Low-cost: you can get ESP8266 boards starting at $3 (or less) depending on the model.Why is the ESP8266 so popular? Mainly for the following reasons: This means you can bring your projects online, which is great for home automation and internet of things applications. With the ESP8266, you can control inputs and outputs as you would do with an Arduino, but with Wi-Fi capabilities. The most practical application is using it as a standalone device. For example, you can connect an ESP8266 to an Arduino to add Wi-Fi capabilities to your Arduino board.
It can be used as a standalone device, or as a UART to Wi-Fi adaptor to allow other microcontrollers to connect to a Wi-Fi network.
