diff --git a/lib/cmds/simulator.js b/lib/cmds/simulator.js
index 71cc1fbd8..6366290d9 100644
--- a/lib/cmds/simulator.js
+++ b/lib/cmds/simulator.js
@@ -3,11 +3,20 @@ let shelljs = require('shelljs');
 class Simulator {
   constructor(options) {
     this.blockchainConfig = options.blockchainConfig;
+    this.logger = options.logger;
   }
 
   run(options) {
     let cmds = [];
 
+    const testrpc = shelljs.which('testrpc');
+    const ganache = shelljs.which('ganache-cli');
+    if (!testrpc && !ganache) {
+      this.logger.warn('Ganache CLI (TestRPC) is not installed on your machine');
+      this.logger.info('You can install it by running: npm -g install ganache-cli');
+      process.exit();
+    }
+
     cmds.push("-p " + (this.blockchainConfig.rpcPort || options.port || 8545));
     cmds.push("-h " + (this.blockchainConfig.rpcHost || options.host || 'localhost'));
     cmds.push("-a " + (options.numAccounts || 10));
@@ -26,7 +35,8 @@ class Simulator {
       cmds.push("-b \"" + (simulatorBlocktime) +"\"");
     }
 
-    shelljs.exec('testrpc ' + cmds.join(' '), {async : true});
+    const program = ganache ? 'ganache-cli' : 'testrpc';
+    shelljs.exec(`${program} ${cmds.join(' ')}`, {async : true});
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 1f45d1d1e..3390c36bd 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class Embark {
   simulator(options) {
     this.context = options.context || [constants.contexts.simulator, constants.contexts.blockchain];
     let Simulator = require('./cmds/simulator.js');
-    let simulator = new Simulator({blockchainConfig: this.config.blockchainConfig});
+    let simulator = new Simulator({blockchainConfig: this.config.blockchainConfig, logger: this.logger});
     simulator.run(options);
   }