Ethan Zonca of Protofusion writes:
While developing the Luma RS485-networked LED driver we discovered a need for a small and inexpensive USB to RS485 adapter. We designed an adapter with a FTDI basic UART chip (FT230XS) and an inexpensive TI differential receiver (SN75176). Our small selection of parts brings the cost down to just over $5 for one adapter.