This will be a continually updated resource reflecting what’s happening in the current ESC landscape, and the company currently offering the best combination of product reliability, affordability, product specs, and customer service will own top position a.k.a King of the Hill, with reliability being the most important for obvious reasons. Inactive or unknown manufacturers will not make the list.
If you have a different take on the current situation, please share your thoughts below and if we reach a concensus, I’ll update the list.
King of the Hill as of 2022-05-27:
1: Maker-X.
Here’s why: In addition to bringing out the new GO-FOC DV6 100A dual, their regular DV6 is reported to be very reliable, and they currently make the best V4 spec ESC with the DV4.
They also have an impressively broad range of ESCs, so there’s pretty much anything to fit your build and budget. (I have four of them.) The company is fairly responsive with online questions, and while customer service has been up and down, it is usually positive.
There are multiple reports of people needing to flash the bootloader so that the fw will stick and here and there the odd DOA unit, but overall, Maker-X is easy to recommend these days.
2: ̶ ̶L̶a̶C̶r̶o̶i̶x̶ ̶S̶t̶o̶r̶m̶c̶o̶r̶e̶
̶
̶!̶[̶S̶t̶o̶r̶m̶c̶o̶r̶e̶1̶0̶0̶D̶_̶7̶0̶0̶x̶9̶3̶3̶|̶6̶9̶0̶x̶4̶2̶6̶]̶(̶u̶p̶l̶o̶a̶d̶:̶/̶/̶r̶2̶r̶k̶H̶k̶p̶M̶D̶3̶D̶Q̶D̶d̶Q̶h̶L̶l̶l̶P̶j̶B̶j̶I̶6̶L̶y̶.̶j̶p̶e̶g̶)̶
̶!̶[̶U̶n̶t̶i̶t̶l̶e̶d̶-̶2̶_̶7̶0̶0̶x̶9̶3̶3̶|̶6̶9̶0̶x̶4̶6̶0̶]̶(̶u̶p̶l̶o̶a̶d̶:̶/̶/̶k̶U̶l̶o̶o̶q̶e̶G̶8̶l̶w̶1̶E̶Z̶3̶Z̶v̶y̶i̶k̶S̶F̶V̶c̶U̶1̶S̶.̶j̶p̶e̶g̶)̶
̶
̶
̶M̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶a̶s̶k̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶t̶o̶r̶m̶c̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶r̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶(̶6̶0̶D̶+̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶1̶0̶0̶D̶)̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶p̶ ̶s̶l̶o̶t̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶a̶i̶r̶ ̶q̶u̶e̶s̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.̶ ̶R̶e̶c̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶i̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶i̶s̶s̶u̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶d̶r̶o̶p̶p̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶t̶o̶r̶m̶c̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶r̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶2̶n̶d̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶’̶l̶l̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶d̶o̶u̶b̶t̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶.̶ ̶
̶
̶F̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶m̶e̶n̶t̶,̶ ̶f̶a̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶D̶O̶A̶ ̶u̶n̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶d̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶r̶ ̶e̶r̶r̶o̶r̶,̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶m̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶E̶S̶C̶s̶.̶ ̶(̶I̶t̶ ̶m̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶S̶t̶o̶r̶m̶c̶o̶r̶e̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶O̶E̶M̶ ̶L̶a̶c̶r̶o̶i̶x̶ ̶b̶o̶a̶r̶d̶s̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶m̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶f̶a̶i̶l̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶r̶a̶t̶e̶.̶)̶ ̶
̶
̶P̶r̶i̶c̶e̶y̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶f̶i̶x̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶i̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶c̶e̶r̶n̶s̶,̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶e̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶p̶ ̶s̶l̶o̶t̶.̶ ̶
̶
̶h̶t̶t̶p̶s̶:̶/̶/̶l̶a̶c̶r̶o̶i̶x̶b̶o̶a̶r̶d̶s̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/̶p̶r̶o̶d̶u̶c̶t̶s̶/̶s̶t̶o̶r̶m̶c̶o̶r̶e̶
̶
LaCroix is no longer in business. 
3: Trampa VESC6
Here’s another case where you can argue that the Trampa ESC should be higher up as it’s pretty well known as one of the more reliable options in ESCs.
For me, they’re just too expensive for the average DIY builder, so that’s why I see them in 3rd. Couple that with the unquestionably dodgy tactics Trampa displays in the DIY space, and they’re probably exactly where they should be at present.
4: Spintend
This is a tough company to rate, since their products are all over the place when it comes to reliability and setup. They get credit for bringing out one of the earlier high voltage ESCs with their V1, but there were far too many units that would up and burn to a crisp. Add to that the recent spate of motor detection deaths with their even higher voltage V2, and you have far too many reliability question marks.
The general feeling in the community towards Spintend is that they appear to have a serious lack of general testing/QA in place. Until they can straighten out their reliability issues and reliance on custom firmware to fix mistakes made in manufacturing, they’re going to have a hard time being rated higher.
5: Xenith
The Xenith started life as a hearty middle finger to Jason Potter, and a good option for those who wanted the ease of the Unity controller without supporting the bad actor known as Potter and his sleazy MassiveStator webshop.
However, a recent run of bad units and a lack of customer service have pushed what was once a promising option far down the list. Especially when you consider that the V2 Xenith–now produced without the CAN chip present on the V1-- is in the same pricing neighborhood as the Stormcore 60D+.
https://buildkitboards.com/products/bkb-xenith
6: Flipsky
Where to start with Flipsky? While some have had good luck with their offerings (myself included), no one would rate them very highly for reliability, specs, or customer service. Though reports are that the quality has picked up somewhat, the stigma remains. Maybe the ultimate “you pay your money and you take your chances” ESC option.
They do have decent sales from time to time, but they also do that thing where the regular price is jacked up so the sales price looks even better. 
7: Unity
I had to overcome some personal disdain for Jason Potter and MassiveStator to even add this product offering, but here we are. The Unity was a pretty solid option for a number of years, but recent batches seem to be built with less care, maybe owing to the original BOM files no longer being in the manufacturer’s hands.
A pretty risky option in 2022, and this applies even more strongly to their Tenka (strongly rumoured to be Unity refurbs with potting to cover the evidence).
(For the sake of the community, no URL will be shared.)
