Cofense LMS vs. KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cofense LMS
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Cofense’s Learning Management System™ (LMS) helps raise employees’ cybersecurity awareness and enhances their ability to detect phishing threats. With LMS, the user can zero in on the security and compliance issues that are important to a company. And LMS complements the behavioral conditioning and experiential learning of Cofense's awareness simulation program, Cofense PhishMe™.N/A
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Score 9.0 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
KnowBe4 is a security awareness training and simulated phishing platform used by more than 65,000 organizations around the globe. Founded by IT and data security specialist, Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness about ransomware, CEO fraud, and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to awareness training on security. The KnowBe4 platform offers multi-language support for the Admin Console and end…
$0.90
per month per seat
Pricing
Cofense LMSKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Silver
$0.90
per month per seat
Gold
$1.05
per month per seat
Platinum
$1.20
per month per seat
Diamond
$1.70
per month per seat
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cofense LMSKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsThere are four subscription levels: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. Each level is priced per user with a sliding scale based on number of users. Monthly pricing per seat billed on an annual basis.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cofense LMSKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Considered Both Products
Cofense LMS
Chose Cofense LMS
Cofense LMS was received to us a bundled pack of Cofense LMS, Cofense Traiage, Cofense Vision and Cofense Reporter. The overall phishing and protection suite by Cofense is super effective to tackle and improve the phishing campaigns and mitigate the on going attacks. Other LMS …
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
KnowBe4 is similar in many ways to its competitors, but has an edge in terms of training content, usability, and integration. I would like to see more technical options with our level of subscription.
Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Although Cofense was a good product, years of limited updates of any substance caused us to look into additional products. We have reduced our time of needing to review phishing emails by almost 90%. For example, 800 messages delivered into our phishing platform resulted in 650 …
Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
We tried other vendors but we found KnowBe4 was easy to onboard and we were too ready to roll out our first training in no time. SAML integration was very straightforward. Getting Started guide was very well written which simplified the onboarding experience and support was …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cofense LMSKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Cofense LMS
7.0
2 Ratings
16% below category average
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
-
Ratings
Course authoring6.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library6.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal6.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content7.62 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly6.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments7.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management7.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning7.62 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning7.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Cofense LMS
-
Ratings
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
8.8
271 Ratings
5% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings9.1239 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.5261 Ratings
Security Awareness Training
Comparison of Security Awareness Training features of Product A and Product B
Cofense LMS
-
Ratings
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
8.4
296 Ratings
1% above category average
Training Content Library00 Ratings8.9293 Ratings
Multilingual Training Content00 Ratings8.3159 Ratings
Training Gamification00 Ratings8.1240 Ratings
Industry-Specific Security Training00 Ratings7.7256 Ratings
Individualized Security Training Plans00 Ratings7.9251 Ratings
Phishing Simulations00 Ratings9.5291 Ratings
Security Reporting00 Ratings8.9285 Ratings
Integration with Security Tech Stack00 Ratings8.0159 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cofense LMSKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Small Businesses
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Barracuda Security Awareness Training
Barracuda Security Awareness Training
Score 6.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
Proofpoint Security Awareness Training
Proofpoint Security Awareness Training
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
Hoxhunt
Hoxhunt
Score 9.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
Cofense LMSKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(642 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(53 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(161 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(18 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(19 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(258 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(5 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(14 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(21 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(13 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(39 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(7 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(19 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(12 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(15 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(14 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cofense LMSKnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Likelihood to Recommend
Cofense
LMS is a more appropriate choice to be used if the organization is large and has multiple verticals where the trainings differ to a great etent from vertical to another vertical. However if the company is a small scale org with limited hierarchy, any open source portal is enough to serve the purpose.
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KnowBe4
This is a very appropriate training system for a school district. We have the ability to add or remove the number of required training. Originally, we scheduled 4 modules per year, but we reduced it to 2 per year, because teachers shared they felt it was too much, originally.
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Pros
Cofense
  • Training modules: developed Using Learning Science Principles
  • Story Based Environment
  • Learn by doing
Read full review
KnowBe4
  • Real World Examples - Many of the training modules show Kevin Mitnick actually gaining access to a machine showing how one click can allow a malicious actor access to a machine or network.
  • Up-to-Date content - They are always adding new training and phishing examples.
  • The ability to schedule training and phishing tests.
Read full review
Cons
Cofense
  • UI can be more interactive
  • Segregating the users in different groups can be further automated via AD details
  • The end user mobile notification feature should be there rather than only mail.
Read full review
KnowBe4
  • Uploading your own SCORM content can be problematic with what seem like arbitrary restrictions (e.g. file size, quiz word count, etc.)
  • Content that once was available at our level was taken away so that they could repackage it as a new "product" for an additional cost. They should have grandfathered in existing clients.
  • Reporting capabilities (key for compliance artifacts) should be better designed with flexibility for users to present content in a manner suited to their specific circumstances
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Likelihood to Renew
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
Between the ease of use, cost effectiveness, functionality and continued improvements Knowbe4 continues to make it would be pretty hard to find another competitive product that wraps it all up like KnowBe4 has. Not saying it couldn't happen, but haven't seen anything that competes at this point.
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Usability
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training is simple to use, simple to administer, effective, with quality content. It is easy to take the training and we have the reminders set so that the longer a user puts the training off, the more frequently they will receive reminder emails. Eventually they get emailed every day until they take the training. But with a simple click, they can get into the training content.
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Reliability and Availability
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
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
Read full review
Performance
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
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
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
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
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
Helpful and knowledgeable account managers have helped us navigate and use the system to our full potential
Read full review
Online Training
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
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
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
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
Cofense
Cofense LMS works well at our environment due to it well know security awareness training without any complications. Ease to get support documentations & end users feedback. While in MetaCompliance Support & documentation was not that easy for end users.
Read full review
KnowBe4
KnowBe4 integrates seamlessly with Drata to monitor security compliance. It is possible to chose which training campaigns are mandatory to consider the security awareness training control passed. The integration is easy to configure and works with complex scenarios (optional and mandatory training campaings, different progress status per each employee, etc.).
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
It's kind of expensive compared to other products on the market although I think this product is likely better than those other products it 3 times better? I think not.
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Scalability
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
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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Professional Services
Cofense
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
The team was great to work with and took their time to ensure that we knew what we were doing with the product and that it was set up to meet the specific needs of our organization. This wasn't just a cookie-cutter deployment, but rather they focused specifically on our needs.
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Return on Investment
Cofense
  • Trainings made user more aware of the security attacks they are vulnerable to
  • Strengthened the overall security posture of the company
  • Detterent control as incase the the personnel are not able to finish off their training, it is followed by HR action.
Read full review
KnowBe4
  • The smart group feature has provided us insight to users who continually fail phishing simulations and allows automatic training assignment. This has greatly reduced our technician's time spent inside the service, allowing them to focus on more important projects.
  • After switching to KnowBe4, for Cybersecurity training, our business has seen an increase of more than 20% participation in training.
  • I can't say enough about the Cybersecurity Assessment feature, which informs us of end-user weaknesses and strengths. Knowing where the company is strong and weak allows us to adjust training and system configurations, keeping the business more secure.
Read full review
ScreenShots

KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training Screenshots

Screenshot of The Phishing and Training Dashboard 
Displays how end users are doing at-a-glance and in comparison to peers across industries with Industry Benchmarking.Screenshot of Virtual Risk Officer™.
The Virtual Risk Officer functionality helps identify risk to support data-driven decisions about a security awareness plan.Screenshot of Advanced Reporting
A Collection of 60+ Built-in Advanced Reports that Provide Holistic View of Over Time. Executive and enterprise-level reporting gives visibility into an organization’s security awareness performance with insights into correlated training and phishing simulation data over any specified period of time.Screenshot of Engaging, Browser-based Training
KnowBe4’s learner experience offers optional gamification, in the form of leaderboards and badges, so users will be incentivized and motivated to take their assigned training.Screenshot of Library of security awareness training content. KnowBe4’s partners with The Security Awareness Company, Popcorn Training, exploqii, Canada Privacy Training, Twist & Shout,  El Pescador, CLTRe, Saya University, lawpilots, and MediaPRO.