NetPilot

AI-Native Network Emulator

Describe a network in plain English and the AI designs, configures, and deploys a runnable multi-vendor lab on real network OSes in minutes.

Try It FreeWatch Demo

Disponible en Español

app.netpilot.io

What the AI does for you

~2 min
from a plain-English prompt to a deployed multi-vendor lab
9+
real network OSes the agent configures in one topology, and growing
0
lines of per-vendor CLI to write by hand — the agent generates every config

What makes NetPilot different

Cloud-native + AI-designed in one product — 2-minute prompt-to-lab vs hours of DIY setup. Four capabilities that compound when shipped together.

Cloud-native

Browser only. Nothing to install.

The alternative

Self-hosted: VMs, Docker, Ubuntu servers, 16-32 GB RAM, hours of setup.

AI-designed

Describe any topology in plain English — AI designs, configures, and deploys it; SSH in to verify.

The alternative

Manual drag-and-drop GUI + hundreds of CLI lines typed per device, per-vendor syntax.

Multi-turn iteration

“Add an Arista spine, move OSPF to area 0.0.0.1” → AI updates across all devices.

The alternative

Rewrite + push configs by hand, device by device, every single change.

2 minutes vs days/weeks

~2 minutes from prompt to working multi-vendor lab.

The alternative

Days-to-weeks to set up infrastructure + days-to-weeks of per-device manual CLI.

See It in Action

Watch the AI build a complete multi-vendor network lab — topology, configs, and deployment — from a single description.

How the AI builds your lab

Describe it, let the agent design and configure it, and SSH into real device CLIs — in about 2 minutes.

1. Describe the network in plain English

Tell NetPilot what you need — "a 3-site MPLS L3VPN with a Cisco PE and a Juniper PE" — or import existing device configs. No diagrams, no templates, no YAML.

app.netpilot.io

2. The AI designs the topology and writes every config

The agent lays out the topology, assigns IP addressing, and generates per-vendor configurations with correct syntax for each platform — Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Nokia, 9+ network OSes and growing — then deploys to the cloud or your on-prem environment.

app.netpilot.io

3. SSH in, verify, and iterate conversationally

Open a real device CLI over SSH, run show commands, inject failures, and validate. Need a change? Say "add an Arista spine and move OSPF to area 0.0.0.1" and the agent updates every affected device.

app.netpilot.io

What the AI can build

Describe any of these in plain English — the agent designs the topology, writes the per-vendor configs, deploys it, and verifies it.

AI-generated topology from a prompt

Describe the network — "a dual-region core with two PEs and a route reflector" — and the agent generates the topology, IP plan, and per-vendor configs. No diagrams or templates.

Multi-vendor emulation in one lab

Emulate Nokia SR Linux (built in) alongside Cisco, Juniper, and Arista (via BYOI) in a single topology and verify cross-vendor behavior — real NOS code, not approximate simulation.

AI-written per-vendor configs

The agent emits correct syntax per platform — Cisco IOS, Nokia SR Linux, Arista EOS, Juniper JunOS — for OSPF, BGP, MPLS, VXLAN, ACLs, and NAT.

Conversational iteration

Say "add an Arista spine and move OSPF to area 0.0.0.1" and the agent updates every affected device, then the CLI lets you verify the change yourself.

Routing fabrics — OSPF, BGP, IS-IS

Multi-area OSPF, eBGP/iBGP with route reflectors and policy, IS-IS levels, and SR-MPLS traffic engineering across vendors.

Data-center & WAN overlays

Leaf-spine VXLAN/EVPN fabrics with an eBGP underlay, plus MPLS L3VPN WANs with VPNv4 route reflectors and customer VRFs.

Firewalls, NAT & L2

Palo Alto or Fortinet zones and security policies (via BYOI), NAT between segments, and VLAN/STP/LACP switching fabrics.

Production-mirror change test

Import sanitized configs, let the AI rebuild a digital twin, and validate the change — agent builds it, CLI verifies it — before it touches prod.

AI-native vs traditional emulators

GNS3, EVE-NG, Cisco CML, and ContainerLab are capable emulators. Here is what an AI agent changes — and where the self-hosted tools still win.

AI-designed topology + configs
NetPilot
Plain English → working lab
GNS3
Manual GUI + CLI
EVE-NG
Manual GUI + CLI
Cisco CML
Manual GUI + CLI
ContainerLab
YAML + CLI by hand
Multi-turn natural-language iteration
NetPilot
Conversational across devices
GNS3
Per-device edits
EVE-NG
Per-device edits
Cisco CML
Per-device edits
ContainerLab
Edit YAML + redeploy
Hosting
NetPilot
Cloud-hosted (enterprise on-prem)
GNS3
Self-hosted
EVE-NG
Self-hosted
Cisco CML
Local VM + nested virt
ContainerLab
Docker + Linux host
Time to working lab
NetPilot
~2 minutes
GNS3
1-2 hours (manual)
EVE-NG
1-2 hours (manual)
Cisco CML
30-60 min (manual)
ContainerLab
20-40 min (YAML + configs)
Multi-vendor in one topology
NetPilot
9+ vendors, prompt-driven
GNS3
BYOI per vendor
EVE-NG
BYOI per vendor
Cisco CML
Cisco only
ContainerLab
Build Docker images per vendor
Real device CLIs
NetPilot
Yes — SSH to any device
GNS3
Yes
EVE-NG
Yes
Cisco CML
Yes
ContainerLab
Yes
Offline / air-gapped on owned hardware
NetPilot
Cloud-first; enterprise on-prem
GNS3
Fully offline on your hardware
EVE-NG
Self-hosted on your server
Cisco CML
Local VM on your workstation
ContainerLab
Docker on your Linux host
Maintenance burden
NetPilot
Zero — fully managed
GNS3
VM + image + updates
EVE-NG
Server + OS + images
Cisco CML
VM + license renewal
ContainerLab
Docker + image updates

Bottom line

Pick GNS3, EVE-NG, or Cisco CML when you need:

  • •Offline, air-gapped DIY on hardware you own and fully control
  • •GNS3's free community image library and decade-plus template ecosystem
  • •Official Cisco image fidelity and CCIE exam-grade, single-vendor accuracy (Cisco CML)

Pick NetPilot when you need:

  • •An AI agent that designs the topology, writes per-vendor configs, and deploys it — all from plain English
  • •Multiple vendors in one topology: 9+ network OSes and growing (Nokia SR Linux, FRR, Linux built in; Cisco IOL, Juniper cRPD, Arista cEOS, Palo Alto, Fortinet via BYOI; SONiC and other custom NOS images built for you on the enterprise plan)
  • •~2-minute cloud deploy — no VM, no server, no YAML
  • •Real vendor NOS CLIs over SSH on every device — the AI agent and direct CLI, both always available

Verdict:GNS3 and EVE-NG own offline DIY on hardware you control, and Cisco CML owns single-vendor CCIE-grade fidelity. NetPilot owns the 80% case: AI-designed multi-vendor labs that deploy from plain English in ~2 minutes, with real CLIs over SSH whenever you want to drive them yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about AI-powered network emulation

An AI network emulator generates, configures, and deploys a working multi-vendor network lab from a plain-English description — instead of hand-wiring topologies, sourcing device images, and writing vendor-specific configs by device. You describe what you need ("a 3-node EVPN fabric with Arista, plus a Cisco PE"); the AI agent designs the topology, assigns IP addressing, writes per-vendor configurations, deploys real network-OS containers, and validates connectivity — then you SSH in to verify. As of 2026, NetPilot is the productized AI-native multi-vendor cloud emulator in this category — 9+ vendors in one topology, generated from plain English in about two minutes.
No. A simulator (like Cisco Packet Tracer) models device behavior approximately. An emulator runs the actual network operating systems, so the CLI, configs, and protocol behavior match production. NetPilot is an AI network emulator: the AI generates the lab, and what it deploys is real network-OS code you SSH into — Nokia SR Linux built in, and Cisco IOL, Juniper cRPD, or Arista cEOS via BYOI — not a simulation. If you searched for an AI network simulator, this is the real-NOS version of that.
Yes. Describe a multi-vendor scenario — for example, "Build a 3-site MPLS WAN with BGP route reflectors, a Cisco PE, a Juniper PE, and an Arista CE" — and NetPilot generates the topology, assigns IP addressing, writes per-vendor configurations, and deploys real NOS CLIs you can SSH into. Multi-vendor is the differentiator vs Cisco CML (Cisco-only) and vs most GNS3/EVE-NG AI add-ons (single-vendor or prompt-template only). As of 2026, NetPilot is the productized AI-native multi-vendor network emulator in this category.
The full lab: the topology and device layout, IP addressing and interface mapping, and per-vendor configurations with correct syntax for each platform — OSPF, BGP, MPLS, VXLAN/EVPN, VLANs, ACLs, NAT, firewall policies, and more across Cisco IOS, Nokia SR Linux, Arista EOS, and Juniper JunOS. It then deploys the lab and can validate reachability and protocol adjacencies. You can iterate conversationally ("add an Arista spine and move OSPF to area 0.0.0.1") and the agent updates every affected device.
Cisco CML 2.9's MCP server (2026) is the strongest official Cisco-integrated option, but stays single-vendor and requires local VM licensing. GNS3 + chatbot plugins or ContainerLab + LLM-generated YAML work for teams comfortable stitching tooling together — but neither ships a turn-key multi-vendor-lab-from-prompt workflow, and both still need a self-hosted server. EVE-NG is proven for team on-prem labs but has no AI lane. Cisco DevNet Sandbox provides free reservable labs but they're Cisco-only and pre-built — you reserve an existing topology rather than describe your own. As of 2026, NetPilot is the productized cloud-native AI-native multi-vendor option: browser-based, zero infrastructure, real NOS CLIs via SSH, 2-minute lab-from-prompt across 9+ vendors.
Pick a self-hosted emulator when you need fully offline or air-gapped operation on hardware you own, when you have already invested in an image library and infrastructure, when you want low-level control of the container or VM host, or when a single vendor is all you need (Cisco CML for Cisco-only, exam-grade fidelity). NetPilot is the better fit when you want AI-designed multi-vendor topologies from plain English, a ~2-minute prompt-to-lab, conversational iteration, and zero infrastructure to maintain. Many teams use both — DIY for the permanent home lab, NetPilot for fast, on-demand, multi-vendor work.
Yes. Every deployed lab supports failure injection — bring down a link or a peer and watch the network reconverge. Do it in plain English ("shut the backbone link between R1 and R2 and verify OSPF reconvergence") or from the CLI (shutdown an interface over SSH, clear ip bgp * for a BGP reset, or destroy a node for a full-device failure). It is a first-class workflow for pre-deployment validation and resilience testing.
Real network operating systems, not simulations. Nokia SR Linux, FRRouting, and a multi-purpose Linux host are built in and ready to run. Commercial NOSes — Cisco IOL, Juniper cRPD, Arista cEOS, Palo Alto, Fortinet — run via bring-your-own-image: we don't redistribute licensed images, but you upload yours once and NetPilot automatically builds and bakes it into the platform; SONiC and other custom NOS images are built for you on the enterprise plan. That's the key difference from GNS3 or EVE-NG, where you upload an image and then follow a multi-step build-and-verify process by hand. Every device exposes a real CLI over SSH, and Enterprise plans build any custom vendor or NOS you bring.
Paste a sanitized production snippet or describe the change ("spin up a digital twin of our US-East POP plus the new eBGP peer"); NetPilot rebuilds the relevant segment on real multi-vendor NOS in the cloud in about two minutes, you run the planned change against the mirror, capture pre/post snapshots, and verify convergence before rolling to production. This is the core change-validation use case — see the dedicated network-change-validation hub for the deeper workflow; this page is the underlying technology.
NetPilot's free tier covers AI-powered lab design, configuration generation, and deployment on cloud-hosted ContainerLab with real NOS CLIs — the right starting point for evaluation and individual engineering work. Pro ($20/month) adds extended lab hours and usage quotas. Enterprise unlocks on-prem deployment, dedicated isolation, SSO, audit logging, and priority vendor-image support.
Yes. NetPilot's Enterprise tier runs on customer-owned infrastructure — on-prem data center, private cloud, or air-gapped via private registry. For fully offline / air-gapped environments where you need to own every layer, DIY EVE-NG, ContainerLab, or GNS3 on owned hardware stay a legitimate choice; NetPilot Enterprise covers cloud-managed on-prem and air-gapped installs.

Explore NetPilot

Network Engineering Agent

The agent your engineers run — it designs, builds, and validates the lab from your prompt.

Online Network Lab

Run the AI-built lab in your browser — no install, no server.

Network Research Lab

On-demand multi-vendor topologies for R&D and protocol work.

GNS3 Alternative

AI-built topologies — no VM, no install.

Cisco CML Alternative

Multi-vendor and AI-native, not Cisco-only.

ContainerLab Alternative

Agent-authored YAML and configs, hosted in the cloud.

Further reading

Can AI Build a Network Lab?

Yes — here is exactly how it works, end to end.

Best Network Emulator in 2026

Tier-ranked comparison of 7 emulators.

Best AI Tools for Network Engineers (2026)

Tier-ranked: where each AI tool fits the workflow.

GNS3 vs EVE-NG vs ContainerLab

How the self-hosted emulators stack up in 2026.

Network Change Validation

Test changes against an AI-built digital twin before prod.

Network Simulation Software Guide

The complete tier-ranked guide for 2026.

NETCONF, gNMI & YANG Lab

Programmable multi-vendor config and streaming telemetry, hands-on.

Leaf-Spine Clos Fabric Lab

Build a BGP-underlay data-center fabric the AI way.

OSPF vs BGP

When to use each — and a two-protocol lab to see it live.

Stop configuring. Start building.

Describe any network in plain English and let the AI build a working multi-vendor lab with real CLIs — in minutes, free to start.

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