In this work, Au-Ag-Pt and Au@AgPt yolk-shell nanoparticles were synthetized via chemical reduction and seed-mediated galvanic replacement method, in order to obtain two different architectures with the same metal content. The architecture influence on the electrocatalytic activity towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) of these nano structured materials was evaluated in acidic media. The hierarchical architecture allows a superior electrocatalytic activity towards hydrogen evolution mainly due to the synergetic effect between the exposed metals on the surface (Pt and Ag) and the higher availability of Pt allowed by the yolk-shell structure. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.