Adaptive Security vs. KnowBe4 Pricing and Total Cost of Ownership (2026)

Key takeaways

• As of October 2026, KnowBe4 publishes list prices of $1.63 to $3.75 per seat per month on a three-year term for up to 1,000 seats, while Adaptive Security prices every plan per seat by quote.
• KnowBe4 reserves simulated vishing, callback phishing, and its AI Defense Agents (AIDA) for SAT Advanced, which lists at $1.16 to $1.35 more per seat per month than SAT Foundation.
• Adaptive Security prices optional add-ons such as voice phishing separately, so a like-for-like comparison needs an Adaptive Security quote and a KnowBe4 configuration that cover the same simulation channels.
• In the hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model for 250 to 5,000 employees, license and add-on fees account for 47% to 84% of KnowBe4's three-year total cost of ownership, and administrator time accounts for most of the remainder.
• At 1,000 employees, the 3-Year TCO Comparison Model shows Adaptive Security costing less than KnowBe4 SAT Advanced with the PhishER Plus triage add-on when the Adaptive Security all-in quote for the same scope falls below $3.94 per seat per month, with labor hours held equal.

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Adaptive Security vs. KnowBe4 pricing differs first in what each vendor publishes. As of October 2026, KnowBe4 lists security awareness training (SAT) at $1.63 to $3.75 per seat per month for up to 1,000 seats on a three-year term. Adaptive Security prices per seat by quote, based on employee count and the products selected.

Total cost of ownership (TCO) is the full cost of running a security awareness program over its contract term, including licenses, add-ons, administrator time, and content production. Labor sits outside both vendors' pricing, so the KnowBe4 vs. Adaptive Security cost comparison depends on more than the license line.

Packaging also shifts the comparison. KnowBe4 reserves simulated vishing and its AI agents for the higher SAT Advanced tier, and Adaptive Security prices optional add-ons such as voice phishing separately.

A break-even price is the Adaptive Security quote per seat per month at which both vendors' three-year costs match for the same program scope. The hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model calculates that price for 250, 1,000, and 5,000 employees from KnowBe4's May 2026 list prices, with labor priced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) wage data and held equal for both vendors.

How Does Adaptive Security Pricing Compare With KnowBe4 in 2026?

KnowBe4 publishes per-seat list prices for up to 1,000 seats on a three-year term, while Adaptive Security quotes every plan per seat. As of October 2026, KnowBe4's list runs from $1.63 to $3.75 per seat per month across its SAT Foundation and SAT Advanced tiers. Adaptive Security bases each quote on employee count and the chosen products, and it does not publish a list price.

KnowBe4 Pricing per Seat in 2026: SAT Foundation and SAT Advanced

KnowBe4 pricing runs from $1.63 to $2.40 per seat per month for SAT Foundation and from $2.79 to $3.75 for SAT Advanced, according to KnowBe4's price list dated May 2026, checked in October 2026. A seat is one licensed user, so the per-seat and per-user prices are the same. The prices are manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) in U.S. dollars for a three-year term.

SAT Foundation includes unlimited phishing security tests, a library of more than 200 training pieces, reporting, and the SmartRisk risk score. As of October 2026, SAT Advanced adds a library of more than 1,000 pieces, simulated vishing, callback phishing, and KnowBe4's AI Defense Agents (AIDA).

The table below lists KnowBe4's published price for each seat band, with annual equivalents.

Four conditions apply to the published prices.

• Quotes above 1,000 seats: KnowBe4 publishes no list price beyond the 501 to 1,000 band, so larger organizations receive a quote.
• Smallest band: The lowest published band covers 25 to 50 seats.
• Taxes excluded: List prices exclude taxes, duties, value-added tax (VAT), and other governmental fees.
• Prices subject to change: KnowBe4 states that list pricing may be modified at any time.

Adaptive Security Pricing: Per-Seat Quotes and Optional Add-Ons

Adaptive Security pricing is per seat and quote-based. According to the Adaptive Security pricing page, each quote depends on employee count, the products an organization chooses, and optional add-ons such as voice phishing, which are priced separately.

A quote can include Security Awareness Training, Phishing Simulations, Agentic Email Security, AI Governance, and the reporting and risk platform. The Adaptive Security team confirms which products and optional add-ons a given quote includes.

Adaptive Security offers a plan for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and an Enterprise plan, and neither shows a dollar price as of October 2026. The Enterprise plan is listed at custom pricing, with a package built around an organization's security, deployment, and compliance needs.

KnowBe4 Add-Ons Cost: PhishER Plus, Compliance Plus, and Integrations

KnowBe4 add-ons cost $0.17 to $1.50 per seat per month on KnowBe4's May 2026 price list, on top of the SAT license. PhishER Plus, the highest-priced add-on, lists at $1.50 per seat per month for 101 to 500 seats and $1.15 for 501 to 1,000 seats. Those rates equal $18.00 and $13.80 per seat per year.

KnowBe4 publishes add-on prices starting at the 101 to 500 seat band. The following table lists its four published add-ons by seat band and what each covers.

Simulated vishing, callback phishing, and AIDA carry no add-on price. Among KnowBe4's current tiers, only SAT Advanced includes them, so adding them means licensing SAT Advanced, the higher-priced tier.

What Drives the Price of KnowBe4 and Adaptive Security?

Seat count drives the price of both platforms. Beyond seat count, KnowBe4's price also reflects tier, add-ons, the three-year term behind its list prices, region, and per-tenant fees. An Adaptive Security quote varies with the products chosen and optional add-ons.

Six factors set the price of a KnowBe4 subscription.

• Seat band: KnowBe4 publishes five priced seat bands from 25 to 1,000 seats, and the per-seat price falls in each higher band.
• Tier: SAT Advanced carries a higher per-seat price than SAT Foundation in every published seat band.
• Add-ons: Each KnowBe4 add-on, such as PhishER Plus or Compliance Plus, carries its own per-seat price.
• Contract term: KnowBe4 publishes its list prices for a three-year term.
• Region: KnowBe4 says list pricing may vary by region and publishes prices in eight currencies; this article uses U.S. dollar prices.
• Tenants: Multi-tenant consoles for subsidiaries or separate groups carry additional fees per added tenant.

What Is Included at Each Price: Adaptive Security vs. KnowBe4

KnowBe4 includes training content, email phishing simulations, reporting, and an employee risk score in both SAT tiers. Adaptive Security lists the same four capabilities across its products.

KnowBe4 reserves vishing, callback phishing, deepfake training content, and its AI agents for SAT Advanced, and it sells reported-email triage and compliance content as add-ons. Adaptive Security lists voice, SMS, callback, and deepfake simulations in its Phishing Simulations product, with voice phishing priced as an optional add-on.

The table below compares where 21 capabilities sit in each vendor's packaging as of October 2026. KnowBe4 entries name the tier, add-on, or separate product on KnowBe4's current price lists that includes each capability or note that it is not listed. Adaptive Security entries name the product that lists it, such as Security Awareness Training or Phishing Simulations.

For an email-and-library program (a training library plus email phishing simulations), KnowBe4 SAT Foundation covers the requirement at published prices of $1.63 to $2.40 per seat per month. For programs that need voice, deepfake, and SMS simulation, the like-for-like comparison is KnowBe4 SAT Advanced plus separate SMS and deepfake simulation tools against an Adaptive Security quote that includes the voice phishing add-on.

What Does Adaptive Security Offer That KnowBe4 Does Not List?

As of October 2026, Adaptive Security's product pages list four simulation and content capabilities that are absent from KnowBe4's SAT pricing and product pages.

• SMS phishing simulation: Adaptive Security lists SMS phishing and multichannel attack chains. KnowBe4's SAT pages describe email and voice simulations and list no SMS simulation.
• Chat-app phishing simulation: Adaptive Security lists coordinated attacks across email, voice, SMS, and chat. KnowBe4 uses Slack, Google Chat, and Microsoft Teams to deliver training notifications and coaching messages.
• Deepfake video-call simulations: Adaptive Security lists deepfake Teams and Zoom scenarios. KnowBe4's Deepfake Training Content Agent produces a training video that shows employees how a deepfake of a company leader looks and sounds.
• Frame-level module editing: Adaptive Security's editor lets administrators adjust every frame, visual, and interaction in a module. KnowBe4's Content Manager settings cover passing scores, branded themes, test-out, and skipping.

KnowBe4 lists five items that Adaptive Security's pricing page does not: a USB Drive Test, a Physical QR Code test, PasswordIQ, Second Chance, and Student Edition. At KnowBe4, the first four sit in SAT Advanced, and Student Edition is an add-on. Organizations that need any of them should ask whether an Adaptive Security quote covers an equivalent.

What Are the Total Costs of Adaptive Security and KnowBe4?

The license is only one of six cost lines in each platform's total cost. KnowBe4 total cost and an Adaptive Security total are built from the same six lines, listed below.

1. 1License: The per-seat subscription price multiplied by seats and months, published by KnowBe4 for up to 1,000 seats and set by quote at Adaptive Security.
2. 2Add-ons: Extras priced on top of the license, such as KnowBe4's per-seat PhishER Plus triage and Compliance Plus add-ons.
3. 3Vishing and deepfake tooling: The cost of voice simulation and deepfake content. At KnowBe4, it sits in SAT Advanced; at Adaptive Security, it sits in the optional voice phishing add-on and in the Security Awareness Training and Phishing Simulations products.
4. 4Administrator time: Hours spent planning campaigns, managing users, reviewing reports, and following up on results, priced at a loaded hourly rate.
5. 5Content production: Staff hours to build or review custom training modules, with or without a gen-AI content tool.
6. 6Switching and implementation: One-time setup work, migration effort, and any months when two platforms run at once.

Administrator time is the largest single cost line at smaller company sizes. In the hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model, it accounts for 37% to 53% of KnowBe4's three-year cost at 250 employees. Adaptive Security's guide to security awareness training cost by company size compares budgets across organization sizes.

How Much Administrator Time Costs in a Security Awareness Program

Administrator time costs an estimated $91.01 per hour, based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) mean wage for information security analysts plus a benefits load. At that rate, every hour per month that an administrator spends on the program adds $3,276 to a three-year total cost of ownership.

The 3-Year TCO Comparison Model derives the administrator rate from two BLS releases, as shown in the table below.

The wage share is a private-industry average applied to one occupation, so the loaded rate is an estimate for budgeting. Organizations with their own fully loaded labor rates can substitute them without changing the method.

Hypothetical hours. No primary source reviewed for the model publishes administrator hours for either platform, so the model assigns the same hours to both vendors. It assigns an email-and-library program 6, 12, and 30 administrator hours per month at 250, 1,000, and 5,000 employees. A multichannel program that adds voice simulations, deepfake content, and reported-email triage receives 8, 16, and 40 hours.

What Custom Training Content Costs to Produce

A custom 20-minute passive (page-turner) e-learning module costs about $2,491 in staff time when built manually in 48 hours and about $311 when a gen-AI content tool cuts production to a hypothetical 6 hours. Both figures use a loaded rate of $51.89 per hour, derived by dividing the BLS OEWS mean wage of $36.32 for training and development specialists in May 2025 by the 70.0% wage share of private-industry compensation.

Both vendors offer a gen-AI content tool. KnowBe4's Content Creation Agent generates text-based modules and quizzes from prompts or policies and, among KnowBe4's current tiers, is included only in SAT Advanced. Adaptive Security's GenAI Content Studio generates modules from prompts, policies, documents, and URLs within its Security Awareness Training product.

A January 2021 analysis of 264 practitioner responses by the Association for Talent Development (ATD) found an average build time of 48 hours for a 20-minute passive e-learning module. The survey ran in fall 2020, before generative AI content tools were widely available, so it serves as the manual-production baseline.

Hypothetical example. An organization that builds four custom modules a year spends $29,889 over three years producing them manually, compared with $3,736 when each module takes 6 hours with a gen-AI tool. AI-generated modules still need human review for accuracy and policy fit, so the 6-hour assumption covers drafting and review.

Deepfake Training Cost and Vishing Simulation Cost by Vendor

KnowBe4 bundles deepfake training and vishing simulation costs into the SAT Advanced premium of $1.16 to $1.35 per seat per month. Among KnowBe4's current tiers, simulated vishing, callback phishing, and the Deepfake Training Content Agent sit only in SAT Advanced. At Adaptive Security, voice phishing is an optional add-on priced by quote, and deepfake scenarios appear in its Security Awareness Training and Phishing Simulations products.

KnowBe4's simulated vishing, launched July 30, 2026, places calls with text-to-speech audio. KnowBe4's Deepfake Training Content Agent turns a short video and audio sample of a company leader into a training video. Adaptive Security lists custom deepfake voice interactions and deepfake Teams and Zoom scenarios as simulations.

Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) covers incidents from November 2024 through October 2025. The report states that people are often more likely to fall for a mobile threat, such as a fake text or a scam call, than for a traditional email. That higher susceptibility is why text and voice channels should be in scope, and Adaptive Security's comparison of vishing vs. smishing explains how they differ.

Because simulated vishing comes with the SAT Advanced premium, a separate vishing tool saves money only if it costs less than that premium for the same seats, before factoring in the administrator time to run a second console. For a like-for-like comparison, compare the price of Adaptive Security's voice phishing add-on against the KnowBe4 SAT Advanced premium, plus the cost of any separate SMS or deepfake simulation tool.

Program scope also shapes the quote. Adaptive Security's deepfake awareness training checklist identifies high-exposure roles, such as finance staff, executives, and help desk staff, and ranks exposure by the consequences of a successful impersonation, helping define scope before a buyer requests quotes.

Are There Implementation Costs for Adaptive Security?

Neither vendor publishes a separate implementation fee. Adaptive Security's small business page states that hands-on support is included from day one for setup, custom requests, and ongoing questions. The Adaptive Security pricing page also lists a dedicated customer success manager (CSM) for every customer, plus hands-on onboarding and activation.

Internal setup time still belongs in total cost of ownership. Typical one-time tasks include connecting single sign-on (SSO) and System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) provisioning, allowlisting simulation traffic in email security tools, and configuring the first campaigns. Adaptive Security lists allowlisting guides for more than 10 tools. A hypothetical 20-hour setup at the BLS-based $91.01 administrator rate adds $1,820 to either vendor's three-year cost.

KnowBe4 vs. Adaptive Security Cost: The 3-Year TCO Comparison Model

Hypothetical model. The 3-Year TCO Comparison Model applies KnowBe4's May 2026 list prices and BLS wage data to 250, 1,000, and 5,000 employees, and it is not a quote from either vendor. In the model, KnowBe4's three-year total cost of ownership ranges from $37,388 for an email-and-library program with 250 employees to $847,727 for a multichannel program with 5,000 employees.

In the KnowBe4 vs. Adaptive Security cost comparison, Adaptive Security costs less when its all-in quote for the same scope falls below a break-even price of $1.63 to $4.69 per seat per month, assuming equal labor hours. Break-even depends on company size and whether the program covers email only or adds voice, deepfake, and triage capabilities.

Five rules keep the model like-for-like.

• Two program profiles: Profile A covers an email-and-library program, and Profile B covers a multichannel program, so each vendor is priced for the same scope.
• KnowBe4 list prices: KnowBe4 lines use KnowBe4's published manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) for a three-year term, as of May 2026.
• Open Adaptive Security license line: Adaptive Security publishes no list price, so the model reports the break-even price where an Adaptive Security license figure would sit.
• Equal labor: Administrator and content time use the same hours for both vendors, priced with BLS mean wages divided by the BLS wage share of total compensation.
• Break-even definition: The break-even price is the Adaptive Security all-in price per seat per month at which both three-year totals match.

The table below defines the scope of each profile.

Model Assumptions for 250, 1,000, and 5,000 Employees

The table below lists the model's 13 assumptions, each with its value and basis.

3-Year TCO Results by Company Size

KnowBe4's three-year TCO in the model runs from $37,388 to $391,691 for an email-and-library program and from $70,289 to $847,727 for a multichannel program. Per employee, those totals equal $26.11 to $93.72 a year, and the per-employee cost falls as company size rises.

Profile A, an email-and-library program, produces the following three-year results.

Profile B, a multichannel program, produces the following three-year results.

Simulation note. KnowBe4 publishes no price above 1,000 seats, so the 5,000-employee KnowBe4 figures carry the 501 to 1,000 band forward and do not represent a KnowBe4 quote. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar, so lines may differ from totals by $1.

Break-Even Price: When Adaptive Security Costs Less Over Three Years

Adaptive Security costs less than KnowBe4 over three years when its all-in quote falls below the break-even price for the same program scope, with labor hours held equal. For an email-and-library program, the break-even is $1.63 to $1.97 per seat per month. For a multichannel program, it rises to $3.94 to $4.69 because the SAT Advanced premium and PhishER Plus enter the KnowBe4 total.

The table below shows how two variables move the break-even price, along with the ceiling for a separate vishing tool.

Four findings follow from the model.

• License-only comparisons miss labor: License and add-on fees make up 47% to 84% of KnowBe4's three-year TCO in the model, and administrator time accounts for most of the rest, with its largest share at the smallest company size.
• Email-and-library programs leave little room: SAT Foundation's published price sets the break-even, so Adaptive Security must quote below KnowBe4's entry tier to cost less for that scope.
• Discounts lower every break-even: A 30% KnowBe4 discount cuts the multichannel break-even by 30%, to $2.76 to $3.28 per seat per month.
• Time savings count only when measured: If Adaptive Security saves administrator time relative to KnowBe4, each hour saved per month is worth $3,276 over three years, so documented savings from a pilot or an existing deployment can raise the break-even price.

Which Costs Less for a 1,000-Employee Company: Adaptive Security or KnowBe4?

At 1,000 employees, Adaptive Security costs less than KnowBe4 for a multichannel program (email plus voice simulation, deepfake training content, and reported-email triage) when its all-in quote falls below $3.94 per seat per month, according to the hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model. For an email-and-library program (a training library plus email phishing simulations), the break-even drops to $1.63, KnowBe4's lowest published SAT Foundation price. Both results assume equal labor hours.

In the model, a multichannel KnowBe4 program at 1,000 employees (SAT Advanced plus the PhishER Plus triage add-on) costs $197,998 over three years, or $66.00 per employee per year. An email-and-library program on SAT Foundation costs $97,996, or $32.67 per employee per year. Administrator time accounts for $52,422 and $39,316 of those totals, respectively.

Four conditions move the 1,000-employee answer toward one vendor or the other.

• Negotiated KnowBe4 discounts: A hypothetical discount on KnowBe4 list prices lowers the multichannel break-even to $3.55 at 10%, $3.15 at 20%, and $2.76 at 30% per seat per month.
• Documented time savings: If Adaptive Security saves administrator time, each hour saved per month is worth $3,276 over three years, or $0.091 per seat per month at 1,000 employees. Saving four hours each month would raise the multichannel break-even from $3.94 to $4.30.
• A separate vishing tool: A buyer on SAT Foundation who adds vishing from another vendor saves money compared with upgrading to SAT Advanced only if that tool costs less than $41,760 over three years ($13,920 a year), the SAT Advanced premium at 1,000 seats. Running a second console also adds administrator time, which lowers that ceiling.
• SMS simulation: The model excludes SMS from both configurations. For programs that require it, price SMS coverage on both sides before recalculating the break-even.

Is an AI-Native Security Awareness Platform More Expensive Than KnowBe4?

Not necessarily. KnowBe4 markets its own product as "AI-Native Security Awareness Training," so the AI-native label does not separate the two vendors on price. Cost follows where each vendor places its AI features.

An AI-native security awareness platform is a training and simulation platform built around generative AI for content creation, attack simulations, and program administration. The label describes how a product is built, while price depends on how each vendor packages those features.

KnowBe4's AI Defense Agents (AIDA), including the Content Creation Agent and the Deepfake Training Content Agent, come with SAT Advanced at a $1.16 to $1.35 per-seat monthly premium over SAT Foundation. Adaptive Security lists AI features across its products, including the GenAI Content Studio, gen-AI email phishing, AutoPhish campaigns, and custom deepfake voice interactions in the optional voice phishing add-on.

AI content tools lower the content production line on either platform. In the hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model, a gen-AI tool cuts the staff cost of a custom 20-minute module from about $2,491 for a manual build to $311.

For an email-and-library program (a training library plus email phishing simulations), the relevant KnowBe4 price is SAT Foundation, which includes no AI agents. For the Content Creation Agent, deepfake content, or voice simulation, the relevant KnowBe4 price is SAT Advanced. An Adaptive Security quote should cover the same features before comparing the two prices.

Are There Hidden Costs in KnowBe4 and Adaptive Security Pricing?

Yes. Both vendors leave costs outside the per-seat figure. At KnowBe4, they include the SAT Advanced upgrade for voice and AI features, per-seat add-ons, separate SMS tooling, and possible price increases at renewal. At Adaptive Security, they include optional add-ons such as voice phishing and excess use, billed at the then-current rates allowed under its Master Subscription Agreement.

Ten costs and terms change a security awareness training pricing comparison after the license price is set. Four come from program scope, and six come from contract and purchasing terms.

Hidden Costs in Program Scope: Content, Channels, Tiers, and Tenants

Four scope-related costs appear as a program adds custom content, channels, tiers, or tenants.

• Custom content creation: A manually built 20-minute module takes about 48 hours of staff time, according to practitioner data the Association for Talent Development (ATD) published in 2021, or roughly $2,491 at a BLS-based rate. Gen-AI content tools shorten the work, though their output still needs review.
• Separate channel costs: SAT Foundation has no simulated vishing, and neither KnowBe4 tier lists SMS simulation. A second vendor for either channel adds a license, a console, user sync, and reporting. At Adaptive Security, voice phishing is an optional add-on priced separately from the base quote.
• Tier upgrades: Adding simulated vishing, callback phishing, or AI Defense Agents (AIDA) at KnowBe4 means licensing SAT Advanced at $1.16 to $1.35 more per seat per month.
• Multi-tenant fees: KnowBe4 charges additional fees per added tenant, which affects organizations that run separate consoles for subsidiaries.

Hidden Costs in Contract Terms: Renewals, Overages, and Resellers

Six contract and purchasing terms change what an organization pays over the life of a subscription. Signed quotes and order forms can override these default terms, so include them in the list of items to confirm before signing.

• Renewal increases: KnowBe4's Terms of Service, updated December 16, 2025, state that prices may be subject to increases, and subscriptions renew automatically unless the customer gives 30 days' written notice. Adaptive Security's Master Subscription Agreement (MSA), updated September 4, 2026, contains no price-increase clause, so confirm renewal pricing in the order form. On annual terms, a hypothetical 5% increase at each of two renewals raises three-year license spend by about 5.1%.
• Users above the licensed count: KnowBe4 requires customers to pay promptly for additional users or reduce the user count, and added users co-terminate with the current term. Adaptive Security's MSA lets it invoice excess use at its then-current list rates, or the order-form rates if higher, retroactive to when the excess began, so the order form should confirm the overage rate.
• Managed service provider (MSP) margins: KnowBe4's MSP Agreement, updated December 2025, makes each MSP responsible for negotiating pricing with its customers and lets it charge for services as it determines. Buyers should ask an MSP to separate the license pass-through from service fees.
• Paying two vendors during a switch: KnowBe4's Terms keep future payments due after a termination for convenience, so switching before renewal can mean paying both platforms.
• Quote-only pricing at scale: KnowBe4 publishes no price above 1,000 seats, and Adaptive Security quotes every plan, so large organizations compare negotiated figures on both sides.
• Taxes and fees: KnowBe4's list prices exclude taxes, duties, VAT, and other governmental fees.

Does KnowBe4 Offer Better Value Than Adaptive Security?

The answer depends on program scope. In this comparison, value means the three-year cost of covering the channels a program needs. For email-and-library programs, which cover a training library and email phishing simulations, KnowBe4 SAT Foundation offers strong value: its published price for the matching seat band ($1.63 to $2.40 per seat per month) sets the break-even point an Adaptive Security quote must beat, which is $1.63 to $1.97 for 250 to 5,000 employees in the model.

For multichannel programs, which add voice simulation, deepfake training content, and reported-email triage, Adaptive Security can offer better value when its quote for the same channels falls below the hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model's break-even price of $3.94 to $4.69 per seat per month. A lower license price delivers better value only when it covers the same channels.

Where KnowBe4 May Cost Less

KnowBe4 may cost less than Adaptive Security in two situations.

• Email-and-library programs: SAT Foundation, KnowBe4's lower-priced tier, covers an email-and-library program on its own. At the same seat band, an Adaptive Security quote must fall below the Foundation price to cost less.
• Organizations partway through a KnowBe4 term: Remaining KnowBe4 payments stay due after a termination for convenience, so staying on KnowBe4 until the renewal date usually costs less than switching mid-term.

Where Adaptive Security May Cost Less

Adaptive Security may cost less than KnowBe4 in three situations.

• Programs that need SMS or chat-app simulation: KnowBe4 lists neither channel as a simulation, so a KnowBe4 buyer who tests them adds a second vendor, with its own license, console, and reporting.
• Programs that need executive deepfake video-call simulations: Adaptive Security offers deepfake Teams and Zoom scenarios alongside voice and SMS simulations.
• Documented administration savings: Each administrator hour per month that a pilot or an existing deployment shows Adaptive Security saving is worth $3,276 over three years. Measured savings raise the break-even price, the quote level at which Adaptive Security matches KnowBe4's three-year cost.

Which Is Better for Enterprise Security Awareness Training: Adaptive Security or KnowBe4?

KnowBe4 may suit enterprises focused on email simulation and a large training library at negotiated rates. Adaptive Security may suit enterprises that need voice, SMS, chat, and executive deepfake simulations under one contract. Neither vendor publishes an enterprise price: KnowBe4 quotes above 1,000 seats, and Adaptive Security lists its Enterprise plan at custom pricing.

Four factors that neither vendor's pricing settles shape the enterprise comparison.

• Pricing at scale: Both vendors set enterprise prices by quote. In the hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model, a multichannel KnowBe4 program (SAT Advanced plus PhishER Plus) at 5,000 employees costs $847,727 over three years, or $56.52 per employee per year. That figure uses the 501 to 1,000 seat band as a stand-in for a negotiated rate.
• Multiple business units: KnowBe4 charges additional fees per added tenant for multi-tenant consoles. Adaptive Security lists multiple tenants in one account for its Agentic Email Security product, so tenant structure for training and simulations is a point to confirm in the quote.
• Identity and integrations: Both vendors list single sign-on (SSO) and System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) provisioning. KnowBe4 places third-party integrations, event APIs, and its Real-Time Coaching integrations add-on in SAT Advanced. Adaptive Security's enterprise page states that Adaptive Security connects to an organization's human resources information system (HRIS) and identity provider so employee groups stay in sync automatically.
• Support model: KnowBe4 lists global technical support in both tiers. Adaptive Security lists a dedicated customer success manager (CSM) for every customer, hands-on onboarding, and 24/7 in-app chat.

For enterprises that need simulation across email, voice, SMS, chat, and deepfake video calls, the like-for-like comparison is an Adaptive Security quote against KnowBe4 SAT Advanced plus separate tools for the channels KnowBe4 does not list. Each quote should state the tenant structure, integrations, and support terms it includes, so the comparison covers more than the per-seat rate.

Security Awareness Training Cost per Employee: How to Compare Quotes

Security awareness training cost per employee equals a program's total cost over its contract term divided by the number of employees and years. In the hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model, KnowBe4 programs cost $26.11 to $93.72 per employee per year. The low end is an email-and-library program (training library and email phishing simulations); the high end is a multichannel program adding SAT Advanced, PhishER Plus triage, and content time.

The KnowBe4 license alone lists at $19.56 to $45.00 per seat per year. The gap between the per-employee range and the license-only range shows how much add-ons and labor add, which is why two quotes need the same scope and labor assumptions before comparing per-employee figures.

Six steps turn two quotes into comparable cost-per-employee figures.

1. 1Match the term: Convert both quotes to the same contract length, such as 36 months, and note any price-increase terms at renewal.
2. 2Match the seat count: Price both quotes for the same number of seats, including expected growth, because per-seat rates can change between seat bands.
3. 3Match the channels: Confirm that both quotes cover the same simulation channels, such as email, voice, SMS, chat, and deepfake video. Add the cost of a separate tool for any channel a quote leaves out.
4. 4Add the add-ons: Include every add-on the program needs, such as reported-email triage or compliance content, and any tier upgrade a required feature depends on.
5. 5Price the labor: Multiply administrator and content hours by a loaded hourly rate, such as a BLS mean wage divided by the BLS wage share of total compensation.
6. 6Divide: Divide the three-year total by the number of employees and then by three to get the cost per employee per year.

Hypothetical example. A multichannel KnowBe4 program for 250 employees totals $70,289 over three years in the model. Dividing by 250 employees and three years gives $93.72 per employee per year.

Features to Compare in a Security Awareness Training Pricing Comparison

Eight comparison points decide whether two quotes in a security awareness training pricing comparison cover the same program.

• Simulation channels: The channels the quoted price covers, such as email, voice, SMS, chat, and deepfake video, because each missing channel adds a separate tool.
• Packaging: Whether each required feature sits in the base price, a higher tier, or a paid add-on.
• Content: Library size, languages, and custom content tools, including any gen-AI content creation.
• Administration: Campaign automation, user provisioning, and any documented hours saved, since administrator time is a major share of total cost.
• Measurement: Behavior-based reporting, such as reporting rates and repeat failures, plus an employee risk score.
• Integrations: Single sign-on (SSO), System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) provisioning, human resources information system (HRIS) sync, and APIs, along with the tier that includes them.
• Contract terms: Term length, renewal price caps, overage rates, and the window for exporting data after the term ends.
• Support: A named contact, support hours, and the scope of onboarding.

How to Measure and Compare the ROI of Each Platform

The easiest way to compare return on investment (ROI) for a security awareness platform is to set cost per employee against a measured change in employee behavior. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-50 Revision 1 (September 2024) builds an assessment and improvement phase into the learning program life cycle, supporting judgment of a program by outcomes as well as cost.

Four behavior metrics provide comparable outcomes for a pilot.

• Reporting rate: The share of simulated attacks that employees report through the approved channel.
• Repeat-failure rate: The share of employees who fail another simulation after remediation training.
• Time to report: The time between delivery of a simulated attack and the first employee report.
• Failure rate by channel: Separate failure rates for email, voice, SMS, and other channels, because a single blended rate hides gaps in one channel.

Measure each metric's change the same way for both platforms during a pilot, in percentage points for rates or in minutes for time to report. Dividing each platform's cost per employee per year by that change gives a cost per unit of improvement, a practical stand-in for ROI when avoided losses cannot be measured directly.

A higher-priced platform can still deliver better ROI if it produces a larger measured change. Adaptive Security's guide to security awareness training ROI covers how to present ROI results to leadership.

Frequently Asked Questions About Adaptive Security vs. KnowBe4 Pricing

What Contract Terms Apply to Adaptive Security and KnowBe4?

Both vendors sell fixed terms that limit or exclude refunds. Under KnowBe4's Terms of Service, updated December 16, 2025, subscriptions renew automatically unless the customer gives written notice at least 30 days before the term ends, and all sales are final and non-refundable. Adaptive Security's Master Subscription Agreement (MSA) makes fees non-cancellable and non-refundable except as the agreement or an order form provides, and it ties renewals to the order form. Signed quotes and order forms can override these defaults.

Do Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 Offer Volume Discounts?

KnowBe4 publishes volume bands, and Adaptive Security bases each per-seat quote on employee count. KnowBe4's SAT Foundation price falls 32%, from $2.40 to $1.63 per seat per month, between its smallest and largest published bands, and SAT Advanced falls 26%. KnowBe4 also offers nonprofit and competitive upgrade discounts on request. Adaptive Security publishes no volume-discount schedule, but nonprofits and startups can ask its team about applicable programs or discounts.

Do Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 Offer Free Trials?

Adaptive Security discusses a trial or pilot after a demo request, and KnowBe4 offers a free attack simulation test separate from a subscription. KnowBe4's free test is limited to 100 users, according to its product manual updated October 2026. Buyers can also take a self-guided tour of Adaptive Security before requesting a demo.

What Does It Cost to Switch From KnowBe4 to Adaptive Security?

Switching costs depend mostly on timing and data. KnowBe4 customers can download their data during the subscription term, but KnowBe4 may delete it afterward under its data retention schedule, so customers should export before the term ends. Switching at renewal avoids paying both vendors, since KnowBe4's future payments stay due after an early termination. Adaptive Security's small business page states that hands-on setup support is included, so internal setup hours are the main one-time switching cost.

How Can a CISO Justify a Security Awareness Training Budget?

A chief information security officer (CISO) can compare a training program's three-year cost with the cost of the incidents it aims to reduce. The IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2026 puts the global average breach cost at $4.99 million. The hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model prices KnowBe4 programs at $37,388 to $847,727 over three years. Pilot data on behavior change strengthen the case because IBM's figure covers breaches from every cause and cannot show what share training prevents.

Is KnowBe4 Effective for Security Awareness Training?

KnowBe4's effectiveness depends on how an organization runs its program, as with any security awareness platform, and on which tier it buys. Both SAT tiers include unlimited phishing security tests and the SmartRisk risk score. Automated follow-up differs by tier: the Remedial Training Agent, which assigns training after a failed simulation, sits only in SAT Advanced, while SAT Foundation relies on automated training campaigns.

Choosing Between Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 on Total Cost

Adaptive Security vs. KnowBe4 pricing depends on program scope and the labor each platform requires. KnowBe4 publishes $1.63 to $3.75 per seat per month for up to 1,000 seats, and Adaptive Security prices every plan by quote. The deciding number is the break-even price at which an Adaptive Security quote matches KnowBe4's three-year total for the same scope.

In the hypothetical 3-Year TCO Comparison Model, that break-even is $1.63 to $1.97 per seat per month for an email-and-library program (training library and email phishing simulations). A multichannel program that adds voice simulation, deepfake training content, and reported-email triage raises it to $3.94 to $4.69, with equal labor hours in both cases. Labor, add-ons, and channels that KnowBe4 does not list belong in the comparison too.

Adaptive Security is a security awareness training and phishing simulation platform that creates deepfake voice, video, SMS, and email simulations based on an organization's own executives and workflows. A single Adaptive Security quote can cover those channels in one program, including the optional voice phishing add-on. A buyer then has one three-year price to set against KnowBe4 SAT Advanced plus separate SMS and deepfake simulation tools.

Organizations ready to run the break-even test can request an Adaptive Security pricing quote for the same seat count, term, and simulation channels as the KnowBe4 configuration under evaluation. Asking the Adaptive Security team to list each included product and add-on makes the quote easy to match against the email-and-library or multichannel KnowBe4 configuration.