18 of the 20 features in our table differ between the ESP32 and the ESP32-C5.
Dual-core, Bluetooth Classic, Ethernet MAC, DAC
The original: two cores, Wi-Fi, and the only chip here with Bluetooth Classic, an Ethernet MAC and a DAC together. The most boards, examples and libraries.
Watch out: ADC2 pins stop working while Wi-Fi is on, and strapping and flash pins limit the free GPIOs. No native USB.
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 | ESP32-C5 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 2 × Xtensa LX6, 240 MHz | 1 × RISC-V, 240 MHz |
| Low-power core | ULP (FSM) | LP RISC-V core |
| SRAM | 520 KB | 384 KB |
| PSRAM | External (4 MB mapped, up to 8 MB via himem); 2 MB in-package on some versions | 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 | Classic (BR/EDR) + LE 4.2 | LE 5 (Core 6.0 certified) |
| Thread / Zigbee | No | Yes (802.15.4) |
| USB | No (USB-serial chip on the board) | Serial/JTAG (flash, serial, debug) |
| GPIO | 34 | 29 |
| ADC channels | 18 (ADC1: 8) | 6 |
| DAC | 2 × 8-bit | No |
| Touch pins | 10 | No |
| Camera | Parallel (DVP) | No |
| Display interface | Parallel (i80, via I2S) | SPI only |
| TWAI (CAN) | 1 | 2 (CAN FD) |
| Ethernet MAC | Yes (RMII) | No (SPI module) |
| Deep sleep | 10 µA | See datasheet |
| ESPHome | Yes (ESP-IDF or Arduino) | Yes (ESP-IDF) |
Same on both: AI / DSP and Arduino-ESP32.
Open the ESP32 comparison →Tick what your project needs and see which of the eight chips fits best.
ESP32 pinout: safe GPIO, strapping pins and ADC2 →
The ESP32 has Bluetooth Classic, a camera interface (parallel), a display interface (parallel i80), and wired Ethernet with the built-in MAC. The ESP32-C5 has Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), the 5 GHz band, Thread or Zigbee, and USB on the chip for flashing and the serial monitor.
Espressif rates the ESP32 at 10 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 Bluetooth Classic or a camera interface (parallel) won’t carry over: the ESP32-C5 doesn’t have that hardware. 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-C6 ESP32 vs ESP32-H2 ESP32 vs ESP32-P4 ESP32 vs ESP32-S2 ESP32 vs ESP32-S3 ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-C5 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.