EVE-NG vs Cisco Modeling Labs (CML)
CML is Cisco's own lab platform, and it comes with licensed Cisco images. EVE-NG runs images from any vendor, but you supply every one. That trade decides most choices between them.
The short answer
Pick CML if your labs are mostly Cisco and you want Cisco's images included and licensed, within a node limit of 5, 20 or 40. Pick EVE-NG if a lab mixes vendors or needs more nodes, and you already have the images and licences for what you'll run.
At a glance
| What | Cisco Modeling Labs | EVE-NG |
|---|---|---|
| Price | CML-Free; Personal $199; Personal Plus $349, each for 365 days; Enterprise and Education on request | Freemium free; EVE-NG Base €150 a year before VAT; role licences extra |
| Node limit | 5 (Free), 20 (Personal), 40 (Personal Plus); Enterprise 20 plus up to 300 more | Freemium "7 nodes per EVE instance" and 63 per lab; Base 1,024 per lab |
| Cisco images | Included and licensed, for use inside CML only | None included |
| Other vendors | Your own qcow2 images and Docker containers, licensed by you and outside Cisco support | Any vendor's image you're entitled to use |
| Licence terms | Free, Personal and Personal Plus: non-commercial, one named user, one machine | Tied to one VM or computer; counted by concurrent session |
| Hardware | 8 GB, 4+ physical Intel cores, 32 GB disk, VT-x and EPT | Intel VT-x/EPT or nested AMD EPT; Ubuntu 24.04 |
| Clouds | AWS and Azure (Personal and Enterprise) | Google Cloud; AWS and Azure unsupported |
| Apple silicon | Not supported | Not supported |
| Current release | 2.10.1, 1 October 2026 | 7.4.0-2, 1 November 2026 |
Cisco images: the main difference
CML comes with Cisco's reference platform images. In CML 2.10 the main set has IOSv, IOSv L2, IOL and IOL L2, CSR 1000v, Catalyst 8000V, Catalyst 9000v, IOS XRv 9000, IOS XRd, Nexus 9300v and ASAv. A supplemental set adds Catalyst 9800-CL, Catalyst SD-WAN, FMCv, FTDv and Meraki vMX, and ISE comes on its own disk image.
Cisco's licence ties those images to CML. Its terms say they're for use only within the CML environment and may not be exported for use in any other way. A CML licence gets you Cisco images for CML, not for EVE-NG or GNS3.
EVE-NG includes no vendor images at all, and its licence makes you obtain each vendor's authorisation before using their products on it. In return it isn't tied to any vendor: one lab can hold Cisco, Juniper, Fortinet, Palo Alto and Linux nodes, if you have the images.
Node limits and prices
CML is priced by how many nodes run at once. EVE-NG is priced by how many people use it at once.
| Edition | Price | Nodes at once | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| CML-Free | Free, no expiry date | 5 | One person, non-commercial; IOL, IOL-L2 and ASAv only |
| Personal | $199 or 2 Cisco Learning Credits, 365 days | 20 | One person, non-commercial; community support |
| Personal Plus | $349 or 4 Cisco Learning Credits, 365 days | 40 | One person, non-commercial; community support |
| Enterprise | On request | 20, expandable by up to 300 | Organisations; several users; Cisco TAC support |
| Education | On request | Licensed per concurrent user | Teaching; not for running a production network |
Cisco's page shows the Personal prices as "$199" and "$349"; Cisco U. sells them as 365-day access, plus applicable taxes. On the paid editions, Cisco's bundled Linux and utility nodes (Alpine, Ubuntu, Desktop, TRex, the WAN emulator and others) don't count towards the node limit. On CML-Free they do, apart from unmanaged switches and external connectors.
| Edition | Price | Nodes | Users at once |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Free | "7 nodes per EVE instance"; 63 per lab | 2 admins |
| EVE-NG Base | €150 a year | 1,024 per lab | 2 admins |
| EVE-NG RBL | Base, plus €150 an administrator, €350 a lab editor or €300 a lab user, each a year | 1,024 per lab | One session per role licence |
With a Base licence, the practical limit is the server rather than the licence: each node reserves the vCPU and RAM it's configured with. See what EVE-NG costs to run, hardware included.
Other vendors' devices
CML isn't Cisco-only. You can upload your own VM images as qcow2 files, including other vendors', and since CML 2.9 you can run Docker containers too. Cisco is clear about two things: you're responsible for obtaining and licensing those images, and CML support doesn't cover images it doesn't bundle. Cisco doesn't publish a list of third-party appliances that work, so test the ones you need first.
In EVE-NG, every image is one you bring, from whichever vendor, so a multi-vendor lab is the normal case rather than an extra.
Hardware
CML's stated minimum is 8 GB of memory, 4 or more physical cores and 32 GB of disk, on a processor with VT-x and EPT. Cisco fully supports it only on Intel processors; AMD is best effort, and some bundled images run only on Intel. It installs on VMware Workstation 17, Fusion Pro 13 on Intel Macs, Player 17, ESXi 7.0 or later, or bare metal (tested on Cisco UCS servers), and Personal and Enterprise can run in AWS and Azure.
EVE-NG needs Intel VT-x/EPT or nested AMD EPT, and runs on Ubuntu 24.04 on its own machine or on Proxmox, VMware ESXi, Workstation, Player or Fusion, or a Google Cloud VM. It lists AWS, Azure, Hyper-V and VirtualBox as unsupported.
Neither runs on Apple silicon Macs.
Personal and work use
CML-Free, Personal and Personal Plus are licensed for non-commercial use by one named person on one server or workstation; Cisco's terms allow an employee to evaluate it for their company. For work, Cisco points organisations to Enterprise, which adds several users and Cisco TAC support. CML-Free also sends anonymised usage data to Cisco, and that can't be switched off.
EVE-NG licenses by concurrent session. Base covers two administrators; role licences add lab editors and lab users who can be kept to their own folders. The licence is tied to one VM or computer, which checks in online at least once every 24 hours, and EVE-NG doesn't refund licences.
Free ways to try each
- CML-Free: up to 5 nodes at once with IOL, IOL-L2 and ASAv, no expiry date. You need a Cisco.com account and your own machine.
- Cisco DevNet Sandbox: Cisco hosts reservable CML sandboxes at no cost, so you can try CML without installing it.
- EVE-NG Freemium: free, within its node limits, on your own server. You bring the images.
- CloudLabBox free demo: a hosted EVE-NG workspace for 30 minutes with 6 vCPU and 8 GB, no card or email. Enough to try the interface and run a small multi-router lab.
Which to choose
- Cisco-only practice, and you have no Cisco images
CML. CML-Free's 5 nodes cover small topologies; Personal's 20 cover most CCNA-sized labs. The images come licensed.
- Bigger Cisco labs, such as CCNP topologies
CML Personal Plus, at 40 nodes, or EVE-NG if you already have the images.
- Cisco beside Fortinet, Palo Alto, Juniper or Linux
EVE-NG. CML can take third-party images, but you license them and Cisco doesn't support them.
- Work use by a team
CML Enterprise or EVE-NG with role licences. The personal CML editions are non-commercial.
- No suitable hardware, or an Apple silicon Mac
A DevNet sandbox to try CML, or a hosted EVE-NG workspace you open in the browser.
Hosted EVE-NG from CloudLabBox
CloudLabBox runs EVE-NG Pro workspaces on its own servers, with 1,596 images in the Add Node list. Cisco images include IOSv, IOSvL2, CSR 1000v, Catalyst 8000v, Catalyst 9000v, Nexus 9000v, IOS XRv 9000 and ASAv, beside Juniper, Fortinet, Palo Alto, Arista and Linux.
- CloudLabBox doesn't provide vendor licences: bring your own, or a vendor evaluation where the image has one
- There's no Cisco IOL image; Cisco routing and switching labs use IOSv and IOSvL2
- Plans limit vCPU and RAM, not the number of nodes: from Lite (6 vCPU, 8 GB) at £3 a day to Organization (24 vCPU, 48 GB)
- Every plan includes a read-only Shared folder of guided labs, 46 of them for the CCNA (2 November 2026)
See every installed imageSee the CCNA guided labsTry the free demo
Questions
Can I use CML's Cisco images in EVE-NG?
Not under Cisco's licence. Cisco's terms say the reference platform images are for use only within CML and may not be exported for use in any other way.
Is Cisco Modeling Labs free?
CML-Free is: up to 5 nodes at once with IOL, IOL-L2 and ASAv, no expiry date, for personal non-commercial use. On 2 November 2026 Cisco listed Personal at $199 for 20 nodes and Personal Plus at $349 for 40, each sold as 365-day access.
Does CML run non-Cisco devices?
It runs your own and third-party VM images uploaded as qcow2 files, and Docker containers from CML 2.9. You license those images yourself, and Cisco's support doesn't cover images it doesn't bundle.
Which is better for the CCNA?
For Cisco-only practice, CML includes licensed Cisco images, and CML-Free's 5 nodes cover small topologies. EVE-NG suits labs that mix vendors or need more nodes than your CML edition allows, provided you have the images.
Where these facts come from
Checked on 2 November 2026 on Cisco's and EVE-NG's own pages. Prices and limits change, so check them before you buy.
Where to go next
Compare EVE-NG with GNS3See free and paid ways to practise for the CCNA
Spotted something out of date? Tell us in the CloudLabBox Discord (opens in a new tab) or at cloudlabbox@gmail.com.