KnowBe4 built security awareness training into a category and still handles the core job. The strain shows at the edges. Its simulations can read as familiar once an employee has clicked through a few, and anything past training comes as a separate purchase, with AI governance still only a technical preview.
That’s what sends teams searching for a replacement. The real decision is whether a standalone training tool still earns its place, or whether you’d rather fold it into broader workforce protection. Noon Security fits that second camp, and the alternatives below, from Hoxhunt to Adaptive Security, each answer it differently.
{{cta}}
Which KnowBe4 alternatives should you shortlist
If you need to bring training and workforce protection together
- Noon Security runs simulations and training inside one platform that also protects inboxes and devices while governing how employees use AI.
- Mimecast offers awareness training alongside inbox defense through its Engage and Advanced Email Security products.
If you need to prepare employees for multichannel impersonation
- Noon Security moves practice past the standard phishing email into voice calls and deepfake video.
- Adaptive Security builds the same multichannel scenarios so employees rehearse verifying requests that jump between channels.
If you need to deliver learning where employees already work
- Noon Security brings lessons to its own platform plus Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat.
- SoSafe delivers learning moments and policy guidance through its assistant Sofie inside workplace chat.
If you need to automate practice and targeted follow-up
- Noon Security chooses each simulation from a person’s role and past behavior, then teaches the moment someone fails one.
- Hoxhunt pairs adaptive phishing practice with automated enrollment and steady reinforcement over time.
If you need to retain your existing learning management system
- Infosec IQ Enterprise connects to your existing learning management system, useful when security training must sit beside other required courses.
Why teams look for KnowBe4 alternatives
Everything past training is a separate purchase
Teaching employees to spot a suspicious request is one layer. It won’t pull a malicious attachment out of an inbox or decide which AI tools people can connect to company data. KnowBe4 sells those jobs as separate products, including Defend and PhishER Plus, so the sticker price on training is rarely what you end up paying. The real comparison is the full stack you’d have to assemble and license to match what a broader platform includes.
Simulations stop fooling people who’ve seen them
The weakness in a mature program is familiarity. Once employees have clicked through a handful of KnowBe4’s templates, they start recognizing the format rather than the threat, and click rates improve without readiness actually moving. The question worth asking is whether your simulations still resemble the AI-generated attacks landing in real inboxes, or whether they’ve drifted into a pattern people now spot on sight.
AI governance is still a preview
Employees are connecting AI assistants and MCP servers to internal data, which calls for policy and technical controls a training module can’t provide. KnowBe4’s answer, Agent Risk Manager, is still a Technical Preview, so the control you’d be buying it for isn’t generally available yet. Check what an alternative supports today and how far its coverage reaches before you count on a roadmap.
The capability you want sits behind a higher tier
KnowBe4’s Foundation and Advanced plans differ on content access and Smart Groups limits, so the feature that justified the purchase can turn out to need the pricier tier. A shift in headcount or training requirements is reason enough to revisit the whole package. Compare equivalent capabilities and contract terms before assuming another vendor comes out cheaper.
How we evaluated these tools: Every entry below draws on each vendor’s own product and pricing pages, read at the time of writing, plus our own hands-on view where we have one. Where a capability sits in preview or behind a higher tier, we’ve flagged it.
KnowBe4 alternatives compared
Top 9 KnowBe4 alternatives
1. Noon Security
What it does. Noon is Aikido Security’s workforce security platform, built from Cyberly and Outkept, two teams that already protected hundreds of thousands of employees before joining Aikido in 2026. It brings AI governance, device protection, email protection, and the simulations most teams start with together, fitting teams whose awareness program needs to reach the tools employees have started using.
Why it stands out. Noon’s simulations go past the phishing email into deepfake voice calls and fraudulent texts, and each campaign is chosen from an employee’s role and past behavior. Fail an exercise and the lesson arrives immediately and privately, through Noon, Slack, Teams or Google Chat. The surrounding protection is the biggest differentiator. Email protection catches phishing and business email compromise that native filters miss, device protection handles malicious packages and installs, and AI governance shows which tools employees connect and keeps sensitive data out of prompts. Noon’s training and simulation records are built to feed audits under SOC 2 and ISO 27001, useful if compliance is driving the switch.
What to know. Noon is in early access, so confirm what’s available today and when the rest ships before you plan a cutover.
2. Hoxhunt
What it does. Hoxhunt pairs adaptive phishing practice with awareness learning, adjusting each simulation’s difficulty and timing to how an employee has behaved before. The awareness side handles enrollment, reminders, manager escalation and completion tracking, so the program keeps running without someone picking every exercise by hand.
Why it stands out. The appeal is how the program runs across the whole year instead of in scheduled bursts. Employees get ongoing practice matched to their level while the security team sets policies and exceptions. Simulations reach past email into SMS, voice, collaboration messages and deepfake scenarios.
What to know. KnowBe4 offers adaptive automation too, so the fair comparison is the actual learning and oversight experience rather than the feature on paper. If you need email incident response, that’s a separate Hoxhunt product worth scoping before you commit.
3. Adaptive Security
What it does. Adaptive Security runs simulations across email, voice, SMS, chat and deepfake impersonation, and administrators can edit the scenarios while employee responses shape the follow-up. Its awareness platform also hosts courses built around a company’s own policies.
Why it stands out. Adaptive earns a look when the switching case is about realism. Think an apparent supplier request followed by a phone call, or an executive impersonation that uses both voice and video. The point is practice at applying your verification procedure while the pressure is on, not just spotting a typo in an email.
What to know. Weigh how broad the awareness topics and languages are against that simulation realism, since a vivid demo can overshadow the everyday curriculum. Its live email security and AI governance products are scoped separately, so price those in when they’re part of what you’re buying.
4. SoSafe
What it does. SoSafe combines awareness learning with adaptive phishing practice, and its assistant Sofie adds policy guidance and short learning moments inside Slack and Teams. Sofie can pull from a company’s own documentation so its answers fit how that organization actually works.
Why it stands out. The draw is help that reaches employees mid-task rather than only when a course gets assigned. The same program can deliver structured education and an easy way to ask what to do about a message that looks off.
What to know. Compare the interactions employees will genuinely use day to day. KnowBe4 supports contextual chat coaching as well, and it’s worth remembering that a quick policy answer and a completed course produce very different kinds of training evidence.
5. Proofpoint ZenGuide
What it does. Proofpoint ZenGuide targets learning using an employee’s role and the threats they’re actually exposed to. It handles automatic grouping, enrollment, short lessons and guided practice, and its ThreatFlip workflow turns a detected phishing email into a safe simulation template.
Why it stands out. ZenGuide makes most sense when you already run Proofpoint and want the attacks aimed at your workforce to shape what people learn. Training can focus on the employees exposed to a specific threat instead of sending everyone the same material.
What to know. Work out which Proofpoint products supply the data ZenGuide relies on. Live email defense and broader risk analysis are additional functions, so fold them into the configuration when your program needs them.
6. Mimecast Engage Security Awareness
What it does. Mimecast Engage delivers awareness learning and simulations, steering each one from an employee’s risk and recent actions. Its behavior-driven nudges arrive through email, Slack and Teams where people already work.
Why it stands out. Pairing Engage with Advanced Email Security is what makes Mimecast interesting when you’re reviewing KnowBe4 training and inbox protection at the same time. Security signals can guide the learning while the email product deals with the real threats, and it’s a practical fit for teams already running a Mimecast environment.
What to know. Price the combined products out in the open, since Engage on its own isn’t a straight replacement for every training and protection function a bigger KnowBe4 deployment covers.
7. Infosec IQ
What it does. Infosec IQ Enterprise covers awareness content, phishing simulations, reporting and delivery through an external learning management system. Its courses ship in SCORM, a standard e-learning format, so they sit inside a learning environment the organization already runs.
Why it stands out. This fits places where HR or a learning team already owns mandatory education. The reason to switch might be the content or the role-based learning options, while employees carry on using the same system for their required courses.
What to know. External learning management system support needs the Enterprise configuration, so confirm where completion records and simulation reports will live. KnowBe4 handles SCORM delivery too, which means the comparison comes down to content and workflow fit rather than something only Infosec IQ can do.
8. Cofense Phishing Training
What it does. Cofense Phishing Training, which some readers will know by its older PhishMe name, builds simulations and lessons from real phishing patterns. Employee reporting sits at the center of how it works.
Why it stands out. Cofense is worth a look when your main question is whether employees recognize a suspicious message and escalate it. A good program makes that response easy and uses the resulting reports to find where more practice is needed. Course completion still matters, though it proves something different from a genuine reporting habit.
What to know. Check that the wider curriculum your program needs is there. Cofense’s remediation and managed-defense offerings are separate, so a training library and a reporting route won’t on their own give you the full investigation workflow.
9. IRONSCALES
What it does. IRONSCALES Human Risk Management brings together phishing simulations and short awareness lessons, with a risk score for each user. Results from exercises and reported messages feed the next round of campaigns and learning.
Why it stands out. Added to an IRONSCALES email-security plan, it puts training and inbox response in the same environment. That suits organizations looking at the work of both the awareness owner and the team handling suspicious email at once. Human Risk Management is also available on its own through managed service providers.
What to know. Pin down the email plan and the training content you need. A deeper awareness library can mean paying for a premium content add-on, so check that combination against the curriculum you already run.
How to choose a KnowBe4 alternative
Define what must improve
Determine the specific reason for changing, be it course relevance, employee experience, simulation coverage, administration or wider protection. Focus on replacements that support that workflow.
Preserve the capabilities your program relies on
List mandatory topics, languages, accessibility requirements, employee groups, reports and integrations. Include the experience of contractors or staff who do not use the same collaboration tools as head-office employees. Wider platform coverage should support those requirements rather than distract from them.
Compare the full protection configuration
Training, inbound email defense, incident response, devices and AI governance perform different jobs. Identify which ones will move and which remain with other systems. Review Noon's pricing against that scope, then compare equivalent packages and contract terms across vendors.
Migrating from KnowBe4 to Noon Security
- Keep your evidence first: Export the training and simulation reports you’ll need before access ends, using KnowBe4’s training activity and phishing activity reports.
- Stand up the new workflow: Set up access, groups, lesson delivery and the route for reporting a suspicious message, and confirm who owns each step before employees see it. Show people where to learn and where to ask for help, and don’t leave duplicate assignments or overlapping simulations running while both platforms are live.
- Retire products by function: KnowBe4 bundles training and email defense, and you’ll likely move each to Noon on its own timeline. Test the Noon equivalent before switching any one of them off.
