Limor Fried, then a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, began selling electronic kits on her website from her own designs in 2005.

[6] In 2010, Adafruit offered a US$1,000 (equivalent to $1,442 in 2024) reward for whoever could hack Microsoft's Kinect to make its motion-sensing capabilities available for use for other projects.

[6] The name Adafruit comes from Fried's online moniker "Ladyada", a homage to computer science pioneer Ada Lovelace.

Certain boards add special features such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or cellular network connectivity, built-in prototyping space, or SD card communication.

More features can be added with "FeatherWing" expansion cards that with an LCD or NeoPixel array, DC motor drivers, and other capabilities.

[21] Adafruit publishes tutorials-nearly 3,000 as of 2024—that show how to build projects with their products, tear down wearable electronic devices, 3D printing, and more.

The concept was that viewers could ask her questions about engineering while she was assembling an electronics kit and Phillip Torrone, her spouse, was preparing shipments.

The show airs on Wednesdays at 8PM ET on the company's YouTube channel and is still run by Limor Fried and Phillip Torrone, with guests often present.

[better source needed] Show-and-Tell is Adafruit's live show where makers from all around the world share electronic projects they are currently working on.

[better source needed] 3D Hangouts with Noe and Pedro Ruiz goes over the 3D printing industry (most typically about desktop FDM printers).

Every week, on Thursday, a 30-minute edition is released where the two brothers discuss news about the industry, specific projects that they are working on, share 3D printing tips and tricks and answer viewer's questions and comments.

[better source needed] The weekly John Park's Workshop show is broadcast live from John Edgar Park's workshop as he builds creative technology projects – from mystery boxes to ninja timers to synthesizers to coffee robots – while teaching viewers the skills to create their own.

The creations made by Park demonstrate the weekly project (which is later developed into a tutorial on Adafruit's Learning System), covers fundamental tips and tricks for working with the featured tools and materials, interacts with viewers, and answers questions over chat messaging systems in YouTube and Discord.