--- title: I turned a $45 ESP32 touchscreen into a Stream Deck, and... description: A developer built a DIY Stream Deck alternative using a $45 Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 7-inch ESP32-S3 touchscreen, significantly undercutting the $150 Elgato... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-45-esp32-touchscreen-into-a-stream-deck-and-one-big-screen-beats-elgato-s-fifteen-tiny--3mor5jy8g twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I turned a $45 ESP32 touchscreen into a Stream Deck, and one big screen beats Elgato's fifteen tiny keys | daily.dev og:description: A developer built a DIY Stream Deck alternative using a $45 Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 7-inch ESP32-S3 touchscreen, significantly undercutting the $150 Elgato... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-45-esp32-touchscreen-into-a-stream-deck-and-one-big-screen-beats-elgato-s-fifteen-tiny--3mor5jy8g og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/3MoR5JY8G.png og:image:alt: I turned a $45 ESP32 touchscreen into a Stream Deck, and one big screen beats Elgato's fifteen tiny keys og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I turned a $45 ESP32 touchscreen into a Stream Deck, and one big screen beats Elgato's fifteen tiny keys **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A developer built a DIY Stream Deck alternative using a $45 Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 7-inch ESP32-S3 touchscreen, significantly undercutting the $150 Elgato Stream Deck. The design separates concerns cleanly: the ESP32 panel only stores button appearance data and reports presses over Wi-Fi, while a companion .NET/Avalonia Windows app handles all macro logic, icon processing (RGB565 conversion with SHA-256 verification), and keyboard shortcut injection. This means no USB tether, no reflashing to change button actions, and a much larger display. Limitations include Windows-only support and requiring the desktop app to be running. Both firmware and app are open-sourced on GitHub. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How does a DIY ESP32 Stream Deck communicate button presses to a Windows app without storing macros on the device? The ESP32 panel stores only appearance data like button IDs, titles, colors, and icons, and when tapped it sends a small network message naming which button was pressed. A companion Windows desktop app then looks up the assigned action, whether launching an executable, opening a URL, or sending a keyboard shortcut, and executes it, keeping all logic off the microcontroller entirely. _Builders wiring up their own macro pad hardware find project breakdowns like this through daily.dev._ ### What hardware specs does the Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 7-inch ESP32 board have and how much does it cost? The Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 7-inch uses an ESP32-S3 with an 800x480 IPS touchscreen, an SC7277 display driver, a GT911 touch controller, 8MB of PSRAM, and 16MB of flash, priced roughly between $40 and $50 depending on options, making it cheaper than a 15-key Elgato Stream Deck while offering a much larger display. _Anyone comparing ESP32 boards for a hardware project can track specs and pricing details via daily.dev._ ### Why does keyboard shortcut input from a virtual macro pad fail in some Windows applications? Keyboard shortcuts sent from a software-based macro pad only work in applications running at the same privilege level, because Windows restricts synthetic input across privilege boundaries when the input comes from another application rather than a physical keyboard device. This means elevated apps won't receive simulated keystrokes from a standard-privilege macro tool. _Developers debugging cross-privilege input issues on Windows can find edge cases like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I stopped looking for the perfect Stream Deck alternative and built one instead](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-looking-for-the-perfect-stream-deck-alternative-and-built-one-instead-u7tfkm5f3) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Stream Deck Radio Controller Built With Cheap Yellow Display](https://daily.dev/posts/stream-deck-radio-controller-built-with-cheap-yellow-display-yrgslyv5w) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Why buy a Stream Deck when you can build your own with this ESP32 project?](https://daily.dev/posts/why-buy-a-stream-deck-when-you-can-build-your-own-with-this-esp32-project--3dk9p8vop) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Elecrow CrowPanel Advanced HMI Display Review: A Tinkerer's Touchscreen](https://daily.dev/posts/elecrow-crowpanel-advanced-hmi-display-review-a-tinkerer-s-touchscreen-9akh9nkvh) · It's Foss · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Open Source Stream Deck Targets Flexibility](https://daily.dev/posts/open-source-stream-deck-targets-flexibility-8swlbba0f) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#.net](https://daily.dev/tags/.net), [#iot](https://daily.dev/tags/iot), [#embedded](https://daily.dev/tags/embedded), [#avalonia](https://daily.dev/tags/avalonia) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-45-esp32-touchscreen-into-a-stream-deck-and-one-big-screen-beats-elgato-s-fifteen-tiny--3mor5jy8g) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I turned a $45 ESP32 touchscreen into a Stream Deck, and one big screen beats Elgato's fifteen tiny keys","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-45-esp32-touchscreen-into-a-stream-deck-and-one-big-screen-beats-elgato-s-fifteen-tiny--3mor5jy8g","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-45-esp32-touchscreen-into-a-stream-deck-and-one-big-screen-beats-elgato-s-fifteen-tiny--3mor5jy8g"},"datePublished":"2026-07-17T15:04:44.775Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T19:03:34.762Z","description":"A developer built a DIY Stream Deck alternative using a $45 Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 7-inch ESP32-S3 touchscreen, significantly undercutting the $150 Elgato...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/6db80c1cdef2cd1663a9ee17f5ebdd81?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/6db80c1cdef2cd1663a9ee17f5ebdd81?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-45-esp32-touchscreen-into-a-stream-deck-and-one-big-screen-beats-elgato-s-fifteen-tiny--3mor5jy8g","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":".net,iot,embedded,avalonia","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I turned a $45 ESP32 touchscreen into a Stream Deck, and one big screen beats Elgato's fifteen tiny keys"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-45-esp32-touchscreen-into-a-stream-deck-and-one-big-screen-beats-elgato-s-fifteen-tiny--3mor5jy8g#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How does a DIY ESP32 Stream Deck communicate button presses to a Windows app without storing macros on the device?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The ESP32 panel stores only appearance data like button IDs, titles, colors, and icons, and when tapped it sends a small network message naming which button was pressed. 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