GNS3 vs M-Lab NDT
GNS3
gns3.comM-Lab NDT
measurementlab.netSide by side
| Figure | GNS3 | M-Lab NDT |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Network Testing Software | 8.1 (#9) | 7.7 (#20) |
| Integrations | GNS3 supports Docker instances, QEMU-based appliances, hypervisors including VMware, VirtualBox and Hyper-V, and connections to real networks. | M-Lab publishes NDT data through BigQuery and archives raw measurement data in Google Cloud Storage. |
| Open source | GNS3 is open source software that users can download and use for free. | M-Lab states that all hosted tests are open source and created and maintained by researchers. |
| Purpose | GNS3 lets network engineers emulate, configure, test, and troubleshoot virtual and real networks. | NDT measures a connection’s capacity for bulk transport and reports upload speed, download speed, and latency metrics. |
| Support | GNS3 points users to its documentation and community for help, questions, and bug reports. | M-Lab directs NDT users to contact [email protected] for support. |
Plans
In their own words
GNS3
GNS3 is free, open-source software for emulating, configuring, testing, and troubleshooting virtual and real networks. Its graphical client works with a virtual machine, and servers can run locally or remotely. Users can combine emulated devices running actual images with simulated devices, including a built-in layer 2 switch. It supports appliances from vendors such as Cisco, Brocade, Cumulus Linux, and HPE, as well as Docker, QEMU-based appliances, VMware, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, and connections to real networks. The GNS3 Marketplace offers preconfigured appliance templates with recommended settings. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux; documentation recommends the GNS3 VM for most Windows and macOS setups and complex topologies. Users must supply their own Cisco IOS images. There are no monthly or yearly license fees, and device capacity depends in practice on the host computer’s CPU and memory. GNS3 is used for networking education, certification practice, proofs of concept, demonstrations, and interoperability testing. A server has no authentication enabled by default and should be restricted at the network level.
M-Lab NDT
M-Lab NDT has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.