The Best Pentesting Platforms: HTB, VHL, THM — Which One Comes Out on Top?

It is not secret that people pick HTB to practice prior taking OSCP. Seems like the logical thing to do. But, is it the best pentesting platform out there for this purpose? Read ahead and find out.

Let me start by saying this: none of these platforms have paid me for this article. I simply enjoy network pentesting and feel fortunate to have the means and time to use all three.

The Contenders
In my opinion, the top three pentesting platforms right now are TryHackMe, VHL, and HTB. You’ve probably heard of two of them, but maybe not the other. Let’s cut to the chase and discuss the pros and cons of each.

HTB

Founded in 2017, HTB is the oldest of the three. I started using it in 2018, back when you had to “hack” your way in to become a member, which set the tone for the platform.

Pros

• It’s a mature platform, with stable VPN performance. I haven’t encountered any issues in the last six months.
• A huge variety of boxes — Linux and Windows — covering different attack vectors and themes. It would take a significant amount of time to exhaust the pool of boxes.
• Users can write (and read) machine write-ups. This feature can…