TryHackMe vs Hack The Box: Which Should You Use (and When)?
TryHackMe and Hack The Box are the two platforms almost everyone uses to practise hacking and defence in a browser. They look similar from the outside and feel very different once you start. This page compares them honestly — what each is good at, what you get free, what the paid plans and certifications cost, and which one fits where you are right now.
Short version: start on TryHackMe — it teaches. Move to Hack The Box when you want to be tested rather than taught. Most people who stick with this end up using both, and you can get a long way on the free tiers of each.
Side by side
| TryHackMe | Hack The Box | |
|---|---|---|
| Style | Guided “rooms” that explain as you go, grouped into learning paths | Machines and challenges you solve on your own, plus a separate course platform (HTB Academy) |
| Feels like | A course with exercises | A gym, with a school next door |
| Best for | Complete beginners and career changers | People who already know the basics and want harder problems |
| Free tier | Free rooms, part of the beginner paths, and a daily-limited in-browser attack machine | Starting Point machines, a rotating set of active machines, and limited in-browser attack box time |
| Paid plans | Premium and a higher MAX tier; Premium unlocks the full beginner paths and unlimited in-browser machine | Labs VIP and VIP+ for all retired machines; Academy is priced separately, monthly or annual |
| Blue-team content | Strong — a whole SOC analyst track and a SOC simulator | Present and growing (Sherlocks, the CDSA path), but the platform’s centre of gravity is offensive |
| Certifications | SEC0, SEC1, SAL1, SAL2, PT1, AI1 — all practical | CJCA, CDSA, CPTS, CWES, CWEE, CAPE, CWPE, COAE — multi-day practical exams with a written report |
| Difficulty curve | Gentle; hard to get stuck for long | Steep; getting stuck is part of the design |
What it costs (September 2026)
Straight from each platform’s own pricing pages when this was written. Both change prices and show different currencies by region, so treat these as a guide and check before you buy.
- TryHackMe Premium — shown to me as €16.99 a month, or about €10.50 a month billed annually. A MAX tier above it adds advanced paths and cloud labs.
- TryHackMe SAL1 (SOC analyst certification) — €301, with a discount for subscribers. A 24-hour exam: multiple choice plus a SOC simulator where you investigate alerts and write reports.
- HTB Academy Silver Annual — $490 a year: all modules up to Tier II and one exam voucher a year each for CJCA, CDSA, CPTS, CWES and COAE. If you want an HTB certification, this is usually the value route.
- HTB Academy Student — $8 a month with academic verification: the same Tier II module access, no exam vouchers.
- HTB Academy monthly — from $18 a month, paid in “cubes” you spend on individual modules.
- HTB Labs VIP / VIP+ — unlock every retired machine and your own instances; check the current price on their site.
Which one for you
- You are brand new. TryHackMe’s free rooms first, alongside our Lab 00 and the Bandit labs. Don’t pay for anything until you know you enjoy it.
- You want a SOC analyst job. TryHackMe’s SOC path is the smoothest on-ramp, and SAL1 tests exactly that work. HTB’s CDSA is the harder, longer alternative. Either way, build the home-lab evidence too: Wazuh, Lab 08 and Lab 09.
- You want to become a penetration tester. Use TryHackMe until the basics feel easy, then move to HTB. CPTS has a strong reputation among working testers because the exam is long, hands-on and ends in a written report.
- You are a student. HTB Academy’s student plan is one of the best-value deals in the field.
- Your budget is zero. Both free tiers, plus the free labs here, are enough for months. Spend money when you have a specific goal, like a certification.
A word on the certifications
Both platforms’ certifications are practical: you do the work rather than answer trivia. That makes them good proof of skill to technical interviewers. Many job ads and HR filters still ask for older, better-known names, so think of these as the thing that gets you through the technical interview rather than past the first screen.
Where to sign up: Hack The Box (free tier available) · HTB Academy certifications · TryHackMe (not an affiliate)
Affiliate links. If you buy through them, StashGrid may earn a commission at no cost to you. They are listed because they are worth it — how that works.
How to use both, free, starting today
- Week 1–2: build your lab with Lab 00 and start TryHackMe’s free beginner rooms.
- Weeks 3–6: work through the StashGrid learning path in parallel — it fills in the command line, networking and web basics.
- After that: try Hack The Box’s Starting Point machines. If they feel manageable, you are ready for the harder side.
Library entries: TryHackMe · Hack The Box · LetsDefend for more SOC practice.
Comparison last verified Sep 2026 against each platform’s own pricing, help-centre and certification pages. Neither platform sponsored or reviewed this page. Prices, tiers and certifications change — spotted something out of date? Tell me and I’ll fix it.