Learn PLC Programming Without Hardware: PLCSIM, Emulators and Factory I/O

The hardware question

The first thing a fresher asks is whether to buy a PLC. The answer in 2026 is not yet. Every major vendor's tool has a simulator, most are free or in the trial, and one 3D simulator makes them look like a factory. Buy hardware when you have a program that needs it.

What each simulator gives you

Siemens S7-PLCSIM comes with the TIA Portal trial. Logic, timers, counters, HMI screens, PID with a simulation block. PLCSIM V20 adds scripted sequences and hardware events, covered in the commissioning course. PLCSIM Advanced, a separate product, simulates the whole S7-1500 with its network.

Rockwell RSLogix Emulate and the Micro800 simulator in Connected Components Workbench cover the Rockwell side; the RSLogix 500 and Micro800 courses run in them.

GX Simulator, CX-Simulator and the CODESYS built-in simulation cover Mitsubishi, Omron and the IEC 61131-3 world.

What a simulator cannot do

It cannot simulate a loose wire, a sensor with the wrong sinking/sourcing polarity, a contactor that chatters, or noise on an analog loop. Those are the faults that fill a maintenance engineer's week, and the panel building and instrumentation courses teach them with real photographs and wiring, not simulation.

Factory I/O: the machine you do not own

Factory I/O connects to PLCSIM and to real PLCs and gives you conveyors, sorting stations, a filling tank, an assembler, a pick-and-place robot, an elevator and a warehouse, each with sensors and actuators you map to PLC addresses. The Factory I/O course programs nine of them. A learner who has made the palletiser stack boxes has an interview story that most graduates with a real PLC on the shelf do not.

When to buy hardware

When you have a working program and want to see the download, the diagnostics LEDs, the memory card and a real PROFINET fault. An S7-1200 starter kit or a Micro820 is enough. Buy it for the commissioning course, not for the first one.

If you would rather practise this on PLC training panels with an instructor, see our PLC course in Bangalore for the syllabus and duration.

Frequently asked questions

Is PLCSIM free? It is part of the 21-day TIA Portal trial, which can be reinstalled.

Is Factory I/O free? A 30-day trial with every scene; the course fits inside it.

Can I get a job having only used simulators? Yes, if you can show the programs and understand the wiring topics; employers hire for what you can do, and simulation proves most of it.