Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to monitor their Victron system, or is there a better option these days?

Been running a Pi 4 with Venus OS for a couple of years now and honestly it's been rock solid. Basically turns it into a proper GX device for a fraction of the cost of a Cerbo GX — though the Cerbo has gotten more reasonable lately.

The main draw for me was VRM portal access without paying through the nose. Remote monitoring for my emergency backup setup is pretty much essential, especially when I'm away and need to know the batteries haven't done something unexpected overnight.

A few things worth knowing if you're considering the Pi route:

• Venus OS installation is fairly straightforward if you're comfortable with basic Linux
• You'll want a MK3-USB interface to connect to your Multiplus — don't skip this
• The Pi runs warm, worth a small heatsink at minimum
• Fogstar batteries play nicely once you sort the BMS comms side

The only downside is it's another bit of kit to maintain and occasionally troubleshoot. Had one SD card fail on me which was a pain — running off a USB SSD now instead, much more reliable.

Is there a better option? Depends what you mean by better. A Cerbo GX is cleaner, purpose-built, proper warranty — if budget isn't a constraint it's the obvious choice. But for DIY off-grid builds the Pi solution still makes a lot of sense and the community support on the Victron community forum is excellent.

Curious whether anyone's tried the newer Pi 5 with Venus OS yet — not seen much on that specifically. Also interested if anyone's gone down a completely different route with something like Home Assistant integration instead.

@Chalky12 been down exactly this road on the narrowboat. Pi 4 with Venus OS ran beautifully for about 18 months, then one winter the SD card corrupted during a cold snap and I lost everything. Moved to running Venus OS off a proper SSD via USB adapter and it's been bulletproof since — that's the bit nobody tells you upfront.

The Cerbo argument is interesting though. Once you factor in a decent enclosure, the SSD, a UPS hat to protect against voltage spikes off the alternator... the price gap narrows considerably. Still cheaper, but not embarrassingly so.

If you're comfortable tinkering, the Pi route gives you far more flexibility — custom dashboards, Node-RED integration, the works. If you just want something that works without babysitting, the Cerbo earns its premium.

Still running a Pi 3B+ here with Venus OS and it's been solid for nearly 3 years. Wouldn't swap it out unless it died tbh.

One thing worth adding — the VRM portal integration is the real win for me. Remote monitoring from anywhere, all free. Cerbo does the same obviously but you're paying a significant premium for essentially the same data.

Only thing I'd flag is powering the Pi cleanly. Had some dodgy SD card corruption early on that I traced back to voltage fluctuations. Sorted it with a decent DC-DC converter off the 12v bus and haven't had a problem since.

For anyone starting fresh though, might be worth looking at the Cerbo GX second hand — seen them go for reasonable money on eBay lately. Depends how much you enjoy tinkering really.

Running a Pi 4 with Venus OS on my own system for 18 months — the one gotcha nobody mentions is SD card rot: Venus OS writes logs constantly and kills cheap cards in under a year, so either flash to USB SSD or grab an industrial-grade SD (Sandisk Endurance series).

Also worth noting: if you want the full Victron experience without the Pi faff, the Cerbo GX has dropped significantly in price and the Touch 50 screen bundle is genuinely tempting now — though @Wayne1980's 3-year Pi 3B+ run proves the DIY route is perfectly viable long-term.

One underrated option: Venus OS Large gives you Node-RED and Signal K built-in, which opens up some seriously nerdy automation possibilities that a stock Cerbo can't match without extra fiddling. 🧭

@OldSailor makes a great point about SD card rot — worth adding that you can boot Venus OS from a USB SSD instead, which completely sidesteps that issue. I've had mine running off a cheap Samsung T7 for over a year with zero problems on the garden office build.

One thing nobody's mentioned: the Pi runs warm in an enclosure. Threw a small heatsink on mine and it's been much happier since.

If you want a genuine step up from the Pi without going full Cerbo GX, the Cerbo-S GX is worth a look — stripped back but more reliable long-term for permanent installs. That said, for the price difference, a Pi 4 with USB boot is hard to argue against.