NetPilot

Network POC Lab

Describe a prospect's network in plain English and NetPilot's AI builds a matching multi-vendor POC lab on real CLIs in about two minutes.

Try It Free
app.netpilot.io

Built for demo velocity

~2 min
from a plain-English prospect description to a deployed customer-matched lab
9+
vendors in one POC topology, and growing — Nokia SR Linux, FRR, Linux built in, plus Cisco, Juniper, Arista via bring-your-own-image
1
dedicated cloud environment per demo — no shared-lab corruption mid-call

Selling network software specifically? See the vendor-specific vertical for the network-software-vendor sales-engineering use case.

How NetPilot differs for POC / sales engineering

Customer-matched lab in plain English. One dedicated env per demo. Shareable URL so the prospect drives. Same-day POC instead of same-quarter.

Cloud-native

Browser only. Nothing to install.

The alternative

Hosted EVE-NG / DIY demo rigs: VMs, image sourcing, and an IT ticket before tomorrow's customer call.

AI-designed

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

The alternative

Traditional POC setup: 2-4 days hand-building the prospect's topology, vendor-syntax context-switching per device.

Multi-turn iteration

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

The alternative

Re-author the demo lab by hand for every prospect-specific ask — a Palo Alto in the DMZ, a second transit provider.

2 minutes vs days/weeks

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

The alternative

Weeks per customer-matched lab; the prospect's attention window closes before the demo is ready.

See It in Action

Watch how NetPilot builds a complete multi-vendor lab from a single plain-English description — then SSH in to verify before you share the URL with the prospect.

What sales engineers ship with NetPilot

Same describe-build-share capability, four customer-facing workflows — qualification through RFP.

Qualification demos

Quick same-day lab for an initial technical call. Customer-matched topology, one protocol scenario, real CLIs — enough to prove capability fit without burning POC-engagement budget.

app.netpilot.io

Customer POC evaluations

Full multi-vendor mirror of the prospect's core. Pre-load scenarios around their specific pain points (BGP convergence, ACL migration, vendor interop). Shareable URL so their team drives the lab themselves.

app.netpilot.io

RFP / RFI technical responses & interop validation

Build the reference topology the RFP asks for, run the specific scenarios the RFI scores against, and prove your product interoperates with the prospect's existing Cisco + Juniper + Arista mix — then attach the lab URL and screenshots to the response.

app.netpilot.io

POC scenarios you can ship same-day

Describe any of these in plain English — the agent builds the customer-matched topology, writes the per-vendor configs, deploys it, and hands you a URL to share.

Customer-matched demo lab

Mirror the prospect's exact vendor mix and routing design — Cisco edge, Juniper transit, Arista leaf-spine — from one plain-English description in ~2 minutes.

Prospect-driven hands-on POC

Pass a dedicated URL so the customer SSHes in and runs real vendor CLIs themselves — the highest-converting demo format, not 'watch me click'.

BGP / OSPF convergence demo

Pre-load realistic eBGP/iBGP and multi-area OSPF, then shut a link live on the call and watch the network reconverge — proof, not slides.

Firewall & security-policy POC

Drop a Palo Alto or Fortinet in the DMZ (via BYOI), demo zone-based policy and NAT against the prospect's Cisco segments, all in one isolated env.

Multi-vendor interop validation

Cisco + Juniper + Arista + your product in one lab with real CLIs — prove cross-vendor behavior the prospect can verify on the wire.

RFP / RFI reference topology

Build the exact topology the RFP specifies, run the scenarios the RFI scores against, and attach the live lab URL plus screenshots to the response.

Sanitized-config digital twin

Paste the prospect's sanitized running configs and NetPilot rebuilds a matching mirror — same vendors, same protocol design, same rough scale.

Parallel demos, isolated per env

Run multiple customer POCs at once, each in its own dedicated cloud environment — no shared-lab corruption, no last-demo state leaking into the next.

NetPilot vs POC-lab alternatives

Head-to-head across CloudMyLab (hosted EVE-NG), Quali (orchestration), WWT / Anixter (consulting), DIY mirror labs, and NetPilot.

Primary use case
NetPilot
AI-built customer-matched multi-vendor POC in ~2 minutes
CloudMyLab
Hosted EVE-NG for existing .unl topology libraries
Quali
Enterprise orchestration across mixed demo environments
WWT / Anixter
White-glove consulting POC for six-figure infrastructure deals
DIY
Home lab / air-gapped customer POC on owned hardware
AI-designed sandbox from plain English
NetPilot
Plain English → lab
CloudMyLab
Manual EVE-NG topology builder
Quali
Config-driven orchestration, not AI-native
WWT / Anixter
Consulting-built, not AI
DIY
Hand-authored
Time to customer-ready lab
NetPilot
~2 minutes end-to-end
CloudMyLab
Hours after manual config
Quali
2-4 weeks to onboard orchestrator
WWT / Anixter
Weeks-to-months consulting engagement
DIY
Days-to-weeks per demo
Multi-vendor support
NetPilot
9+ vendors (growing)
CloudMyLab
Via EVE-NG BYOI
Quali
Vendor-agnostic orchestration
WWT / Anixter
Broad consulting lab
DIY
BYOI per vendor
Real CLIs via SSH
NetPilot
SSH to any device
CloudMyLab
SSH into EVE-NG
Quali
Orchestrator-gated access
WWT / Anixter
Consulting lab SSH
DIY
SSH per device
Customer-matched from plain English
NetPilot
Describe prospect, AI builds
CloudMyLab
Build it yourself in EVE-NG
Quali
Config-based setup
WWT / Anixter
Via consulting engagement
DIY
Manual per demo
Shareable URL for prospect hands-on
NetPilot
Dedicated URL per env
CloudMyLab
EVE-NG session share
Quali
Orchestrator share URLs
WWT / Anixter
Managed-access only
DIY
Self-host sharing yourself
Dedicated environment per demo
NetPilot
Per-lab isolation
CloudMyLab
Hosted per-team
Quali
Per-blueprint
WWT / Anixter
Per-engagement
DIY
Build it yourself
Offline / air-gapped operation
NetPilot
Cloud-first; enterprise on-prem available
CloudMyLab
Cloud-hosted only
Quali
On-prem available
WWT / Anixter
On-prem consulting
DIY
Fully offline
Cost model
NetPilot
Free tier + enterprise plan
CloudMyLab
Weekly rental (~$23/wk min)
Quali
Enterprise license
WWT / Anixter
Consulting fees ($$$$)
DIY
Server + team time

Where NetPilot fits vs POC-lab alternatives

Pick hosted EVE-NG, enterprise orchestrators, consulting services, and DIY mirror labs when you need:

  • •CloudMyLab is the right choice for teams that specifically need hosted EVE-NG with existing .unl customer topology files
  • •Quali is the right fit for enterprise teams orchestrating a mix of network + cloud + application demo environments under one platform
  • •WWT and Anixter consulting POC engagements fit six-figure infrastructure evaluations where the whole deal hinges on a bespoke lab
  • •DIY EVE-NG / ContainerLab / CML for fully offline / air-gapped customer POCs on owned infrastructure

Pick NetPilot when you need:

  • •AI-built customer-matched multi-vendor lab in ~2 minutes, not hours-to-weeks
  • •Dedicated cloud environment per demo — no shared-lab corruption
  • •Shareable URL — customers SSH in and drive the lab themselves
  • •Describe the prospect's network in plain English, the agent builds it — you SSH in to verify
  • •Free tier for individual SEs; enterprise plan with on-prem deployment option

Verdict:CloudMyLab, Quali, and WWT stay the right choice for hosted-EVE-NG, enterprise orchestration, and consulting-heavy POCs respectively. NetPilot is the AI-built customer-matched POC-lab choice for sales engineers who want to ship a demo same-day, not same-quarter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions from sales engineers, solutions architects, and pre-sales teams

Describe the customer's environment to NetPilot in plain English — for example, 'Cisco IOL edge + Juniper cRPD transit + Arista cEOS leaf-spine, pre-loaded with realistic BGP and OSPF'. The agent generates the multi-vendor topology and deploys it to cloud-hosted ContainerLab in ~2 minutes. SSH in to verify, pass the dedicated URL to the prospect, and they drive the demo themselves. Same-day customer-matched POCs, not same-quarter.
Self-serve from a browser — no IT ticket required. NetPilot runs cloud-hosted ContainerLab with 9+ vendors available in one topology (Nokia SR Linux, FRR, Linux built-in; Cisco IOL, Juniper cRPD, Arista cEOS, Palo Alto, Fortinet via BYOI). Describe the prospect's topology, watch the lab deploy, and share the URL. Free tier covers individual SE usage; enterprise plan adds dedicated environments, SSO, on-prem deployment, and custom vendor support via BYOI.
Different bets. CloudMyLab provides hosted EVE-NG infrastructure — great if the team has existing .unl topology files and wants a managed EVE-NG server without running one themselves. NetPilot is AI-built and customer-matched — describe the prospect's network in plain English and get a fresh multi-vendor lab in ~2 minutes, no EVE-NG expertise, no topology file library to maintain. As of 2026, NetPilot is the productized AI-native entrant in the customer-matched POC-lab category; CloudMyLab remains the right choice for hosted EVE-NG continuity.
Yes. Describe the prospect's topology, vendors, and routing design in plain English, or paste sanitized running configs from their network. NetPilot builds a matching lab — same vendor mix, same protocol design, same rough scale. Iterate conversationally: 'add a second transit provider', 'pre-load the customer's specific ACL patterns', 'bring in a Palo Alto firewall in the DMZ'. Each customer demo gets its own dedicated cloud environment — no cross-demo contamination.
Different tiers. WWT and Anixter provide white-glove consulting POC engagements — right when the whole deal hinges on a bespoke hardware-heavy infrastructure evaluation and you need weeks of professional-services effort. NetPilot is self-serve, velocity-first — right when a sales engineer needs a customer-matched multi-vendor lab before tomorrow's call. Teams commonly use both: NetPilot for fast-iteration qualification demos, WWT/Anixter for the six-figure infrastructure POCs that close the deal.
Yes. Each NetPilot lab gets its own dedicated cloud environment with its own SSH access — pass the URL to the prospect, they SSH in and drive the lab themselves. This flips demos from 'watch me click' to 'try it yourself' — when prospects get hands-on, they sell the product to themselves. Labs are isolated per environment, so multiple customer demos can run in parallel without cross-contamination.
Yes. NetPilot's enterprise plan includes a self-hosted / on-prem deployment option for teams with compliance, data-residency, or air-gapped requirements — run the POC-lab platform on your own authorized infrastructure. Particularly useful when the prospect's own procurement rules prohibit commercial-cloud-hosted demos. The cloud-hosted product is the default for self-serve; on-prem is available via Contact Sales.
The POC-lab category splits into four lanes: CloudMyLab owns hosted-EVE-NG continuity, Quali handles cross-environment orchestration, WWT's Advanced Technology Center handles six-figure infrastructure POCs, and DIY EVE-NG / CML / ContainerLab covers air-gapped customer POCs. As of 2026, NetPilot is the productized AI-native customer-matched POC lab entrant in this category — describe the prospect's network in plain English, get a multi-vendor lab on real NOS (Nokia SR Linux, FRR, Linux built in; Cisco, Juniper, Arista via bring-your-own-image) in ~2 minutes, share a URL for prospect-driven hands-on evaluation.
Different lanes. CloudMyLab is hosted-EVE-NG continuity — right for teams already on EVE-NG `.unl` files. CloudShare is SaaS POC infrastructure for general software, weaker on multi-vendor network topologies. Quali is blueprints-based enterprise orchestration, infrastructure-agnostic. Instruqt / Heropa / Bunnyshell excel at SaaS app demos, not network topology POCs. As of 2026, NetPilot is the productized AI-native customer-matched POC entrant in this category — the AI topology-from-prompt is the differentiator the others don't ship.

Related resources

For Network Software Vendors

The vendor-specific vertical — sales engineering for companies selling network software to other enterprises.

Best POC Lab Platforms 2026

Tier-ranked comparison: NetPilot vs CloudMyLab vs Quali vs WWT consulting vs DIY.

Network Change Validation

The adjacent enterprise use case — same mirror-lab capability, formal change-management register.

Copy-paste workflow prompt

Customer-matched demo lab — mirror the prospect's topology in one copy-paste prompt.

Your next customer demo. Same-day.

Describe the prospect's network in plain English. Lab runs in ~2 minutes. Share the URL. Close the deal.

Try It Free