ESP32 Boards/ ESP32-C6 /Zero

ESP32 C6 Zero Mini

by Waveshare

Minimal ESP32-C6 board with RISC-V and modern wireless - ideal for cost-sensitive, compact Matter-based builds.

USB-C Native USB

Buy on Amazon · $10.00 More sellers Pinout Datasheet ↗

23.5 × 18 mm

ESP32-C6

RISC-V MCU

160MHz

clock

4MB

flash

512KB

SRAM

20· 7 ADC

GPIO

BLE 5.3+ WiFi

radio

Pinout

25 pins · 2.54 mm pitch

View:

Pin	GPIO	Labels	Status	Capabilities	Notes
1	-	5V	power	-	5V power input for the board
2	-	GND	ground	-	Ground connection
3	-	3V33.3V	power	-	3.3V power output for peripherals
4	-	TX	uart	uart	TX
5	-	RX	uart	uart	RX
6	0	IO0GP0	safe	adc	GPIO, ADC pin
7	1	IO1GP1	safe	adc	GPIO, ADC pin
8	2	IO2GP2	safe	adc	GPIO, ADC pin
9	3	IO3GP3	safe	adc	GPIO, ADC pin
10	4	IO4GP4	strapping	adc	GPIO, ADC pin
11	5	IO5GP5	strapping	adc	GPIO, ADC pin
12	6	IO6GP6	strapping	adc	GPIO, ADC pin
13	7	IO7GP7	strapping	-	GPIO
14	8	IO8GP8	strapping	-	GPIO, LED
15	9	IO9GP9	strapping	-	GPIO, BOOT
16	12	IO12GP12	uart	-	GPIO
17	13	IO13GP13	uart	-	GPIO
18	14	IO14GP14	safe	-	GPIO
19	15	IO15GP15	strapping	-	GPIO
20	18	IO18GP18	safe	-	GPIO
21	19	IO19GP19	safe	-	GPIO
22	20	IO20GP20	safe	-	GPIO
23	21	IO21GP21	safe	-	GPIO
24	22	IO22GP22	safe	-	GPIO
25	23	IO23GP23	safe	-	GPIO

Start with these

11 pins with no boot or system involvement

IO0GP0IO1GP1IO2GP2IO3GP3IO14GP14IO18GP18IO19GP19IO20GP20IO21GP21IO22GP22IO23GP23

Freely assignable - no strapping, flash, USB or JTAG duties. Ideal first picks for buttons, sensors and LEDs.

Fine - with a little care

sampled at boot or shared with debug/serial

Pin	Label	What to know	Role
IO4	MTMS	Used during boot; required for JTAG debugging; flash data in internal-flash models.	Strapping
IO5	MTDI	Used during boot; required for JTAG debugging; flash data in internal-flash models.	Strapping
IO6	MTCK	Required for JTAG debugging; connected to flash clock in internal-flash models.	JTAG
IO7	MTDO	Required for JTAG debugging; connected to flash data in internal-flash models.	JTAG
IO8	GPIO8	Determines boot mode; pulling low at reset can prevent normal boot.	Strapping
IO9	GPIO9	Pulling low on reset forces the ESP32-C6 into download mode instead of normal boot.	Strapping
IO15	JTAG_SEL	Controls JTAG input source at boot; avoid altering its state.	JTAG

Only if you know the tricks

wired to flash or USB - expect a fight

Pin	Label	What to know	Role
IO12	USB_D-	Dedicated to USB communication; avoid if using USB functionality.	USB
IO13	USB_D+	Dedicated to USB communication; avoid if using USB functionality.	USB

These are recommendations, not hard rules - with the right pull-ups, timing and boot-state awareness most pins can be made to work. When in doubt, start green.

Pinout notes The ESP32 C6 Zero Mini breaks out 25 pins in total: 20 GPIO for your project, with 5V, GND and 3V3 handling power. On the analog side there are 7 ADC-capable…

The ESP32 C6 Zero Mini breaks out 25 pins in total: 20 GPIO for your project, with 5V, GND and 3V3 handling power.

On the analog side there are 7 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring.

If you want zero surprises, IO0, IO1, IO2, IO3 and 7 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 7 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-C6 (IO4, IO5, IO6 and 4 more).

Getting started

flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes

Tool:

Connect over USB

Native USB - shows up as a port right away, no driver needed. Not detected? Hold BOOT while plugging in.

Match & flash

Set the Tools options shown, then click Upload.

Verify it runs

GPIO0 toggles - wire an LED and resistor to it, or change the pin to your board's own LED.

Set these in Tools · leave everything else at default

Arduino IDE 2.x - Tools Copy

Board: "ESP32C6 Dev Module"▸

USB CDC On Boot: "Enabled"▸

Flash Size: "4MB (32Mb)"▸

Flash Mode: "QIO"▸

Partition Scheme: "Default 4MB with spiffs (1.2MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS)" (default)▸

Upload Speed: "921600"▸

▸ every other Tools option - leave at default

Board: ESP32C6 Dev Module
USB CDC On Boot: Enabled
Flash Size: 4MB (32Mb)
Flash Mode: QIO
Partition Scheme: Default 4MB with spiffs (1.2MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS)
Upload Speed: 921600

Find it: Tools ▸ Board ▸ ESP32 Arduino ▸ ESP32C6 Dev Module

blink.ino Copy

// toggle GPIO0 - wire an LED and resistor to it
void setup() {
  pinMode(0, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(0, HIGH); delay(500);
  digitalWrite(0, LOW);  delay(500);
}

board to selectesp32-c6-devkitc-1⧉ copy

platformio.ini Copy

[env:esp32-c6-zero-mini]
platform = https://github.com/pioarduino/platform-espressif32/releases/download/stable/platform-espressif32.zip
board = esp32-c6-devkitc-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600

Find it: PlatformIO Home ▸ Boards, search esp32-c6-devkitc-1 - or type it after board =.

board to selectesp32-c6-devkitc-1⧉ copy

device.yaml Copy

esp32:
  board: esp32-c6-devkitc-1
  variant: esp32c6
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

# blink - GPIO0
output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: 0
    id: led_out
light:
  - platform: binary
    name: "LED"
    output: led_out

Find it: search ESPHome's board list for esp32-c6-devkitc-1 (same ids as PlatformIO).

esptool doesn't pick board settings - a prebuilt .bin already has them baked in. This is just the raw flash command.

terminal Copy

esptool.py --chip esp32c6 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
  --baud 921600 write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin

--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).

Build details: sketch space 1310720 B · data 327680 B · QIO

Specifications

ESP32-C6 · 23.5 × 18 mm · vs other ESP32 chips →

Compute

MCU

ESP32-C6 · RISC-V

Clock

160 MHz

SRAM · Flash

512 KB · 4MB

Radio

Wi-Fi

802.11 ax b/g/n

Bluetooth

5.3 LE

Antenna

Ceramic

I/O

GPIO · ADC

20 · 7

UART · I²C · SPI

2 +1 LP · 1 +1 LP · 1

PWM

6 channels

Power

USB

USB-C

Serial

Native (CDC)

Boot address

0x0

Flashing

Upload · OTA

esptool_py · esp_ota

Flash · Boot mode

QIO · QIO

Sketch · Data

1.25 MB · 320 KB

23.5 × 18 mm · pin pitch 2.54 mm

The ESP32 C6 Zero Mini uses esptool_py for firmware uploads, esp_ota for over-the-air (OTA) updates. Flash mode is QIO with QIO boot mode. The maximum sketch size is 1.25 MB with 320 KB available for data.

About this board

At 23.5 × 18 mm it's among the smallest boards in the whole ESP32 family.

Inside sits the ESP32-C6 - a RISC-V part adding Wi-Fi 6 plus Thread/Zigbee radios. Sibling Zero-format boards cover the ESP32-C3 and ESP32-S3, so you can change radios or horsepower without changing the footprint.

It's the only ESP32-C6 option in the Zero-format family.

Expect to pay about $10.00 - above the ~$6.27 typical for Zero-format boards.

Onboard you'll find an addressable RGB LED (GPIO8) and Reset/Boot buttons.

It flashes over native USB - no serial-converter driver needed.

ESP32-C6FH4: Built-in dual processors, main frequency is up to 160 MHz
USB Type-C Port for downloading programme and debugging
ME6217C33M5G low dropout LDO, 800mA (Max)
WS2812 RGB LED
2.4G ceramic antenna
BOOT button: Press it and then press the RESET button to enter download mode
RESET button
ESP32-C6FH4 pins

Where to buy

prices are typical street prices

ESP32 C6 Zero Mini

$10.00per unit, typical

AMZAmazon.com↗ DEAmazon.de↗ ALIAliExpress↗

As an Amazon Associate, ESPboards earns from qualifying purchases.

Resources

Board datasheet waveshare.com↗ ESP32-C6 datasheet espressif.com↗ Waveshare ESP32-C6-Zero Wiki waveshare.com↗Waveshare ESP32-C6-Zero Product Page waveshare.com↗

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