We outgrew the old-school network lab.
So we built a new one.
netplex. is made in Australia by engineers who spent years using the older network lab tools. The labs worked well. The tools around them felt dated, so we built something better.
Why we built it
An entire generation of engineers got certified on the tools that came before us - and we're grateful for them. But every session started the same way. Log in to a server, move image files around, fix file permissions, fight an old-looking screen, then open another window just to type a command.
The emulation underneath was brilliant. The experience around it hadn't moved in a decade. That old, clunky style of tooling is exactly what drove me to build netplex. - so we rebuilt the experience from the ground up. It runs in your browser, has a drawing board that is nice to look at, and sits on well-proven open software (QEMU/KVM, Open vSwitch and friends).
It's taken a lot of sweat and late nights to get here, because this platform is meant to be live and working perfectly, not a weekend hobby project. I wanted people to actually enjoy using their network lab again - so I built netplex. as one tool for every device and every way of working.
This is only the start. There's a lot more on the roadmap I want to bring into netplex. - expect more features and more fixes as we keep hardening this into a solid system you can rely on.
Thank you to the tools that came first
- Isaac Newton, letter to Robert Hooke, 1675
We did not start from nothing. Other people spent decades making network labs possible, and we thank them.
The tools that showed the way. They proved that a whole network could live on one computer, and they trained the engineers who now build the internet.
The open-source projects netplex. runs on. Without them, netplex. could not start a single device.
All names and trademarks belong to their owners. Listing them is our thanks - it does not mean any of them endorse netplex.
What makes it different
It's not just a modern look. Everything you can click is also available as a documented API call (a way for programs to control netplex.). It also works through MCP (a standard way for AI assistants to use tools), so an AI assistant you already use can run a lab, not just talk about it. Professional is for one person and includes all the automation tools, with nothing held back. Your lab tells you what's wrong, and the AI can fix it live, with your approval.
netplex. is not only for people clicking on a drawing board. It also suits network automation. Every lab can be controlled by code, so a developer can run the same lab from Python, the command line or a build pipeline, with no screen needed.
The drawing board comes first
Everything else fits around it. It is clean, flat and dark by default, made for long late-night sessions.
Open where it helps
The device list, command line, developer kits, API details and docs are open. We want you to stay because it's good, not because you're locked in.
Never leave you stuck
Services restart themselves if they fail. A licence hiccup never stops a running lab. We choose reliability over strict copy protection.
The founder
Khaled
Melbourne-based network and cloud engineer with 15+ years on important networks for government, big companies and phone carriers. His work covers network automation, cloud networking, and routing and switching across every major vendor. netplex. is what he built after running out of patience with clunky old tools.
The team
A small, focused Australian team spanning platform, frontend and backend. Every decision is made by people who use netplex. daily - not a marketing department.
Platform
QEMU/KVM, the scheduler, the image pipeline and the VXLAN stitch on the roadmap.
Frontend
The drawing board, built-in terminals, six colour themes and the look of the whole site.
Backend
The engine, the device runners, live updates and the automation API that everything uses.
We built the tool we wished we had.
Every handy feature in netplex. exists because something annoyed us first.
Who it's for
Network engineers, certification candidates and anyone who builds and breaks networks to learn how they work. Netplex. is free to start, with no node limit on the Associate tier (one running lab at a time).
If you've ever tolerated the old tools because there was nothing better - this is for you.