HEAD TO HEAD

Hack The Box vs Immersive Labs: which crisis simulation platform fits your team?

THE SHORT ANSWER

On our published weights Immersive Labs scores 7.30 and Hack The Box 5.60. Hack The Box scores higher on pricing clarity; Immersive Labs scores higher on scenario realism, executive and board focus, exercise delivery effort, measurement and after-action reporting, regulatory evidence and customisation.

By The Exercise Desk · Crisis Simulation Ranked · Published 2026-10-11

Desk research from public vendor pages, vendor announcements and standards documents read between 27 September and 13 October 2026. Editorial assessment; we did not run any exercise on these platforms.

How do Hack The Box and Immersive Labs score on each criterion?

Hack The Box and Immersive Labs: crisis readiness score (editorial assessment, 0 to 10)
Criterion	Weight	Hack The Box	Immersive Labs	Higher score
Scenario realism	20%	Scenario waves with injects, emails, news and social updates on six baseline scenarios; branching on decisions is not described. Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026	Dynamic injects and AI actors that players can question, built around the customer's playbooks. Source: Immersive Labs: Crisis Sim · Read 27 Sep 2026	Immersive Labs
Executive and board focus	20%	Separate formats for executives and for cross-functional groups that include legal and communications. Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026	Crisis Sim targets executives, incident leaders and cross-functional teams, and digital tabletops include the board. Source: Immersive Labs: digital tabletop exercises · Read 27 Sep 2026	Immersive Labs
Exercise delivery effort	15%	Platform-led with facilitator guidance and tailoring arranged through a demo, which takes more lead time than a self-serve generator. Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026	The AI Program Builder drafts scenarios, but the crisis simulation sits in a multi-product platform that needs programme ownership. Source: Immersive Labs: digital tabletop exercises · Read 27 Sep 2026	Immersive Labs
Measurement and after-action reporting	15%	A "Golden Report", an action roadmap and technical annexes on the attack chain. Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026	Decision-level measurement, a Resilience Score, benchmarks across teams and enhanced after-action reporting (March 2026). Source: Immersive Labs press release: Immersive One expands exercising and compliance benchmarking (17 March 2026) · Read 27 Sep 2026	Immersive Labs
Regulatory evidence	10%	No framework or regulatory mapping of results is described on the pages reviewed. Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026	"Prove regulatory alignment" with NIS2 and DORA evidence, NIST CSF heat maps and GRC content for ISO 27001, ISO 42001 and SOX. Source: Immersive Labs press release: Immersive One expands exercising and compliance benchmarking (17 March 2026) · Read 27 Sep 2026	Immersive Labs
Customisation	10%	Six baseline scenarios tied to named threat actors or incidents, tailored on request. Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026	AI scenario creation, the AI Program Builder and an AI-Powered Crisis Simulator for custom scenarios. Source: Immersive Labs press release: Secure With AI (21 January 2026) · Read 27 Sep 2026	Immersive Labs
Pricing clarity	10%	Crisis Control is not priced; only the Professional training plan ($2,500 per seat per year) is published. Source: Hack The Box business pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026	No price published. Source: Immersive Labs homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026	Hack The Box
Total	100%			Immersive Labs

Which stages of an exercise does each cover?

Build: Partial
Six baseline scenarios, each tied to a named threat actor or incident, tailored on request.
Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026
Adapt: Partial
Scenario waves with injects, emails, news and social updates; branching on decisions is not described.
Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026
Seats: Documented
Formats for executives and for cross-functional groups spanning executives, SOC, IT, legal and communications.
Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026
Run: Documented
Platform-led sessions with facilitator guidance.
Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026
Report: Documented
A "Golden Report", an action roadmap and technical annexes on the attack chain.
Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026
Map: Not described
No framework or regulatory mapping of results is described on the pages reviewed.
Source: Hack The Box: tabletop exercises (Crisis Control) · Read 27 Sep 2026

A solid segment means the vendor's own pages describe that stage. It shows coverage, not quality; the scores judge quality.

Build: Documented
AI scenario creation and an AI Program Builder; scenarios built around the customer's playbooks.
Source: Immersive Labs: digital tabletop exercises · Read 27 Sep 2026
Adapt: Documented
Dynamic injects and AI actors that players can question.
Source: Immersive Labs: Crisis Sim · Read 27 Sep 2026
Seats: Documented
For executives, incident leaders and cross-functional teams; digital tabletop audiences include the board.
Source: Immersive Labs: digital tabletop exercises · Read 27 Sep 2026
Run: Not described
Who facilitates a session is not described on the pages reviewed.
Source: Immersive Labs: Crisis Sim · Read 27 Sep 2026
Report: Documented
Decision-level measurement, a Resilience Score and benchmarks; enhanced Crisis Simulation after-action reporting announced in March 2026.
Source: Immersive Labs press release: Immersive One expands exercising and compliance benchmarking (17 March 2026) · Read 27 Sep 2026
Map: Documented
"Prove regulatory alignment"; evidence for NIS2 and DORA; heat maps for NIST CSF and GRC content for ISO 27001, ISO 42001 and SOX.
Source: Immersive Labs press release: Immersive One expands exercising and compliance benchmarking (17 March 2026) · Read 27 Sep 2026

A solid segment means the vendor's own pages describe that stage. It shows coverage, not quality; the scores judge quality.

Hack The Box documents 3 of 6 stages and Immersive Labs documents 5 of 6.

What do they cost?

Hack The Box

Packaging: Part of Hack The Box for business; Crisis Control is arranged through a demo.

Not published Crisis Control has no published price. The business Professional plan is published at $2,500 per seat per year ($250 per seat per month), but that is a training plan, not the tabletop product.

Source: Hack The Box business pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026

Immersive Labs

Packaging: Part of the Immersive One platform alongside labs, drills and ranges; pricing through sales.

Not published Immersive Labs publishes no prices.

Source: Immersive Labs homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026

Which frameworks do they map results to?

Hack The Box

None named on the pages reviewed

Immersive Labs

NIS2
DORA
NIST CSF
ISO 27001
ISO 42001
SOX

Source: Immersive Labs press release: Immersive One expands exercising and compliance benchmarking (17 March 2026) · Read 27 Sep 2026

Which should you choose?

Choose Hack The Box if

Executive and board focus: 7 / 10, Separate formats for executives and for cross-functional groups that include legal and communications.
Measurement and after-action reporting: 7 / 10, A "Golden Report", an action roadmap and technical annexes on the attack chain.
Technical teams that want a platform-led tabletop

Choose Immersive Labs if

Measurement and after-action reporting: 9 / 10, Decision-level measurement, a Resilience Score, benchmarks across teams and enhanced after-action reporting (March 2026).
Scenario realism: 8 / 10, Dynamic injects and AI actors that players can question, built around the customer's playbooks.
Crisis simulation inside a wider readiness platform

Hack The Box profile Immersive Labs profile Alternatives to Hack The Box Alternatives to Immersive Labs See them side by side

Frequently asked questions

Is Hack The Box or Immersive Labs better for executive crisis exercises?

Immersive Labs scores higher on executive and board focus (8 against 7 out of 10). Read each profile for the detail.

Which is easier to run, Hack The Box or Immersive Labs?

Immersive Labs scores higher on delivery effort, where a higher score means less effort, (7 against 5 out of 10). Read each profile for the detail.

Do Hack The Box and Immersive Labs publish prices?

Neither Hack The Box nor Immersive Labs publishes a price for its exercise product.