Software-based switches are more frequently used in test environments to run an OpenFlow test-bed or to develop and test OpenFlow-based network application. There are currently several OpenFlow software switches that can be used, some of which are listed with a brief description, including the implementation language and the OpenFlow standard, as follows:

• Open vSwitch: Open vSwitch is a multilayer and production quality virtual switch licensed under the Apache 2.0 license. It is designed to enable network automation through programmatic extension while still supporting standard management interfaces and protocols (for example, NetFlow, sFlow, IPFIX, RSPAN, command-line interface (CLI), LACP, 802.1ag, OpenFlow, OVSDB, and so on).
• Pantou (OpenWRT): Pantou (OpenWRT) turns a commercial wireless router/access point to an OpenFlow-enabled switch. OpenFlow is implemented as an application on top of OpenWRT. Pantou is based on the BackFire OpenWrt release (Linux 2.6.32). The OpenFlow module is based on the Stanford reference implementation (userspace). At the time of writing this, it supports generic Broadcom (BRCM43xx Wi-Fi) and some models of LinkSys and TP-LINK (WR1043ND) access points with Broadcom (BRCM47xx/953XX) and Atheros (AR71xx) chipsets.
• Indigo: Indigo first generation is an open source OpenFlow implementation that runs on physical switches and uses the hardware features of Ethernet switch ASICs to run OpenFlow at line rates. It is based on the OpenFlow reference implementation of the Stanford University. Indigo Virtual Switch (IVS), based on the Indigo Framework was introduced, which is an open source virtual switch for Linux compatible with the KVM hypervisor and that leverages the Open vSwitch kernel module for packet forwarding. It is a lightweight, high-performance vSwitch built from the ground up to support the OpenFlow protocol. It is designed to enable high-scale network virtualization applications and supports distribution across multiple physical servers using an OpenFlow enabled controller, similar to VMware's vNetwork, Cisco's Nexus or Open vSwitch.
• LINC: LINC is an open source project led by FlowForwarding effort and is an Apache 2 license implementation based on OpenFlow 1.2/1.3.1. LINC is architected to use generally available commodity x86 hardware and runs on a variety of platforms such as Linux, Solaris, Windows, macOS, and FreeBSD, where the Erlang runtime is available. The benefit of the x86-based platform is that LINC can take advantage of the availability of lots of CPU cores and memory and scale gracefully to increase and decrease compute resources. This is critical when many logical switches are instantiated on a single OpenFlow capable switch.
• Xorplus: Xorplus is a switching software provided by Pica8 and supported by the open community. It provides no-cost Layer 2/Layer 3 protocol stacks, enabling the community to innovate. It supports protocols such as PIM-SM, IGMP, IGMP snooping, VRRP, IPFIX, and SNMP. It also powers Pica8's current pronto line of switches.
• Of13softswitch: Of13softswitch is an OpenFlow 1.3 compatible user-space software switch implementation based on the Ericsson TrafficLab 1.1 softswitch. The latest version of this software switch includes the switch implementation (ofdatapath), the secure channel for connecting the switch to the controller (ofprotocol), a library for conversion from/to OpenFlow 1.3 (oflib), and a configuration tool (dpctl). This project is supported by Ericsson Innovation Center in Brazil and maintained by CPqD in technical collaboration with Ericsson Research.