Raspberry Pi raises 16GB Pi 5 price by $80 to $385 on DRAM shortage

Raspberry Pi has raised the US price of the 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 by $80 to $385, and increased the 16GB Compute Module 5 variants by $40 in the same round of changes, according to techradar.com. The 16GB Raspberry Pi 500+ keyboard computer kept its existing price.

The November 2026 increase alone amounts to roughly 26%. The 8GB Raspberry Pi 5 is listed at $175, meaning the extra 8GB on the 16GB model now costs $210.

CEO Eben Upton blamed a lack of alternative supply for 16GB DRAM, compounded by other ongoing component shortages. Raspberry Pi said it has been qualifying additional memory suppliers through 2026.

The company reported that direct sales of the Pi 5 rose 47% in the half, and that demand for the 8GB variants continued to grow despite higher prices. Raspberry Pi said it intends to roll back the increases once costs fall. Raspberry Pi firmware locks boards to the memory capacity they shipped with.

A price that has climbed in steps

The 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 launched in January 2025 at $120. In December 2025 it went from $120 to $145, and in February 2026 a $60 increase left the board 70% more expensive than at launch. In April 2026 a further $100 was added, and a new 3GB Raspberry Pi 4 arrived as a cheaper middle option. That month Upton said LPDDR4 memory used in the Pi 4 and Pi 5 had risen sevenfold in price over the previous year.

About a month before November 2026, Raspberry Pi raised prices on its 2GB boards by $12.50 each. In its September 2026 results, Upton called the cycle a large but ultimately typical instance of a recurring industry phenomenon, with meaningful new supply not expected until 2028. SK Hynix titled a section of its third-quarter results "Memory supply shortage to persist through 20...", and memory makers expect tight supply to last until 2028 to 2030.