Are hookah smoking and vaping the same thing? A hookah is not the same thing as a vaping cigarette (e-cigarette, vape), which is a smaller, individual-use device that burns substances at high temperatures to make them into a vapor.

Is hookah smoking or vaping?

The nutshell would be the following: hookah involves smoking shisha tobacco via a hookah pipe, while the process of vaping involves using an electronic device to inhale e-liquid.

How is hookah different from vape?

The first and significant difference is that e-cigarettes have no tobacco, even though some cartridges have nicotine and some tobacco leaf. While hookah shisha is not ordinary tobacco, it is still tobacco. So, it retains the combustion of tobacco, which you will not find in a vaping device.