explaingit

tinygo-org/tinygo

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 17,433GoAudience · developerComplexity · 4/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

Go compiler that produces tiny binaries for microcontrollers like Arduino and ESP32, plus WebAssembly and WASI targets, built on LLVM.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((tinygo))
    Inputs
      Go source files
      Target board flag
    Outputs
      Microcontroller firmware
      WebAssembly binary
      WASI module
    Use Cases
      Blink LEDs on Arduino with Go
      Run Go in the browser as WASM
      Build edge functions with WASI
    Tech Stack
      Go
      LLVM
      WebAssembly
      WASI
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Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Write firmware in Go that runs on an Arduino or ESP32 board

USE CASE 2

Compile a Go function to WebAssembly and call it from a browser page

USE CASE 3

Ship a Go program as a WASI module to a WebAssembly edge runtime

USE CASE 4

Read sensors over I2C or GPIO from a Go program on a microcontroller

What is it built with?

GoLLVMWebAssemblyWASI

How does it compare?

tinygo-org/tinygoputyy/res-downloaderemirpasic/gods
Stars17,43317,43817,427
LanguageGoGoGo
Setup difficultymoderatemoderateeasy
Complexity4/52/52/5
Audiencedevelopergeneraldeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Flashing real boards needs the matching USB driver and a supported toolchain, not every Go program compiles.

BSD 3-clause lets you use, modify, and redistribute the code for any purpose as long as you keep the copyright notice and do not use contributor names to endorse derivatives.

In plain English

TinyGo is a compiler for the Go programming language that targets small, resource-constrained environments, primarily microcontrollers (tiny computers embedded in physical devices like sensors and gadgets) and WebAssembly (a format that lets code run in browsers or lightweight server runtimes). The standard Go compiler is designed for full-sized computers with plenty of memory and processing power. TinyGo takes the same Go language you know and compiles it into much smaller, leaner binaries suitable for chips with very limited resources. It supports over 150 different microcontroller boards, including Arduino and ESP32-based boards. The code example in the README shows a Go program that blinks an LED, compiled and flashed directly onto an Arduino board with a single command: "tinygo flash -target arduino-uno examples/blinky1". Beyond microcontrollers, TinyGo also compiles Go programs to WebAssembly (WASM) for use in browsers, and to WASI (a standard interface for running WebAssembly on servers and edge computing platforms). The README shows a simple Go function exported to WebAssembly and the command to compile it for any WASI-compatible runtime. TinyGo is built on top of LLVM (a widely-used compiler infrastructure toolkit), which gives it strong optimization capabilities. Goals include very small binary sizes, broad microcontroller support, and WebAssembly usability. It is not intended to compile every possible Go program. The project is licensed under the BSD 3-clause license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through installing tinygo on macOS and flashing the blinky example to an Arduino Uno
Prompt 2
Show me a TinyGo program that reads a temperature sensor over I2C on an ESP32 and prints values over serial
Prompt 3
Compile a small Go function to WebAssembly with TinyGo and load it from a plain HTML page
Prompt 4
Explain the differences between targeting wasm in a browser and wasi for a server runtime in TinyGo
Prompt 5
List which Go standard library packages are not supported by TinyGo and suggest workarounds

Frequently asked questions

What is tinygo?

Go compiler that produces tiny binaries for microcontrollers like Arduino and ESP32, plus WebAssembly and WASI targets, built on LLVM.

What language is tinygo written in?

Mainly Go. The stack also includes Go, LLVM, WebAssembly.

What license does tinygo use?

BSD 3-clause lets you use, modify, and redistribute the code for any purpose as long as you keep the copyright notice and do not use contributor names to endorse derivatives.

How hard is tinygo to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is tinygo for?

Mainly developer.

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