Every network lab tool,
honestly compared.
Choosing a lab platform is a long-term decision - the tool you pick shapes how you learn, test and hand work to other people for years. Each page below puts netplex. next to one specific tool: what that tool genuinely does better, where it stops, and what changes if you move. We say when the other tool is the right answer, because a comparison that never does is worth nothing.
Full emulators
vs EVE-NG
The 7-node Freemium cap, the fixpermissions ritual, the MAC-locked Pro licence - and what changes without them.
vs PNETLab
Unlimited nodes for free, built on an EVE-NG Community fork that upstream disowns. What you trade for the zero price.
vs GNS3
The desktop GUI plus a separate VM, versus one browser tab that anyone on your network can open.
vs Cisco CML
Cisco's own images and per-seat licence, next to a multi-vendor platform with a free tier.
vs NetPilot
Two modern browser-based labs compared honestly, feature by feature.
EVE-NG vs GNS3
The head-to-head everyone searches for, with a third column so you can see what both of them cost you.
Simulators & teaching tools
vs Cisco Packet Tracer
Simulated device behaviour versus real IOS, and the exact point where the simulation stops keeping up.
vs Boson NetSim
Guided Cisco exam labs on Windows for $179/yr, next to real multi-vendor images that are free to start.
vs Huawei eNSP
A Windows-only simulator Huawei has stopped developing, and a Pro version only partners can get.
SDN & container labs
vs Containerlab
YAML in a terminal versus a canvas - and why you don't have to choose, because netplex. imports the YAML.
vs Mininet
Linux namespaces for SDN research, next to real Cisco, Juniper and Arista CLIs.
EVE-NG, specific problems
EVE-NG 7 & Freemium
Free went from 63 nodes to 7 in June 2026. What your options actually are now.
EVE-NG Pro alternative
No node limit and no licence tied to one server's MAC address.
The EVE-NG node limit
7 nodes on Freemium, 1,024 on Pro, none here - and why the cap exists at all.
EVE-NG online
Running labs in a browser tab with nothing installed on the machine in front of you.
EVE-NG on Mac
Apple Silicon, no local hypervisor, no x86 VM to nurse along.
EVE-NG without VMware
No ESXi, no Workstation, no nested-virtualisation puzzle to solve first.
Read the comparison.
Then judge it yourself.
The free Associate tier has no node limit and needs no licence. Build the topology you were comparing tools for, and see which one you'd rather work in.