ESP8266 Community Forum

- Sun Aug 13, 2017 11:22 am #69007 While this is interesting, in my opinion, it makes little practical sense.

The cost difference between an ESP8266 (NodeMCU, for example), and a Pi Zero W is only about $5, and Pi Zero W is vastly superior for this application.

- Sun Aug 13, 2017 11:44 am #69009 Where You get Pi Zero W for $5? I've seen only (at least) $10...
https://www.adafruit.com/product/3400
https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w

- Sun Aug 13, 2017 12:08 pm #69011 Cost difference is about $5. Pi Zero W is $10, NodeMCU is $5-$8. Other costs are similar, case, PS, but Pi also needs SD card.

The point is, a complete Pi Zero W with case, PS, SD is about $25-$30. NodeMCU in a box with PS might be $15-$20. The savings isn't enough to justify all the things that ESP8266 lacks, performance, memory, OS, programming languages, debugger, stability.

I like ESP8266 and ESP32. For many things, they are an excellent choice. For an MQTT broker, not so much.

- Sun Aug 13, 2017 12:44 pm #69012 Maybe, but there are more aspects - power consumption for example, and in case of stability - I'm using ESPs in 24/7 devices without problem (longest uptime so far is 358 days and still counting).