The Nano is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328 (datasheet), developed in conjunction with Adafruit. It has 22 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs and 8 as analog inputs), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a mini USB connection, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a mini-B USB cable to get started. It has a form factor that enables it to be easily placed on a breadboard.

The Micro board is similar to the Arduino Leonardo in that the ATmega328 has built-in USB communication, eliminating the need for a secondary processor. This allows the Micro to appear to a connected computer as a mouse and keyboard, in addition to a virtual (CDC) serial / COM port.