Yes, esp seems to be a great choice in 2019 - more IO, more ram, wifi. Digikey prices for esp8266 start at $ 1.85 https://www.digikey.com/products/en/rf-if-and-rfid/rf-transc... , modules are a dollar more https://www.digikey.com/products/en/rf-if-and-rfid/rf-transc...