# ESP32-C5

5 Hacker News commenters recommended ESP32-C5 and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for running Rust on its RISC-V cores, with Thread, Zigbee, BLE and dual-band WiFi support. Critics note the lack of SIMD extensions and that ESP-IDF support arrived late.

## Why people recommend it

- RISC-V cores suited to Rust (1 comments): "The newer model, C3, C6, C5 all have RSIC-V cores which make it a dream to run Rust" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47919412))
- Thread, Zigbee and BLE support (1 comments): "It's also reasonably powerful for a micro and supports Thread, Zigbee, and BLE." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49834390))
- Dual-band 2.4 and 5 GHz WiFi (1 comments): "supports 2.4 and 5 GHz dual-band WiFi" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47632999))
- Suggested over other ESP32 chips (1 comments): "I'd say go for an ESP32 C5 or C6." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49974532))

## What people warn about

- No SIMD extensions (1 comments): "the lack of SIMD extensions on the C5/C6 holds it back" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50071519))
- ESP-IDF support arrived late (1 comments): "announced in June 2022, received initial support in -IDF in August 2025" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47625320))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [ESP32](https://hackerapproved.com/p/esp32.md): 190 recommend
- [Arduino boards](https://hackerapproved.com/p/arduino.md): 81 recommend
- [Raspberry Pi Pico](https://hackerapproved.com/p/raspberry-pi-pico.md): 72 recommend
- [Raspberry Pi RP2040](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rp2040.md): 29 recommend
- [ESP32-S3](https://hackerapproved.com/p/esp32-s3.md): 26 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Espressif+ESP32-C5+development+board&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.espressif.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "ESP32-C5", https://hackerapproved.com/p/esp32-c5/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).