Cofense PhishMe vs. KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cofense PhishMe
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Cofense PhishMe is a cyber threat and phishing simulator meant to be of use in training employees to be wary against threats and also to gain information about general employee threat knowledge and preparedness. A free trial is available for small business.N/A
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Score 9.4 out of 10
N/A
KnowBe4 is a security awareness and compliance training and simulated social engineering product. It is used by organizations worldwide to strengthen their security culture and reduce human risk. The product includes a comprehensive suite of awareness and compliance training, real-time user coaching, AI-powered simulated social engineering, crowdsourced anti-phishing defense and an AI suite that enhances human risk management through personalized training and automation. With…
$0.95
per month (billed annually) per seat
Pricing
Cofense PhishMeKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Silver
$0.95
per month (billed annually) per seat
Gold
$1.10
per month (billed annually) per seat
Platinum
$1.25
per month (billed annually) per seat
Diamond
$1.70
per month (billed annually) per seat
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cofense PhishMeKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cofense PhishMeKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
TrustRadius Insights
Cofense PhishMeKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

Cofense PhishMe and KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training are both security awareness training software designed to train and test users on defending against social engineering attacks such as phishing. Both software options are most popular with larger enterprises, likely because as staff sizes increase, it becomes more difficult to train staff without a dedicated tool.  

Features

Cofense PhishMe and KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training both provide essential features like phishing user training, they have a few standout features that set them apart from each other. 

Cofense PhishMe boasts a powerful phishing reporting tool that allows users to report emails with a single click so that they can be assessed.  When suspicious emails are reported, they go through Cofense Triage, which analyzes emails and clusters threats together before sending them to your security team.  Additionally, Cofense PhishMe offers a simple to use user interface that users will be able to pick up on quickly with minimal training.

KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training provides over 2,000 phishing templates, allowing businesses to safely test their staff’s vulnerability to social engineering attacks and report on the results. Social Engineering tests can also be automated using KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training’s artificial intelligence tools, which can push social engineering tests out through email, text, or voicemail.

Limitations

Cofense PhishMe and KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training both help businesses secure themselves against social engineering attacks, but they also have some limitations that are important to consider.

Cofense PhishMe has robust reporting tools on potential vulnerabilities, but it doesn’t provide the variety of phishing templates the KnowBe4 Security Awareness offers.  Additionally, social engineering tests aren’t as easy to automate using Cofense PhishMe.  For businesses looking primarily to test their staff on social engineering, KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training may be preferred.

KnowBe4 Security Awareness Tarining helps businesses test their employees on social engineering attacks, but it doesn’t offer email threat analysis features that are as robust as Cofense Triage.  For businesses looking not only to educate their staff, but also to analyze suspicious emails before sending them to the security team, Cofense PhishMe may be ideal.

Pricing

Cofense PhishMe is priced based on the number of users an organization has.  Pricing starts at $10.00 per user per year, but can reach as high as $12.00 per user per year for smaller businesses.

Similarly, Pricing for KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training is dependent on the number of users, as well as the feature needs of the organization.  Pricing starts as low as $8.00 per user per year, but can reach as high as $29.50 per user per year.

Features
Cofense PhishMeKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Cofense PhishMe
7.8
Ratings
9% below category average
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
8.8
Ratings
3% above category average
Single sign-on capability7.40 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.20 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Security Awareness Training
Comparison of Security Awareness Training features of Product A and Product B
Cofense PhishMe
7.3
Ratings
15% below category average
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
8.2
Ratings
3% below category average
Training Content Library7.20 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Multilingual Training Content7.10 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Training Gamification7.10 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Industry-Specific Security Training7.80 Ratings6.20 Ratings
Individualized Security Training Plans6.90 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Phishing Simulations7.20 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Security Reporting8.00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Integration with Security Tech Stack7.30 Ratings8.00 Ratings
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User Ratings
Cofense PhishMeKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.4
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.3
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.1
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cofense PhishMeKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Likelihood to Recommend
It's a very apt tool for the scenario where there are multiple users and verticals in an organisation. Phishing Campaigns and recording their response actions is quite easier through this tool. Not suitable for a small organization (less than 500) that can maybe use some open tools or self-made emails for campaigns.
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I don't have any frame of reference for comparison, but the training that I have used has proved impactful for my staff. Since starting KnowBe4 training, we've seen a great increase in the number of phishing attempts, but also a great increase in the number of attempts that have been recognized by staff, and we have thus not been the victim of phishing or other cyberattact vectors
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Pros
  • Easy to Navigate GUI - easy to create and run scenarios
  • In depth reporting - Ability to provide detailed reports by department, title, etc. for follow-up training
  • Adoption of new technology - new additions such as Responsive Delivery and Recipient Sync allow less overhead for running scenarios
  • Introduction of new templates - new templates being introduced all the time to keep up with currently seen campaigns
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  • Phish tests can be set to various difficulty levels as staff becomes more knowledgeable in catching phish emails.
  • Automated phish tests and training save a lot of admin time. The product can also test for phone and USB stick practices.
  • The phish alert button in Outlook, along with PhishER and PhishFlip allow easy managing and response to actual phishing emails.
  • The interactive training is well designed to cover all types of phishing and safe email and phone behavior.
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Cons
  • Many of the URLs come in with an unknown reputation and although it may be challenging from threat intel feeds, somehow allowing a more in-depth analysis of the URL can provide better/quicker decision making or validation.
  • Adjustable widgets for reporting, although the provided are already built very well.
  • Provide in-house templates or summaries of actionable items, such as a single brief on a major phish.
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  • Campaign settings are overwhelming and non-intuitive
  • While the domains available for sending phishing emails are numerous, they are still often obviously fake
  • Certain features are locked away behind paid addons, when they should be incorporated in the base tool/licence, e.g. PhishER. It's fine that, for example, Compliance+ is an added feature, but PhishER is practically integral to the task KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training performs
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
I chose 8 because Microsoft has a version of software bundled in Azure that may fulfill our needs. If this software does not measure up then we will be continuing with Knowbe4. They keep their offerings fresh so training is not redundant this is important when asking for engagement from employees
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Usability
Its built with UX in mind and is aimed at non-tech people, to ensure that almost everyone can run the campaign. But if we go deeper - sometimes you will need an HTML editor or support in order to figure out some advanced edits you might want to add in your scenarios.
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The training videos we have access to are high quality, and provide a wide variety. The Inside Man videos has a cult following within our organization, and has driven a much greater interest in security awareness. And KB4's willingness to negotiate pricing for us as a nonprofit has been very valuable to us as well.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
There have only been a handful of outages in the 2 years we have had the product. Even during those instances, parts of the system were still operational
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Performance
No answers on this topic
Pages load quickly, filter/sort quickly, and don't slow down or freeze. Everything is smooth and very easy to use. There are a places in the UI where you can forget how to get there, but other than that everything is great. We have had no issues using any part of the website.
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Support Rating
I have not had to use their support for pretty much anything. The software works well, and is very intuitive. I would imagine their support would be rather basic as there is not too much that can go wrong with a report phishing button, and if it were I would probably consider a different software.
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Tech prod support is great! I did have to ask for a new customer success rep, needed a more experienced person to match my 12 years of experience running Cybersec training programs. Would suggest that more matching of rep level of knowledge to client level knowledge would help.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
Helpful and knowledgeable account managers have helped us navigate and use the system to our full potential
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Online Training
It's a must, even if you are never going to use the tool. Cofense aims to provide phishing training first and tool second.
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confusing question. I inherited this application so I didnt get any formal training other than the person who was leaving. The CSM provided some later on when I asked in a zoom call
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Implementation Rating
There are some hiccups, but there are meant to be, when you implement something in a large scale enterprise.
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The implementation went really well and KnowBe4 was there the whole time on setup to make sure things were setup correctly. The only thing we had to figure out on our own was to script users automatically being added to security groups. So that when they sync to knowBe4 from AD they are placed into the same/correct groups.
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Alternatives Considered
PhishMe is a market leader in terms of phishing simulation solutions. The customization appears unmatched when compared with competitors and the support we have experienced from Cofense has been excellent. Phish me offers lots of realistic templates which are updated regularly which is far ahead of other solutions. Phish me also provides lots of detailed statistics as well as high-level numbers which are really useful for some clients who want details, and others who only want high-level overviews.
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KnowBe4 offered a significantly more favorable cost-benefit ratio compared to other solutions. Its seamless integration with our existing infrastructure—particularly Active Directory and email systems—was the most compatible with our operational and security requirements.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
The product scales greatly. As long as you upgrade the license to support the number of users you are needing, adding in those new users is easy. Also getting those users set up with trainings/campaigns is very easy as well
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Return on Investment
  • From a normal user's perspective, it's an easy and fast, very very user-friendly phishing email reporting structure. No need to remember any email address, no need for sophisticated handling of malicious emails while sending/ reporting. Just a click and it is done.
  • From the admin and analyst point of view: Easy and clutter-free triaging pane, IOC reputation check facility, Rules and Recipes section for automation and focused triaging, Notification to the reporter based on the triaging done is really a helpful feedback loop.
  • Overall: Simple to handle, less learning curve, well managed, less administration time, fewer issues, less maintenance time.
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  • There is really no way one can make all the needed trainings with in house resources anymore! The cost for this would be way way more than that of any platform!
  • There is no way to even calculate the damage a company would suffer in case of a cybersecurity breach! So the cost for the use of the KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training platform if minimal compared to that of a possible breach!
  • The cost of creating content for security awareness training is no longer realistic for a company. This is really no option, and it is in no way comparable to the cost of access to the training material available in the KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training platform. Also the training content needs to be constantly updated!
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ScreenShots

Cofense PhishMe Screenshots

Screenshot of Image 1 – Board of Directors (BOD) report showcasing results of your phishing defense programScreenshot of Image 2 – Create New Scenario PageScreenshot of Image 3 – Intelligent Program Automation using PlaybooksScreenshot of Image 4 – Organizational Suspicious Email Reporting StatisticsScreenshot of Image 5 – Phishing Scam Announcement Templates

KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training Screenshots

Screenshot of the Phishing Dashboard. This displays how end users are doing at-a-glance and in comparison to peers across industries with Industry Benchmarking.Screenshot of the Virtual Risk Officer functionality, which helps identify risk to support data-driven decisions about a security awareness plan.Screenshot of KnowBe4's partners, including The Security Awareness Company, Popcorn Training, exploqii, Twist & Shout, El Pescador, CLTRe, Saya University, and MediaPRO. Together, they create security awareness training content available in the ModStore.Screenshot of a security training quiz question showing "Security Moments Series: Spot the Bad Link" asking what Lisa should do when receiving an unexpected email with an HTML attachment, with three answer options and Submit/Cancel buttons.Screenshot of the AIDA Phishing Template Generator interface, which displays a customizable phishing simulation tool with template setup options on the left and a preview of a generated "Annual Bonus Announcement" email featuring a QR code attack vector on the right.Screenshot of the AIDA Configure Training interface, which displays settings for personalized remedial phishing training, including user enrollment options, completion timeframes, knowledge refresher schedules, and notification preferences, with an "Activate Remedial Training" button to implement the configuration.