Adaptive Security vs. KnowBe4

The fundamental difference is that KnowBe4 is built around a large, static library of pre-made training modules, while Adaptive Security is built for the modern era of AI-driven attacks. KnowBe4’s platform provides broad security awareness content; Adaptive Security delivers interactive, personalized, and customized training alongside hyper-realistic, AI-powered phishing simulations that incorporate deepfake personas, voice calls, SMS texts, and OSINT-spearphshing. Instead of relying on vendor-produced templates and scheduled content updates, Adaptive allows security teams to instantly generate simulations that reflect emerging threats — giving organizations a level of agility and realism that legacy platforms simply can’t match.

Adaptive Security is not just an alternative — it is the more advanced platform for organizations that need their training program to evolve as quickly as attackers do. While KnowBe4 offers broad, general-purpose training content, Adaptive provides a more sophisticated, AI-powered approach designed for companies facing targeted phishing, deepfake threats, SMS and voice-based social engineering, and industry-specific attack patterns. Organizations that switch to Adaptive typically do so because they outgrow template-based training and need deeper customization, stronger realism, preparedness against AI-powered threats, and far faster response cycles to new phishing tactics.

Adaptive Security is significantly better suited for fast-changing threat environments. Because of Adaptive’s customization-first approach to security awareness training and phishing simulations, organizations can instantly create campaigns the moment a new phishing technique, impersonation trend, or deepfake tactic surfaces in the wild. With the Adaptive AI Content Creator, all it takes is a single prompt to create training content rich with text, interactive quizzes, video, and audio narration. KnowBe4, while robust, is tied to vendor-created updates that follow a fixed release cycle, which can leave a gap between emerging threats and when new training becomes available. Adaptive eliminates this lag entirely, enabling teams to stay ahead rather than react months later.

Adaptive Security offers more advanced phishing simulations by a wide margin. Its platform supports deepfake voice calls, executive impersonation using AI, outbound SMS phishing, personalized email spear-phishing generated from OSINT, and ultra-realistic scenarios produced from simple prompts. KnowBe4 offers a large phishing template library, but it remains fundamentally template-driven and email-centric. Adaptive is built from the ground up to emulate the full range of today’s AI-enabled attack vectors, giving users hands-on exposure to threats that look and feel indistinguishable from real attacks.

Yes. Adaptive Security supports seamless and straightforward migration from KnowBe4. Adaptive imports user data through standard integration methods, maintains historical training records for compliance continuity, and provides implementation support to replicate your existing campaign structure. Most organizations complete migration within just a call or two. You can run both platforms in parallel during the transition to ensure no gaps in your security awareness program.

Both platforms serve enterprises, but they serve different needs. While KnowBe4 is well-suited for organizations seeking a large library of generic content with broad coverage, Adaptive Security is better aligned with enterprises that treat human risk as an active and evolving threat surface. Adaptive offers deeper customization, more interactive and engaging training, richer analytics, more realistic attack simulations across multiple channels, and the ability to respond instantly to new attack techniques — making it the stronger choice for enterprises that prioritize resilience against sophisticated, AI-powered adversaries.