NodeMCU ESP8266 (ESP-12E)
Also known as: NodeMCU · NodeMCU v3 · ESP8266 NodeMCU · ESP-12E DevKit · Amica NodeMCU · LoLin NodeMCU
The classic ESP8266 dev board: breadboard-friendly headers, onboard USB-serial and a huge body of beginner tutorials. For years it was the default 'ESP' board before the ESP32 arrived.
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At a glance
⚑ flag an error| SoC | ESP8266 |
|---|---|
| Vendor | Amica / LoLin / clones |
| Type | Dev kit |
| Memory | 4 MB flash |
| Display | None |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi |
| USB | Micro-USB (CP2102 or CH340) |
| Battery | No |
| Typical price | $2-4 (street, varies) |
Good for
Gotchas to know
- The D0-D8 silkscreen does not match GPIO numbers, which is a constant beginner trap.
- It is wide: on a single breadboard it covers one whole side's rails.
- ESP8266 means single-core, no Bluetooth, about 9 usable GPIO and 3.3V logic.
- The 'v3 LoLin' and 'v2 Amica' revisions differ in size and USB-serial chip.
Variants
v2 (Amica, CP2102, narrower) and v3 (LoLin, CH340, wider) are the common revisions; both are ESP-12E / ESP8266 with 4MB flash.
The ESP8266 inside
This board is built on the ESP8266 (ESP8266EX). See the SoC page for the full peripheral, GPIO and security details.
Bare modules on the same SoC:
Resources
Community guides usually go deeper than this page: pinout diagrams, wiring, library setup and copy-paste example code from people who build with these boards daily.