Tylenol three has a combination of Tylenol and codeine and vicodine (lortab) has Tylenol and hydrocodone. Both medication are in a class C3 with different levels of medication example vicodine 5/500 has 500mg of Tylenol and 5mg of hydrocodone and vicodine 7.5/500 has 7.5 of hydrocodone and 500 of Tylenol there is also a 10/500 and 12/500 each getting a bit stronger. where Tylenol with codeine has 30mg of codeine and 500 of Tylenol in a tablet but your question was which is better that would depended on the person taking the medication both medications work the same but people work differently some get better relief from lortab and other from Tylenol with codeine. I would say it a personal preference.