Skip to main content

 

Cisco Meraki Documentation

Meraki Free Trials

Click 日本語 for Japanese

Test driving networking gear before you commit is vital; the equipment must work in your specific environment for your specific use cases and meet your specific criteria.

Because of this, almost every Cisco Meraki product is available for free evaluation.

How to get a Free Trial

Contact your Sales Representative, reach out to the Sales Team, or complete a trial form to register for a free evaluation of a Cisco Meraki product.

How to Claim a Free Trial

If you are a new Meraki customer but have a Demo Organization associated with your email you will need to create a regular Dashboard organization in order to properly claim your trial. Simply log out of Dashboard and go through the account creation process using your existing email and password.

Trials can take up to 24 hours to process. If you are unable to claim your trial please wait 24 hours before trying again or visit the FAQ section of this document for additional information.

Meraki software products can take 3-4 hours to fully activate.

Trials cannot be claimed in to organizations that use Subscription Licensing. For more information, see the Subscription - Licensing Overview article.

 

You can claim your trial using the Order Claim Key provided in your trial shipment email.  Navigate to Organization > Configure > Inventory page to claim your trial. 

  • If claiming into a new Organization, enter the order claim key into the presented text field and click "Claim Order".         

ClaimTrials1.png

  • If claiming into an existing Organization, click the "Claim Devices" button on the top right of the table, enter the order claim key, and click "Claim Order".

ClaimTrials2.png

Viewing Trial details

Once your trial is claimed you will be able to see the trial details under Organization > Configure > License Info

ActiveTrials.png

Returning a Trial

A return can be initiated from the original trial URL. 

  • If your trial order was shipped before September 8, 2025, you can access the original trial URL through the Meraki Dashboard by navigating to Organization > Configure > License Info page. 

TrialURLOld.png

  • If your trial order was shipped on or after September 8, 2025 and submitted via Cisco Commerce Warehouse (CCW), you can access your trial order by logging in to CCW and clicking on Trial > Manage/View All

TrialReturnNew.png

Filling out and submitting the Returns form will generate an RMA number. Once you have received your RMA number, access Cisco’s Global Returns tool to schedule carrier pick up or generate a pre-paid return label (only available in US / Canada).

For any issues encountered with the Global Returns tool or the return process, a case can be opened on the Cisco Customer Service Hub by searching for RMA Return Support (Type of Request: Pickup Request using POWR Tool).

Unreturned trial equipment is subject to being disabled. Ensure trial equipment is not claimed in a production network.

Moving a Trial to Another Organization

Trials can be moved to another organization by following these steps:

  1. Unclaim all hardware from the trial that has been claimed
  2. Contact Support to have them unlink your trial
  3. Claim the trial onto the new organization

If you do not unclaim all hardware the trial may automatically link back to the current organization

Support for Free Trials

Support Eligibility

All customers on free trials are entitled to Meraki's traditional enterprise support. You can use Support for any questions or technical issues you have.

Please note that the traditional Support team will not be able to provide a detailed guided walkthrough of Dashboard.

Free Trial Adoption Team

Eligible customers will be reached out to by the Free Trial Adoption (FTA) team. This typically covers those who have a trial from the Meraki Sales team for a product they do not own. The FTA team will assist you with any Meraki related items regarding your trial. This includes assistance with setting up the product, providing a walkthrough of Dashboard and the features, as well as addressing additional questions or technical issues you might have.

If you are in contact with a member of the FTA team please prioritize reaching out to them over traditional Support (when possible).

The Free Trial Adoption team currently provides English support in Canada and the USA as well as the EMEA and APJC regions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Trial Claim

  • I just received my trial and I cannot claim it because I receive the error message "No matching order/serials were found". 
    • Trials can take up to 24 hours to process. If you are unable to claim your trial, please wait 24 hours before trying again.
  • Can I claim only a portion of my trial?
    • No, the entire trial can only be claimed in one organization. To move the trial to a different organization, you will need to unclaim the entire trial and re-claim the trial in the different organization.
  • I received the error message "Couldn't find license key..." when I tried to claim my trial on the License info page.
    • Trials do not receive 12-digit license keys like other orders and, therefore, cannot be claimed on the License info page (even if the order only includes trial licensing). Please claim your trial order using the Order Claim Key provided in your trial email. Learn more on how to claim your trial on the Inventory page.
  • I just received my trial and I cannot claim it because I receive the error message "This claim has failed. Please try again.".
    • Trials can take up to 24 hours to process. If you are unable to claim your trial, please wait a bit before trying again.
  • I've waited 24 hours but I still cannot claim my trial.
    • The trial may have been claimed into another of your Organizations. Reach out to Support to have them investigate further.

Active Trial

  • How long is a trial for?
    • Trials are typically 30 days in length.
  • What if I need more time to evaluate the product?
    • If something caused a delay in your testing and you need more time you can talk to your Sales Rep about the possibility of an extension.
  • Why don't I have a network for my product after claiming my trial?
    • Networks don't automatically get created with trials. A guide on creating networks can be found here.
  • I claimed my trial but some of the hardware was not claimed.
    • This is unlikely to happen, but in this situation, you will need to contact support to claim the missing hardware.
  • What do I do if my trial is wrong?
    • If your trial has the wrong licenses or hardware, you need to contact your Sales Rep to have them resolve your issue.
  • My Advanced Security trial license is stopping me from claiming my new Enterprise license.
    • It is recommended that you allow your trial to be removed naturally in this case. Alternatively, you can reach out to Support to have them remove the trial from your organization.

Post-Trial

  • Why is the trial still in my Organization when it is expired?
    • A trial will automatically be removed from your network 30 days after the trial has ended. Make sure to you either have contacted your Sales Rep to buy the trial or have gone through the process to return it.
    • If your trial is a customer-generated SM trial then it will disappear within 30 days after the trial expires.
  • Why is my trial device missing from my organization?
    • Please note that expired trial devices may be removed from a customer's network after 30 days. If you cannot re-claim your trial device, please reach out to your Meraki Sales Rep to either purchase or extend your trial gear.
  • Was this article helpful?