Considering the current offerings for IoT SoC boards with a <$20 Price point, a minimalist web framework really isn't necessary.

https://wiki.luckfox.com/Luckfox-Pico/Luckfox-Pico-quick-sta...

  <$10

https://www.waveshare.com/esp32-s3-zero.htm

<$5 !! https://www.waveshare.com/product/esp32-c3-zero.htm