ESP32 boards are a cheap way to build your own smart devices, but the thought of having to solder pins or wire things up to a breadboard can be enough to put people off. If you’re yet to try making your own ESP32 devices, there’s a new kit on the way that will make things much easier.
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How ESPHome makes a DIY smart home simpler
Turn cheap microcontrollers into local devices
If you’re looking to create an ESP32 smart home device, the first concern may be that you need to be able to configure the small microcontroller so that it does what you want. Traditionally, you’d have to rely on writing C++ code and installing libraries, which was enough to put these projects out of the reach of many people.
ESPHome makes things far easier. It’s effectively a firmware translator; you give ESPHome the instructions using a human-readable YAML text file, and it generates the firmware for you, without you having to write a line of C++.
ESPHome removes one of the biggest barriers to making your own ESP32 devices. If you want to build a smart home sensor, for example, you write a YAML file specifying that there’s a temperature sensor on pin 1 of your ESP32 and a humidity sensor on pin 2. ESPHome converts this information into firmware that you can flash to your ESP32 device, and when you hook it up to Home Assistant, the temperature and humidity readings will appear.
The Apollo ESPHome Starter Kit makes things even easier
No soldering or breadboards required
While ESPHome removes one of the barriers to creating ESP32 devices, it doesn’t remove them all. In many cases, you need to solder pins onto the board, which can be off-putting to people who don’t have any soldering experience. An alternative option is to use a breakout board, connect your ESP32 to the board, and use wires to connect sensors.
There’s a new product on the way that removes these barriers to entry. The ESPHome Starter Kit from Apollo Automation is designed to let you build your own smart home devices without the need for soldering or breadboards. The kit is due to start shipping in mid-to-late May 2026.
The kit comes with an ESP32-C6 board as the main controller, and four separate modules: a smart button module, a motion sensor module, a temperature and humidity module, and an LED and buzzer module. Instead of having to solder these modules or connect them to a breadboard, the modules connect easily via the included FPC cables. You connect one end of the cable to the ESP32 board and the other end to one of the modules, and you’ve built an ESP32 device.
Once you’ve hooked up your sensor, you configure your device using the visual YAML editor and flash the generated firmware to your ESP32. You can then connect your newly built smart home device to Home Assistant and begin using it in your smart home. Everything runs locally, so there are no subscriptions or cloud services required.
The ESPHome Starter Kit supports the connection of any two modules at the same time. This means you can use it to create a multisensor that can detect motion as well as measure temperature and humidity, or any other combination you want to make.
The ESPHome Starter Kit helps support Home Assistant and more
An official commercial partner of the Open Home Foundation
Apollo Automation isn’t just a smart home company that sells smart home sensors, hubs, accessories, and more. It’s also a commercial partner of the Open Home Foundation.
The Open Home Foundation is a non-profit organization built around three core principles. It aims to promote a smart home that maintains privacy, allows you to mix and match hardware without being locked into a single ecosystem, and doesn’t suddenly brick your devices when a company turns off its cloud services. The Open Home Foundation oversees the development of multiple open-source projects, including Home Assistant, ESPHome, and Music Assistant.
As a commercial partner, profits generated from the sales of products such as the ESPHome Starter Kit go toward funding the Open Home Foundation, which supports the development of ESPHome, Home Assistant, and more. Along with a Home Assistant Cloud subscription, buying products from commercial partners is one of the best ways to support the development of these open-source smart home tools.
The ESPHome Starter Kit is a gateway to DIY devices
The kit is designed to get you over the first hurdle
By design, the ESPHome Starter Kit has a limited number of uses. You can use it to create your own temperature and humidity sensor, to build your own smart button, or to make your own motion sensor. You can also use the LED and buzzer module as a smart home indicator, displaying different colored lights or making a sound when things happen in your smart home, such as a doorbell being rung or the dishwasher finishing its cycle.
These are great ways to start your ESP32 journey, as you can quickly create useful sensors that you can put to work in your smart home. Out of the box, you can’t use the kit to create anything else; these are the only four modules included.
The intent is that the ESPHome Starter Kit gives people a taste of the joys of building their own smart home devices. Once you’ve used the kit to build your first sensors, you’re more likely to move on to other ESP32 projects, and the possibilities are almost endless.
There’s never been a better time for your first ESP32 project
Much like Home Assistant, building your own ESP32 devices comes with a learning curve that can deter newcomers. The ESPHome Starter Kit aims to make things as easy as possible. If you’ve wondered about building your own ESP32 devices before, it’s definitely worth giving it a try once it’s released.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
