If you installed EVE-NG recently and found your lab capped far below the 63 nodes you expected, you read the release notes right. EVE-NG version 7 (June 2026) introduces a "Freemium" mode limited to 7 nodes, and the long-standing free Community Edition (63 nodes) reached end-of-life in June 2026. For anyone who relied on EVE-NG's free tier to study or prototype, the free ceiling just dropped from 63 usable nodes to 7.
Here's exactly what changed, what's still free, and how the free options compare in 2026.
| Tool | Free node cap (2026) | Runs where | Setup time | AI-assisted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVE-NG v7 Freemium | 7 nodes (admin only) | Your own server / VM | Hours–days | No |
| EVE-NG Community (v6.2) | 63 nodes — end-of-life June 2026 | Your own server / VM | Hours–days | No |
| EVE-NG Pro / LC | 1024 nodes (≈150 EUR) | Your own server / VM | Hours–days | No |
| GNS3 | ~30 practical (16 GB laptop) | Your own machine | 4–8 hrs | No |
| Cisco CML Free | 5 nodes | Local VM | Hours | No |
| ContainerLab | 200+ (hardware-bound) | Your own Linux host | DevOps setup | No |
| NetPilot | Free tier, cloud-hosted | Browser (nothing to install) | ~2 minutes | Yes |
Bottom line: EVE-NG is still an excellent self-hosted emulator for teams running large topologies on their own servers — but its free path is now 7 nodes, and even the old 63-node Community build is unsupported. If you want a free lab without provisioning a 16 GB VM, NetPilot generates and deploys a multi-vendor lab on real network OSes from a plain-English prompt in about 2 minutes, in the browser — no server, and no image library to source and maintain (built-in NOSes are ready; commercial vendors are bring-your-own-image).
What changed in EVE-NG v7
EVE-NG shipped its version 7 line at the end of June 2026 (releases 7.0.1-2 through 7.0.1-18, dated 24–29 June 2026). Two changes matter most for anyone who used EVE-NG for free:
- A new "Freemium" mode capped at 7 nodes. EVE-NG's own v7.0.1-2 release notes describe it as "Freemium mode (7 nodes, unlimited VPCS, admin only)." You get unlimited virtual PCs (VPCS), but only 7 real emulated nodes — routers, switches, firewalls — per lab, and only under the admin account.
- The 63-node Community Edition reached end-of-life. The free Community build (v6.2.x, 63 nodes per lab) is no longer supported as of June 2026 and was not carried forward into v7.
An important nuance: the legacy Community v6.2 ISO is still downloadable in various mirrors, so you can technically still stand up a 63-node lab on it. But it's now unsupported — no security updates, no new features, and tied to an older Ubuntu base. The go-forward, supported free tier on the current EVE-NG (v7) is the 7-node Freemium mode. For paid tiers, nothing changed on capacity: EVE-NG Pro and Learning Center remain 1024 nodes for roughly 150 EUR plus your own hardware.
The practical takeaway: a free EVE-NG lab on the current release now tops out at 7 nodes. A basic OSPF lab needs 3–5. A CCNA practice topology (routers + switches + hosts) is usually 5–8. A single small multi-area or BGP lab blows straight past 7.
The other EVE-NG cost: setup and images
The node cap isn't the only reason engineers look for alternatives — it's the setup tax. EVE-NG is a server appliance, not an app:
- A dedicated VM or server — 16 GB+ RAM and 8 vCPUs is the practical floor for anything beyond a couple of nodes.
- Image sourcing. EVE-NG ships almost no device images. You find, license, convert, and upload each vendor's image yourself (qcow2/OVA/etc.), then keep them organized — a job in itself.
- Hours to days from bare install to a working, wired, configured multi-vendor lab.
None of that is a knock on EVE-NG's engineering — it's the trade-off of a powerful self-hosted platform. But combined with a 7-node free ceiling, the free experience is now meaningfully thinner than it was a month ago.
Free and low-friction alternatives, compared
If the 7-node free tier doesn't fit, here are the honest options in 2026.
EVE-NG Pro / Learning Center
Still the right answer if you already run EVE-NG on-prem. 1024 nodes, multi-user RBAC, mature, air-gappable. For a team with existing server infrastructure and large shared topologies, ~150 EUR is cheap. You still source images and maintain the box.
GNS3
The proven free DIY choice. Huge community, extensive image support, offline on your own hardware. Realistically ~30 nodes on a 16 GB laptop (IOS images are RAM-hungry at ~400 MB each), and 4–8 hours of setup. No node license cap — your ceiling is RAM. See our GNS3 vs EVE-NG vs ContainerLab breakdown for the full head-to-head.
PNETLab
The free EVE-NG fork. It unlocks Pro-style features at no cost and is a common landing spot when EVE-NG restricts its free tier — with the usual trade-offs of a community fork: thinner support, less predictable development, and murkier licensing for the images people share. Fine for solo study; harder to justify for a team.
Cisco CML Free
Cisco's official images, but the free tier is hard-capped at 5 nodes (Personal is $199/yr for 20). Best when you need Cisco-authoritative behavior for CCIE-level accuracy and nothing else.
ContainerLab
If you're a DevOps-minded engineer who wants containerized NOSes and YAML-defined topologies, ContainerLab scales to 200+ nodes on a beefy Linux host. You write the topology files and manage images yourself — powerful, but not a click-and-go free lab.
NetPilot
The cloud-native, AI-assisted option — nothing to install and no server. The built-in NOSes need no image sourcing at all; commercial vendors are bring-your-own-image (upload your licensed image once). You describe the lab in plain English and NetPilot's agent designs the topology, generates per-vendor configs, and deploys a working multi-vendor lab on real network OSes (9+ and growing — Nokia SR Linux, FRR, and Linux built in; Cisco IOL, Juniper cRPD, Arista cEOS, Palo Alto, and Fortinet via BYOI) — in about 2 minutes, on a free tier. It's the productized alternative for engineers who don't want to run infrastructure to get a lab.
Agent-first, but the CLI is always there. You're not locked out of the terminal:
Ask the agent: "Build a 3-router OSPF lab with two areas, then show me the neighbor table on each router."
The agent designs and deploys the topology, generates the configs, and returns a consolidated OSPF neighbor table across all three routers. In a mixed-vendor lab it translates one plain-English request into
show ip ospf neighbor(Cisco),show ospf neighbor(Juniper), and the FRRvtyshequivalent automatically, run in parallel.Direct CLI is always available too. SSH into any device, run
show,debug,configure terminal— verify by hand or drill in when the agent flags something. You get both: the agent for speed and cross-vendor aggregation, the CLI for deep inspection.
Feature matrix
| Dimension | EVE-NG v7 Freemium | EVE-NG Pro | GNS3 | ContainerLab | NetPilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free node cap | 7 | — (paid) | ~30 (RAM-bound) | 200+ (hardware) | Cloud free tier |
| Runs in browser, no install | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Dedicated server/VM required | ✅ | ✅ | Local resources | ✅ (Linux host) | ❌ |
| Image sourcing by you | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Built-in + BYOI |
| Multi-vendor | ✅ (BYOI) | ✅ (BYOI) | ✅ (BYOI) | ✅ | ✅ (9+ growing) |
| AI-designed topology + configs | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Time to first working lab | Hours–days | Hours–days | 4–8 hrs | DevOps setup | ~2 min |
FAQ
Is EVE-NG still free in 2026?
Partly. EVE-NG version 7 includes a free "Freemium" mode, but it's capped at 7 nodes (unlimited VPCS, admin account only). The older free Community Edition, which allowed 63 nodes, reached end-of-life in June 2026 and is no longer supported. So there is still a free EVE-NG, but its usable node ceiling dropped from 63 to 7 on the current release.
How many nodes can I run on the free EVE-NG?
On the current EVE-NG (v7) Freemium tier, 7 emulated nodes plus unlimited VPCS virtual PCs. The legacy Community Edition allowed 63 nodes but is now unsupported. EVE-NG Pro and Learning Center allow 1024 nodes for roughly 150 EUR.
What happened to EVE-NG Community Edition?
The Community Edition (v6.2.x, 63-node cap) reached end-of-support / end-of-life in June 2026 and was not carried into version 7. The ISO can still be found and installed, but it receives no updates and runs on an older base OS. EVE-NG's supported free path going forward is the 7-node Freemium mode.
Is there a free EVE-NG alternative without a server?
Yes. NetPilot runs entirely in the browser on a free tier — no VM, no 16 GB server, and no image library to maintain (built-in NOSes ready; commercial vendors via BYOI). You describe the lab in plain English and its AI agent deploys a multi-vendor lab on real network OSes in about 2 minutes, with full CLI access. For DIY on your own hardware, GNS3 (free, ~30 nodes on 16 GB) and PNETLab (the free EVE-NG fork) are the common choices. See the EVE-NG alternative comparison for details.
EVE-NG vs GNS3 — which is better for a free lab in 2026?
For a free self-hosted lab, GNS3 now offers the higher practical node ceiling (RAM-bound, ~30 on a 16 GB laptop) versus EVE-NG Freemium's 7-node cap, and it has the larger community image ecosystem. EVE-NG Pro still wins for team-shared, browser-accessed labs at scale (1024 nodes, RBAC). If you'd rather skip local setup entirely, a cloud lab like NetPilot removes the hardware question. Full breakdown: GNS3 vs EVE-NG vs ContainerLab.
Which should you choose?
- You already run EVE-NG on-prem and need big topologies → EVE-NG Pro / Learning Center (1024 nodes).
- You want a free DIY lab on your own hardware → GNS3 (higher free ceiling than v7 Freemium), or PNETLab if you want Pro-style features free.
- You need Cisco-authoritative images for CCIE-level accuracy → Cisco CML.
- You want containerized NOSes with YAML/CI workflows → ContainerLab.
- You want a free multi-vendor lab in ~2 minutes with no server, no image library to maintain (built-in NOSes ready; commercial via BYOI), and AI-generated configs → NetPilot.
The 7-node change doesn't make EVE-NG a bad tool — it's still a serious self-hosted emulator. It just means the free, no-commitment way to spin up a real multi-vendor lab is now more likely to live in the cloud than on a VM you maintain.
Copy-paste ready — try it in the browser: paste this into NetPilot:
"Build a 4-router OSPF lab across two areas with a pair of access switches, assign IPs, and enable OSPF on all links. Show me the neighbor tables."
Related reading: EVE-NG alternative · GNS3 vs EVE-NG vs ContainerLab vs Cisco CML · Online network labs