If you are in doubt about which Raspberry Pi to buy / use for SimplyPrint, and maybe where to find it, follow this guide.

Who and what setups is this guide for?

This guide will help you pick out the right Raspberry Pi for your needs to run SimplyPrint or OctoPrint.

Note that not all SimplyPrint setups requires external hardware. Check out our setup guide to see the exact requirements for your printer(s): https://simplyprint.io/setup-guide/

This guide will apply to the "Older printers without WiFi" part of the setup, as we need to make your printer smarter via some external hardware - like a Raspberry Pi! But also the Bambu Lab setup if you intend to host the SimplyPrint Bambu Lab Client on a Raspberry Pi.

What Raspberry Pi to pick? And what do I need?

To run some SimplyPrint setups, or OctoPrint, you'll need;

1. A Raspberry Pi
2. A power supply for the Pi (important that it's an official power supply for the given Pi model)
3. An SD card (8 or 16 GB)
4. A connection cable for the printer

Which Pi to choose?

We recommend a Raspberry Pi 4B - it's not super expensive (often cheaper than the previous model), and it handles running SimplyPrint very well.

The 2 GB / the lowest GB version (of the Raspberry Pi) is plenty if you just plan on running a single printer on the Pi.

Though the Raspberry Pi 5 is newer, if the Pi 4 is to come by and cheaper, we recommend picking this over the PI 5.

Note: If you buy a Raspberry Pi via a link from this article, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Remember: you need a power supply and SD card for your Raspberry Pi as well.

Here's a list of all Pi's that will run SimplyPrint well;

• Raspberry Pi 5 (4, 8 or 16 GB version - only matters if you plan on having multiple printers running on your Pi) - Buy on Amazon: 4 GB version, 8 GB version, 16 GB version
• Raspberry Pi 4B (2, 4 or 8GB ram - only matters if you plan on having multiple printers running on your Pi) - Buy on Amazon
• Raspberry Pi Zero W 2 - Buy on Amazon
• Raspberry Pi 400 - Buy on Amazon
• Raspberry Pi 3B(+) - Buy on Amazon
• Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ (not the best, but it works) -
• Raspberry Pi 3

Pi versions that won't handle SimplyPrint very well;

• Raspberry Pi Zero W (first version) - simply not powerful enough and is known to crash
• Raspberry Pi 2 (all variants) - not powerful enough and is known to crash especially during setup/install
• Raspberry Pi B(+)
• Raspberry Pi Pico (won't work at all - is not a computer, but a microcontroller)

Note that some of the devices on this list might work, but aren't recommended as they're known to cause performance issues that result in bad prints.

Where to get them?

Every country in the world has at least one Raspberry Pi reseller - most gadget-webshops and electronics stores will probably have one.

Finding one on Amazon may be most convenient: https://amzn.to/4q2O14P

If you wish to find an alternative place to buy Pi's, you can use Raspberry Pi's own website where they list all the official resellers in all countries.

You will need these 3 things to get SimplyPrint running correctly;

• Pi: A Raspberry Pi listed in the "Which Pi to choose?" list above
• Power supply: An official Raspberry Pi power supply - Buy on Amazon
• SD card: A minimum of 8 GB (8 gigabytes) of micro SD card, 16 is also good but bigger cards are known to have failed, and there's no need for all that extra space - Buy on Amazon

To make your Raspberry Pi can communicate with your 3D printer you will need a USB cable for that. If you are unsure about what cable to use for your printer, follow the guide here Which cable to use for SimplyPrint / OctoPrint

Updated on: 10/10/2025