic that is central to the way Raspberry Pi Launches the new configuration as part of a broader strategy to keep the platform viable in a constrained market.
For enthusiasts who use Raspberry Pi 5 as a desktop replacement or a development box, the story is more complicated. Those users are the ones most likely to want 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and they are the ones who will feel the price hikes most acutely. A retro gaming build with RetroPie, a lightweight Linux desktop for web browsing and coding, or a Kubernetes lab cluster of three or four boards will all cost more to assemble than they did before. That does not make Raspberry Pi 5 a bad value, but it does narrow the gap between it and alternatives like used Intel NUCs, older ThinkPad laptops, or other ARM boards that are not as tightly tied to the Raspberry Pi ecosystem.
How the changes compare with other hardware options
One way to understand the new Raspberry Pi 5 pricing is to look at what else you can buy in the same range. At around the cost of a 4GB or 8GB Raspberry Pi 5 plus accessories, it is increasingly possible to find refurbished small form factor PCs with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, especially from corporate off-lease programs. Those machines will not match the Pi’s power efficiency or GPIO capabilities, but they do offer more raw performance and storage for desktop workloads, which makes the higher Pi prices a tougher sell for some buyers who are less interested in the maker ecosystem and more focused on everyday computing.
Within the single-board computer space, the new 1GB Raspberry Pi 5 at $45 still looks competitive, especially when you factor in software support, documentation, and community resources. Many rival boards advertise attractive specs but ship with patchy operating system images, limited kernel updates, or weak third-party support. Raspberry Pi’s value proposition has always been about more than the bill of materials, and the company is clearly betting that users will continue to pay a modest premium for a platform that “just works,” even if the premium is now a little higher for the top-end configurations.
Signals from the Raspberry Pi blog and community reaction
The company has used its official channels to explain the rationale behind the new pricing, pointing readers to its own blog for a deeper dive into how memory demand and AI infrastructure are affecting costs. That blog post is referenced in coverage that directs readers to More details on the pricing changes, underscoring that this is not a quiet tweak but a significant enough shift to warrant a full technical and business explanation. The tone from Raspberry Pi is one of reluctant necessity rather than enthusiasm, which aligns with its long-standing emphasis on affordability.
Community reaction, as reflected in early commentary and discussion threads, has been a mix of understanding and frustration. Many long-time users accept that DRAM prices and AI demand are outside Raspberry Pi’s control and appreciate the transparency around the decision. Others worry that the platform is slowly drifting away from its original mission as a dirt-cheap board for experimentation and education, especially as accessories, HATs, and official displays add up. The new 1GB tier is clearly designed to address that concern, but it will take time for the community to decide whether the balance between cost, capability, and availability still feels right.
Practical buying advice in the new Raspberry Pi 5 era
For anyone trying to decide whether to buy a Raspberry Pi 5 now, the new pricing structure suggests a few clear strategies. If your project can comfortably live within 1GB of RAM, the Model at $45 is the obvious choice, especially for headless services, simple IoT gateways, or educational kits. In that scenario, you are effectively benefiting from the company’s decision to protect the low end of the lineup, and you can still take advantage of the Raspberry Pi 5’s improved CPU, GPU, and I/O without paying for extra memory. Listings that present the Raspberry Pi 5 as a compact, all-in-one product for embedded and hobbyist use highlight how attractive that entry point can be.
If you need 4GB or 8GB, the calculus is different. I would weigh the total cost of ownership, including a quality power supply, case, storage, and any HATs, against alternatives like used mini PCs or other ARM boards. For workloads that lean heavily on GPIO, camera modules, or the extensive Raspberry Pi software ecosystem, the higher price may still be justified. For pure desktop or server tasks, it might be worth considering whether a slightly larger, less power-efficient machine offers better value until Raspberry Pi can unwind its “Temporarily Raises Prices” stance on Higher Capacity Boards.
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