Is Hack the Route an alternative to Packet Tracer?

For learning networking, yes, but a different kind. Instead of simulated Cisco devices, each lab is a network of real Linux machines that you work on with real commands. For Cisco IOS practice, Packet Tracer remains the tool to use.

Does Hack the Route help with the CCNA?

It teaches the ideas underneath, such as subnetting, ARP, VLANs, routing and OSPF, by running them on Linux, but not the Cisco IOS commands the CCNA asks for. Its labs are mapped to the CompTIA Network+ and Security+ topics instead.

Do I need to install anything?

Not for Hack the Route: the labs run in your browser. Packet Tracer is a desktop application you download and install.

Is Hack the Route free?

Free opens the beginner labs of First Contact, plus each other road's beginner first lab: 14 labs on real machines, no card needed. Pro opens all 99 labs and the break-and-fix challenges for $15 a month, or $120 a year.

Compare

Hack the Route vs Cisco Packet Tracer

Pick Cisco Packet Tracer if you are studying for a Cisco exam such as the CCNA and want to practise the Cisco IOS command line: it is free from Cisco Networking Academy and built for exactly that. Pick Hack the Route if you want to learn how networks work on real Linux machines, with real commands like ip, ping, ss and tcpdump, in your browser with nothing to install. Many learners use both: Packet Tracer for Cisco syntax, Hack the Route for Linux networking and for watching real packets.

Side by side

	Hack the Route	Cisco Packet Tracer
Runs on	Real Linux machines on real links: each lab is a small network	A simulator: software models of Cisco routers, switches and end devices
Install	Nothing to install	A desktop app, downloaded with a Cisco Networking Academy account
In the browser	Yes: the shells, the map and the packet capture all open in a browser tab	Mainly a desktop app on your own computer
Guided steps and checks	Every lab says what to run and why, checks what you did, and has faults to switch on, find and fix	Guided, graded activities come with Networking Academy courses; on its own it is an open canvas
Price	Free: 14 labs, no card. Pro: $15 a month or $120 a year for all 99 labs	Free
Focus	Linux networking: addressing, switching, routing, DNS, packets, network security and troubleshooting	Cisco devices and the Cisco IOS command line, for Networking Academy courses and Cisco exams

When to pick Cisco Packet Tracer

You are preparing for the CCNA or another Cisco exam and need to type Cisco IOS commands. Hack the Route teaches networking on Linux and does not teach the Cisco command line.
You are taking a Cisco Networking Academy course, whose activities are made for Packet Tracer.
You want to lay out a large topology of Cisco devices quickly and try ideas on it, on your own computer.
You want every lab free: Packet Tracer costs nothing, while most Hack the Route labs need Pro.

Also compared: Hack the Route vs GNS3 · Hack the Route vs TryHackMe for networking

Hack the Route vs Cisco Packet Tracer

Side by side

When to pick Cisco Packet Tracer

Questions

Learn it on real machines.