Buy them on Aliexpress and they are even cheaper. You can now buy a ESP-12E for about $1.60 on Aliexpress. That's just the module though. If you want a breako

Buy them on Aliexpress and they are even cheaper. You can now buy a ESP-12E for about $1.60 on Aliexpress. That's just the module though. If you want a breakout and a USB port they cost $3-4. And yes, I think the squabble left people a bit unsure about Arduino and then they discovered that there's ... the confusing mess that is mBed :-)