12 of the 20 features in our table differ between the ESP32-C3 and the ESP32-C5.
Small RISC-V, Wi-Fi 4, BLE 5, 5 µA deep sleep
A small, low-cost RISC-V chip with Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth LE 5, USB Serial/JTAG built in and 5 µA in deep sleep.
Watch out: One core, no PSRAM and only 5 ADC pins you can rely on, since ESP-IDF doesn’t support ADC2.
Dual-band Wi-Fi 6, BLE, Thread and Zigbee
The only one of these eight with 5 GHz: Wi-Fi 6 on both bands, plus Bluetooth LE, Thread and Zigbee, and PSRAM support.
Watch out: The newest chip here: fewer boards and examples so far, and ESPHome needs the ESP-IDF framework.
| Feature | ESP32-C3 | ESP32-C5 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 1 × RISC-V, 160 MHz | 1 × RISC-V, 240 MHz |
| Low-power core | No | LP RISC-V core |
| SRAM | 400 KB | 384 KB |
| PSRAM | No | In-package or external |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n), 2.4 GHz | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), 2.4 + 5 GHz |
| Bluetooth | LE 5 | LE 5 (Core 6.0 certified) |
| Thread / Zigbee | No | Yes (802.15.4) |
| GPIO | 22 | 29 |
| ADC channels | 6 (ADC1: 5) | 6 |
| TWAI (CAN) | 1 | 2 (CAN FD) |
| Deep sleep | 5 µA | See datasheet |
| ESPHome | Yes (ESP-IDF or Arduino) | Yes (ESP-IDF) |
Same on both: USB, DAC, Touch pins, Camera, Display interface, Ethernet MAC, AI / DSP, and Arduino-ESP32.
Open the ESP32 comparison →Tick what your project needs and see which of the eight chips fits best.
The ESP32-C3 has the Arduino framework in ESPHome. The ESP32-C5 has Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), the 5 GHz band, Thread or Zigbee, and PSRAM for large buffers (camera, display, audio).
Espressif rates the ESP32-C3 at 5 µA in deep sleep; for the ESP32-C5, check the latest datasheet. On a board the regulator and the LEDs usually draw more than either chip.
Arduino-ESP32 and ESP-IDF support both chips, so most code builds for either; pin numbers, strapping pins and some peripherals change. In ESPHome the ESP32-C5 works only with the ESP-IDF framework, so components that need Arduino won’t build.
ESP32 vs ESP32-C3 ESP32 vs ESP32-C5 ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-C6 ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-H2 ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-P4 ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-S2 ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-S3 ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-C6 ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-H2 ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-P4 ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-S2 ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-S3
Figures from Espressif datasheets, ESPHome and Arduino-ESP32 documentation, checked in November 2026.