eBay suggested the ESP01 and these modules using the ESP8226.
and 
These were very reasonably priced and the ESP8226 chip has a later version more suited to HTTPS.
see https://www.schatenseite.de/en/2016/04/22/esp8266-witty-cloud-module/
https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp8266-pinout-reference-gpios/ - Useful Guides
https://thonny.org/ provides a way to use Python and can flash these modules, by selecting the interpreter.
NOTE: I found I had to specify the size of the serial ROM to 4MB , Otherwise the little blue light flashed really fast and the REPL
Thorny comes with the Raspberry Pi.
I brought some boards with an ssd1306 soldered on and it need this:-
from machine import Pin, I2C import ssd1306
# using default address 0x3C #i2c = I2C(sda=Pin(5), scl=Pin(6)) # # Hello World! # IM ESP8226 OLED! # D5=GPIO12=SCL !!- typo? # D6=GPIO14=SDA !!- typo? # # This works for my modules:- # i2c = I2C(sda=Pin(14), scl=Pin(12))
display = ssd1306.SSD1306_I2C(128, 64, i2c)
The Arduino IDE can be used. It has loads of useful examples to learn about simple IOT using HTTP and other protocols.
http://www.ulisp.com/ can be uploaded.
I recently looked at the website, and it does not list the 8226 in the devices.
I remembered I had tried it on an ESP-01, so this is what I found.
http://forum.ulisp.com/t/is-anyone-still-using-the-esp8266/1432 askes if anybody is still using it.
The last version for 8226 found in Older Releases which has "#if defined (ESP8266)"
ESP Release 4.4d - 30th June 2023
uLisp ESP Release 4.4d - www.ulisp.com David Johnson-Davies - www.technoblogy.com - 30th June 2023
Licensed under the MIT license: https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
#if defined (ESP8266) #include <ESP8266WiFi.h> #elif defined (ESP32) #include <WiFi.h> #endif
I copied the text into a new sketch for the Arduino IDE and compiled and uploaded it to an ESP-01.
I had used the Arduino IDE Version: 2.3.7 to upload the blink sketch to the ESP-01. It has board ESP8266 ver 3.1.2 installed
http://www.ulisp.com/show?1AA0
Versions after 4.4d do not have #if defined (ESP8266)
uLisp ESP Release 4.9a - www.ulisp.com David Johnson-Davies - www.technoblogy.com - 2nd March 2026
https://protosupplies.com/product/esp8266-witty-cloud-esp-12f-wifi-module/
https://yoursunny.com/t/2016/WittyCloud-first/ - interesting little module.
https://jpralves.net/post/2016/11/15/esp8266.html - loads of useful information
https://github.com/tasmota/docs/blob/master/docs/devices/Wemos-D1-R1-%26-R2.md - looks intersting
My nodemcu module can overload the USB socket.
When the ESP-01 boots, it seems that the UART TX is connected to the GPIO pins and causes issues .