If you learned networking in Cisco Packet Tracer, you already know why it is popular. It is free, it installs on Windows, Ubuntu and macOS, and the course labs you were assigned probably open in it. Then one day a command you read about in the cert guide is not there, or a topology behaves in a way the book says it should not, and you start wondering what comes next.
Cisco is open about why that happens. Packet Tracer "uses a simplified model of the Cisco IOS" and supports "a small subset of the features from Cisco devices". It simulates the devices instead of running their software. The alternatives below deal with that in different ways, and each asks something different of you: money, a free account, a machine with enough memory, images you supply yourself, or a server someone else runs.
This guide orders those options by what you take on. CloudMyLab sells hosting for GNS3, EVE-NG and Cisco Modeling Labs (CML), which is the last step on the list, and we are an official EVE-NG hosting partner, tested and approved by EVE-NG Ltd. Most of the steps before ours are free.
If you are working through CCNA fundamentals and your course gives you Packet Tracer activities, stay with it. Cisco built it as an "integrated simulation, visualization, collaboration, and assessment environment", which is a different job from an emulator's. It visualizes the traffic, it scores the activities your instructor assigns, and it needs no images and no hypervisor.
The case for moving on starts when the simulator stops matching what you are studying: a feature the book covers that Packet Tracer does not implement, a CCNP topic, a second vendor, or a script that needs to log into real devices. Our guide to network simulators for CCNA, CCNP and CCIE prep goes through what each exam level needs.
| Next step | What changes from Packet Tracer | What you take on | Cost |
| Boson NetSim | Still a simulator, with guided, graded labs per exam | A subscription per exam | $179 a year or $59 for three months, per exam |
| Cisco DevNet Sandbox (CML) | Real Cisco software, on Cisco's servers | A reservation that ends; save your configs | Free |
| CML-Free | Real Cisco software with Cisco's images, on your computer | Enough memory to run it; 5 nodes at a time | Free |
| GNS3 or EVE-NG Freemium | Real software from many vendors | Your own images and licenses; the hypervisor setup | Free (EVE-NG Freemium runs 7 nodes per instance) |
| CML Personal or Personal Plus | More Cisco nodes and images | A paid license; still your hardware | $199 (20 nodes) or $349 (40 nodes) |
| A hosted lab | Any of the emulators above, on a server someone else runs | A subscription; your own images and licenses | Varies by provider |
Prices are the vendors' listed figures, checked on 14 October 2026.
The last option is where CloudMyLab fits. We run GNS3, EVE-NG and CML as hosted emulators, so the memory, the hypervisor and the server are handled for you. You still bring your own images for GNS3 and EVE-NG, and for CML your own license from Cisco. If one of the free options above already fits your study plan, start there.
Two things arrive with real device software: images and memory.
Packet Tracer "does not store the IOS images as actual files"; the devices are part of the program. An emulator runs actual operating system images, and those have to come from somewhere legal. GNS3 states that it "is unable to provide IOS images or any other Cisco images". CML is the exception, because it ships Cisco's images, but Cisco says they are "only licensed for use within Cisco Modeling Labs". So CML's images are a reason to use CML, not a source of images for GNS3 or EVE-NG.
Each image also needs its own memory, and modern router images are heavy. Before you install anything, add up what your topology needs. Our resource calculator guide shows per-image figures you can use as a starting point.
Yes, several, and they suit different situations.
The Cisco DevNet Sandbox is the quickest way to try real Cisco software without installing anything. Cisco says "The DevNet Sandbox is currently free", and its CML FAQ describes a CML preview "that you can reserve up to four hours at a time". Treat it as a session, not a home lab: copy your configurations out before the reservation ends.
CML-Free runs on your own machine. Cisco calls it "a no-cost, single-user offering of Cisco Modeling Labs" that "can run up to 5 nodes simultaneously". Five nodes is enough for small routing and switching topologies, and the images come with it, which removes the hardest part of the next step.
GNS3 and EVE-NG Freemium are free too, and they run software from many vendors, not only Cisco. The trade is that you supply every image and handle the setup. EVE-NG's free mode runs 7 nodes per instance; GNS3 has no node limit of its own. If you are choosing between GNS3 and Packet Tracer specifically, our GNS3 vs Packet Tracer comparison covers it in detail.
"Online" covers three different things, and it helps to know which one you want.
The first is a simulator you use in a browser. Boson offers NetSim Online, and it remains a simulator: Boson describes it as "an application that simulates Cisco® Systems' networking hardware and software". The second is a browser front end on a server you run yourself. EVE-NG, for example, has a "Full HTML5 User Interface", but the server and the images are still yours to manage. The third is a hosted lab, where the emulator runs on someone else's server and you open it in your browser. The DevNet Sandbox is Cisco's version of that, for a limited session.
Packet Tracer itself is an installed application. Cisco's instructions are to "Install the Packet Tracer application", and we found no Cisco statement of a browser edition.
If you want the third kind for longer than a sandbox session, hosted GNS3 is a month-to-month subscription you reach from a web browser, and hosted EVE-NG Pro and hosted CML both come with a 24-hour free trial.
A class changes the question. Packet Tracer gives an instructor authored activities with automatic scoring, and every student can run it on their own laptop. An emulator gives students real software, but somebody has to provide the servers, separate the students' labs and keep the images licensed.
CML and EVE-NG both have licensing built for this. Cisco licenses CML Education "per concurrent user instead of per node". EVE-NG's licensing page gives a Learning Center example of one Base license with two administrators plus ten Lab User licenses, which allows twelve users to work at the same time.
For schools that do not want to run the servers, CloudMyLab's education offering is a managed, hosted lab for schools, universities and educators. Students get a Student Control Panel to power their lab on and off, check its health and open its console, and they can reach it from a web browser. Our guide to how universities build network labs covers the planning side.
Match the step to the gap you hit. If the gap is a missing command and you want graded practice for one exam, Boson NetSim keeps the simulator model and adds structure. If you want to touch real Cisco software today, book a DevNet Sandbox session. If you want a Cisco lab you keep, install CML-Free and see how far five nodes take you. If you need other vendors, or more nodes than the free tiers allow, GNS3 or EVE-NG is the next step, and our EVE-NG vs GNS3 comparison helps you choose between them. If your laptop is the limit, move the lab to a server.
You do not have to leave Packet Tracer completely, either. You can keep it for the course activities and run real software alongside it for the topics it covers only partly.
The best Packet Tracer alternatives are the ones that fix the specific gap you found, without taking on more than you need. Often that is a free step: a DevNet Sandbox session or CML-Free. When the topology outgrows your laptop, or a class needs labs that run without anyone maintaining servers, that is when hosting earns its cost.
If you are at that point, look at our hosted emulators, or start a free trial of hosted EVE-NG Pro or CML.
It depends on what you need. For real Cisco software with Cisco's images included, CML-Free runs up to 5 nodes on your own computer at no cost. For a quick session without installing anything, the Cisco DevNet Sandbox is free. For several vendors, GNS3 and EVE-NG Freemium are free, but you supply the images.
Packet Tracer is an installed application for Windows, Ubuntu and macOS, and we found no Cisco browser edition. For browser-based practice, Boson offers NetSim Online, the Cisco DevNet Sandbox runs CML on Cisco's servers for a limited session, and hosted labs run GNS3, EVE-NG or CML on a remote server you open in a browser.
CML-Free is. Cisco describes it as a no-cost, single-user edition that runs up to 5 nodes at a time. The paid Personal edition is listed at $199 for 20 nodes and Personal Plus at $349 for 40 nodes.
A simulator such as Packet Tracer models how devices behave, using a simplified version of their software. An emulator such as GNS3, EVE-NG or CML runs the devices' actual operating system images, so the commands and protocol behavior match the real software, though not the speed of physical hardware, at the cost of images, licenses and more memory.