A post on r/ccna that got 800 upvotes last year broke down one user's CCNA pass: zero dollars spent on courses, four months of study, Cisco Packet Tracer for all labs. They passed first attempt. Free Cisco training isn't a fallback for people who can't afford paid options—for a lot of candidates, it's actually the sharper path because it forces you to use primary sources instead of passive video watching.
This guide covers every legitimate free Cisco training resource worth your time, what each one actually gives you, and how to combine them into a study plan that holds up against paid alternatives.
What Free Cisco Training Covers (And What It Doesn't)
Before diving into resources, it's worth being precise about what "free" means in this space. There are three distinct categories:
- Fully free with no catch: Cisco Networking Academy (NetAcad), Cisco Skills for All, Packet Tracer, Cisco DevNet learning paths, and Jeremy's IT Lab on YouTube. No trial expiration, no credit card required.
- Free tier with paid upgrades: INE's free tier, CBT Nuggets 7-day trial, Udemy courses during flash sales (often $10-15, but worth mentioning separately).
- Free content that stops short of exam prep: vendor marketing content, intro modules that don't cover the full exam blueprint.
The honest limitation: free Cisco training gets you 80-90% of the way to passing CCNA. The gap is usually hands-on lab time and practice exams. Packet Tracer closes most of the lab gap for free. Practice exams are harder to replicate without paying, though Cisco's own sample questions help.
Cisco's Own Free Training Programs
Cisco runs several official free training programs that most people don't know exist. These are worth starting with because they align exactly to the exam blueprints.
Cisco Networking Academy (NetAcad)
NetAcad has trained over 17 million students across 180 countries. The Introduction to Networks (ITN) and Switching, Routing, and Wireless Essentials (SRWE) courses are fully free when accessed through a NetAcad institutional partner—thousands of community colleges and high schools globally offer access. If you're not enrolled anywhere, some NetAcad instructors run open enrollment sections. The curriculum maps directly to CCNA 200-301.
NetAcad also includes Packet Tracer, Cisco's proprietary network simulation tool. This is legitimate free Cisco training with real lab exercises, not just reading material.
Cisco Skills for All
Launched in 2021, Skills for All (skillsforall.com) is Cisco's public-facing free learning platform. It requires only an email to register. Relevant courses include:
- Networking Basics
- Network Technician Career Path
- Cybersecurity Essentials
- Python Essentials 1 and 2 (useful for CCNA automation topics)
These don't cover the full CCNA blueprint on their own, but Networking Basics and the Network Technician path together get you through most of the foundational material. Completion badges are issued through Credly and worth adding to LinkedIn.
Cisco DevNet Free Learning
If you're targeting CCNA or planning to move toward CCNP eventually, DevNet's free learning labs at developer.cisco.com cover network automation, APIs, and programmability—topics that now appear in CCNA 200-301. The DevNet sandbox gives you access to live Cisco equipment remotely at no cost, which solves the real hardware problem for advanced learners.
Free Cisco Training on Third-Party Platforms
Outside of Cisco's own properties, several high-quality free resources exist. Quality varies significantly, so here's what's actually worth using.
Jeremy's IT Lab (YouTube + Anki)
This is the most complete free CCNA course available. Jeremy's IT Lab on YouTube covers the entire CCNA 200-301 blueprint across 90+ videos, each tied to a specific exam topic. The companion Anki flashcard deck (also free) covers several thousand exam concepts. The production quality is high, the pacing is practical, and the instructor explains why things work, not just how to configure them. If you only use one free resource, use this one.
David Bombal and NetworkChuck on YouTube
Both channels are free and genuinely useful for supplemental learning. David Bombal covers GNS3 lab setups and real-world packet captures that complement exam study. NetworkChuck's CCNA series is more entertaining and better for building intuition about why networking concepts matter in practice. Neither replaces a structured course as a primary resource, but both fill gaps well.
INE Free Tier
INE (ine.com) offers a free tier that includes some introductory networking content. It's limited compared to their paid subscription but gives access to a few hours of structured video content. Worth checking if you want a more formal video structure than YouTube.
CBT Nuggets Free Trial
CBT Nuggets offers a 7-day free trial with full access to their CCNA course. This is genuinely useful if you use it deliberately—map out which sections you need to watch and get through them in the trial window. Their CCNA content is comprehensive and the video quality is high. Not "free" in the ongoing sense, but worth knowing about.
Cisco Press Sample Chapters
Cisco Press publishes the official CCNA certification guides and makes sample chapters available free on their website. These are dense, technical, and exam-accurate. Pair with video content to avoid information overload from reading alone.
Top Courses
Beyond Cisco-specific training, these courses address adjacent skills that matter for IT career progression—particularly if you're working toward freelance consulting, automation, or productivity alongside your networking studies.
Learn How to Use LLMs Like ChatGPT for FREE
Network engineers who understand AI tools are increasingly in demand for automation and scripting workflows. This course covers practical LLM use with no cost barrier, directly relevant if you're building toward CCNA DevNet or automation-focused roles.
Complete Web Design: from Figma to Webflow to Freelancing
If you're building toward freelance IT consulting, this course on establishing a freelance client pipeline covers the business infrastructure skills that technical certifications don't teach.
Manage Sales, Purchases and Inventory Using Free Software
Practical business operations training for IT consultants who want to run their own practice—useful once you've completed your Cisco certification and are considering client work.
Building a Free Cisco Study Plan That Works
The failure mode with free resources isn't lack of content—it's lack of structure. Here's a realistic 16-week plan using only free materials:
Weeks 1-4: Foundation
Start with Jeremy's IT Lab from video 1. Supplement with Cisco Skills for All Networking Basics for a second perspective on each concept. Build Anki cards as you go using Jeremy's pre-made deck as a base. Cover: OSI model, TCP/IP, subnetting, basic IOS CLI.
Weeks 5-10: Core CCNA Topics
Continue Jeremy's IT Lab through routing protocols (RIP, OSPF, EIGRP), VLANs, STP, and EtherChannel. Use Packet Tracer to build every topology he demonstrates. Don't just watch—configure it yourself, break it, fix it. This is where most self-study candidates skip steps and pay for it on exam day.
Weeks 11-13: Security and Automation
Cover ACLs, NAT, DHCP, and the automation/programmability topics using Jeremy's videos plus Cisco DevNet free labs. DevNet sandbox gives you access to real IOS-XE devices for the automation sections where Packet Tracer falls short.
Weeks 14-16: Exam Prep
Use Cisco's official sample questions and any free practice tests you can find. Identify weak areas, go back to the relevant videos, and run through Packet Tracer scenarios for topics where you're uncertain. The CBT Nuggets 7-day trial is worth starting here if you want a final review from a different instructor perspective.
FAQ
Can I actually pass the CCNA using only free Cisco training?
Yes, but it requires discipline about hands-on practice. The content gap between free and paid is manageable—Jeremy's IT Lab alone covers the full blueprint. The harder gap is practice exams. Cisco provides some official sample questions, but the paid practice banks (Boson, Pearson) are more comprehensive. Some candidates pass using only free resources; others use free content for most study and pay only for a practice exam bank ($79-99) near the exam date.
Is Cisco Networking Academy (NetAcad) actually free?
NetAcad is free when accessed through an enrolled institution. If you're not enrolled in a participating school, some instructors open their sections to the public—check the NetAcad course catalog directly. Cisco's Skills for All platform (skillsforall.com) is fully free with no institutional requirement and covers much of the same foundational content.
What's Packet Tracer and do I need it?
Packet Tracer is Cisco's free network simulation software. You need it. The CCNA exam tests configuration skills—you can't pass by watching videos alone. Packet Tracer lets you configure routers and switches, test connectivity, and troubleshoot topology issues without physical hardware. It's available free through NetAcad or Skills for All registration.
How does free Cisco training compare to a paid bootcamp?
Paid bootcamps add structure, accountability, and sometimes guaranteed exam vouchers. For self-directed learners with prior IT experience, free training plus a practice exam bank often outperforms a generic bootcamp because you move at your own pace and spend more time on gaps. For complete beginners with no networking background, a structured paid course or instructor-led training may reduce the time-to-pass.
Are there free resources for CCNP and CCIE too?
Far fewer. Jeremy's IT Lab covers CCNA only. For CCNP, Cisco DevNet and free YouTube content from David Bombal and Nick Russo cover some topics, but the free resources thin out significantly at the professional level. Most CCNP candidates end up paying for INE or CBT Nuggets. CCIE is primarily self-study from documentation and expensive rack rental—no meaningful free path exists.
Do Cisco free certifications count for anything?
Cisco Skills for All issues completion badges through Credly. These are not the same as proctored Cisco certifications (CCNA, CCNP). Employers generally don't weight them the same way. That said, they demonstrate initiative and are worth listing on LinkedIn, particularly for entry-level job applications where you're trying to show self-directed learning. The goal should still be a proctored CCNA if you want the certification to carry weight in hiring.
Bottom Line
The free Cisco training ecosystem is genuinely good in 2026. Jeremy's IT Lab plus Packet Tracer plus Cisco Skills for All gets most candidates through CCNA-level material without spending anything. The only real gap is practice exams—and for many people, adding one paid practice bank near the exam is the only money that needs to change hands.
Start with Skills for All to get your NetAcad credentials and download Packet Tracer. Run through Jeremy's IT Lab from the beginning, build labs in Packet Tracer alongside every video, and use the Anki deck daily. That combination has passed more CCNA candidates than most paid courses.
