ESP32 Chip Guide 2026: Which Should You Actually Use? (ESP32 vs ESP32-S3 vs ESP32-C6, etc)

Which ESP32 chip should you use? Currently, Espressif lists 14 chips in the ESP32 family. Eleven are in mass production (ESP32, S2, S3, C2, C3, C5, C6, C61, H2, P4, and the recently launched S31). With so many chips, it can be overwhelming to choose which one to use in your project.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through each ESP32 chip that’s currently on the market and compare their features to make it easier to choose the right one for your project.

Our list of chips and corresponding data has been compiled from Espressif’s datasheets and product pages, in addition to the current Arduino Core, ESP-IDF, MicroPython, CircuitPython, Tasmota, and ESPHome project documentation.

Table of Contents

In this guide, we’ll cover the following subjects:

• 1. Core Chip Comparison: Key Specifications
• 2. Supported Protocols: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Thread, Matter & Others
• 3. Supported Firmware / SDKs per Chip
• 4. ESP32 Chips: GPIO Availability by Functionality
• Which ESP32 Chip Should You Pick?
• The Best ESP32 Chip For Different Applications

1. Core Chip Comparison: Key Specifications

The following table compares the top level key specifications of each chip: CPU architecture, clock speed, on-chip memory, and more.

2. Supported Protocols: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Thread, Matter & Others

The following table shows the supported wireless protocols for each chip. Check this table first when a project has a specific connectivity requirement.

It stands out that there’s no Bluetooth on the ESP32-S2 and no Wi-Fi on the H-series.

Note: LoRa is not listed because you need an external transceiver. Every ESP32 LoRa board (like Heltec Wi-Fi LoRa 32, LILYGO T-Beam, etc.) comes with an ESP32 chip with a separate SX1262/SX1276 transceiver over SPI.

3. Supported Firmware / SDKs per Chip

The following table shows which frameworks and firmware projects are currently supported on each chip. Keep in mind that stable versions for new chips can take several months to be available.

Notes:

1* C2 and C61 are not easy to install through the regular Arduino IDE Boards Manager. It only works on ESP-IDF with Arduino-ESP32 via “Arduino as an ESP-IDF component” or by rebuilding the static libraries.

“ESPHome (IDF only)” means that chip needs the ESP-IDF framework in ESPHome . ESPHome’s Arduino Core framework option is limited to ESP32 (classic), S2, S3, and C3.

4. ESP32 Chips: GPIO Availability by Functionality

I2C, SPI, and UART are rarely pinned to fixed GPIOs on an ESP32. There’s a GPIO matrix that lets you route them to nearly any pin in software.

The real difference between the chips is related to the pins with fixed functions (ADC/touch/DAC, which are hardwired) and USB.

A few pins on every chip are also strapping pins (they set the boot mode at power on). These can be used as normal GPIOs afterward, but it’s best to check your chip’s datasheet before driving them low/high at boot.

Which ESP32 Chip Should You Pick?

Overall, if you don’t need something specific like Zigbee or Thread, or super low power (months on a battery), the ESP32-S3 is the best pick of all currently available chips.

It’s the most balanced chip in the family: the biggest modern board ecosystem, native USB, room for a display and camera, and stable firmware support.

ESP32-S3 Advantages:

• Best all-around balance of compute, memory, and GPIO in the family with dual-core, 240 MHz, up to 45 GPIOs.
• Native USB OTG. No need for separate USB-serial bridge chip.
• Up to 16 MB in-package octal PSRAM, which means room for buffers, displays, ML models.
• Largest modern board ecosystem. Around 70 boards available, from $5 breakouts to camera/display boards.
• Most mature firmware support: stable on Arduino IDE, ESP-IDF, MicroPython, CircuitPython, Tasmota, ESPHome and Zephyr.

ESP32-S3 Disadvantages:

• No 802.15.4 radio: no Zigbee, Thread, or Matter-over-Thread.
• Wi-Fi 4 only, 2.4 GHz. It’s a generation behind the C5/C6/C61/S31’s Wi-Fi 6.
• No DAC. True analog audio-out needs an external chip.
• Higher deep-sleep current draw (7uA) than the RISC-V chips (C2/C3: 5uA). It’s not the best pick for a battery powered sensor.
• Costs and draws more than a project needs for most simple applications. For example, a basic Wi-Fi switch is cheaper built on a C3.

The Best ESP32 Chip For Different Applications

To help you choose the best chip for your project, we’ve put together the following table. Our “pick” refers to the bare chip. We’ll create a new tutorial referring to development boards built around those chips.

Wrapping Up

In this guide, we’ve taken a look at the available ESP32 chips. Currently, there are 14 different ESP32 chips. They may differ in terms of key specs, supported wireless protocols, GPIOs, power consumption, and more.

Overall, if you’re just learning or getting started with the ESP32, we recommend the original ESP32 chip of the ESP32-S3. If you have a specific project in mind, other ESP32 chips might be better suited.

In this article, we’re referring to the ESP32 bare chips. We’ll create a similar guide for the most popular ESP32 development boards.

We hope this guide is helpful.

To learn more about the ESP32, check out our resources:

• Learn ESP32 with Arduino IDE (3rd Edition)
• Learn ESP-IDF with ESP32: The Beginner’s Guide
• MicroPython Programming with ESP32 and ESP8266 (2nd Edition)