If you are completely new to microcontrollers, your first important decision is selecting the type of microcontroller you want to use.
There are many microcontrollers and boards available for DIY projects, each with its own strengths and shortcomings. In this section, we provide guidance on selecting the best microcontroller type for a given task.
Overview
Most hobbyists associate the term Arduino with DIY microcontrollers. This is because the company Arduino deserves credit for making microcontrollers accessible to the general public. When the first Arduino development board hit the market, it revolutionized the way people viewed microcontrollers, offering simple-to-use kits, good documentation, and an intuitive IDE (integrated development environment).
That was twenty years ago, though. Since then, much has changed and improved. Today, an ever-growing number of hobbyists are turning to microcontrollers from the ESP32 family and using affordable, generic development boards. These are just as easy to use as Arduinos were in their early days. However, ESP32 and its successor models are much more powerful, offering WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities at a fraction of the cost.
Still, determining the “best hobbyist microcontroller model” is a personal and often highly emotional debate. To help, I have summarized all the popular microcontroller ecosystems in more detail below.
Most of the microcontrollers listed below can be programmed using the same tools, programming languages, and libraries. This is an important point to note. Today, choosing a microcontroller model is primarily a question of hardware, not software.
Arduino
Arduinos first emerged in 2005, opening up microcontrollers to hobbyists and DIY makers. Arduinos are open-source board designs that use a variety of microcontrollers. They are simple to program, and the Arduino IDE is a free, pragmatic coding editor. Given the long time that Arduinos have been around, you’ll find a wealth of tutorials and code examples. In the past, Arduinos were the #1 choice for beginners. However, that has changed somewhat over time.
Considerations
If you’re thinking about using an Arduino, here are some critics pointed out by users:
- Expensive: Original Arduinos are significantly overpriced. Since their board design is open-source, many affordable clones are available from Chinese companies on AliExpress. These clones often cost less than 10% of the price of an original board.
- Slow: Many Arduino boards use outdated and slow ATmel microcontrollers. While they can handle simple tasks, they are much slower compared to other modern microcontrollers and boards.
- No WiFi: Most Arduinos do not include wireless technology by default. While they can function as stand-alone solutions, they require expensive add-ons to enable remote control or smartphone connectivity.
- Compatibility: Although there are numerous free tutorials and resources for Arduinos, their once-reliable compatibility has diminished. As Arduino introduced new models with different designs, you may encounter compatibility issues. Code written for older Arduinos may not work on the newer boards.
- Memory: Most Arduinos come with limited memory. They work well for small projects, but as your projects grow larger, you’ll encounter memory limitations, compilation errors, and possible instability.
- Power: Most Arduinos are 5V devices, meaning they can’t use 3.3V peripherals and are not particularly power-efficient. Battery-operated projects may not last long. In contrast, modern microcontrollers like the ESP32 family are 3.3V operated, which means they can be powered directly from a LiFePO₄ battery. They can also be powered by 5V (boards with integrated voltage regulators), supporting both 3.3V and 5V peripherals. Additionally, their GPIOs are 5V tolerant.
In summary, if you’re considering starting out with microcontroller-based projects today, look into the ESP32 family of microcontrollers right away. Consider using PlatformIO (or better yet, ESPHome) instead of the outdated Arduino IDE.
Most example code works equally well on ESP32 microcontrollers and often only requires adjustments to the GPIO pin numbers.
Recommendations
If you’re set on using an Arduino, I recommend getting two or three affordable Arduino Nano Clones (avoid the overpriced originals). Arduino Nano Clones are reasonably priced, offer many GPIOs to experiment with, have a small form factor, and are breadboard-friendly. They’re also compatible with most Arduino examples, providing a worry-free experience.
The Arduino Uno is now outdated, while newer boards like the Arduino Every, Arduino Nano ESP32, and Arduino Uno R4 lack compatibility and ease of use. These newer models often require extra configuration and code adjustments to function properly.
ESP32
Espressif’s line of ESP32 microcontrollers is currently the best choice for general-purpose microcontroller projects:
They are affordable (not exclusively produced for hobbyists but are a standard in the smart home industry, often found inside commercial smart devices, which drives down the cost due to mass production). They come with WiFi support out-of-the-box (most models also include Bluetooth), typically include 16MB flash memory, and are compatible with both Arduino IDE and PlatformIO.
ESP32 microcontrollers are incredibly fast, with many models featuring dual-core processors. They also come with a built-in RTOS (real-time operating system), allowing advanced programmers to create true multi-tasking firmware. Additionally, they feature efficient deep sleep modes and a low-power real-time clock, making them ideal for battery- or solar-powered devices.
ESP32 has been around since 2016, so the number of examples and tutorials is on par with Arduino or even better now. Many highly popular community projects like WLED (controlling LED strips and matrix panels) or CO2-Gadget provide ready-to-use firmware exclusively for ESP32. If you are still using Arduinos, you’d miss out.
Another huge advantage of ESP32 microcontrollers is that they can be used with ESPHome, which offers a much easier programming concept than writing C++ code, and integrates seamlessly with Home Assistant. This indicates that ESP32 has been adopted by the professional community much more than Arduinos.
Recommendations
For a worry-free experience, stick to the original ESP32 microcontrollers (also called ESP32S, WROOM, or WROVER). These have been around the longest, offer the best compatibility, and have the most examples and resources available.
Here are some other ESP32 models along with some development boards worth considering:
- Super Small - ESP32-C3: If you need a very small footprint, check out the ESP32-C3 SuperMini. It’s affordable (less than €2) and just as reliable as other ESP32 models.
- Super Many GPIOs - ESP32-S2: The ESP32-S2 Mini is a true bargain, offering a massive 27 GPIOs in a single-core design. Available for under €2, this board is pin-compatible with the popular Wemos D1 Mini (ESP8266), meaning it can use the same shields (such as those for supplying rechargeable battery power). However, the S2 Mini is not ideal for beginners due to a strange USB port implementation that may require workarounds before you can upload new firmware.
The ESP32 family is constantly growing. New models such as ESP32-C6 or ESP32-H2 target new wireless technologies like Matter or Thread, but they are not yet widely supported by many development environments and code examples. You will typically need to program these models using the Espressif framework and cannot use Arduino code. Therefore, unless you really need their unique features, it’s better to avoid them for now.
Better not purchase ESP8266 anymore. They are outdated, considered potentially unsafe (lacking HTTPS support), and cost about the same as ESP32. If you still have some ESP8266 at hand, it is ok to continue to use them of course.
ATTiny
If you need a microcontroller for controlling hardware and sensors in very space-constrained environments with extremely low energy consumption, then ATtiny is a great option.
Very Small
ATtiny microcontrollers often do not come on development boards. To program them, you’ll need a separate programmer board where the microcontroller is temporarily plugged in.
Compared to other microcontroller families, ATtiny microcontrollers are exceptionally expensive given their capabilities. Their computational power, number of GPIOs, and memory are very limited.
Battery-Efficient
Where ATtiny microcontrollers truly excel is in power consumption. Running at a clock speed of 1MHz, the ATTiny85 consumes less than 2mA (compared to 130mA for an ESP32 with WiFi). If used in watchdog mode and only waking up occasionally (e.g., to take sensor readings), it consumes just 5uA in standby—significantly lower than the 200-900uA in ESP32 deep sleep for typical development boards.
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pis are popular DIY microcontrollers, though they are technically CPUs and are designed to run real operating systems, much like classic PCs.
Raspberry Pis should not be confused with the Raspberry RP2040, which is the first microcontroller produced by Raspberry Pi. The RP2040 is comparable to the ESP32 and targets small devices.
Raspberry Pi 5 is the latest Raspberry Pi model, and compared to its predecessors, it is significantly more powerful. It can be used as an always-on server, running Linux or Home Assistant.
Recommendations
Use the Raspberry Pi 5 to complement your microcontrollers and operate an efficient always-on server.
Some argue that a Mini PC would be much more powerful than a Raspberry Pi 5 at almost the same cost, but this is not true. The unique selling point of the Raspberry Pi 5 is its ultra-low power consumption.
When you run a Mini PC with virtualization software, the computing power is much higher, but so is your electricity bill. The difference can quickly add up to a few hundred Euros per year.
- Simple Server: If all you need is to operate a simple server or Home Assistant, use the Raspberry Pi 5 with an SSD hard drive. It offers the most efficient solution with the lowest total cost of ownership (TOC). For this use case, running a Mini PC would be overkill, and the Mini PC would idle most of the time while consuming unnecessary electricity.
- Heavy Duty Server: If your requirements are much higher and you need to run a multitude of services and/or servers, then choose a classic computer or mini-PC and use virtualization software on it.
Others
There are many more microcontroller models to choose from, though they are less popular. For example, the NRF52840 excels in low power consumption and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support (ideal for battery-operated DIY devices), while the RP2040 is the first dedicated microcontroller designed by the Raspberry Pi ecosystem.
These microcontrollers definitely have their place, but if you’re just getting started, it’s best to choose between the Arduino Nano and one of the many ESP32S boards for the reasons mentioned earlier.
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(content created Apr 22, 2024 - last updated May 22, 2024)