These are the full-stack builds: a sensor on one end, a dashboard on the other, and everything in between — WiFi, MQTT, cloud APIs, and battery strategy. If you’re moving from blinking LEDs to systems that run unattended for months, start here. The boards below are the ones we reach for in our own client work.
Shop the parts used in these tutorials
ESP32-DevKitC-VE Pre-Soldered Dev Board with 8MB Flash + 8MB PSRAM
$24.99
ESP8266 NodeMCU Development Board with 0.96 Inch OLED Display, Type-C, Pre-Soldered with Foam
$9.99
W5500 SPI Ethernet Network Module for Arduino & ESP32
$11.99
SX1262 ESP32-S3 0.96" Blue OLED Bluetooth & WiFi Development Board for Arduino, 868-915MHz, with Antenna, Pre-Soldered
$24.99Raspberry Pi Pico W MQTT: Send messages anywhere
Build a distributed IoT message system with Raspberry Pi Pico W and MQTT using HiveMQ Cloud in MicroPython, sending publish-subscribe data anywhere...
Pico W WiFi: Send data between boards
Build a two-device Raspberry Pi Pico W WiFi client and server in MicroPython using Thonny, so you can send messages and expand...
Raspberry Pi Pico W ChatGPT API: Send Prompts Over WiFi
Build a Raspberry Pi Pico W script that connects over WiFi, sends ChatGPT API prompts, and prints responses for fast prototyping with...
Raspberry Pi Pico W Gmail: Send Email in MicroPython
Build a Raspberry Pi Pico W MicroPython script that sends Gmail SMTP email using an app password, enabling easy alerts and remote...