ESP32 Simulation

The ESP32 is a popular WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled microcontroller, widely used for IoT Projects. Wokwi simulates the ESP32, ESP32-C3, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C5 (alpha), ESP32-C6, ESP32-H2, and ESP32-P4 (beta).

ESP32 boards

Name	Chip	Description
ESP32-DevKitC V4	ESP32	Entry-level ESP32 development board
ESP32 DevKit v1	ESP32	Popular ESP32 development board
ESP32-S2-DevKitM-1	ESP32-S2	Entry-level ESP32-S2 development board
Franzininho WiFi	ESP32-S2	Board by the Franzininho Community
Wemos S2 mini	ESP32-S2	Small ESP32-S2 board by Wemos
ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1	ESP32-S3	Entry-level ESP32-S3 development board
ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1	ESP32-C3	Entry-level ESP32-C3 development board
Rust Board ESP32-C3	ESP32-C3	ESP32-C3 board designed for Rust trainings
ESP32-C5-DevKitC-1	ESP32-C5	Entry-level ESP32-C5 development board
ESP32-C6-DevKitC-1	ESP32-C6	Entry-level ESP32-C6 development board
ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1	ESP32-H2	Entry-level ESP32-H2 development board
ESP32-P4-Preview-DevKitC-1	ESP32-P4	ESP32-P4 pre-release virtual evaluation board (beta)
XIAO ESP32-C3	ESP32-C3	ESP32-C3 board by Seeed Studio
XIAO ESP32-C6	ESP32-C6	ESP32-C6 board by Seeed Studio
XIAO ESP32-S3	ESP32-S3	ESP32-S3 board by Seeed Studio

You can contribute additional boards by sending a pull request to wokwi-boards.

Getting Started

You can use the ESP32 simulator to run different kinds of applications:

ESP32 Arduino Core projects (including ESP-IDF projects)
MicroPython and CircuitPython projects (examples at https://wokwi.com/micropython)
Rust projects (see https://wokwi.com/rust)
Custom application firmware files (e.g. applications built using the ESP-IDF)

Arduino Core

Start from the Arduino-ESP32 Project Template, or from the ESP32 Blink Example.

If you want to use third-party Arduino libraries, add a libraries.txt file with the list of libraries that you use.

MicroPython

Start from the MicroPython ESP32 Project Template, or from the MicroPython ESP32 Blink Example.

While the simulation is running, press Ctrl+C inside the Serial Terminal to get into the MicroPython REPL. Alternatively, you can edit the Blink Example code and remove the while loop. For more information, check out the MicroPython Guide.

Custom Application Firmware

Open template

Open the ESP32 custom application project template.

Upload firmware

Press “F1” in the code editor. Then choose “Upload Firmware and Start Simulation…”. Choose any .bin, .elf or .uf2 file from your computer and the simulation will start.

When uploading a custom firmware, it’s recommended to create a single .bin file that contains the bootloader, partition table, and application. You can use the esptool merge_bin command to create such file.For ESP-IDF projects, you can also build a single UF2 file using the command: idf.py uf2. The file will be located in build/uf2.bin, and can be uploaded to the simulator.

Simulator Examples

Arduino Examples

Blink

Simple LED blinking

Seven segment counter

Count on a 7-segment display

FastLED NeoPixel Blink

Control NeoPixels with FastLED

WiFi Scanning

Scan for WiFi networks

MicroPython Examples

SSD1306 Example

OLED display with MicroPython

NeoPixels

Control NeoPixels

AES256 Encryption

Hardware-accelerated encryption

WiFi Scanning

Scan for WiFi networks

ESP-IDF Examples

The following examples use the ESP-IDF functions. They are compiled using Arduino ESP32 Core:

Blink using FreeRTOS API

FreeRTOS task example

Binary LED counter using FreeRTOS tasks

Multiple FreeRTOS tasks

GPIO button input + interrupts

Handle button interrupts

WiFi Example

Connect to WiFi with ESP-IDF

Sming Framework

Sming Framework Guide

Follow this guide to simulate Sming Framework projects

Simulation Features

Peripheral	ESP32	S2	S3	C3	C6	H2	Notes
Processor core(s)	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
GPIO	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	Interrupts supported
IOMUX	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
PSRAM	✔️	✔️	✔️	—	—	—	4MB of external SRAM *
UART	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
USB	—	✔️	✔️	—	—	—	Support for UART over USB (CDC)
USB Serial + JTAG	—	—	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	Serial supported, JTAG not.
I2C	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	Master only. 10-bit addressing not supported.
I2S	🟡	🟡	❌	❌	❌	❌	Implementation in progress
SPI	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
TWAI	🟡	🟡	🟡	🟡	🟡	✔️
RMT	🟡	🟡	🟡	🟡	🟡	✔️	Transmit-only, use to control WS2812 LED strips
LEDC PWM	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	Used by analogWrite(), Servo, Buzzer, etc.
MCPWM	❌	—	❌	—	❌	❌
PCNT	✔️	✔️	✔️	—	✔️	✔️
DMA	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
WiFi	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	—	See the ESP32 WiFi Guide
Bluetooth	❌	—	❌	❌	❌	❌
Timers	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
Watchdog	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
RTC	🟡	🟡	🟡	🟡	🟡	🟡	Only RTC Pull-up / Pull-down resistors
ADC	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
RNG	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	Random Number Generator
AES Accelerator	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
SHA Accelerator	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
RSA Accelerator	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
ECC Accelerator	—	—	—	—	✔️	✔️
Hall Effect Sensor	❌	—	❌	—	—	—
ULP Processor	❌	❌	❌	—	✔️	—
GDB Debugging	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	Works with Wokwi for VS Code

Legend:
✔️ Simulated
🟡 Partial implementation/work in progress
❌ Not implemented (but if you need it, please open a feature request)
— Not available on this chip * The amount of SRAM can be customized using the “psramSize” attribute.

WiFi Simulation

See the ESP32 WiFi Guide.

Advanced Usage

Flash and memory size

You can customize the size of flash and PSRAM by adding the following attributes to the chip: | Attribute | Description | Default | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------|---------|| | flashSize | Flash size in MB. Valid values: “2”, “4”, “8”, “16”, “32”. | “4” | | psramSize | PSRAM size in MB. Valid values: “2”, “4”, “8”. | “4” | | psramType | PSRAM type. Valid values: “quad”, “octal”. | “quad” |

ESP32 Custom flash size example

See how to configure custom flash size

USB CDC (Serial over USB) support

Some chips have a built-in USB CDC (Serial over USB) + JTAG peripheral. These chips include the ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3/C5/C6, and ESP32-H2. You can configure USB CDC support in Wokwi by adding the following attribute to the chip:

{ 
  "serialInterface": "USB_SERIAL_JTAG" 
}

You also need to remove any connections to the $serialMonitor pins from the connections section in your diagram.json file.

Custom Partition Table

You can specify a custom partition table by adding a “partitions.csv” file to your project. Check out the ESP32 Partition Table Guide for the exact format of this file.

ESP32 Custom partition table code example

See how to use custom partition tables

Custom firmware offset

When loading a custom firmware, you can specify the offset of the firmware in the flash memory. By default, Wokwi will look at the firmware binary and try to figure out the offset automatically, based on the presence of the bootloader and the type of the chip. If Wokwi can’t figure out the offset, it will assume that your firmware is an application firmware and load it at offset 0x10000. You can specify the offset manually by adding the following attribute to the chip: | Attribute | Description | Default | |----------------|-------------------------------------------------------|---------|| | firmwareOffset | Offset of the firmware in the flash memory, in bytes. | "" |

Changing the MAC address

You can change the MAC address of the WiFi interface by adding the following attribute to the chip:

Attribute	Description	Default
macAddress	MAC address of the WiFi interface, e.g. “24:0a:c4:12:45:56"	"24:0a:c4:00:01:10”

Choosing a different chip revision

For the ESP32-P4, you can choose between different chip revisions by adding the following attribute to the chip: | Attribute | Description | Default | |---------------|----------------------------------------------|---------|| | chipRevision | Chip revision. Valid values: “1.0” or “3.1” | “3.1” |

Code built for a specific chip revision may not work on other revisions.

CPU frequency limit

In order to achieve a higher simulation speed, Wokwi automatically limits the maximum simulated CPU frequency. In most cases, this doesn’t affect the behavior of the simulated program and allows you to run the simulation considerably faster. The CPU frequency limit does not affect the timing of the peripherals, only the speed instructions are executed. To override the maximum CPU frequency, you can set the “cpuFrequency” attribute to a specific frequency (e.g. “16” for 16 MHz) or “max” to run the CPU at the maximum frequency (not recommended - it will make the simulation much slower). The default value is “auto”, which means that Wokwi will automatically cap the CPU frequency to about 8 MHz. | Attribute | Description | Default | |--------------|-----------------------------------------------------|---------|| | cpuFrequency | Maximum simulated CPU frequency, e.g. “16” or “max” | “auto” |

Getting Started

Guides

VS Code Extension

Wokwi CI

​ESP32 boards

​Getting Started

​Arduino Core

​MicroPython

​Custom Application Firmware

​Simulator Examples

​Arduino Examples

Blink

Seven segment counter

FastLED NeoPixel Blink

WiFi Scanning

​MicroPython Examples

SSD1306 Example

NeoPixels

AES256 Encryption

WiFi Scanning

​ESP-IDF Examples

Blink using FreeRTOS API

Binary LED counter using FreeRTOS tasks

GPIO button input + interrupts

WiFi Example

​Sming Framework

Sming Framework Guide

​Simulation Features

​WiFi Simulation

​Advanced Usage

​Flash and memory size

ESP32 Custom flash size example

​USB CDC (Serial over USB) support

​Custom Partition Table

ESP32 Custom partition table code example

​Custom firmware offset

​Changing the MAC address

​Choosing a different chip revision

​CPU frequency limit

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

ESP32 boards

Getting Started

Arduino Core

MicroPython

Custom Application Firmware

Simulator Examples

Arduino Examples

MicroPython Examples

ESP-IDF Examples

Sming Framework

Simulation Features

WiFi Simulation

Advanced Usage

Flash and memory size

USB CDC (Serial over USB) support

Custom Partition Table

Custom firmware offset

Changing the MAC address

Choosing a different chip revision

CPU frequency limit