PiSugar: a power module and case designed around the Pi Zero's footprint

A power module shaped like the Pi Zero it feeds

PiSugar started from a practical frustration rather than a product idea. The project describes a team working on projects based on the Pi Zero, trying a number of power supply solutions, and finding that none of them was elegant enough, so they decided to make their own. The result is called PiSugar PowerPack, a power module specially designed for the Raspberry Pi.

The supported hardware is specific. The project description names the Raspberry Pi Zero, Zero W, Zero 2 W, 5B, 4B and 3B+, and the product family has grown into several generations, with the store listings and case directories showing PiSugar, PiSugar2, PiSugar2 Pro and Plus, PiSugar3, PiSugar3 Plus, PiSugar3 Air, PiSugarS and PiSugarS Plus.

The design goal stated in the project is size. The circuit board and the battery are described as matching the size of the Raspberry Pi Zero exactly, so a prototype fits into a small case. The stated reasoning is that a perfect size changes how you think about a project, and that delicacy and a better experience matter for a circuit board.

The audience is therefore the maker building a small, self-contained device. A sensor node, a portable instrument, a wearable. Someone who wants the board, the battery and the enclosure to be one object rather than three parts stacked with tape.

The case models live in separate directories per generation

The repository is not a code project, and that shapes everything about how you use it. The top level contains .github/, a .gitignore, a CNAME, a LICENSE, README.md, a Chinese README at README.zh-CN.md, a _config.yml, three demonstration images and four directories: model/, model2/, model3/ and model_pro/.

Those four directories are the case designs, and their names track the product generations rather than a software version. The project links to each one from the documentation, pointing at the PiSugar Case, the PiSugar2 Case and the PiSugar3 Case, with a separate repository for PHAT Caps, the add-on board case that clips on top of a Pi Zero.

The design of the enclosure is therefore versioned separately from the design of the power board, and the physical fix is mechanical: the case fits the board because both were made for the same generation. That is the argument for keeping the case files in the same project as the product documentation, and it is also the argument against assuming the directories are interchangeable. A PiSugar3 case will not help you if your board is a PiSugar2, and the mapping is in the directory names.

Because the files are published in the repository rather than in a download area, a user can modify a design. The project also invites that: a separate case repository for the PHAT Caps exists as its own project, and the demo and installation images in the root show the intended assembly.

Four physical choices: size, switch, charging and magnets

The feature list is short and every entry is mechanical rather than electronic, which says a lot about where the effort went.

Installation is the first claim. The module is described as installable in one minute, with no need for soldering and a description that calls it friendly for beginners. The installation.gif in the repository root is the visual version of that claim. For a product that has to be added to a board rather than integrated into one, assembly time is a real cost, and the target audience of beginners is acknowledged rather than implied.

Charging is handled through a micro USB port, and the documentation says you can also charge while the Raspberry Pi Zero is running. That is a small but useful property for a device that is meant to be deployed and left alone.

The on-board switch removes the need to detach anything to power down. One tap turns it on and a dual tap turns it off, and the phrasing matters: the module stays attached, so the shutdown is a gesture rather than a disassembly.

Finally, the mounting. Iron sheets are built into the module, so a Pi Zero with the board attached can be placed anywhere using a magnet. The feature is listed as a single line, but it is the one that changes how the device lives in the world: a magnetically mounted sensor can be moved between surfaces without unplugging it, and the same sheet arrangement is what a metal enclosure or a vehicle can hold it in place.

The limitations of these choices are equally physical. Magnets on a device with a magnetometer will affect the sensor, a switch that is a gesture can be triggered by accident in a bag, and a micro USB port on a case that must open for charging is a design compromise rather than a feature.

The GitHub repository is documentation, the store is the product

There are no GitHub releases for this project, and the repository contains no firmware source, no build instructions and no install commands. What it does contain is a product description, the case models and the technical documentation hosted separately at the PiSugar Wiki on docs.pisugar.com.

That split is worth understanding before you clone anything. The GitHub project is a reference and an accessory repository; the hardware itself is bought, and the wiki is where installation and configuration detail lives. Anyone looking for a command line to run here will not find one, because there is nothing to compile.

Purchase channels are broad, and they differ in what they imply. The official store is PiSugar Kitchen, there is a Tindie store, and Amazon listings exist for PiSugar3, PiSugar3 Plus, PiSugar3 Air, PiSugar2, PiSugar2 Pro and Plus, PiSugarS and PiSugarS Plus, with country specific storefronts for the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia and Japan. The PiSugar3 Air and PiSugarS listings are US only in the table. There is also a Hackaday project page documenting the original battery for the Raspberry Pi Zero, which is where the design history is recorded.

For a team that needs the same hardware in quantity, the relevant question is not which marketplace but whether the case geometry in this repository matches the revision they will actually receive, since each generation has its own model directory and its own physical fit.

GPL-3.0 covers the case files, and the last push was in September 2026

The licence field records GPL-3.0, and the LICENSE file sits at the repository root next to the README and the case directories. Since the repository holds design files rather than software, the practical reading is that the published case models and the documentation are covered, while the battery and power board are physical products. A team that modifies a case design and then ships the modified files, or the enclosure they produce from them, needs to read the licence terms for itself. This is a point where the label alone is not enough guidance.

On maintenance, the repository is not archived and the last push was on 2026-09-04. There are no GitHub releases, so the version history of a design change is the commit log rather than a tagged artefact, and there is no changelog file in the tree either. The top level carries a README in English and one in Simplified Chinese, and a _config.yml alongside a CNAME file, which means the repository doubles as the source for a project page.

The upgrade model for the hardware is the opposite of a software one. A revised board arrives as a new product generation, with a new case directory, and the two have to be bought and matched. An owner of a PiSugar2 who later wants the PiSugar3 cannot simply update a file in the repository; the mechanical and electrical changes are in the product, not in the software.

Where a power bank and a separate case would have been enough

The honest comparison is with the arrangement the project says it rejected: an off the shelf power supply, plus a separate case. The project's stated reason for building its own is that none of the power supply solutions they tried was elegant enough, and the evidence in the repository supports that: the board matches the Zero footprint, the switch is on the board, the charging port is on the board and the magnets are on the board.

A generic USB power bank plus a printed case is cheaper and more flexible, and for a project that runs indoors on a desk, that is the sensible answer. The flexibility matters too, because a power bank can be swapped, and a PiSugar3 Air is a different physical design again.

Where the integrated module wins is in a device that is meant to be one thing. A magnetically mounted, self-contained unit with a power switch and a battery that charges while running is a different object from a board taped to a battery pack in a printed shell, and the difference is exactly what the feature list is about. The cost is that the choice is made in hardware: the model directory, the case fit and the product generation all have to line up, and the PiSugarS and PiSugarS Plus show that the same form factor also exists in versions that the Amazon table lists only for the US market.

For anyone still deciding, the useful next step is concrete. Open the model directory that matches your board generation, and read the PiSugar Wiki entry for that product before ordering, since the repository itself will not tell you which case fits which revision.

Editorial conclusion

PiSugar is worth considering when your build is a small Raspberry Pi Zero form factor device that must run on battery, and when the case and the power board have to agree with each other mechanically. It is not a fit for a desk-bound Pi 4 or Pi 5, it will not help a project that already has a comfortable power and enclosure arrangement, and the software side of the design is documented in a separate wiki rather than in this repository. Before buying, check the model directory that matches your board generation, since the tree separates the case designs into model, model2, model3 and model_pro, and read the GPL-3.0 terms if you intend to redistribute or modify the published case files.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. License: GPL-3.0
3. PiSugar/PiSugar on GitHub
4. Project website
5. README