--- title: I wasted money on a Raspberry Pi when an $8 ESP32 could... description: A personal account comparing ESP32 microcontrollers to Raspberry Pi SBCs for DIY and IoT projects. The author argues that for home automation, sensor... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-wasted-money-on-a-raspberry-pi-when-an-8-esp32-could-run-half-my-diy-projects-cchtmq7f1 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I wasted money on a Raspberry Pi when an $8 ESP32 could run half my DIY projects | daily.dev og:description: A personal account comparing ESP32 microcontrollers to Raspberry Pi SBCs for DIY and IoT projects. The author argues that for home automation, sensor... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-wasted-money-on-a-raspberry-pi-when-an-8-esp32-could-run-half-my-diy-projects-cchtmq7f1 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/cCHtmq7F1.png og:image:alt: I wasted money on a Raspberry Pi when an $8 ESP32 could run half my DIY projects 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 wasted money on a Raspberry Pi when an $8 ESP32 could run half my DIY projects **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A personal account comparing ESP32 microcontrollers to Raspberry Pi SBCs for DIY and IoT projects. The author argues that for home automation, sensor integration, and low-level hardware projects, the $8 ESP32 is often a better fit than the more expensive Raspberry Pi. Key points include the simplicity of ESPHome's YAML-based configuration for flashing ESP32 boards, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on every ESP32, and easier integration with Home Assistant — all without the overhead of a full Linux OS. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [My ESP32 fills the same niche as a Raspberry Pi SBC, and it does so at a fraction of the cost](https://daily.dev/posts/my-esp32-fills-the-same-niche-as-a-raspberry-pi-sbc-and-it-does-so-at-a-fraction-of-the-cost-qsxzantnn) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [I moved my Raspberry Pi projects to $5 ESP32 boards, and nothing broke](https://daily.dev/posts/i-moved-my-raspberry-pi-projects-to-5-esp32-boards-and-nothing-broke-oymq1dlqy) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I replaced my Raspberry Pis with $5 ESP32s for smart home projects, and they do everything I need](https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-my-raspberry-pis-with-5-esp32s-for-smart-home-projects-and-they-do-everything-i-need-tusk09yso) · XDA Developers · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Your smart home needs fewer Raspberry Pis and more boring microcontrollers](https://daily.dev/posts/your-smart-home-needs-fewer-raspberry-pis-and-more-boring-microcontrollers-1bztj3x5b) · XDA Developers · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [The ESP32 makes more sense than a Raspberry Pi for your smart home](https://daily.dev/posts/the-esp32-makes-more-sense-than-a-raspberry-pi-for-your-smart-home-y5qqwv06e) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#iot](https://daily.dev/tags/iot), [#raspberry-pi](https://daily.dev/tags/raspberry-pi) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-wasted-money-on-a-raspberry-pi-when-an-8-esp32-could-run-half-my-diy-projects-cchtmq7f1) ```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 wasted money on a Raspberry Pi when an $8 ESP32 could run half my DIY projects","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-wasted-money-on-a-raspberry-pi-when-an-8-esp32-could-run-half-my-diy-projects-cchtmq7f1","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-wasted-money-on-a-raspberry-pi-when-an-8-esp32-could-run-half-my-diy-projects-cchtmq7f1"},"datePublished":"2026-07-27T18:01:54.731Z","dateModified":"2026-07-27T18:02:18.837Z","description":"A personal account comparing ESP32 microcontrollers to Raspberry Pi SBCs for DIY and IoT projects. 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