PLC Simulator
PLC simulator for Linux

PLC Simulator for Linux — No Wine, No Windows VM

A browser-based PLC practice environment that runs natively on any Linux distro. Save the Wine experimentation for a different weekend.

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The problem

Why Linux users struggle with vendor PLC tools

Almost no major vendor ships a native Linux IDE. TIA Portal: Windows only. Studio 5000: Windows only. GX Works 3 (Mitsubishi): Windows only. Sysmac Studio (Omron): Windows only. Machine Expert (Schneider): Windows only. Codesys IDE: Windows only (the runtime is cross-platform, the editor is not). Even Factory IO, the 3D simulator, is Windows-exclusive.

The Linux escape hatch is usually Wine or CrossOver, and the experience is genuinely rough: Studio 5000 refuses to install on most configurations; TIA Portal partially works and crashes on complex projects; vendors will not help if something breaks. On Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch, or any other distro, Linux users have spent a lot of weekends fighting Wine instead of writing ladder.

Workarounds

What Linux users try — and how it plays out

Wine + TIA Portal

Partial success on some Ubuntu and Fedora builds. Crashes opening medium projects. Official support: none. Debug time: high.

Wine + Studio 5000

Refuses to install cleanly on most Wine configurations. Even CrossOver's commercial support will not guarantee it.

VirtualBox / QEMU + Windows 11

Works, but you pay for a Windows licence, a Windows-side vendor PLC licence, and the disk space. CPU isolation on older hardware leaves the Linux host sluggish.

Dual-boot

A full Windows install next to your distro. Fine if you were going to install Windows anyway; overkill for PLC practice.

Codesys IDE via Wine

Codesys IDE is Windows-only. Wine results are mixed. The runtime is native Linux, but without an editor it does not help you write code.

OpenPLC + Beremiz

Both are genuine Linux-native IEC 61131-3 tools and great options — with a steeper learning curve and no scored curriculum. See the "other options" section below.

Browser-native on Linux

What this tool does on Linux

Distro-agnostic

If Chromium or Firefox runs, we run. Arch, Debian, Fedora, Mint, openSUSE, Pop!_OS, NixOS — all identical.

No dependency hell

No apt/dnf/pacman install, no systemd service, no SELinux exemption, no .deb or .rpm. The website is the app.

Pairs with Codesys and OpenPLC

Build fluency here, then deploy to Codesys SoftPLC or OpenPLC on the same laptop or a Raspberry Pi when you want real-hardware practice.

Getting started

Three steps on Linux

  1. 1. Open Chromium, Firefox, or Edge. Snap, Flatpak, or native — does not matter.
  2. 2. Sign up free. Email and password. No sudo, no package manager, no driver install.
  3. 3. Pick a scenario. PID temperature is a good Linux-friendly starter — the control-loop mental model maps cleanly to anything you might deploy to a Pi later.

Performance

Performance expectations on Linux

Smooth

  • Any modern x86 laptop or desktop with Mesa / AMDGPU / Nouveau drivers.
  • Chromium, Firefox, Edge — all with WebAssembly acceleration.
  • Wayland or X11, HiDPI or standard DPI — all fine.

Watch-outs

  • Very old browsers on LTS distros — upgrade to the last year\'s build.
  • Aggressive privacy extensions (uMatrix, NoScript strict) — whitelist the site so WebAssembly and localStorage work.
  • Raspberry Pi browser: technically works, practically sluggish for the editor.

What Linux users practise most

Scenarios that pair well with a Pi or SoftPLC setup

PID Temperature

Maps directly to a Pi + thermistor + SSR real-hardware project.

View scenario →

Motor Start / Stop

Classic first rung. Port the logic to OpenPLC on a Pi with two relays.

View scenario →

Tank Fill

Level sensor, valve, pump — a realistic Pi + relay project.

View scenario →

Conveyor Sort

Sensor-heavy — good drill before wiring real prox sensors.

View scenario →

Traffic Light

Four-way sequence — standard IEC SFC / ladder learning.

View scenario →

Elevator

Full state machine — great structured-text practice.

View scenario →

Linux-native options too

Other Linux-friendly PLC tools worth knowing

  • OpenPLC — open-source IEC 61131-3 editor + runtime; runs on Raspberry Pi, Arduino, x86 Linux. Rough edges, great for real-hardware experiments.
  • Beremiz — open-source IEC IDE with Matiec compiler; works on Linux natively, documentation is scattered.
  • Codesys Runtime SL — cross-platform PLC runtime; install on a Raspberry Pi and deploy code from a Windows Codesys IDE. Native Linux deployment is a good intermediate-to-advanced path.
  • For IDE simulation with scored scenarios on Linux — us. See also our Codesys alternative.
Questions

Linux PLC simulator FAQ

Yes — any distro with Chromium, Firefox, or a modern Edge build. Flatpak, Snap, or native package — all fine. We are a web app, not a desktop binary, so there are no distro-specific dependencies to wrangle.

No Wine. No VM. No .deb.

Just a tab. Free tier on any distro.

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