there is a world of differnce between the two, but i think silverstarts are the closest bulbs to hid, as far as looks go, some may say the piaas' are better. this topic has been discussed many times in here. i think there is a thread just on this very topic in the general forum on the main board. i had the plasma purple lights. but i thought they looked cheap, even though they weren't, they were like 80 bucks. but i switched to the silverstars and i really enjoy them. 40 bucks, and it only takes 10 mins to install. its a good cheap way to have a little headlight upgrade on ur ride, instead of paying for the pricy hid kits, and installation