Affordable photoacoustic imaging requires not only low-cost light sources but also economical and efficient detection and data acquisition solutions. Conventional systems employ high-performance piezoceramic transducers and bulky multi-channel digitizers that drive up cost and complexity. This chapter reviews advances in cost-effective detection and acquisition technologies enabling accessible photoacoustic imaging platforms. It outlines the fundamentals of acoustic detection and compares conventional piezoelectric detectors with emerging polymer-based designs such as PVDF and PVDF-TrFE films, which provide wideband response, flexibility, and ease of fabrication. Micromachined ultrasound devices including capacitive and piezoelectric transducers are described as scalable, MEMS-fabricated alternatives for compact imaging probes, while optical detection schemes such as Fabry–Pérot interferometers and micro ring resonators offer broadband, non-contact operation. The chapter also highlights recent progress in affordable multi-channel data acquisition using compact analog front-ends, FPGA-based digitizers, and open-source reconstruction frameworks that lower costs by an order of magnitude. Integrated examples combining LED- or laser diode-based excitation with low-cost detectors and Texas Instruments DAQ boards demonstrate the feasibility of portable PAI systems. Together, these innovations define a clear path toward affordable, high-performance, and clinically deployable photoacoustic imaging.