Wokwi Arduino and ESP32 Simulator

Coding, Simulation

Free & Paid
No Download/Install required
No registration

Wokwi simulates embedded projects in the browser. It supports Arduino (Uno, Mega, Nano), ESP32, STM32 and Raspberry Pi Pico boards, with displays, sensors, motors and WiFi simulation. You write the firmware in the editor, place virtual parts on a canvas, wire them and press run.

The compiled firmware runs on a simulated chip, so serial output and peripheral responses can be observed without hardware. Projects are shared through a link. The paid Wokwi Pro plans add a VS Code extension, CI integration and faster builds, while the browser simulator remains free.

Start from pre-built examples or use a template. Very effective.

Embedded engineers prototype and debug logic before a board exists, and product developers produce a shareable proof of concept. The simulator runs without an account. Saving projects to the cloud requires one, otherwise projects stay in the local storage of the browser.

Disciplines: Embedded systems, Electronics, Robotics, IoT, Education.

Free alternative to Proteus, Tinkercad Circuits, PlatformIO.

Wokwi Arduino and ESP32 Simulator compared with Proteus, Tinkercad Circuits and PlatformIO
Wokwi	Proteus	Tinkercad Circuits	PlatformIO
Technical scope: Simulates embedded firmware in the browser together with virtual displays, sensors, motors and WiFi. The firmware runs on a simulated chip, so serial output and peripheral responses can be observed without a board.	Technical scope: Combines microcontroller models with mixed-mode SPICE circuit simulation, so analogue behaviour and firmware can be studied in one schematic. Schematic capture also feeds PCB layout, which Wokwi does not cover.	Technical scope: Simulates Arduino circuits on an interactive breadboard and supports block-based coding. Its scope is an introduction to circuits and microcontrollers.	Technical scope: A development toolchain with a build system, static code analyzer, unified debugger and remote unit testing for real hardware. It is aimed at producing and testing firmware, not at virtual circuit design.
Hardware targets: Arduino (Uno, Mega, Nano), ESP32, STM32 and Raspberry Pi Pico, plus a Chips API for custom parts. GDB debugging is documented for Arduino and Raspberry Pi Pico.	Hardware targets: Over 750 microprocessor variants with their I/O ports, interrupts, timers and USARTs. Version 9.2 adds expanded simulation of STM32CubeIDE projects.	Hardware targets: Arduino boards and microcontrollers.	Hardware targets: Supports ARM, AVR, Espressif ESP8266 and ESP32, FPGA, 8051, MSP430, Nordic nRF, NXP i.MX RT, PIC32, RISC-V, STM8, STM32 and Teensy, with frameworks such as Arduino, ESP-IDF, FreeRTOS, Zephyr and STM32Cube.
Testing and automation: Wokwi CI can detect memory leaks in ESP-IDF firmware by tracking free heap and failing the test, without changes to the firmware. A VS Code extension is available.			Testing and automation: Remote unit testing, continuous integration support and a firmware file explorer with memory inspection are listed features.
Licence and cost model: Free for personal use, and commercial users and professionals need a paid plan. The paid plans add the VS Code extension, CI integration and faster builds. Some functions, such as binary SD card uploads, are limited to paying users.	Licence and cost model: Sold as purchasable VSM packages, with a separately purchasable Advanced Simulation option for frequency, noise and sweep analyses. A free demo allows trying sample designs.	Licence and cost model: Free, with no paid licence or subscription required.	Licence and cost model: Open source under the Apache 2.0 licence, which allows commercial and personal projects. Telemetry is enabled by default and can be configured.
Platform and installation: Runs in the browser without an account. Saving projects to the cloud requires an account, and projects can also be simulated from VS Code.	Platform and installation: Desktop software. Proteus 9 has a 64-bit architecture.	Platform and installation: Runs entirely in a web browser, needs an internet connection and no installation.	Platform and installation: Python package (Python 3.6 or later on the version page checked) that integrates with desktop IDEs and CI systems.