How much horsepower do I actually need?

For general furniture work, edge profiling, dadoes, and most jigs, 2 to 2.25 peak HP is the sweet spot cited repeatedly in r/woodworking discussions. 1 to 1.25 HP palm/compact routers handle trim and small bits well but struggle with large profile or panel-raising bits. 3+ HP routers are typically only needed for big raised-panel bits or slab flattening jigs in a table.