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WLED avatar

WLED

Firmware that turns an ESP32 into a Wi-Fi controller for addressable LED strips

  • Hardware and IoT
View on GitHub
Website

What it is

WLED runs on cheap ESP32 and ESP8266 boards and controls strips of individually addressable LEDs over Wi-Fi. Hobbyists use it for room lighting, holiday displays, and desk setups. It comes with more than a hundred effects and works with Home Assistant.

Images

Facts

Stars
18,885 GitHub stars.
18,885

Forks
4,414
Commits
7,413
Contributors
330
Language
C++
License
EUPL-1.2
Last commit
Oct 20, 2026
On GitHub since
December 2016
First release
February 2018
Platforms
web, Hardware
Self-hostable
No
Alternative to
Philips Hue, Govee
Tags
  • embedded
  • home-automation
  • animation

Last synced from GitHub on Oct 20, 2026

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What people are saying

Updated Oct 21, 2026
  • Hacker NewsWLED ProjectDec 23, 2022 · 232 points · 82 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“The WLED project grabbed weld.ge for their domain and use kno.wled.ge as their website and documentation”Dec 1, 2025 · 17 likes · 2 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“I think you should explore the marvelous world of esp32 and WLED kno.wled.ge”Mar 17, 2025 · 14 likes · 2 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“There is also open source WLED, pretty widely accepted, esp32 based. Starting point (there are "branches"): kno.wled.ge”Dec 4, 2024 · 3 likes · 2 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“Today I learned about an incredible project for the ESP32 project WLED! ✨ It's an implementation of a ESP32/ESP8266 webserver to control NeoPixel LEDs Read…”Sep 24, 2025 · 3 likes · 1 reply (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“yeah there's a bunch of stuff here depending on where you're starting from, and a link to the discord with a lot of helpful people in it”Dec 3, 2024 · 2 likes · 1 reply (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“I ended up going with a QuinLED-Dig-Quad, running WLED, kno.wled.ge. The wiring was very straight forward and the online documentation was 🎉. My next task is…”Nov 26, 2024 · 2 likes · 1 reply (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“It uses a bit of free software called 'WLED' it has a home assistant integration already, super easy! kno.wled.ge”Oct 25, 2023 · 2 likes · 1 reply (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“On Makerworld are several light boxes, I printed this one : the lightning is done with a kno.wled.ge compatible light strip (from Ali Express) and a ESP32.”Dec 22, 2024 · 1 like · 1 reply (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“Not a #powershell question, but who is using WLED? I’m finally want to make the change this year! Curious on your experiences kno.wled.ge.”Nov 2, 2024 · 2 likes · 0 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“I've built a couple different variations but essentially it's two chained NeoPixel sticks inside the star, wired externally into an ESP32 microcontroller…”Oct 22, 2024 · 1 like · 1 reply (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“kno.wled.ge is the coolest domain”Oct 26, 2025 · 1 like · 0 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“Hey! I use the ESP32s as WLED controllers. kno.wled.ge and Bluetooth presence detectors for Home Assistant. espresense.com”Dec 14, 2024 · 1 like · 0 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“What software are you gonna use? I recommend WLED. kno.wled.ge”Jun 29, 2024 · 1 like · 0 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“But now that I got it to work, I couldn't be happier with the results. The lights strip recommended by the site has really good-looking lights. But the secret…”Dec 3, 2023 · 0 likes · 1 reply (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“kno.wled.ge s tier domain”Jul 24, 2026 · 0 likes · 0 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“If you like LEDs, check out this amazing project. kno.wled.ge”Jan 19, 2025 · 0 likes · 0 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“Aquariums: Cheap programmable aquarium lighting There is a open source project out there called WLED that controls individual addressable LED lights from a…”May 13, 2024 · 0 likes · 0 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)