circuitpython VS MicroPython

Compare circuitpython vs MicroPython and see what are their differences.

circuitpython

CircuitPython - a Python implementation for teaching coding with microcontrollers (by adafruit)

MicroPython

MicroPython - a lean and efficient Python implementation for microcontrollers and constrained systems (by micropython)
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circuitpython MicroPython
93 197
3,862 18,163
1.6% 1.8%
0.0 9.8
1 day ago 7 days ago
C C
MIT License MIT
The number of mentions indicates the total number of mentions that we've tracked plus the number of user suggested alternatives.
Stars - the number of stars that a project has on GitHub. Growth - month over month growth in stars.
Activity is a relative number indicating how actively a project is being developed. Recent commits have higher weight than older ones.
For example, an activity of 9.0 indicates that a project is amongst the top 10% of the most actively developed projects that we are tracking.

circuitpython

Posts with mentions or reviews of circuitpython. We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives and similar projects. The last one was on 2023-12-06.
  • Unveiling secrets of the ESP32: creating an open-source Mac layer
    5 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 6 Dec 2023
    The barrier to entry has never been lower. Last night I prototyped some code in Python on my Mac to talk to a Bluetooth peripheral, and then had ChatGPT translate it to Arduino C++ code for a $5 ESP32 which mostly worked on the first go.

    You can even run Python on microcontrollers these days. See Adafruit's https://circuitpython.org for which they publish modules for many (almost all?) of the sensors they sell. The modern microcontroller frameworks hide much of the complexity of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, filesystems, etc. so you can do complicated things with minimal effort. You can really cobble something together in an afternoon.

  • ALT.CTRL.GameCraft Workshop @ Beta Festival Write-up
    3 projects | dev.to | 7 Nov 2023
    The Pico runs CircuitPython and uses Adafruit's HID library to emulate a keyboard. It's also possible to emulate a mouse and a gamepad (there are some experiments for gamepad emulation in experiments).
  • HT1632c library for circuitpython
    2 projects | /r/circuitpython | 21 Jun 2023
    Asked your question in the adafruit discord and they said there's no HT1632c library for circuit python yet. There is a library for micropython. You can request to have it ported from the Micropython library I linked to by opening a feature request in the Circuit Python Github. That would be your best option for now or attempt to port the library yourself.
  • Question about programming arduino
    2 projects | /r/arduino | 3 Jun 2023
  • Projects for newbs!
    2 projects | /r/arduino | 21 Apr 2023
    I'm aware of two versions of Python for microcontrollers. Micro Python and Circuit Python
  • Rotary Encoder - Double click
    2 projects | /r/raspberrypipico | 4 Jan 2023
    There was a whole Github discussion on whether or not CircuitPy should use interrupts.
  • Circuitpython Reference?
    2 projects | /r/circuitpython | 29 Dec 2022
    Let me google that for you.
  • Is the statement true, that Python and its ecosystem lacks speed for mission-critical large-scale applications?
    6 projects | /r/Python | 27 Nov 2022
    As the cost of more powerful micro-controllers continues to drop, the time and cost savings that comes with working in higher-level languages is starting to outweigh the cost of using cheaper/less-powerful micro-controllers. There are already options such as micropython and circuitpython for using Python on micro-controllers, but they're not in wide commercial use as of yet (as far as I'm aware).
  • Five simple steps to use any Arduino C++ library in a Rust project 🦀
    11 projects | dev.to | 13 Nov 2022
    Arduino helps circuit developers to build electronic projects and is, perhaps, the most used open-source hardware and software platform. It is popular across millions of hobbyists across the world. Historically, Arduino boards are programmed with C++ programming language using the Arduino IDE. The availability of powerful ARM-based Arduino-compatible boards made it possible to use python, JavaScript, or even a browser to program your circuit. While they are easier to study for a new joiner without an existing programming background, C++ stays a default language choice, especially when dealing with cheap and low-memory AVR-controller boards and having a need to run more or less complex projects.
  • Is Rust a viable alternative to C / C++?
    2 projects | /r/arduino | 1 Nov 2022
    If your application doesn't need every bit of performance or memory, consider CircuitPython or MicroPython. The CircuitPython community is a bit more active but CircuitPython needs native USB support on the MCU, so out of the ESP family, only the ESP-S2 and ESP-S3 currently support it. MicroPython can run on any ESP (okay not certain about the C3).

MicroPython

Posts with mentions or reviews of MicroPython. We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives and similar projects. The last one was on 2024-02-07.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing circuitpython and MicroPython you can also consider the following projects:

TinyGo - Go compiler for small places. Microcontrollers, WebAssembly (WASM/WASI), and command-line tools. Based on LLVM.

PlatformIO - Your Gateway to Embedded Software Development Excellence :alien:

esp-idf - Espressif IoT Development Framework. Official development framework for Espressif SoCs.

Espruino - The Espruino JavaScript interpreter - Official Repo

jerryscript - Ultra-lightweight JavaScript engine for the Internet of Things.

IronPython - Implementation of Python 3.x for .NET Framework that is built on top of the Dynamic Language Runtime.

awesome-embedded-rust - Curated list of resources for Embedded and Low-level development in the Rust programming language

Unicorn Engine - Unicorn CPU emulator framework (ARM, AArch64, M68K, Mips, Sparc, PowerPC, RiscV, S390x, TriCore, X86)

ardupilot - ArduPlane, ArduCopter, ArduRover, ArduSub source

kmk_firmware - Clackety Keyboards Powered by Python

RF24 - OSI Layer 2 driver for nRF24L01 on Arduino & Raspberry Pi/Linux Devices

QEMU - Official QEMU mirror. Please see https://www.qemu.org/contribute/ for how to submit changes to QEMU. Pull Requests are ignored. Please only use release tarballs from the QEMU website.