Esp32sim

What hackers pick instead

• VelxioBrowser-based emulator for Arduino, ESP32 and Raspberry Pi boards that runs with no setup, so projects can be tested without physical hardware. Critics say it takes away learning.21recommend
• WokwiRecommended for simulating circuits and running integration tests without physical hardware, speeding up projects. Caveat: it is not like real hardware and carries a monthly cost.6recommend
• SimanticDevelopers recommend it for timing-accurate firmware simulation with maintenance handled by the vendor. Critics doubt its viability and question its choice of microcontrollers.5recommend

Every quote

The 11 most detailed of 13 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Where I can see this coming handy is instead of a "functional simulator" to actually have real firmware running for each mobile or back-end dev and CI/CD runner.

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

2. This emulator is actually pretty cool — especially since it’s based on an ESP32

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

3. This is the first thing I started looking for when I started gathering ESP32s.

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

4. This is awesome, I will certainly use it for some of my recent embedded work.

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

5. This is very interesting! I have a handful of uses for this already

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

6. make your cool esp32 software demoable on GitHub pages for free

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

7. OSS and the price? It may be vibe coded but the price is free.

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

8. this is the tool I needed - and it turned out quite ok

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

9. gigantic, poorly-formatted AI-slop paragraphs

   Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

10. It’s also a predictor of the level of slop in a project

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”

11. This is huge! I love the idea of this

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: Esp32sim – Run ESP32 firmware in the browser”