Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the emerging and disruptive technology. IoT based systems are used in environment surveillance, e-healthcare, automation for industry, etc. Wireless sensor networks (WSN) is a predominant option to realize such systems because WSN though resource constrained but can connect cyber network and the physical real environment. The present day requirement of IoT is densely deployed sensor nodes over a large area. In this paper, clustering protocols for scalability is premeditated to clip the suitability with respect to IoT applications. The study of progressive algorithms gives a detail explanation of mathematical models used and their effect on WSN. It also aimed to present a comparison of performance metrics for single and multiple hop clustering protocols. Thus, exploring challenges fronting to refrain WSN for IoT applications. © 2006-2018 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN).