- platform members, according to Hack The Box
- 5M+
- employees
- 300+
- raised by July 2023
- $70M
- on G2, 253 reviews
- 4.8
About Hack The Box
Hack The Box is a cybersecurity training platform registered in London in June 2017, with its largest team in Greece. HTB Labs gives hackable machines and challenges to practise on, and HTB Academy teaches with guided modules and ends in practical certifications such as HTB CPTS. Labs and Academy have separate plans: VIP+ costs $25 a month, Academy Silver $30 a month or $550 a year. Companies buy the HTB Enterprise Platform on annual contracts with prices on request. The company says it has more than 5 million platform members and has raised $70 million.
Hack The Box teaches offensive and defensive security on live targets. In HTB Labs a member connects to a vulnerable machine, breaks in and submits a flag. HTB Academy explains the theory first, in modules with an in-browser attack VM, and closes each job-role path with a certification exam.
Haris Pylarinos, Aris Zikopoulos and James Hooker started the project in 2017. Hack The Box Ltd was incorporated in England on 20 June 2017, and its registered office is at Plexal, Here East, in east London. Pylarinos is still CEO. The about page lists 163 staff in Greece, 56 in the US, 23 in the UK and 7 in Australia.
The company raised $10.6 million in a Series A led by Paladin Capital Group in 2021 and $55 million in a Series B led by Carlyle in 2023. In 2025 it took over the Vulnlab content library and bought LetsDefend, a SOC simulation platform. Hack The Box sells to individuals, universities and companies, and says it serves more than 800 enterprise customers.
History
- 2017 Hack The Box Ltd is incorporated in England on 20 June, and the platform launches.
- 2020 Releases the VIP+ subscription in October.
- 2020 Launches HTB Academy in November.
- 2021 Raises a $10.6 million Series A led by Paladin Capital Group.
- 2022 Announces its first Academy certification, HTB Certified Bug Bounty Hunter, in March.
- 2022 Launches HTB CPTS, a 10-day penetration testing exam with a written report, in September.
- 2023 Raises a $55 million Series B led by Carlyle, for $70 million in total. Reports 1.7 million members.
- 2025 Adds the Vulnlab content library in April. Founder Martin Mielke joins the HTB content team.
- 2025 ANAB accredits the HTB Defense Operations Analyst certificate programme in June.
- 2025 Buys LetsDefend, a SOC simulation platform with 320,000 users, in September.
- 2025 Stops selling VIP and raises VIP+ to $25 a month in October. Names Gibb Witham President and CFO.
- 2026 Moves HTB Academy to tier-based plans on 12 October. Silver rises to $30 a month.
Hack The Box funding and investors
- April 2021 Series A $10.6 million
Lead: Paladin Capital Group Osage University PartnersBrighteye VenturesMarathon Venture Capital
Source: Hack The Box blog - July 2023 Series B $55 million
Lead: Carlyle Paladin Capital GroupOsage University PartnersMarathon Venture CapitalBrighteye VenturesEndeavor Catalyst Fund
Source: Hack The Box blog
Total capital raised as Hack The Box stated it in July 2023. The company did not itemise money raised before the Series A and did not publish a valuation.
Leadership
- HP Haris Pylarinos Founder and CEO
- GW Gibb Witham President
- NF Nikos Fountas COO
- CB Christine Bartlett CMO
- GM Gerasimos Marketos CPO
- KD Konstantinos Dollkas CTO
- TF Tom Fernandez CRO
Co-founder James Hooker is a director and the company secretary of Hack The Box Ltd on the Companies House register.
- R&D38
- Revenue15
- Product10
- Marketing7
- Other3
- Operations2
- Finance1
Perks
- 25 days of annual leave
- Home office allowance
- Training budget for courses, certifications and conferences
- Full access to HTB products
- Four-day week in summer with no pay cut
- Paid parental leave
- Hybrid working
How Hack The Box teaches
- hackable machines in HTB Labs
- 742
- challenges in HTB Labs
- 978
- days for the CPTS exam
- 10
- Vulnerable machines with flags
- Bite-sized challenges
- Sherlocks for defenders
- Pro Labs with enterprise networks
- In-browser Pwnbox
- Guided Mode and walkthroughs on VIP+
- Academy job-role paths
- Practical certification exams
- Seasons and CTF events
- CPE credits on VIP+
HTB certifications
Junior1
- HTB CJCA, Junior Cybersecurity Associate, $105
Specialist4
- HTB CPTS, Penetration Testing Specialist, $210
- HTB CWES, Web Exploitation Specialist, $210
- HTB CDSA, Defensive Security Analyst, $210
- HTB Certified Offensive AI Expert, $210
Expert3
- HTB CWEE, Web Exploitation Expert, $350
- HTB CAPE, Active Directory Pentesting Expert, $350
- HTB CWPE, Wi-Fi Pentesting Expert, $350
Principal1
- HTB CDEP, Detection Engineering Principal, $450
Exam voucher prices in US dollars from the HTB help center on 15 October 2026. The Silver, Gold and Platinum annual plans include two or three vouchers. Hack The Box says its certifications do not expire. The ANAB-accredited HTB DOA certificate programme expires after three years.
Video, blogs and resources
Products
- HTB Labs Hackable machines and challenges in web, crypto, reversing and forensics. The site lists 742 machines and 978 challenges. Free members get the active machines, one new machine and one new challenge each week. About HTB Labs
- HTB Academy Guided modules with an in-browser pentesting VM, grouped into skill paths and job-role paths. Hack The Box lists 300+ modules and 30+ paths, aligned with NICE and DCWF. About HTB Academy
- HTB certifications Practical exams in a lab, from the junior HTB CJCA to expert exams such as HTB CWEE and HTB CAPE. The CPTS exam runs for 10 days and ends with a commercial-grade report. All certifications
- HTB PRO and Pro Labs Enterprise-style networks for red team practice. The PRO plan gives 10 flagship Pro Labs for $49 a month. About Pro Labs
- LetsDefend A simulated SOC where blue team learners triage alerts and investigate incidents. Hack The Box bought it in September 2025. About the deal
- HTB Enterprise Platform Academy, Professional and Dedicated Labs, CTF benchmarking, Threat Range team exercises and reporting for security teams, with single sign-on. For companies
How much is Hack The Box?
- Free $0/mo $0, active machines and challenges
- Retired machines and Pwnbox VIP+ $25/mo $223 a year, monthly, or yearly for $223
- PRO $49/mo $490 a year, monthly, or yearly for $490
- Student $10/mo monthly only, verified students, Tier 0 to Tier II
- Silver $30/mo $550 a year, yearly plan includes 2 exam vouchers
- Gold $95/mo $1,400 a year, yearly plan includes 2 exam vouchers
- Platinum $125/mo $2,000 a year, yearly plan includes 3 exam vouchers
Is Hack The Box free?
HTB Labs has a free plan with the active machines and challenges, Fortresses and a one-time 2-hour Pwnbox trial. HTB Academy has free sign-up and a $10 Student plan for verified students.
Prices in US dollars from the HTB help center and the HTB blog on 15 October 2026, before taxes added at checkout. HTB Labs and HTB Academy are bought separately. The Academy prices took effect on 12 October 2026. In Europe Academy Silver costs €26 a month or €469 a year, in the UK £23 or £416. VIP+ costs €21 or £18 a month.
How to cancel Hack The Box and get a refund
Refund policy- HTB Academy ↗
- Click your avatar and open Plans and Subscriptions
- Find your plan, switch the Annual or Monthly toggle if needed
- Click Cancel Plan, pick a reason and confirm
- The Academy plan stays active until the end of the paid period.
- Cubes stay on the account, and fully completed modules stay open for life.
- Incomplete modules lock when an access-based plan expires. Progress is kept.
- Monthly VIP+ and PRO members can pause the plan on the Billing and Plans page.
Refund rules
- Refund policy
- Buying a plan gives immediate access. Once the service is fully performed, no refund is due even inside the 14-day cancellation period.
- Inside 14 days
- Cancelling before full performance refunds the rest of the term. The time already used is paid for.
- No access given
- If Hack The Box did not give access, a full refund is due within the 14-day period.
- Payment
- Refunds go back in the same currency and by the same method within 14 days of the cancellation notice.
From the HTB help center and the Hack The Box refund policy, checked on 15 October 2026.
Hack The Box for Business
HTB for Business- 01The Workforce Development plan includes the Academy course libraries, exam vouchers and more than 1,400 offensive and defensive labs.
- 02Professional Labs and Dedicated Labs give teams full-chain attack environments and private spaces.
- 03Threat Range measures how a team detects and responds to an incident.
- 04Skills reports map to MITRE ATT&CK and NIST NICE. LMS integration, LTI and single sign-on are included.
No public price. The pricing page says “Let’s talk” and bills plans annually, checked on 15 October 2026.
Ratings
Is Hack The Box worth it?
What users like
- Hands-on labs and ease of use are the top praise on G2, with 17 and 20 mentions.G2, 253 reviews
- Learners can start for free on the active machines and challenges.HTB help center
- The CPTS exam is a 10-day engagement with a written report.Hack The Box blog
What users criticise
- Steep difficulty comes up 14 times on G2, high price 6 times.G2, 253 reviews
- HTB Labs and HTB Academy are separate subscriptions with separate billing.HTB help center
- Refunds are limited once the service is fully performed, even inside 14 days.Hack The Box refund policy
What users write in reviews, not our rating. HTB Labs starts free, VIP+ costs $25 a month and Academy Silver $30 a month or $550 a year.
Latest news
Contacts and company data
- Help centerhelp.hackthebox.com
- ContactContact form
- SalesGet a demo
- UniversitiesContact form
- Loginaccount.hackthebox.com
- Legal entity
- Hack The Box Ltd, Plexal, Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London E15 2GW, United Kingdom
- Company number
- 10826193, Companies House
- Incorporated
- 20 June 2017
- Status
- Active
- Nature of business
- SIC 62090, other information technology service activities
- Standards
- SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 9001, Cyber Essentials
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How we built this profile
- Sources. Facts come from the company’s own website, press room, imprint and careers page, from Wikipedia, the App Store, Google Play and Trustpilot. Every source is listed on the page.
- Checks. Kinescope checked every number on 15 October 2026. Prices, ratings and job counts change, and we refresh them with each update.
- Our words. Descriptions are written by the Kinescope team. Quotes from reviews are marked with the author and source, and we do not rate the company ourselves.
- Corrections. The company can send new facts or corrections, and we update the profile.
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