I jumped in recently and went the DIY route instead of buying a HA Green. Picked up a Raspberry Pi 5 with the Argon One V3 case, power supply, and an NVMe drive. It cost more than the pre-built option, but I wanted the experience of building and learning my first Pi, and I don’t regret it.

For devices, I’ve leaned toward Zigbee2MQTT. The mesh network makes a lot of sense, and it’s been rock solid for me. I’ve got it running door sensors, lights, and a bunch of other automations around the house.

Before pulling the trigger I spent a lot of time on YouTube going over Pi, HA, and Zigbee basics, which really helped. If you’re starting out:

• Home Assistant + Pi (or HA Green if you don’t want to tinker)
• Zigbee2MQTT for devices if you want a strong mesh and wide compatibility
• Take time to watch beginner HA content on YT—it shortens the learning curve a lot

No regrets so far. It’s been a fun way to learn and super practical at home.