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Introduction

The ESP32 is Espressif's successor to the ESP8266. It is cheap (around $5 on Amazon)1, has WiFi and Bluetooth, and can be programmed using the Arduino IDE. Compared to the ESP8266 it offers faster processing, more GPIO pins, more memory, and built-in support for CAN, I2S, and other peripherals, making it a great choice for more demanding IoT projects.

While the ESP32 can be used with the original AT firmware as a WiFi module for other microcontrollers, we will concentrate on writing our own firmware in this post. This lets us use the ESP32 as a standalone microcontroller, replacing an Arduino entirely.

ESP8266 vs ESP32 - A Comparison

If you have not yet decided if the ESP32 or the cheaper ESP8266 is right for your project, this comparison will help you make an informed decision.

Table of Contents

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Sebastian Hirnschall
Article by: Sebastian Hirnschall
Updated: 11.04.2026

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This project (with exceptions) is published under the CC Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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