Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Hack The Box VS PentesterLab

Compare Hack The Box VS PentesterLab and see what are their differences

Hack The Box logo Hack The Box

An online platform to test and advance your skills in penetration testing and cyber security.

PentesterLab logo PentesterLab

Learn all about web hacking through online courses spanning the basics to advanced vulnerabilities
  • Hack The Box Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-29
  • PentesterLab Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-16

Hack The Box features and specs

  • Realistic Practice Environment
    Hack The Box offers a wide variety of machines and challenges that closely mimic real-world scenarios, providing users with practical, hands-on experience in cybersecurity.
  • Community and Collaboration
    The platform fosters a strong community where users can interact, collaborate, and share knowledge through forums and team-based activities.
  • Diverse Skill Levels
    Hack The Box caters to all skill levels, from beginners to advanced professionals, ensuring that there are challenges appropriate for everyone.
  • Regular Updates
    The platform consistently updates its content with new machines and challenges, keeping the practice environment fresh and engaging.
  • Competitive Environment
    With leaderboards and point systems in place, users are encouraged to improve their skills and compete in a friendly environment.
  • Job Opportunities
    High performers on the platform can garner attention from companies and recruiters, leading to potential job offers and career advancements.

Possible disadvantages of Hack The Box

  • Learning Curve
    The platform can be intimidating for complete beginners as it assumes a certain level of knowledge in cybersecurity.
  • Steep Subscription Costs
    While basic access is free, the more advanced features and machines are locked behind a subscription paywall, which can be pricey for some users.
  • Limited Guidance
    Hack The Box emphasizes self-learning and problem-solving, which might not be suitable for users who require more structured guidance or tutorials.
  • Time-Consuming
    Many of the challenges and machines can be very time-intensive, which may not be practical for those with a busy schedule.
  • Potential for Frustration
    Due to the complex nature of some challenges, users might experience frustration and discouragement when they cannot solve certain tasks.

PentesterLab features and specs

  • Comprehensive Learning
    PentesterLab offers a wide range of practical exercises and challenges that cover various aspects of web application security, providing users with a comprehensive learning experience.
  • Hands-On Labs
    The platform provides hands-on labs that simulate real-world scenarios, enabling learners to practice and enhance their penetration testing skills in a controlled environment.
  • Beginner to Advanced Content
    PentesterLab caters to users of different skill levels by offering content that ranges from beginner to advanced, making it suitable for both novices and experienced professionals.
  • Certificates of Completion
    Users receive certificates of completion after successfully finishing each module, which can be used to demonstrate their skills and knowledge to potential employers.
  • Community Support
    The platform has a community of users and a forum where learners can discuss challenges, share insights, and seek help, fostering a collaborative learning environment.

Possible disadvantages of PentesterLab

  • Subscription Fee
    Access to PentesterLab's full range of content requires a subscription, which may not be affordable for everyone, especially students or hobbyists.
  • Complexity for Beginners
    While the platform offers beginner content, some users may find certain modules challenging if they lack a foundational understanding of networking and programming concepts.
  • Limited Free Content
    Only a small portion of the platform's resources is available for free, which may limit the ability to fully assess the platform before committing to a paid subscription.
  • Self-Paced Learning
    The self-paced nature of the learning process requires users to be highly self-motivated and disciplined, which might not suit everyone’s learning preference.
  • Requires Technical Setup
    Some of the labs may require specific technical setups or require users to use their own machines, which could pose a barrier for those who are not familiar with these processes.

Hack The Box videos

Hack The Box VIP Review

PentesterLab videos

THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD GET A PENTESTERLAB PRO SUBSCRIPTION!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Hack The Box and PentesterLab)
Monitoring Tools
72 72%
28% 28
Machine Data Analytics
100 100%
0% 0
Education & Reference
64 64%
36% 36
Training & Education
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Hack The Box and PentesterLab

Hack The Box Reviews

Hack the Box vs TryHackMe – A Comparative Analysis
In the dynamic landscape of cybersecurity, the need to learn and evolve has never been greater. Security enthusiasts, pen-testers, and cybersecurity professionals need to stay ahead of potential adversaries. For this reason, platforms like Hack The Box (HTB) and TryHackMe (THM) have come to the fore, providing immersive environments to practice and learn cybersecurity...
Source: nextdoorsec.com
Top 5 Cyber Security Online Courses to Make a Good Pay
Hack The Box is targeted at offensive security and provides a live training place for hackers to practice their abilities without affecting production systems. For those who wish to be guided through the process, the course includes retiring boxes with write-ups by other members of the Hack The Box community. It also features active boxes with unpublished solutions. Hacking...

PentesterLab Reviews

We have no reviews of PentesterLab yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Hack The Box should be more popular than PentesterLab. It has been mentiond 67 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Hack The Box mentions (67)

  • Tips for a CS student in college who wants to get into cyber-sec?
    You could also put any work you have done such as I am this far on tryhackme.com or hackthebox.com. Source: over 1 year ago
  • How long did it take for you to make 80-100k?
    Definitely. There’s (Try Hack Me)[http://tryhackme.com] and (Hack The Box)[http://hackthebox.com], which are both excellent interactive learning platforms. I’m less personally familiar with Hack The Box, but at least for Try Hack Me, there are free modules and there are also modules locked behind a subscription service (it was $90/year when I signed up last year). I found it very helpful when I was prepping for my... Source: over 1 year ago
  • Jak nauczyć się etycznego hackingu?
    I'm sure there are some great Polish resources out there, unfortunately, I only know English language resources like https://tryhackme.com, Https://hackthebox.com, Https://overthewire.org, Etc. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Linux noob
    Most people that get into pentesting are already pretty familiar with Windows/Linux/Networking concepts, so you have an uphill battle in front of you. hackthebox.com and the youtube channel Ippsec are good places to start. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • How do I get started in all of this?
    Have to agree, for a beginner and even beyond that, http://tryhackme.com/ is a great resource. There are others like http://hackthebox.com/ but they are considered a little bit less beginner friendly. Source: almost 2 years ago
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PentesterLab mentions (16)

  • Where to start?
    For pentesting, look at the below: - https://portswigger.net/web-security - https://pentesterlab.com/ - https://www.hackthebox.com/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Seeking Advice and Opinions
    These codes can be useful in different situations. A good site to test out different types of attacks and recon is: http://pentesterlab.com (mind it has a premium subscription plan but u can use it free). Source: over 2 years ago
  • Simple site Security audit - NoSQL injection, buffer overflow...
    I’d strongly recommend PentesterLab (https://pentesterlab.com/) as they have very real world examples that should be helpful to you. I have no affiliation with this company, just a fan. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Are there any Computer Science activities for a high schooler in Baton Rouge? Things like hackathons, internships, and volunteering at a programming summer camp!
    Https://www.hackthebox.com/ has free retired boxes to punch and it isn't expensive if you want to access new ones. It is security orientated, but you still have to understand the basics and there are plenty of walk throughs. Proving Ground is another. https://www.offensive-security.com/labs/ pentersterlabs has a free tier https://pentesterlab.com/ https://www.udemy.com/ has free courses for about anything If... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Web app pentesting technical tutorials/checklists
    Pentester Lab is another great resource but I can only speak to the paid version. It's great for some of the latest and greatest vulnerabilities in frameworks or software. Source: almost 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Hack The Box and PentesterLab, you can also consider the following products

TryHackMe - TryHackMe is an online platform for learning and teaching cyber security, all through your browser.

VulnHub - VulnHub provides materials allowing anyone to gain practical hands-on experience with digital security, computer applications and network administration tasks.

HackThisSite - Hack This Site is a legal free training ground for users to test and expand their hacking skills.

Strobes PTaaS - Perform recurring and on-demand pentests.

PwnTillDawn Online Battlefield - PwnTillDawn Online Battlefield is an online platform that allows you to learn and improve your pentesting and other cybersecurity assessments skills.

Hackbox - Hackbox is an open-source, container-based platform that makes it easy to launch vulnerable systems to test your hacking skill!