So I agree that the WeMos Mini is definitely what you should buy, but the bare chips aren&#x27;t that bad to work with. I&#x27;ve done quite a few and I usually just solder wires to each pad on the chip and then solder the other end(s) to a breadboard (something like this <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.instructables.com&#x2F;id&#x2F;Getting-Started-with-the-ESP8266-ESP-12&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.instructables.com&#x2F;id&#x2F;Getting-Started-with-the-ESP...</a> ).<p>You also have to pull up CH_PD and pull down GPIO15, plus usually include a voltage regulator and&#x2F;or smoothing cap, which adds enough hassle that WeMos is definitely worthwhile, but it&#x27;s not really that bad if you only have the bare modules.