What is KnowBe4?
KnowBe4 is the largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, founded in 2010 and used by tens of thousands of organisations worldwide. It pairs a very large training content library with phishing simulation, sold in tiered per-seat subscriptions through a quote-based sales process.
Credit where due: KnowBe4 largely built this category, its content library is the deepest in the market, and for large organisations with someone to run it, it is a capable choice. That is exactly why honest comparison matters. If the leader fits you, use it; the rest of this page is for the teams discovering it does not.
Why do teams look for a KnowBe4 alternative?
Three reasons come up constantly: quote-only pricing that is hard to compare and creeps at renewal, a platform sized for enterprises that smaller teams pay for but never fully use, and admin overhead that assumes someone owns the tool. None are flaws at enterprise scale; all are friction below it.
The pattern in practice: a 30-person firm buys the market leader, uses a fraction of the library, discovers the tier they bought gates a feature they assumed was included, and meets a higher renewal quote a year later. What that team needed was a smaller product: transparent per-seat pricing, training plus phishing simulation in one obvious plan, and automation instead of an admin console that expects a dedicated owner. Our cost guide (including what KnowBe4 costs) covers the pricing side in detail.
What are the best KnowBe4 alternatives for small business?
For small and mid-sized teams the shortlist is: train2secure for transparent self-serve training plus phishing, Hoxhunt for gamified adaptive training at a premium, Proofpoint for enterprises already in its email-security suite, and Mimecast for teams bundling awareness with its gateway. The right pick follows your size and who will run it.
| Platform | Best for | Phishing sims | Pricing style |
|---|---|---|---|
| train2secure | SMB and mid-market teams that want self-serve setup and no sales calls | Included on Pro, with custom templates | Public per-seat pricing |
| KnowBe4 | Larger organisations wanting the deepest content library | Included, tier-dependent | Quote-only, tiered |
| Hoxhunt | Companies prioritising engagement via gamified, adaptive simulations | Core of the product | Quote-only, premium |
| Proofpoint | Enterprises standardised on Proofpoint email security | Included in suite | Quote-only, enterprise |
| Mimecast | Teams bundling awareness with the Mimecast gateway | Included as module | Quote-only, bundled |
Read the table with one rule: features listed on a website are not features included in your tier. Whichever way you lean, make every vendor quote the same seat count, confirm phishing simulation and reporting are in the quoted tier, and ask for the renewal price in writing.
KnowBe4 vs train2secure: the honest version
Choose KnowBe4 if you are large enough to negotiate well and want the biggest content catalogue with a dedicated admin running it. Choose train2secure if you want visible pricing, department-level courses your staff actually finish, phishing simulation included on Pro, and a platform that runs itself between quarterly campaigns.
Where we are genuinely different: pricing is on a public page, not behind a quote; the product is built self-serve first, from bulk CSV onboarding to automatic reminders and insurer-ready completion evidence; and it is built and hosted by an Australian company, which matters to AU and NZ teams for support hours and data questions. Where KnowBe4 is genuinely stronger: raw content volume and the ecosystem around a very large vendor. If those are decisive for you, that is a fine outcome; this page exists so you choose on facts either way. The fastest test is not a comparison table at all: run our free phishing test and judge the product by what it shows you about your own team.
Common questions
Is KnowBe4 legit and safe to use?
Completely. KnowBe4 is the market leader, used by tens of thousands of organisations, and the simulated phishing it sends is authorised testing controlled by your own admins. People usually ask this after receiving a simulation at work; that email came from your employer's programme, not an attacker.
Does KnowBe4 use AI?
Yes. Like most platforms in the category, KnowBe4 has added AI features for tailoring simulated phishing and recommending training. AI-assisted personalisation is now table stakes across the market rather than a differentiator for any single vendor.
What is the best KnowBe4 alternative for a small business?
The one whose pricing you can see, whose admin work you can afford, and whose tier includes phishing simulation without enterprise add-ons. That filter usually shortlists self-serve platforms such as train2secure over enterprise suites, which earn their keep at larger scale.
Can I switch providers without losing my compliance history?
Yes, with a little planning: export completion records, certificates and phishing results before the old contract lapses, since most platforms provide CSV or PDF exports. Auditors care that evidence exists and is continuous, not which platform produced it.
How do the alternatives compare on price?
Most of the category sells by quote, so exact comparison requires collecting quotes at your seat count. Structurally: enterprise suites cost the most, gamified premium products sit in the middle, and transparent self-serve platforms cost the least. Full numbers and ranges are in our cost guide.
Full pricing context in the cost guide, programme fundamentals in the complete guide.
