Real machine physics
Every scenario simulates real equipment. Tanks fill, motors spin, valves modulate — driven by your actual ladder logic.
Free tier + team plans
PLC Simulation Software — Browser-Based, Free to Start
Professional-grade PLC simulation software for individual learners and training programs alike — 40 auto-graded machine scenarios, three dialects, no install required.
How it feels
Built to build intuition.
A browser tab that behaves like a real PLC bench — without the hardware budget.
Live I/O experimentation
Toggle inputs by hand to see how the PLC responds. No wiring, no hardware — just click and learn.
Certificate-backed interview prep
Pass an interview track and earn a downloadable PDF certificate. Pro users get solution walk-throughs with expert commentary on every scenario.
Live PLC simulation software running in your browser tab right now — no plugin, no install.
Definition
What is PLC Simulation Software?
PLC simulation software emulates programmable logic controller hardware and connected machine physics so you can develop and test control logic without a physical PLC or wired IO. The software executes your ladder logic or Structured Text program against a scan cycle — read inputs, run program, write outputs — while a physics model drives virtual equipment: tanks fill, motors spin, conveyors move, alarms trigger. The result is that you can write a complete control program, test every interlock, and prove correct sequencing before a single piece of hardware is commissioned. It is distinct from a PLC emulator, which runs actual vendor firmware on virtualised hardware for cycle-accurate timing fidelity, and from HMI simulation, which models the operator interface layer rather than the control logic layer.
What good PLC simulation software actually does under the hood: it parses your program into an intermediate representation, schedules it onto a simulated scan cycle, evaluates every rung or network in order, updates the output image, and feeds that state into the physics model. The IO table is fully inspectable at every address. The bar for usefulness is that a program passing its test cases in simulation should behave identically on the real controller within the dialect's instruction boundaries. Beyond execution, quality plc simulator software ships pre-built machine scenarios with scripted test harnesses — so the assessment of whether your logic is correct is automated, not subjective. That is what separates a genuine learning tool from a rung-drawing environment.
This platform — PLC Simulation Software — is browser-based, free to start, and built specifically for people who need to learn, teach, or prototype PLC logic without a hardware lab. It ships 40 machine scenarios covering six industrial verticals, supports IEC 61131-3, Allen-Bradley, and Siemens dialects in a single editor, and grades your programs automatically against objective test cases. The free tier gives you three complete scenarios with no credit card required. The Teams plan adds an admin console and cohort reporting for training programs and corporate L&D.
Audience
Who Uses PLC Simulation Software?
Four groups drive most of the demand for PLC simulation software, and each one has a distinct reason to choose a browser-based product over a vendor-installed simulator.
Controls engineers
Test logic changes offline before a commissioning window. Spinning up a Siemens TIA Portal VM or a Rockwell emulator to check three rungs takes 45 minutes. Browser-based PLC simulation software takes two. Draft the logic, verify the interlocks, then bring the vendor tool in only when the program is already known-good.
Training programs and lecturers
Teach ladder logic without a lab of hardware. A class of 30 students sharing two physical PLCs is the norm at most technical colleges. PLC simulation software running in a browser removes that constraint entirely — each student gets a private instance, progress is tracked automatically, and the auto-graded test cases replace the marking burden on the instructor.
PLC training overview →Controls-engineering students
Practice scenarios homework-style, outside lab hours. The structured scenario library — from basic motor start/stop through PID and multi-step batch sequencers — maps closely to the control-systems curriculum at technical colleges and universities. Students on locked-down institutional laptops can use it without admin rights.
Browse scenarios →OEM integrators
Prototype machine control logic before the hardware arrives on site. An integrator building a new conveyor sortation line can write and test the sequencing logic in the PLC simulation software weeks before the physical equipment is delivered — reducing commissioning time and surfacing interlock issues when they are cheapest to fix.
Comparison
PLC Simulation Software vs the Alternatives
Every option in this table has a legitimate use case. The differences are in access friction, cost, and whether the tool ships pre-built scenarios. This comparison is honest — we flag where the others are stronger.
| Option | Price | Hardware needed | Scenarios | Browser | Multi-dialect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real hardware (AB CompactLogix + IO) | $3,000–$8,000 per seat | Yes — physical rack | Custom only | No | No |
| Rockwell Studio 5000 Logix Emulate | ~$1,500 license | Yes — virtual, Windows | None pre-built | No | AB only |
| Siemens PLCSIM (via TIA Portal) | ~$1,500 (bundled) | Yes — virtual, Windows | None pre-built | No | Siemens only |
| CoDeSys (free tier) | Free for basic use | No | None pre-built | No | IEC only |
| LogixPro (classic trainer) | ~$200 | No | ~20 fixed | No | AB only |
| Our PLC Simulation Software | Free · $99/yr Basic · $249/yr Pro · $199/yr/seat Teams | No | 40 pre-built | Yes | IEC, AB, Siemens |
Prices in USD, approximate, current as of early 2026. Vendor products often require additional licenses for full-feature use. Rockwell and Siemens prices vary by region and reseller.
Scenarios
40 Pre-Built PLC Simulation Scenarios
Each scenario is a full machine model: an IO list, a written objective, and a scripted test suite. They are ordered by difficulty so students build on each concept before the next one introduces a new instruction or control pattern. Browse the full library at /scenarios.
Traffic Light
Free
Four-way signal with timer chain and all-red safety interlock phase.
Motor Start / Stop
Free
Three-wire control with seal-in, E-stop, and thermal overload interlock.
Conveyor Sort
Pro
Photo-eye sort station with part counters and reject actuator output.
Tank Fill Station
Pro
Level sensors with hysteresis control and latched high-level alarm.
PID Temperature
Basic
Closed-loop temperature control with PID tuning and setpoint ramp.
Batch Mixer
Pro
Multi-step sequencer with ingredient timing and agitator interlock.
Elevator Controller
Pro
Multi-floor call queue, door timing, and direction logic sequencer.
Palletizer
Pro
Layer-building logic with row count, column indexing, and stack reset.
Showing 8 of 40 scenarios. View all 40 →
Dialect support
Three PLC Dialects in One Simulation Editor
Most PLC simulation software locks you into a single vendor's syntax. That works for a commissioning engineer committed to one platform, but it is a problem for training programs whose graduates will work on mixed installations.
Portable
IEC 61131-3 Structured Text
The international standard. Compatible with Codesys, OpenPLC, Beckhoff, and most vendor-agnostic IDEs. IEC ST is the dialect to learn first if portability matters — code you write here exports cleanly into Codesys or OpenPLC without modification.
Rockwell-style
Allen-Bradley RSLogix / Studio 5000-style
Ladder diagram syntax matching Rockwell Automation's address notation (I:0/0, T4:0.ACC, C5:0.CU) and instruction set (XIC, XIO, OTE, OTL, OTU, TON, CTU). Graduates targeting AB-dominant industries — automotive, food processing, packaging — practice the syntax they will encounter on the job.
Siemens-style
Siemens TIA Portal / STEP 7-style
Network-based ladder logic with Siemens addressing conventions. Useful for students targeting process industries and European OEMs where Siemens installations dominate. The dialect is structurally compatible with TIA Portal LAD, though native project import requires hand conversion.
You can switch dialect on any of the 40 scenarios without losing your code. For lecturers, this means you can run the same Tank Fill or Motor Start/Stop scenario in all three dialects in the same class, demonstrating how the same control intent is expressed differently across vendor ecosystems. The compiler pipeline normalises all three into a common intermediate representation before execution, so the physics model responds identically regardless of dialect.
Team and classroom deployment
Deploying This PLC Simulation Software for a Class or Team
Individual learners and training programs have different needs. Here is how both are covered.
Individual learners
- Free — 3 scenarios, 3 lessons, no credit card required. A genuine start, not a teaser.
- Basic — $99/year — all 40 scenarios, all 18 lessons, all 12 quizzes, progress tracking, and attempt history.
- Pro — $249/year — everything in Basic plus 6 interview tracks with downloadable certificates, interactive solution walk-throughs with expert commentary, and PLC handbook PDF.
Teams, classrooms, and corporate L&D
$199/year per seat, minimum 5 seats. Annual billing by card. Includes everything in Pro for each seat, plus:
- ✓ Admin console with usage dashboard
- ✓ Cohort progress reports — see which students are stuck and where
- ✓ Slack and email completion hooks for automated notifications
- ✓ Pay by card, annual billing
No large-enterprise or SOC-2 package at this time. Contact hello@plcsimulationsoftware.com for purchase orders or invoicing.
Honest limitations
What This PLC Simulation Software Cannot Do
Knowing the limits of a tool is as important as knowing its capabilities. These are ours, stated plainly.
No cycle-accurate firmware emulation
If you need to verify sub-millisecond scan-cycle timing or test interrupt-driven routines against real firmware behaviour, use Siemens PLCSIM or Rockwell Studio 5000 Logix Emulate. Those tools run the actual vendor firmware on virtualised hardware. This platform runs a scan-cycle model accurate for logic and sequencing verification, not for firmware timing benchmarks.
No Profinet, Profibus, or EtherNet/IP bus emulation
Industrial fieldbus simulation is a different product category. This software models the PLC control-logic layer and machine physics — it does not emulate drive communication, distributed IO over Profinet, or SCADA polling over EtherNet/IP.
No HMI or SCADA simulation
The simulation covers the PLC layer only. If your training program also requires HMI or SCADA interaction, that requires a separate tool (Ignition, WinCC, iFIX, or similar). The IO table in this platform can be inspected and manually overridden, which covers most teaching scenarios for the PLC layer.
AB and Siemens dialect outputs require hand conversion for real hardware
Allen-Bradley and Siemens dialect output is plain text. Importing it into Studio 5000 or TIA Portal requires manual conversion to native project format. IEC 61131-3 Structured Text exports cleanly and can be pasted directly into Codesys or OpenPLC with no conversion needed.
FAQ
Common questions about PLC simulation software.
PLC simulation software emulates programmable logic controller hardware and connected machine physics, so you can write and test control logic without a physical PLC or wired IO. It executes ladder logic or Structured Text against a scan cycle, drives a physics model, and exposes IO state for inspection — all in software, with no hardware budget required.
Start using the PLC simulation software free
Three scenarios, no credit card, sign up in under a minute — or open the Traffic Light scenario right now.
Related: PLC simulator · PLC programming simulator · PLC training.