The State of Open Source Hardware in 2026
Key trends from our analysis of 5,000+ open hardware projects — what's growing, what's stalling, and where the community is heading.
#The Big Picture
Open source hardware is growing — but unevenly. We analyzed over 5,000 projects published in the last 12 months to understand where the community is thriving and where it's struggling.
#What's Growing
IoT sensor platforms saw a 40% increase in new projects. The combination of cheap microcontrollers (ESP32, RP2040) and accessible cloud platforms has lowered the barrier to entry significantly.
Environmental monitoring is the fastest-growing application category. Air quality sensors, weather stations, and soil moisture monitors dominate new project submissions.
AI at the edge is emerging as a trend. Projects using TinyML on microcontrollers grew 3x year-over-year, driven by TensorFlow Lite Micro and Edge Impulse.
#What's Stalling
Documentation quality remains the biggest barrier. 60% of published projects lack sufficient build instructions for someone outside the original team to reproduce them.
PCB sharing is still fragmented. Projects split across KiCad, Eagle, EasyEDA, and proprietary formats. No standard interchange format has won.
#What's Next
We expect 2026 to be the year of accessible RISC-V boards and wider adoption of the OSHWA certification. The tools are getting better, and the community is growing — but documentation and standardization remain the bottleneck.