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Pick the right Raspberry Pi for running SimplyPrint / OctoPrint

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

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


All you need to run SimplyPrint is;
A Raspberry Pi
A power supply for the Pi (important that it's an official power supply for the given Pi model)
An SD card (8 or 16 GB)
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.

Here's a list of all Pi's that will run SimplyPrint well;
Raspberry Pi 4B (2, 4 or 8GB ram - only matters if you plan on having multiple printers running on your Pi)
Raspberry Pi Zero W 2
Raspberry Pi 400
Raspberry Pi 3B(+)
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 5 - does NOT work yet, due to missing OctoPrint support. Support is coming soon.
Raspberry Pi Zero W (first version)
Raspberry Pi 2 (all variants)
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, but the easiest way is to buy a Raspberry Pi SimplyPrint Kit, with the SimplyPrint software pre-installed!

The global official Raspberry Pi reseller, The Pi Hut, have a SimplyPrint kit which can be found here; https://thepihut.com/products/simplyprint-raspberry-pi-4-starter-kit
They ship to most countries and are known for their high quality and good support.

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.

If you decide to buy something that isn't a kit, you will need these 3 things to get SimplyPrint running correctly;
A Raspberry Pi listed in the "Which Pi to choose?" list above
An official Raspberry Pi power supply
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

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: 10/05/2024

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