Raspberry Pi raises prices on 16GB models: what changes, and whether to buy now
Memory costs are pushing up the price of the 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 and Compute Module 5. The 500+ is spared. Here is what the announcement says and what it means for a home server.
By Andrew Ingleton · Published · updated 4 November 2026
On 2 November, Raspberry Pi announced price rises for some 16GB products, effective the same day. The company blames sharply higher memory costs, a lack of alternative supply for 16GB DRAM and other component shortages.
What is affected
- 16GB Raspberry Pi 5: up by $80. Reading the post, the new price is $385; the previous $305 is our calculation from the increase, so check the product page.
- 16GB Compute Module 5 variants: up by $40. The post points to the product page for exact prices.
- Raspberry Pi 500+: unchanged, even though it also carries 16GB of RAM.
Raspberry Pi only quotes US dollar prices in the post. For a UK reference, the authorised reseller The Pi Hut listed these Raspberry Pi 5 prices when we checked on 4 November: 1GB £43.20, 2GB £74.40, 4GB £105.60, 8GB £168.00 and 16GB £369.60. The Pi Hut's prices include VAT (Pi Hut's displayed prices include VAT, as confirmed by OwnYourStack's editor). On its collection page the Pi 500+ was £393.60. We did not see a 16GB Compute Module 5 price.
What it means for a home lab
The 16GB board is the one many people choose for Home Assistant plus a media server plus containers on a single Pi. At roughly a quarter more than before it gets harder to justify against alternatives, particularly a second-hand mini PC. Two practical points follow:
- Most home services (Pi-hole, AdGuard Home, Home Assistant, Vaultwarden, a small Nextcloud) run happily in 4GB or 8GB. Pay for 16GB only if you know you will use it.
- The price rise does not apply to the smaller memory sizes according to the announcement, but the same memory shortage is the reason to expect further movement. We covered the wider picture in What a Raspberry Pi costs in late 2026.
Should you buy now?
The rise has already happened, so there is no queue to beat: if the price you see is the new one, waiting for it to fall is a bet on memory markets. If you need the board for a project, buy the size you need, and keep the money you save on a good power supply, an SSD and a backup plan.
