Top KnowBe4 Competitors in 2026: 12 Security Awareness Training Platforms Compared by Category, AI Capabilities, and Best Fit

Key takeaways

• KnowBe4 competitors fall into five categories that differ in which cyber threats they simulate and who runs the program day to day
• AI-native security awareness training vendors such as Adaptive Security build phishing simulations around deepfake voice, video, and SMS lures
• Email security vendors bundle security awareness training with mail filtering, while human risk management platforms focus on measuring and changing employee behavior
• The security awareness training market consolidated in 2023 when Vista Equity Partners took KnowBe4 private and email security vendors bought human risk management startups
• A defensible shortlist compares companies like KnowBe4 on threat coverage, operating model, and reporting evidence rather than library size.

Want more from Adaptive in your Google results?

KnowBe4 competitors are security awareness training vendors that sell phishing simulation, employee training, and human risk scoring as alternatives to KnowBe4. In 2026 they fall into five categories, which are AI-native social engineering simulation led by Adaptive Security, email security suites such as Proofpoint and Mimecast, behavior platforms such as Hoxhunt, managed services, and content-first libraries.

Most comparison pages present KnowBe4 competitors as a ranked list of products with no shared criteria, so buyers cannot see which security awareness training vendors test which channels or who operates each program. This evaluation guide covers:

• What KnowBe4 competitors are and how security awareness training vendors are defined;
• The Security Awareness Market Map 2026, sorting top KnowBe4 competitors by category, AI capabilities, and phishing simulation channels;
• AI-native security awareness training, email security suites, human risk management platforms, managed services, and content-first vendors;
• How the security awareness training market changed between 2023 and 2026;
• How to shortlist companies like KnowBe4 for a KnowBe4 competitor comparison.

Deepfake calls and cloned voices now reach employees through channels that email-only programs never test. Adaptive Security runs phishing simulations across email, SMS, voice, and deepfake video in one program.

Book a demo

KnowBe4 Competitors and Security Awareness Training Vendors Defined

KnowBe4 competitors are security awareness training vendors that sell the same three outcomes as KnowBe4, namely phishing simulation, cybersecurity awareness training content, and human risk measurement. The vendors differ mainly in approach, so the market sorts by the cyber threats each vendor tests and the party that runs the program.

What Security Awareness Training Vendors Sell

According to the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026, 19% of businesses and 17% of charities provided staff cyber security training in the previous 12 months.

Many organizations evaluating security awareness training vendors are therefore building a first program instead of replacing an existing one. Every vendor in the category sells some combination of three core product layers, and many now add a fourth:

• Phishing simulation: Controlled test emails, calls, or texts show how employees respond to a realistic cyberattack before a genuine one arrives;
• Cybersecurity awareness training content: Modules, videos, and microlearning teach employees to recognize and report cyber threats;
• Risk measurement: Scores and reports track individual and group behavior over time;
• Reporting and triage: A reporting button and workflow route suspicious messages from employees to the security team.

A complete cybersecurity awareness training program combines all four layers. A vendor's depth in each layer sets the first filter in any comparison.

Why Organizations Consider KnowBe4 Competitors

According to Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report, the human element was present in 62% of breaches, up from 60% in the previous edition. Employee behavior therefore remains central to breach prevention, and organizations revisit their training vendor as the channels cyberattackers use change. Three common triggers lead organizations to compare KnowBe4 competitors:

• Cyber threats beyond email: Voice phishing, SMS phishing, and deepfake impersonation reach employees through channels that email-only phishing simulation does not test;
• Tool consolidation: Email security vendors have acquired human risk management startups, so some organizations weigh buying training from the vendor that already filters their mail;
• Behavior metrics: Analysts now frame the category around measured behavior, which favors vendors built around reporting rates, repeat susceptibility, and individual risk scores.

Where KnowBe4 Sits as the Established Security Awareness Training Vendor

KnowBe4 was formed in 2010 as SEQRIT, LLC and converted to KnowBe4, Inc. in January 2016, and Vista Equity Partners has owned the company privately since February 1, 2023. KnowBe4 launched two subscription tiers, SAT Foundation and SAT Advanced, in May 2026, and its pricing page no longer lists the legacy Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond tiers.

Beyond its KnowBe4 security awareness training library, KnowBe4 sells AI Defense Agents (AIDA) for automated program management and Real-Time Coaching for nudges in Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, and email. KnowBe4 also lists two email security products built from its 2024 acquisition of Egress, KnowBe4 Defend for inbound mail and KnowBe4 Prevent for outbound mail.

Every competitor category is measured against that baseline of a large training library, email-first phishing simulation, AI automation, and an email security add-on.

Security Awareness Market Map 2026: KnowBe4 Competitors by Category

The Security Awareness Market Map 2026 sorts 12 KnowBe4 competitors into five categories by the cyber threats each vendor simulates and the operating model each one assumes. KnowBe4 appears on the same map as a reference point, so every KnowBe4 competitor comparison starts from shared criteria.

Who Are KnowBe4's Main Competitors?

The main KnowBe4 competitors in 2026 are Adaptive Security, Doppel, Proofpoint, Mimecast, Microsoft, Hoxhunt, SoSafe, CybSafe, Huntress, Arctic Wolf, NINJIO, and SANS Security Awareness. These 12 vendors fall into five categories:

• AI-native social engineering simulation: Adaptive Security and Doppel generate phishing simulations for each employee with AI and extend them to voice, SMS, and deepfake channels;
• Email security suites: Proofpoint ZenGuide, Mimecast Engage, and Microsoft Attack Simulation Training sell training inside or alongside an email security product;
• Behavior and gamification: Hoxhunt, SoSafe, and CybSafe operate as human risk management platforms that measure and change individual employee behavior;
• Managed security awareness training: Huntress and Arctic Wolf run the program on behalf of the customer or its managed service provider;
• Content-first libraries: NINJIO and SANS Security Awareness compete mainly on the production style and authorship of their training content.

Each vendor's placement follows two rules, the channel its phishing simulation is built around and the party that operates the program day to day.

Top KnowBe4 Competitors Compared by AI Capabilities and Best Fit

The table below compares the 12 top KnowBe4 competitors on two labeled angles, the AI capabilities each vendor lists on its own site as of October 2026 and the situation each vendor fits best.

For live deepfake and voice phishing simulation, the AI-native vendors list the deepest AI capabilities on the map. Organizations that want AI features inside an existing email security or managed services contract fit the email security suites and managed services instead. Independent news coverage confirms AI-generated and deepfake phishing simulation for Adaptive Security, Doppel, and Hoxhunt; every other capability in the table comes from the vendor's own materials.

Buyers who want a ranked shortlist rather than a category view can turn to a guide to KnowBe4 alternatives ranked by use case.

Simulation Channels Covered by Top KnowBe4 Competitors

According to Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report, the median click rate for voice and text vectors was 40% higher than email in phishing simulations. Channel coverage therefore separates security awareness training vendors more sharply than library size does. The table below compares the channels each vendor lists as live phishing simulation as of October 2026. It excludes channels taught only as training topics.

For voice, SMS, and deepfake exposure, only the AI-native vendors and Hoxhunt list all three as live phishing simulation. For email-first programs, every vendor on the map covers the core channel, so the decision depends on what else the organization needs to test. A separate comparison of phishing simulation tools for email, voice, and deepfake cyber threats explains how each channel is tested in practice.

Other Security Awareness Training Vendors by Nearest Category

Buyers comparing companies like KnowBe4 also meet vendors outside the 12. The table below places each one in its nearest category, based on the primary emphasis of its own materials as of October 2026.

Many of these vendors span two categories, so a placement on the map signals a vendor's primary emphasis without describing its full feature set.

When KnowBe4 Fits Better Than Its Competitors

KnowBe4 remains a reasonable choice where library breadth, an established self-run program, or a specific government authorization matters more than channel depth. Three situations favor staying with KnowBe4 instead of switching:

• Large prebuilt library: KnowBe4 reports more than 1,000 modules, videos, and games in its Advanced tier library, which suits programs that rotate content across a large workforce;
• US public-sector authorization: The KnowBe4 Platform has held FedRAMP Moderate certification since November 14, 2023, according to its FedRAMP Marketplace listing for the KnowBe4 Platform;
• Email-first, self-run programs: KnowBe4 lists unlimited email phishing simulation with administrator-built campaigns, which fits teams that prefer to design each campaign themselves.

Organizations whose incident data points to voice, SMS, or deepfake exposure gain the most from testing at least one competitor category alongside KnowBe4.

If the shortlist covers only email phishing, the voice and deepfake channels cyberattackers favor remain untested. Adaptive Security adds live voice, SMS, and deepfake phishing simulations to the same program.

Take a self-guided tour

Which KnowBe4 Competitors Offer AI-Native Security Awareness Training?

Adaptive Security and Doppel are the KnowBe4 competitors built for AI-native security awareness training, with Jericho Security and Frame Security as newer funded entrants. The category uses AI to generate a phishing simulation for each employee and extends testing to voice, video, and messaging channels.

What Is AI-Native Security Awareness Training?

According to the World Economic Forum's Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026, 87% of respondents named AI-related vulnerabilities as the fastest-growing cyber risk. Cloned voices, deepfake video, and personalized text lures are the AI-driven cyber threats that this category of vendor rehearses with employees.

AI-native security awareness training is a category of cybersecurity awareness training platform that uses AI to build each phishing simulation around the individual employee and delivers it across live voice, SMS, and video channels. Three traits define the category:

• Per-employee generation: Each phishing simulation draws on open-source intelligence (OSINT) and role data to match what a cyberattacker could learn about that employee;
• Live multi-channel delivery: Phishing simulations run as phone calls, text messages, and deepfake video in addition to email;
• AI-created training: Training content is generated from an organization's own policies as well as drawn from a fixed library.

A full comparison of AI-powered security awareness training platforms applies these traits to individual buying decisions.

Adaptive Security: AI-Native Deepfake and Voice Phishing Simulation

According to the FBI's 2025 IC3 Annual Report, over $30 million in business email compromise (BEC) losses involved AI, including voice cloning used to request wire payments. Adaptive Security builds its phishing simulations around that pattern of cloned voices and impersonated executives.

TechCrunch reported on April 3, 2025 that Adaptive Security raised a $43 million Series A co-led by the OpenAI Startup Fund and Andreessen Horowitz, describing the round as OpenAI's first cybersecurity investment. SecurityWeek reported in December 2025 that Adaptive Security's $81 million Series B, led by Bain Capital Ventures, brought the company's total funding to $146.5 million.

As of October 2026, Adaptive Security lists deepfake personas modeled on an organization's executives from a photo and a voice sample, plus email, SMS, voice, and chat phishing simulations personalized from OSINT. Its product pages also describe daily employee risk scores and an AI Content Studio that builds training modules from internal policies.

Organizations whose priority is a vendor-run managed program, or training bundled into an existing email security contract, fit other categories better. Their guide to deepfake phishing attacks explains the cyberattack patterns these phishing simulations rehearse.

Which Startups Compete With KnowBe4 on AI Social Engineering?

According to CrowdStrike's 2026 Global Threat Report, AI-enabled adversaries increased operations by 89% year over year. Investors have responded by funding startups that rehearse AI-driven social engineering with employees.

Fortune reported on November 19, 2025 that Doppel's $70 million Series C valued the company at more than $600 million, with the funding aimed at fighting AI-powered social engineering attacks. Doppel's product page in October 2026 lists phishing simulations in Microsoft Teams and Zoom meetings and vishing with cloned voices.

Three other funded startups compete with KnowBe4 on AI social engineering, according to independent news coverage:

• Jericho Security: SecurityWeek reported a $15 million Series A for the company in April 2025;
• Fable Security: BetaNews reported that the company launched with $31 million in July 2025;
• Frame Security: CTech reported a $50 million raise for the company in May 2026.

Does KnowBe4 Offer Deepfake Phishing Simulations Like Its Competitors?

According to Mandiant's M-Trends 2026, voice phishing accounted for 11% of intrusions, making it the second most common initial infection vector. Voice and deepfake coverage therefore weighs heavily in any KnowBe4 competitor comparison.

KnowBe4 offers deepfake training content and simulated vishing, and lists custom deepfake vishing scenarios using AI voice cloning as a completed capability. KnowBe4 reports that its AI Defense Agents include agents that generate phishing templates and callback phishing templates, plus a Deepfake Training Content Agent that produces training featuring a leader from the customer's organization.

AI-native vendors list live deepfake voice and video phishing simulation as the test itself, so an employee faces a cloned executive in real time. KnowBe4 also states that AIDA has combined phishing, vishing, and smishing since 2016. The practical difference appears at the moment of testing, where a training video shows a deepfake while a live phishing simulation asks the employee to act on one.

AI-native vendors fit organizations whose exposure runs through executive impersonation, help desk calls, and payment approvals. KnowBe4's AIDA agents fit programs that want AI automation inside an email-first, library-led program. A feature-by-feature comparison of Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 covers deepfake realism, content generation, and metrics in more depth.

Template-based tests show employees yesterday's lures, while cyberattackers clone the voices of today's executives. Adaptive Security builds deepfake personas of an organization's own leaders for realistic phishing simulations.

Book a demo

KnowBe4 Competitors Bundled With Email Security Platforms

Proofpoint, Mimecast, and Microsoft are the main KnowBe4 competitors that sell security awareness training inside or alongside their email security products. Buyers trade phishing simulation breadth for one vendor and one data source across detection and training.

How Email Security Bundled Security Awareness Training Works

According to the FBI's 2025 IC3 Annual Report, victims filed 24,768 business email compromise complaints with $3,046,598,558 in reported losses. Losses on that scale explain why many organizations buy cybersecurity awareness training from the vendor that already filters their email.

Some email security vendors bundle security awareness training with their mail-protection platforms. They use threat intelligence gathered through email filtering to inform phishing simulation templates and training content, while a unified console can bring together detection data, employee-reported suspicious messages, and security awareness training records.

Bundled programs center on email-based phishing simulation and follow the email product's roadmap. Voice, SMS, and deepfake testing usually require a second vendor.

Proofpoint ZenGuide: Email-Integrated Security Awareness Training

Proofpoint renamed its security awareness product from Proofpoint Security Awareness Training to ZenGuide in September 2024, according to SecurityBrief UK coverage of Proofpoint's rename to ZenGuide. Proofpoint, owned by Thoma Bravo, has extended its product portfolio through acquisitions including Tessian, Hornetsecurity, and Acuvity.

Proofpoint's October 2026 product materials list an AI phishing simulation agent and a feature that converts real cyberattacks caught by its email security into training. Proofpoint also includes security awareness training in its top Collaboration Security tier.

The main gap between Proofpoint ZenGuide and KnowBe4 lies in the data source, since ZenGuide training draws on cyber threats that Proofpoint's own email security observes. An employee who receives a phishing simulation built from a message that reached a colleague last week practices against a live campaign instead of a generic template. That link suits enterprises already standardized on Proofpoint for mail filtering.

Large organizations weighing a bundled program against standalone options can use an enterprise comparison of KnowBe4, Proofpoint, and Adaptive Security.

Mimecast Engage: Human Risk Management Built Through Acquisitions

Mimecast Engage is Mimecast's security awareness product, and Mimecast describes its category as security behavior management. Mimecast built its human risk capabilities partly through acquisitions of Elevate Security, Code42, and Aware. SiliconANGLE covered Mimecast's acquisition of Aware on August 14, 2024.

In October 2026, Mimecast listed an AI phishing template generator and AI-powered phishing simulations, with nudges delivered in Slack, Microsoft Teams, and email. Mimecast sells Engage as Cloud Gateway subscriptions (Engage Core and Pro) accessed through its Email Security, Cloud Gateway product suite, positioned as a bundled add-on for existing email security customers. Mimecast email customers that want human risk scoring next to their email filtering are the clearest fit for Mimecast Engage.

Microsoft Attack Simulation Training: Microsoft 365 E5 Baseline

Microsoft lists a Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 license as the requirement for Attack Simulation Training in Microsoft Defender for Office 365, with a limited trial for E3 tenants. Microsoft's documentation, reviewed in October 2026, names six email-based phishing simulation techniques:

• Credential harvest,
• Malware attachment,
• Link in attachment,
• Link to malware,
• Drive-by URL,
• OAuth consent grant.

Payloads can carry QR codes, and Microsoft supplies its own cybersecurity awareness training modules. Microsoft 365 organizations gain a low-friction baseline that runs phishing simulation without adding a second vendor.

The licensing requirement shapes the buyer profile. Organizations on Microsoft 365 E3 receive only a limited trial, so the native option suits tenants that already pay for E5 or Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 and want email phishing simulation inside the same security console.

How Email Security Bundles Compare With KnowBe4 Defend and Prevent

KnowBe4 moved toward this category through its acquisition of Egress, now sold as KnowBe4 Defend for inbound mail and KnowBe4 Prevent for outbound mail, according to KnowBe4. Proofpoint, Mimecast, and Microsoft started in email security and added training, while KnowBe4 started in training and added email security.

For KnowBe4 customers, the overlap means the same consolidation argument now works in both directions. Email security bundles fit organizations already standardized on one vendor's mail filtering that want fewer contracts and one console for detection and training records.

Test employees beyond the inbox with Adaptive Security, which runs voice, SMS, and deepfake phishing simulations alongside email so channel coverage no longer depends on the licensed mail filter.

Explore the platform

Human Risk Management Platforms That Compete With KnowBe4

Hoxhunt, SoSafe, and CybSafe are human risk management platforms that compete with KnowBe4 by measuring and changing employee behavior. These vendors combine adaptive phishing simulation, gamification, nudges, and individual risk scores, and they report progress in behavior instead of course completion.

What Behavior-Focused Human Risk Management Platforms Measure

According to Gartner's Gartner Identifies the Top Cybersecurity Trends for 2026, 33% of surveyed employees admit entering sensitive information into unapproved tools. The survey of 175 employees, published in Gartner's top cybersecurity trends for 2026 on February 5, 2026, shows that knowing a security rule and following it are separate behaviors.

Human risk management platforms favor four measures that describe behavior more directly than course completion:

• Reporting rate: The share of employees who report a phishing simulation shows whether staff act on suspicion;
• Repeat susceptibility: Tracking which employees fail more than once shows whether interventions change behavior;
• Individual risk scores: Per-employee scores direct coaching toward the people and actions that carry the most risk;
• Nudges at the moment of risk: Short prompts delivered when a risky action occurs connect guidance to the behavior itself.

A detailed review of human risk management tools covers how each of these measures is calculated and reported.

Hoxhunt: Gamified Adaptive Phishing Training

As of October 2026, Hoxhunt lists gamified, personalized cybersecurity awareness training with adaptive difficulty, and phishing simulations across email, SMS, phone calls, Microsoft Teams, and deepfake video calls. Hoxhunt also describes AI-generated phishing simulations and AI triage of messages that employees report.

Hoxhunt lists offices in Helsinki, Minneapolis, and Singapore. The company markets gamification and automated personalization at scale as the core of its program design.

Hoxhunt differs from KnowBe4 in its default program design, which places each employee on an individual adaptive path in place of an administrator-built campaign. Enterprises that report phishing reporting rates and behavior change to leadership match the Hoxhunt model well. Hoxhunt's product pages also list deepfake simulations that recreate an executive's likeness and voice on the meeting platform employees use.

A guide to how KnowBe4, Hoxhunt, and Adaptive Security approach behavior change compares what each platform measures and how.

SoSafe: European Human Risk Management

SoSafe describes its cybersecurity awareness training platform as German-engineered and EU-hosted, with positioning built around European works council and data protection requirements. SoSafe states that its program clears European works council co-determination checks.

SoSafe's October 2026 materials list Sofie, an AI security copilot that answers employee questions, and a Human Security Index that tracks behavior across the workforce. SoSafe offers phishing simulations across email, SMS, and voice.

European organizations where co-determination and data residency drive vendor choice are SoSafe's natural buyers, since those requirements can narrow the field to vendors hosted inside the EU.

CybSafe: Behavioral Science for Human Risk Management

CybSafe lists four products, GUIDE, PHISH, RESPOND, and SIGNAL, and describes SIGNAL as the AI layer for behavior-change programs. CybSafe also describes training generated from an organization's own policies. Policy-based content lets the program address the specific rules an organization enforces, such as approval steps for payments or data sharing.

CybSafe delivers nudges in Microsoft Teams, Slack, and email, and it maps its program to NIST CSF and MITRE ATT&CK. CybSafe differs from KnowBe4 by treating behavior-change interventions as the core product, with phishing simulation as one input among several.

Human risk management platforms fit organizations that report behavior change to leadership and have staff available to act on individual risk data. Organizations without that staff often find the risk data accumulates faster than anyone can follow up on it.

Adaptive Security scores every employee daily on a 100-point scale, combining phishing simulation results, training, and job risk so leadership can track behavior change in one number.

Explore the platform

KnowBe4 Competitors Offering Managed Security Awareness Training

Huntress and Arctic Wolf are KnowBe4 competitors that run the cybersecurity awareness training program for the customer or for its managed service provider (MSP). Managed delivery replaces in-house campaign administration, which suits lean security teams without a dedicated awareness administrator.

Why Lean Security Teams Choose Managed KnowBe4 Competitors

According to the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026, 22% of businesses tested staff, for example with mock phishing exercises. Most surveyed businesses therefore ran no staff testing at all, which is the gap managed services aim to close.

Small security teams often lack the hours to schedule campaigns, review results, and coach employees who fail a phishing simulation. Managed companies like KnowBe4 take over that administration, so the internal team reviews outcomes instead of building campaigns.

KnowBe4 itself sells to MSPs through per-customer subscriptions or through bulk subscriptions for pre-approved partners, according to KnowBe4's MSP Standards of Engagement. In both KnowBe4 models, an MSP or the customer still administers the program.

Managed delivery also standardizes the program's rhythm. Campaigns run on a schedule the vendor maintains, so phishing simulation and training continue through staff turnover, audits, and incident response periods that would otherwise pause an internally run program.

Huntress: Managed Security Awareness Training for Lean IT Teams

Huntress built its managed offering on the startup Curricula, and SecurityWeek reported Huntress's acquisition of Curricula for $22 million on July 19, 2022.

Huntress states that its team manages the creation, curation, and scheduling of all learning programs. Huntress positions the service for organizations of all sizes and sells it through the MSP channel. An MSP can therefore deliver the same managed program across many client organizations without building campaigns for each one.

Huntress differs from KnowBe4 in who operates the program, since the vendor runs it on the customer's behalf. The customer's security team receives scheduled campaigns and results without configuring a console.

Arctic Wolf Aurora: Fully Managed Security Awareness Training

Arctic Wolf launched Managed Security Awareness in May 2021 and expanded it through Arctic Wolf's acquisition of Habitu8, reported by TechCrunch on September 30, 2021. Arctic Wolf now markets the product as Aurora Security Awareness and Training.

As of October 2026, Arctic Wolf lists a fully managed content delivery model, a higher tier that adds AI best-practice training topics, and export to a learning management system (LMS). The LMS export lets organizations keep completion records alongside other mandatory training, and the offering fits Arctic Wolf security operations customers who want one provider across both services.

Managed services fit organizations without a dedicated awareness administrator. In exchange, the organization gives up some direct control over phishing simulation design, because the vendor sets cadence and content within the service scope.

Lean security teams rarely have the hours to build campaigns, review results, and coach every employee who clicks. Adaptive Security automates per-employee phishing simulations and assigns micro-lessons after each failure.

Take a self-guided tour

Content-First KnowBe4 Competitors Built Around Training Libraries

NINJIO and SANS Security Awareness are content-first KnowBe4 competitors whose primary product is the cybersecurity awareness training content itself. Production style, authorship, and update cadence decide the purchase, while phishing simulation plays a supporting role.

What Content-First Security Awareness Training Vendors Prioritize

According to APWG's Phishing Activity Trends Report, 2nd Quarter 2026, vishing rose 20% from the first to the second quarter of 2026. Content-first vendors have to refresh lessons at a similar pace, or employees learn about channels cyberattackers have already moved from.

Content-first cybersecurity awareness training vendors compete on three content attributes:

• Production format: Narrative video, microlearning, and interactive modules affect whether employees finish and remember lessons;
• Authorship: Content written by practitioners or a technical training institution carries different credibility with technical staff;
• Update cadence: Frequent releases keep lessons aligned with new cyberattack channels.

KnowBe4 Studios sets the comparison point, since KnowBe4 describes a multi-format library that it updates monthly.

NINJIO: Story-Driven Microlearning

NINJIO markets monthly cybersecurity awareness training episodes based on real incidents, produced in a narrative video format. NINJIO describes the episodes as Hollywood-produced microlearning. A monthly episode gives employees one recurring touchpoint, which suits programs that struggle to hold attention through long annual modules.

NINJIO's October 2026 product pages list an Emotional Susceptibility Profile that maps employees to the psychological tactics cyberattackers use, along with an AI model that helps triage reported emails.

NINJIO differs from KnowBe4 in scope, since it concentrates on a narrative episode series in place of a broad multi-format library. Organizations where low engagement with training content is the main program problem get the most from the NINJIO approach.

SANS Security Awareness: Expert-Authored Curricula

SANS Security Awareness lists end-user cybersecurity awareness training, a phishing platform, and workforce knowledge assessments. SANS states that its training is translated into more than 34 languages, which makes consistent content practical for multinational workforces.

SANS teaches smishing, vishing, and secure AI use as training topics, while its phishing simulation is email-based. SANS positions its curriculum on the institute's technical training background, which appeals to organizations that want content tied to a technical training institution. SANS differs from KnowBe4 mainly in authorship, since its content draws its credibility from a training institution while KnowBe4's comes from an in-house studio.

Content-first vendors fit programs where low engagement is the core problem. Those programs pair best with a separate phishing simulation tool wherever voice, SMS, or deepfake coverage matters.

When content outpaces the phishing tests, employees learn about vishing without hearing a cloned voice. Adaptive Security pairs AI and Deepfake Threat Training with matching voice and video phishing simulations.

Take a self-guided tour

How Has the Security Awareness Training Market Changed Since 2023?

Four developments reshaped the security awareness training market after 2023. The first was Vista Equity Partners’ $4.6 billion take-private acquisition of KnowBe4; the last was the industry’s repositioning from “security awareness training” to “human risk management.” Between those two, email security vendors consolidated the market and generative AI changed what cyberattackers send, which explains why vendor categories now differ.

Vista Equity Partners Took KnowBe4 Private in 2023

Vista Equity Partners completed its acquisition of KnowBe4 on February 1, 2023, according to Vista Equity Partners' completion of the KnowBe4 acquisition, closing an all-cash deal first announced in October 2022.

KnowBe4 stopped trading on Nasdaq at completion, ending a public listing that began on April 22, 2021. Under private ownership, KnowBe4 completed its acquisition of Egress on July 9, 2024, launched the HRM+ brand in November 2024, and appointed Bryan Palma as president and CEO effective May 5, 2025, according to KnowBe4.

Under private ownership, KnowBe4 spent 2023 to 2026 moving from a pure training vendor toward email security and human risk management, the direction other vendors in the security awareness training market also took.

Email Security Vendors Consolidated Human Risk Management Startups

Proofpoint agreed to acquire Tessian in October 2023 and went on to buy Normalyze, Nuclei, and Acuvity. SecurityWeek reported Proofpoint's $1.8 billion Hornetsecurity acquisition as completed on December 8, 2025.

Mimecast, taken private by Permira in May 2022, followed the same path with Elevate Security, Code42, and Aware in 2024. Cybersecurity Dive described Mimecast's acquisition of Elevate Security as the purchase of a human risk management specialist, and Dark Reading framed the Code42 deal as Mimecast joining the human risk management market.

Smaller deals continued into 2026, including Pistachio's acquisition of Hugin.io's intellectual property in September 2026. The timeline below lists the ownership and acquisition events that affected security awareness training vendors from 2023 to 2026.

How Generative AI Changed Security Awareness Training Simulations

According to the FBI's 2025 IC3 Annual Report, AI-related complaints totaled 22,364, with $893,346,472 in adjusted losses, in the report's first dedicated AI section. The FBI's decision to track AI-related complaints separately marked the point at which AI-enabled fraud became a reporting category of its own.

Investors followed the same shift by funding vendors built around AI-generated and deepfake phishing simulation, which became a distinct category of KnowBe4 competitors between 2025 and 2026. Incumbent vendors responded with AI features of their own, as KnowBe4 did with its AI Defense Agents.

According to IBM's Cost of a Data Breach Report 2026, one in four malicious breaches were AI-enabled, a 56% increase. Programs whose phishing simulations predate generative AI now face a cyber threat mix those templates never modeled.

Human Risk Management Platforms Replaced the Security Awareness Label

Forrester formally retired its security awareness and training label in favor of human risk management, as set out in Forrester's introduction of human risk management. Forrester then published The Forrester Wave: Human Risk Management Solutions, Q3 2024, its first evaluation under the new name, and wrote in August 2025 that it expects most organizations to adopt human risk management by late 2026.

Gartner frames the same space as security behavior and culture programs and named those programs a top cybersecurity trend for 2024. Gartner Peer Insights still lists the market as Security Awareness Computer-Based Training, and a Gartner analyst note published on April 30, 2026 questioned whether "human risk management" should remain a market name.

Buyers therefore meet three names for one market. In practice, human risk management platforms and security awareness training vendors often describe the same products.

KnowBe4 Market Share and Position in 2026

No current analyst ranking names a category leader by revenue or seat share as of October 2026; independent market size estimates exist, such as Mordor Intelligence's USD 6.74 billion figure for 2026, so KnowBe4 market share can only be approximated from research and review signals.

PeerSpot put KnowBe4's mindshare in the security awareness training category at 11.0% as of November 2026, down from 24.6% a year earlier, with Riot at 6.8% and Proofpoint ZenGuide at 5.3%. Mindshare measures research engagement on PeerSpot without measuring revenue or seats, so the decline indicates shifting buyer research attention more than a measured loss of customers.

On G2, KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training held a rating of 4.6 out of 5 from 2,420 reviews in November 2026, and it carried a G2 Leader badge for Winter 2026. Review volume on that scale keeps KnowBe4 the reference point in most vendor comparisons, even as its share of buyer research falls.

How much of the company’s current program still assumes cyber threats arrive only by email, years after generative AI added voice and video? Adaptive Security tests the channels cyberattackers now use.

Book a demo

How to Shortlist Top KnowBe4 Competitors by Category

A shortlist of top KnowBe4 competitors starts from the cyber threat and the operating model an organization must address. The security team then compares two or three security awareness training vendors from the matching categories, based on evidence from a pilot, before reviewing any feature checklist.

Five Steps to Shortlist Security Awareness Training Vendors

According to Gartner's Gartner Survey Finds 41 Percent of CISOs Reported at Least One Social Engineering Incident Involving a Deepfake in the Past 12 Months 2026, 58% of CISOs reported a vishing or smishing incident. Channel exposure at that level makes the primary cyber threat the first decision in any shortlist. Five steps can take a security team from a cyber threat to a final list:

1. 1Name the primary cyber threat: Identify whether email, voice, SMS, or deepfake impersonation drives the organization's exposure, using incident and reporting data;
2. 2Choose the operating model: Decide whether the internal team runs the program, an email security console hosts it, or a vendor manages it;
3. 3Pick two or three vendors from the matching categories: Select vendors whose primary channel and operating model match the first two decisions;
4. 4Run a time-boxed pilot on the same criteria: Test each vendor with the same employee groups, scenarios, and duration so results compare directly;
5. 5Compare evidence: Review reporting rate, repeat susceptibility, administrator time, and audit-ready reporting before reviewing feature lists.

Evaluation Criteria for a KnowBe4 Competitor Comparison

Six criteria structure a fair KnowBe4 competitor comparison, and each one applies equally to KnowBe4 and every alternative:

• Channel coverage of phishing simulation: Live phishing simulations should match the channels in the organization's incident data, including voice and SMS where relevant;
• Personalization source: OSINT, role data, or administrator choice determines how closely each phishing simulation resembles a targeted cyberattack;
• Risk measurement beyond completion: Individual risk scores and repeat-failure tracking show behavior change that completion rates cannot capture;
• Reporting and triage workflow: A reporting button connected to triage shows whether reported messages reach the security team quickly;
• Operating model: Self-run, email-bundled, and managed delivery each assume different internal staffing;
• Contract and data handling terms: Renewal terms, seat flexibility, and data residency shape the commitment beyond features.

The security awareness training platform buyer's guide and the security awareness training evaluation checklist expand each criterion into questions for vendor demonstrations.

Feature checklists reward catalog size, while a pilot rewards the vendor that changes what employees do under pressure. Adaptive Security supports pilots with per-employee phishing simulations and daily risk scores.

Book a demo

AI-Native Security Awareness Training for Deepfake and Voice Phishing

Security teams preparing employees for deepfake and voice phishing need tests that match the channels cyberattackers now use, and AI-native security awareness training from Adaptive Security provides that match. Adaptive Security Phishing Simulations run across email, SMS, voice, and deepfake video, personalized from public information about each employee and executive. Auto-Phish builds a phishing simulation for every employee from that public information, so a finance approver receives a different lure than a help desk technician, and employees who fail receive an immediate micro-lesson while repeat clickers are flagged for follow-up.

Adaptive Security Security Awareness Training follows each test with AI and Deepfake Threat Training, so employees learn the verification steps that a cloned executive voice is built to skip. Security teams can create custom deepfake personas modeled on their own executives from a photo and a voice sample. AI Content Studio converts internal policies, such as payment approval or data handling rules, into cybersecurity awareness training modules that teach the exact procedure employees should follow when a request arrives by voice or video.

Adaptive Security Risk Monitoring and Mitigation gives each person, team, and group a risk score updated daily from phishing simulation results, training, and job risk. Executive risk views add the public exposure cyberattackers would use to clone a leader's voice or face, and those scores supply the reporting evidence a pilot comparison of KnowBe4 competitors asks for, showing which employees verify a request before acting. Training strengthens that human decision point when a cloned voice or deepfake executive reaches an employee, which complements the technical controls that try to stop the cyberattack earlier.

Run a deepfake executive-impersonation exercise with Adaptive Security and see which employees verify the request, which approve it, and which report it within the same reporting cycle.

Book a demo

Frequently Asked Questions About KnowBe4 Competitors

Is KnowBe4 a Big Company?

Yes, KnowBe4 is a large company by its own reported figures. KnowBe4 reports more than 70,000 customer organizations worldwide, and the company has been privately owned by Vista Equity Partners since February 2023. Its headquarters are in Clearwater, Florida, and its product line spans cybersecurity awareness training, AI agents, and email security.

Is There a Free Alternative to KnowBe4?

No free product matches the full scope of KnowBe4's cybersecurity awareness training platform. Microsoft Attack Simulation Training comes at no extra cost for organizations that already hold Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 licenses. Open-source phishing frameworks also exist, but they provide no training content, managed reporting, or vendor support.

Does KnowBe4 Use AI?

Yes, KnowBe4 uses AI through its AI Defense Agents (AIDA). KnowBe4 reports 12 agents that select phishing templates, assign training to individual employees, schedule phishing simulations, and generate custom training content from prompts or internal policies. According to KnowBe4, the full agent suite is included in its Advanced subscription tier, while the Foundation tier includes select AI features.

How Does Human Risk Management Differ From Security Awareness Training?

Human risk management measures each employee's risky behavior and targets interventions at the people and actions that carry the most risk. Security awareness training delivers content and phishing simulation to build knowledge across the workforce. Human risk management platforms usually include security awareness training, adding individual risk scores, behavior tracking, and automated coaching on top of it.

Which KnowBe4 Competitors Suit Small Businesses?

Small businesses usually fit managed security awareness training from vendors such as Huntress or Arctic Wolf, or an email security bundle they already license, such as Microsoft Attack Simulation Training. Both options remove most campaign administration from small internal teams. Small businesses with high exposure to voice or deepfake fraud can add AI-native phishing simulation to either option.

One program from Adaptive Security covers AI-native security awareness training across email, SMS, voice, and deepfake phishing simulations, with risk scores for every employee and executive updated daily.

Book a demo