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wled
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wled/WLED

Control WS2812B and many more types of digital RGB LEDs with an ESP32 over WiFi!

C++ ◇ esp32 EUPL-1.2
★18.7KSTARS
⑂4.4KFORKS
!498ISSUES
🏆#526GLOBAL RANK
🔥1DAYS TRENDING
🚀
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Star History

Continuous Observations
Interactive star growth chart for wled/WLED
CSV

Momentum

+468

STARS · LAST 30 DAYS

16

PER DAY

#24

MOST-STARRED C++

Window7 days30 days90 days
Stars gained+112+468+1.4K
Per day161616
Forks gained+22+87+218

WLED gained 468 stars in the last 30 days, about 16 a day, and now has 18.7K. It is about 10 years old and has averaged roughly 1.9K stars a year. It ranks #24 among C++ repositories and #526 across all languages on GitHubRepo.

Trending Record

WLED has maintained a continuous presence across global trending indexes, peaking at #1720. Below is the 30-day activity profile:

💡 Overview

WLED is an open-source project written in C++: Control WS2812B and many more types of digital RGB LEDs with an ESP32 over WiFi!.

Engineered for speed, consistency, and developer ease, it solves common hurdles in esp32, esp8266, hacktoberfest. It provides clear interfaces, comprehensive configuration options, and seamless integration with existing tools across the modern development stack.

⚡ Key Features

1

Optimized execution pipeline written in C++ for predictable speed.

2

Zero-friction configuration with comprehensive sensible defaults out of the box.

3

Cross-platform runtime support across Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.

4

Strong typing and modular architecture designed for easy extension and maintainability.

5

Standardized CLI and API interfaces for smooth integration into CI/CD workflows.

6

Active community maintenance with regular dependency updates and security patches.

📥 Installation

terminal
$ git clone https://github.com/wled/WLED.git
cd WLED

⚙ System Requirements

Platforms

  • • macOS
  • • Linux
  • • Windows

Runtime & Dependencies

C++20 compliant compiler (GCC 11+, Clang 13+, MSVC)

Architecture

x86_64, ARM64 (Apple Silicon & Graviton)

🧠 How It Works

WLED coordinates its core functionality through a modular C++ pipeline. It parses configuration parameters, validates inputs, and resolves dependencies asynchronously. By minimizing runtime overhead and keeping allocations localized, it delivers predictable performance in both local development environments and automated production workloads.

🎯 Production Use Cases

Production System Integration

Embed WLED into C++ backend services to handle core application logic.

CI/CD Automated Pipelines

Run automated validation, builds, and integration suites during deployments.

Developer Tooling & Workflows

Accelerate developer onboarding with pre-configured project utilities.

Open Source Extension

Fork and customize internal modules under the repository's open EUPL-1.2 license.

🚀 Getting Started

1

Install WLED using your package manager: `git clone https://github.com/wled/WLED.git`

2

Initialize your project workspace or configuration file for WLED.

3

Import WLED into your codebase or invoke it directly from your terminal.

4

Execute your test suite or run `WLED --help` to verify successful setup.

👍 Strengths

Active community backing with 18,724 GitHub stars and verified adoption.
Permissive open-source distribution under the EUPL-1.2 license.
Built in C++ for high execution speed and developer familiarity.
Cross-platform compatibility across modern Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.
Clean modular design allowing flexible configuration and pipeline integration.

⚠️ Considerations

Requires familiarity with C++ and modern CLI workflows.
Ecosystem extensions may require manual configuration depending on environment constraints.
Active development roadmap means breaking API changes may occur across major versions.

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👥 Who Should Use This

Developers and engineering teams building with C++, seeking reliable, tested, and actively maintained tooling for production workloads.

🏆 Nearby in the Rankings

wled/WLED is currently ranked #526 by stars across every repository tracked on GitHubRepo. These are adjacent projects:

RankRepositoryLanguageStarsAction
#521 mountain-loop/yaak TypeScript ★ 19.3K Compare ↗
#522 ppy/osu C# ★ 19.2K Compare ↗
#523 BookStackApp/BookStack PHP ★ 19.1K Compare ↗
#524 facebook/relay Rust ★ 19K Compare ↗
#525 react/yoga C++ ★ 18.9K Compare ↗
#526 wled/WLED This Project C++ ★ 18.7K
#527 tiann/KernelSU Kotlin ★ 18.7K Compare ↗
#528 google/magika Rust ★ 18.7K Compare ↗
#529 docusealco/docuseal Ruby ★ 18.6K Compare ↗
#530 NVIDIA-NeMo/Speech Python ★ 18.5K Compare ↗
#531 keploy/keploy Go ★ 18.5K Compare ↗

Frequently Asked Questions

What does WLED do? +

Control WS2812B and many more types of digital RGB LEDs with an ESP32 over WiFi!

What language is WLED written in? +

The primary language is C++. Topics include: esp32, esp8266, hacktoberfest, led, light.

Is WLED actively maintained? +

Yes, the last recorded push was on Sep 28, 2026 with 498 open issues being tracked.

How many stars does WLED have? +

WLED has 18,724 stars and 4,366 forks on GitHub.

How does WLED rank among GitHub repositories? +

With 18,724 stars, wled/WLED is ranked #526 globally across all repositories tracked on GitHubRepo and #24 among C++ projects.

What license is WLED distributed under? +

The repository reports a EUPL-1.2 license. Always verify the repository LICENSE file for legal terms.

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