Despite being rated as an industry-leading security awareness training platform, not everyone feels KnowBe4 suits their requirements and many organizations looking for a KnowBe4 alternative. If your organization is among those evaluating alternative platforms, you are invited to book a demo of TitanHQ´s latest security solution – SafeTitan.
KnowBe4´s perceived “industry-leading” status is primarily due to flattering reviews by IT experts and industry analysts such as Gartner and Forrester. However, if you dig deep into these reviews, KnowBe4´s status is not always attributable to its ability to reduce susceptibility to online threats.
Indeed, if you read the latest Forrester Wave for Security Awareness and Training Solutions report, KnowBe4´s industry-leading status has more to do with its “Market Approach”, “Commercial Model”, and “Execution Roadmap” than how effective it is at security awareness training.
Furthermore, significant capabilities such as “Risk Quantification”, “Reporting Capabilities”, and “Metrics and Measurement Capabilities” are rated average or below average. These scores imply it may be hard to measure improvement or develop follow-up programs based on individuals´ needs.
Ironically, Forrester wrote in the preamble to the report “Look for vendors that offer human risk quantification and calculate risk based on actual user behavior, not quiz and simulation scores”. It is difficult to follow Forrester´s advice unless you implement a KnowBe4 alternative.
Users´ Reviews Tell a Mixed Story
While basing a subscription on an expert´s opinion is often a good idea, it is also important to seek opinions from end users as not all end users have the same depth of knowledge and experience as expert reviewers. One of the best places to find end users´ reviews is Gartner´s Peer Insights.
Most KnowBe4 reviews are fairly positive (but not industry-leading) depending on what programs the reviewers subscribed to. However, when you look at some of the “Likes & Dislikes” it becomes apparent that KnowBe4 has a steep learning curve which is not intuitive to inexperienced users:
- “The program can be difficult to learn at first”
- “Not easily understandable for inexperienced users”
- “We had difficulties finding training on some issues”
- “It was not suitable for non-technical users in a business environment like ours”
- “It was more difficult than I wanted to select activities, then assign them to people”
One reviewer also commented that “the amount of test phishing email is excessive, and the test phishing email is easy to spot”, while another complained that “they have some good phishing games, but that’s about all. The other games all felt outdated in style and almost forced.”
Issues with KnowBe4 Pricing
The usability of the platform is not the only reason organizations might be looking for a KnowBe4 alternative. There are also issues with the KnowBe4 pricing structure which mean organizations have to subscribe to the highest level of training to access more than 20% of the training material.
While subscribing to the highest level of training provides access to more training material than an organization is likely to use, it is necessary to take advantage of key tools such as Social Engineering Indicators and AI-recommended phishing templates that can identify issues with training retention.
In addition, as well as paying up to $30.50 per user per year for the platform, there are also “optional” add-ons that enable organizations to add fresh and customizable content, prioritize the investigation of user-reported phishing emails, and integrate the platform with SIEM solutions.
Although the cost of any security solution is worthwhile if it prevents a data breach, due to the structure of KnowBe4 pricing, organizations can spend a lot of money on training material they will never use – notwithstanding the indirect costs of learning how to use and configure the platform.
Introducing SafeTitan – A Cost-Effective KnowBe4 Alternative
In 2022, TitanHQ acquired Cyber Risk Aware and rebranded the security awareness training program as SafeTitan. One of the reasons for acquiring Cyber Risk Aware is that it is a user-friendly platform that simplifies the provision of security awareness training. According to Gartner´s Peer Insights:
- “One of the best awareness training tools I have seen and used”
- “It was proven to be as easy to implement and understand as we had envisaged”
- “The process was really easy from start to finish, and I had no issues throughout”
- “This product has huge information about the cyberattacks and risks a company can face”
- “This gave us a tool to understand what they knew and more importantly what they THOUGHT they knew”
Due to its user-friendly platform being easier to deploy, configure, and use than KnowBe4, SafeTitan reduces employee susceptibility to online threats by up to 92%. The platform also supports risk quantification per individual user and has an enterprise level reporting suite for benchmarking performance metrics, measuring improvement, and producing easily digestible reports.
Other reasons why SafeTitan is considered a cost-effective KnowBe4 alternative include a transparent pricing structure that ensures organizations only pay for what they need, seamless integrations with Microsoft solutions such as 365, Teams, and Azure AD, and cyber knowledge assessments – that go beyond phishing – based on key security and compliance best practices.
Book a Free Demo of SafeTitan Today
If your organization is looking for a KnowBe4 alternative – or does not yet use a security awareness training platform – do not hesitate to get in touch and book a free demo of SafeTitan. Our no-obligation demo will be hosted by a TitanHQ security expert who will be able to discuss your requirements and answer any questions you have about security awareness training.