Boards

Development Boards

You will need a development board or a custom board with the ESP32 (see Supported SoC’s) to start playing. There is a bunch of different types and models widely available on the Internet. You need to choose one that covers all your requirements.

To help you on this selection, we point out some facts about choosing the proper boards to help you to save money and time.

One ESP32 to rule them all!

One important information that usually bring about some confusion is regarding the different models of the ESP32 SoC and modules.

The ESP32 is divided by family:

  • ESP32

    • Wi-Fi, BT and BLE 4

  • ESP32-S2

    • Wi-Fi only

  • ESP32-S3

    • Wi-Fi and BLE 5

  • ESP32-C3

    • Wi-Fi and BLE 5

  • ESP32-C6

    • Wi-Fi, BLE 5 and IEEE 802.15.4

  • ESP32-H2

    • BLE 5 and IEEE 802.15.4

For each family, we have SoC variants with some differentiation. The differences are more about the embedded flash and its size and the number of the cores (dual or single).

The modules use the SoC internally, including the external flash, PSRAM (in some models) and other essential electronic components. Essentially, all modules from the same family use the same SoC.

ESP32 SoC and Module (click to enlarge)

For example:

The SoC partnumber is the ESP32-D0WD-V3 and it’s the same SoC used inside of the ESP32-WROVER (with PSRAM) and ESP32-WROOM modules. This means that the same characteristics are present in both modules’ core.

For more detailed information regarding the SoC’s and modules, see the Espressif Product Selector.

Now that you know that the module can be different but the heart is the same, you can choose your development board.

Before buying: Keep in mind that for some “must have” features when choosing the best board for your needs:

  • Embedded USB-to-Serial

    • This is very convenient for programming and monitoring the logs with the terminal via USB.

  • Breadboard friendly

    • If you are prototyping, this will be very useful to connect your board directly on the breadboard.

  • open-source/open-hardware

    • Check if the schematics are available for download. This helps a lot on prototyping.

  • Support

    • Some of the manufacturers offer a very good level of support, with examples and demo projects.

Espressif

Espressif Logo

Note

Only a few development boards are described on this documentation page. For more information about other Espressif development boards please refer to the Espressif website.

Third Party

Add here the third party boards, listed by vendors.

Note

All the information must be provided by the vendor. If your favorite board is not here, consider creating an issue on GitHub and directly link/mention the vendor in the issue description.

Generic Vendor

Note

Create one file per board or one file with multiple boards. Do not add board information/description on this file.

Datasheet

Resources