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I'm using a Raspberry Pi to run Home Assistant. It's quite powerful for what it is, particularly the newest one (Pi 4 Model B ). They're a bit hard to find though -You'd need to keep an eye on https://twitter.com/rpilocator or the RPiLocator site.
If you use one, I'd definitely recommend using a SATA SSD via USB - Running off a MicroSD is very very slow in comparison. I'm using a Samsung 870 EVO (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QBMD6P4) plus a StarTech USB 3.1 to SATA cable (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XLAZODE), and also overclocked the Pi's CPU from 1.5GHz to 1.7GHz (safe as long as you use a heatsink and a case with a fan). Do not use an NVMe drive with the Pi as the USB port may not have sufficient power for it.
This bumped my benchmark score significantly - see https://pibenchmarks.com/benchmark/57175 (mine with MicroSD) vs https://pibenchmarks.com/benchmark/57249 (SSD + OC)
For a LowEndCluster you could buy several Pis (or similar small computers) and create a k3s or microk8s cluster
If you want something a bit more powerful, I'd go for an USFF (ultra-small form factor) PC. Intel NUC and Lenovo ThinkStation Tiny are the best IMO, but Dell's ones are OK too.
That's additional $40 (give and take $10) per month... electricity cost wise, and that annoying noise... that sounded like it might break any time soon... Horrible.
Around 2005 or so, I used to have a SparcStation2 with TWO 500MB drives and a 5-port network adapter as my home router. Man, that thing was loud. The drives were loud at the best of times, but on power up those things sounded like a plane coming in to land.
At some point, I realised it was costing approximately £15 per month in electricity to run it, at which point it was relegated to the loft and has never been seen again!