If you’ve been smoking for a number of years, it might be a good time to think about quitting. Maybe you have tried cold turkey or nicotine replacement therapy in the past but find yourself still paying over £15+ for a pack of tobacco cigarettes.

The longer we smoke, the more we will feel the negative impacts on our health and our wallet. So the appeal of a regular cigarette might be losing its shine and your doctor or loved ones have pushed you to look for an alternative.

With the rise in the popularity of electronic cigarettes over the years, the idea of switching from smoking to vaping might be a great option for you. Perhaps you like the look and the feel of a tobacco cigarette and really enjoy the tobacco flavour. You are used to the traditional cigarette and switching brands and the way you consume nicotine doesn’t have to be hard.

Cigarette style E-Cigarettes, or e cigs, are an ideal option for beginners due to their user-friendly design and similarity to traditional cigarettes. E Cigs offer benefits over traditional cigarettes, such as cost savings and a variety of flavours, making the transition smoother.

In this Vapers’ Guide to the Best Cigalike Vapes in 2025, we will explain the different types of vape pens, and vape kits, talk about choosing between tobacco or menthol flavours and why a cigalike might be a great option for someone looking to quit smoking and to try vaping for the first time.

Cigalike e-cigarettes offer several benefits to smokers looking to switch to vaping. One of the main advantages is their striking similarity to traditional cigarettes, making the transition smoother for those new to vaping. The familiar look and feel can provide a comforting bridge from smoking to vaping.

Cigalikes are incredibly user-friendly, requiring no complicated settings or maintenance. This simplicity makes them an excellent choice for beginners who want to start their vaping journey without the hassle of more complex devices. Additionally, cigalikes are a cost-effective option, allowing you to try vaping without a significant financial commitment.

Another significant benefit is the variety of flavours and nicotine strengths available. Whether you prefer the classic taste of tobacco, the refreshing coolness of menthol, or even fruity flavours, there’s a cigalike to suit your preferences. This customisation allows you to tailor your vaping experience to match your needs and gradually reduce nicotine intake if you’re aiming to quit smoking. More experienced vapers may prefer advanced products or wish to reduce their nicotine intake further.

With a wide range of E-Cigarettes and vapes that are available, the question of why you should choose a cigalike when you are looking to quit smoking comes down to a number of factors.

EASE OF USE - cigalikes are designed to be the easiest vape kit you can use.  With only 3 parts - the rechargeable battery, the pre-filled cartridge and the USB charger - they are pretty much fool proof.

REALISTIC SMOKING SENSATION - cigalikes are designed to look as similar to a real cigarette as possible, with many having the same markings on the various parts.  They produce the most similar smoking experience of all e-cigarettes and vapes by using a higher PG (Propylene Glycol) e-liquid to deliver a satisfying throat hit compared with a traditional cigarette.

Cigalike refills come in various flavours and nicotine strengths, making them a convenient choice for users who want a realistic smoking experience without the hassle of maintenance. Menthol flavoured refills are particularly popular, especially among users switching from traditional brands like Ten Motives and Logic Curve, as they provide a satisfying and realistic smoking experience.

LEAK-FREE AND HASSLE FREE - many larger vape kits and box mods have a lot of interchangeable parts and require quite a bit of ongoing upkeep to keep them performing well.  They also require you to refill the e-liquid or vape juice yourself. So with a lot of parts that can malfunction and having to fill the liquid yourself, the larger vapes can have issues with leaking and come with a number of other time considerations.

A cigalike on the other hand rarely if ever leaks and is so easy to use, it takes away all of the hassle of other types of vaping.

So if you are looking for a great device that delivers a truly satisfying vaping experience that is super easy to use, trying a cigalike to help you quit smoking would be a great option for the first time vaper.

There are essentially 2 different types of cigalike vapes - a disposable cigalike or a rechargeable cigalike with pre-filled pods. Disposable vapes are one time use and while they may be a convenient option to try for the first time or if you forgot your other vape at home, disposables are comparably more expensive and quite wasteful as the batteries are only used once. And from June 2025 - all disposable vapes are banned in the UK.

A rechargeable cigalike that uses pre-filled refills tends to have a longer battery life, allows you to recharge the battery using a USB Charger and will offer you a wide range of flavours and nicotine strength refills to choose from. Rechargeable cigalikes use cigalike refills which come in a variety of flavours and nicotine strengths. Since the menthol cigarette ban in 2020, many smokers have switched to menthol flavoured cigalikes to help them quit cigarettes.

Cigalikes, Vape pens, disposable vape devices and Box Mods work in a similar manner. They both have batteries, they vapourise a nicotine flavoured e-liquid into a smoke-like vapour and can help you to quit smoking.

Cigarette style e-cigarettes are ideal for those who prefer a device that closely mimics traditional cigarettes.

Cigalikes look more like cigarettes whereas vape pens come in many sizes, shapes and colours. For many ex-smokers who don’t want to make a statement with their mod vape, the familiarity and simplicity of a cigalike is usually preferred.

Generally speaking, most cigalikes are not refillable. There are some models out there like V2 cigs or OKVape that have some refillable cartridge options, but the most reliable and best performing cigalikes use a pre-filled cartridge to ensure you are getting the most realistic smoking sensation every time. The best performing cigalikes use cigalike refills to ensure a realistic smoking sensation.

Closed systems – also referred to as cig-a-likes or pod systems, look more like a cigarette, are designed to be incredibly easy to use, require no messy refilling or replacement of coils as the e-liquid comes pre-filled and are usually the first vape that people use when they start quitting smoking with an e-cigarette.

Open vape mod systems can require a bit more work and maintenance as you need to refill the e-liquid yourself and you will have to replace the various components on a regular basis. For many people who have been vaping for a while, they may choose to move to an open system.

While many think that open systems are cheaper to use because e-liquids can be less expensive that refills or pods, the initial cost of an open system and the ongoing cost of replacing the components can add up, sometimes to be more expensive than a closed system. For many smokers, the simplicity of a cigalike or closed system far outweighs any perceived cost savings.

Here at SMOKO, our E-Cigarette and VAPE closed systems both deliver a realistic smoking sensation, are easy to use and are filled with our authentic tasting e-liquids that are all Made in the UK.

As cigalikes are closed systems with a low power battery and have very few parts which could fail, cigalikes are incredibly safe. However, the quality of cigalikes can vary substantially due to the type of e-liquids they use. Many of the cigalikes that you can buy from grocery stores or petrol stations usually use e-liquids that are made using Chinese-made ingredients. As the health and safety standards in China are not as stringent as they are in the UK, the quality of the flavour may not lead to the best vaping experience.

Cigalikes have helped many people in their journey of quitting smoking by closely mimicking the traditional smoking experience.

At SMOKO, we ensure that we only use the highest quality, pharmaceutical grade flavours and ingredients that are Made in the UK. So they deliver an authentic and satisfying smoke-like vapour that has helped thousands of people around the world to successfully quit smoking cigarettes.

From a medical point of view, the leading health and government groups in the UK all agree that vaping is much safer than smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes. A recent article from Public Health England states that “e-cigarettes are at least 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes”