The best ESP32 starter kits for beginners, students and makers: Freenove’s ESP32 and ESP32-S3 Ultimate kits, LAFVIN’s budget and Ultimate kits, SunFounder’s ESP32 kits, plus robot car, AI voice chatbot and retro game console kits, with verified Amazon links and honest verdicts.
Which ESP32 should you buy in 2026? A side-by-side comparison of every ESP32 chip (original ESP32, C3, S2, S3, C5, C6, H2, P4 and the ESP32-CAM) with the best board for each, a chip-by-project decision guide, and links to our detailed buying guide for every chip.
The best displays to pair with an ESP32: SSD1306, SH1106 and SSD1309 OLEDs, ST7789 and ILI9341 TFTs, a 3.5-inch ILI9488 touchscreen, a GC9A01 round display, Waveshare e-paper panels, an I2C LCD1602, a MAX7219 dot matrix and a 64×32 RGB LED matrix, with wiring tips, library advice and verified Amazon links.
The best ESP32-C3 development boards compared: the Seeed XIAO ESP32C3, ESP32-C3 SuperMini packs, DevKitM-1 and Waveshare C3 Mini boards, C3 boards with built-in OLEDs and round touch displays, and a mains relay board, with verified Amazon links, honest verdicts and tips for the SuperMini’s known quirks.
The best ESP32-S2 development boards compared: ESP32-S2 Mini multi-packs, Espressif’s DevKitC-1U, the Saola-1R, SparkFun Thing Plus and the Flipper Zero Wi-Fi Dev Board, with an honest look at when the single-core, Wi-Fi-only ESP32-S2 still makes sense in 2026 and verified Amazon links.
The best ESP32-C5 development boards for dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi 6, Thread and Zigbee projects: Waveshare’s ESP32-C5-WIFI6-KIT, the Seeed XIAO ESP32-C5, DevKitC-1 style boards, LILYGO’s T-Dongle-C5 and T-Display C5, and 2.8-inch C5 touch displays, with verified Amazon links and honest verdicts.
The best ESP32-P4 development boards compared: Waveshare’s ESP32-P4-NANO, Module DEV-KIT, WIFI6 and Pico boards, PoE Ethernet boards, the M5Stamp-P4 module, and 7-inch, 4-inch and round ESP32-P4 touch displays for HMI and camera projects, with verified Amazon links and honest verdicts.
The best ESP32-H2 development boards for Thread, Zigbee 3.0 and Matter-over-Thread projects, from Waveshare’s ESP32-H2 Mini and DEV-KIT-N4 to the M5Stack H2 gateway unit and the boards you need to build your own Thread Border Router, with verified Amazon links and honest verdicts.
The best ESP32-CAM and ESP32-S3 camera boards compared: classic ESP32-CAM kits with programmer bases, ESP32-S3 camera boards and kits from Freenove, Seeed, NULLLAB, Aideepen and FORIOT, plus a wide-angle lens and a reliable USB programmer, with verified Amazon links and honest verdicts.
The best original ESP32 development boards compared: 12 picks from USB-C DevKitC multi-packs and WROOM-32E boards to a WROVER camera board, T-Display and Cheap Yellow Display screens, a LoRa GPS T-Beam, the WT32-ETH01 Ethernet board and the M5Stack ATOM Lite, with verified Amazon links and honest verdicts.