17 of the 20 features in our table differ between the ESP32-C5 and the ESP32-S3.
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.
Dual-core, PSRAM, USB OTG, camera, AI instructions
The all-rounder: two cores at 240 MHz, PSRAM, USB OTG, camera and RGB display interfaces, and vector instructions for AI.
Watch out: On modules with octal PSRAM, GPIO 35 to 37 are taken. Bluetooth is LE only, so no A2DP audio.
| Feature | ESP32-C5 | ESP32-S3 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 1 × RISC-V, 240 MHz | 2 × Xtensa LX7, 240 MHz |
| Low-power core | LP RISC-V core | ULP RISC-V + FSM |
| SRAM | 384 KB | 512 KB |
| PSRAM | In-package or external | In-package or external, quad or octal |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), 2.4 + 5 GHz | Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n), 2.4 GHz |
| Bluetooth | LE 5 (Core 6.0 certified) | LE 5 |
| Thread / Zigbee | Yes (802.15.4) | No |
| USB | Serial/JTAG (flash, serial, debug) | OTG full speed + Serial/JTAG |
| GPIO | 29 | 45 |
| ADC channels | 6 | 20 (ADC1: 10) |
| Touch pins | No | 14 |
| Camera | No | Parallel (DVP) |
| Display interface | SPI only | Parallel RGB and i80 |
| TWAI (CAN) | 2 (CAN FD) | 1 |
| Deep sleep | See datasheet | 7 µA |
| AI / DSP | No | 128-bit SIMD (PIE) |
| ESPHome | Yes (ESP-IDF) | Yes (ESP-IDF or Arduino) |
Same on both: DAC, Ethernet MAC, and Arduino-ESP32.
Open the ESP32 comparison →Tick what your project needs and see which of the eight chips fits best.
The ESP32-C5 has Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), the 5 GHz band, and Thread or Zigbee. The ESP32-S3 has USB OTG, a camera interface (parallel), a display interface (RGB), and capacitive touch (14 pins).
Espressif rates the ESP32-S3 at 7 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. Anything that uses Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) or the 5 GHz band won’t carry over: the ESP32-S3 doesn’t have that hardware.
ESP32 vs ESP32-C5 ESP32 vs ESP32-S3 ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-C5 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-C6 vs ESP32-S3 ESP32-H2 vs ESP32-S3 ESP32-P4 vs ESP32-S3 ESP32-S2 vs ESP32-S3
Figures from Espressif datasheets, ESPHome and Arduino-ESP32 documentation, checked in November 2026.