GNS3 vs Shadow
GNS3
gns3.comShadow
shadow.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | GNS3 | Shadow |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Network Simulation Software | 8.0 (#8) | 6.7 (#31) |
| Spec score · Network Testing Software | 8.1 (#9) | 6.8 (#29) |
| Open source | GNS3 is open source software that users can download and use for free. | The project describes Shadow as 100% open-source software written primarily in Rust and C. |
| Purpose | GNS3 lets network engineers emulate, configure, test, and troubleshoot virtual and real networks. | Shadow is a scientific experimentation tool for research, development, testing, and evaluation of real networked applications on simulated networks. |
| Support | GNS3 points users to its documentation and community for help, questions, and bug reports. | The project directs users to GitHub Discussions for community support and GitHub Issues for bug reports. |
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.