Testnet environments
Cardano testnets sit at the vanguard of network development, providing sandboxed environments for continuing innovation, harnessing the power of the Cardano community to iterate and improve.
Stake pool operators, exchanges, smart contract developers, and projects can engage with different early-stage and pre-production networks to actively test core Cardano functionality prior to deploying on mainnet.
Discover the various testnet environments available on Cardano to select the one best suited for your testing needs.
Early-stage testing networks
SanchoNet
SanchoNet is an early-stage testnet environment for testing CIP-1694 on-chain governance mechanisms.
Preview
Preview is the network environment for testing release candidates and expanded test scenarios. Preview is meant for DApps, stake pool operators (SPOs), and exchanges who wish to test mature release candidates.
Late-stage testing networks
Pre-production
Pre-production is the most mature network for testing purposes, which resembles a production (mainnet) environment. It is meant for exchanges, SPOs, pre-deployment DApps, and wallets that wish to test release functionality before deploying on mainnet.
Production network (mainnet)
Production is the live network, also referred to as mainnet. It features official functionality releases. Exchanges, SPOs, DApps, wallets, and end users can use the mainnet for development, transaction processing, and other needs.