KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training vs. SANS Security Awareness Training

SANS Security Awareness Training

Overview
Product	Rating	Most Used By	Product Summary	Starting Price
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
SANS Security Awareness Training	Score 7.1 out of 10	N/A	SANS Institute offers a suite of security awareness training courses, and other specialized security learning, delivered via computer, featuring role-based dynamic training modules.	N/A

Pricing

KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training

SANS Security Awareness Training

Editions & Modules

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

No answers on this topic

Offerings

Pricing Offerings
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training	SANS Security Awareness Training
Free Trial
No	No
Free/Freemium Version
No	No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No	No

Entry-level Setup Fee

Optional

No setup fee

Additional Details

There 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.

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More Pricing Information

Pricing Info

Community Pulse
	KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training	SANS Security Awareness Training
Considered Both Products	KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training Verified User Manager Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training It was in place Incentivized Helpful? JS James Salinas Information Systems Security Manager, CISSP Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training At this point, I am used to and comfortable with KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training and expect the same level of product features and rapid support from any other vendor providing security awareness training for our company. Some of the others I have tried just did not have as … Helpful? NN Nic Nowlan Director of IT Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training We liked the ease of use for end-users and how the content feels a bit less formal. It shouldn't be such a boring task to train. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Engineer Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training There are other products that can compare to KnowBe4. We've assessed several others but we have experienced that other products are less intuitive for administration, have a lower ROI, have poor reporting, or a poor end-user experience on training. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Manager Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training, relative to the competition, is best-in-class. Superior training materials, simulations, user interface, and customer support. The application integrates particularly well with our other technology offerings. The provider gives us access … Incentivized Helpful? AD Andrew Davies VP of IT Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training SANS was good, but the functionality we have gotten with KnowBe4 was what our company needed. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Director Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training Hands down, KnowBe4 has been a superior product for us. Its reporting features are easy to set up, run, and allows for greater analysis of campaign results. This alone has justified the switch. Additionally, there is a far more comprehensive library of material and, within … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User C-Level Executive Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training SANS was too heavy handed and too intensive for the average user in the company. PhishProtection dealt with the narrow domain of phishing attacks only. We chose KnowBe4 for its ease of use and accessibility, not only for the IT security team but based on overall level of … Incentivized Helpful? BC Bryce Cunningham CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training EverFi has reasonable cost-effectiveness. Its popularity in higher education was a major factor in our selection. However, the EverFi Data Privacy and Security training is perhaps the best overall single general training module I have seen due to its realistic scenarios and … Incentivized Helpful? KL Kevin Lee Network Security Analyst Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training I was not involved with the the decision to use SANS training, but it sounds like it was a bit too cumbersome for the users that did use it. That and it was also a bit too advanced. Basically, a lot of money was spent on SANS and it was never properly utilized. KnowBe4 was easy … Incentivized Helpful? JW John Willinger Risk Manager Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training KnowBe4 training does a better job of keeping staff engaged. Their content and presentation method is both informative and entertaining. They present current real life examples in a meaningful way. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Director Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training provided a wider variety of training materials and topics than other vendors. The management capabilities and flexibility in communicating with the trainees were deciding factors. Cost per user was a key contributor to the purchasing decision … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Director Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training KnowBe4 integrates with Active Directory for Single sign on, SANS does not. KnowBe4 has a much more robust Phish system. For example, SANS only allows 1 phish message and it sends it out to all users at the same time. KnowBe4 will send a random group of phish messages over … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Administrator Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training At the time of our evaluation, KnowBe4 stood out because of the size of its training library and the ability to customize training and phishing campaigns to match our organization's corporate and user culture, risk level, and regulatory compliance needs. The platform requires … Incentivized Helpful? JR Jen Rasset IT Office Technician Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training KnowBe4 is easier to use for both me as the admin and for the users. It has relevant security training & Phishing email campaigns that are helpful. SANS didn't have this. Also as an Admin, I can't stress enough that our completion rate is high simply because of the automatic … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Vice-President Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training KnowBe4 compares favorably to other competitive products. Incentivized Helpful? Joshua Meetze Information Security Specialist/Analyst II Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training WE found that KnowBe4 updates its training modules more frequently than other security awareness training programs we have used in the past. Also, we felt like the training videos are more user friendly and very well done. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Analyst Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training KnowBe4's price point for the number of trainings is far better than its competitors. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Analyst Chose KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training While I think PhishMe is a good product, it lacks the continuous training required once the phishing campaign is complete. SANS has a decent training platform, but training materials can become outdated. It also does not address the need to evaluate effectiveness of the … Incentivized Helpful?	SANS Security Awareness Training Verified User C-Level Executive Chose SANS Security Awareness Training We actually are currently migrating to Proofpoint Security Awareness Training because of its integration with the Proofpoint email filter. This will allow us to target specific users who are clicking on bad emails with specific training material. We have used KnowBe4 in the … Incentivized Helpful?
Top Pros	Pro Security awareness Pro Phishing campaigns Pro Phishing emails	Pro Data security Pro Dynamic content Pro Multi level
Top Cons	Minus Mobile devices Minus Better reporting Minus Admin portal	No answers on this topic

Features

KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training

SANS Security Awareness Training

Security

Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
	KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training 8.8 271 Ratings 5% above category average	SANS Security Awareness Training 9.0 1 Ratings 8% above category average
Single sign-on capability	9.1239 Ratings	9.01 Ratings
Role-based user permissions	8.5261 Ratings	9.01 Ratings

Security Awareness Training

Comparison of Security Awareness Training features of Product A and Product B
	KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training 8.4 296 Ratings 1% above category average	SANS Security Awareness Training 8.5 1 Ratings 2% above category average
Training Content Library	8.9293 Ratings	10.01 Ratings
Multilingual Training Content	8.3159 Ratings	8.01 Ratings
Training Gamification	8.1240 Ratings	8.01 Ratings
Industry-Specific Security Training	7.7256 Ratings	9.01 Ratings
Individualized Security Training Plans	7.9251 Ratings	9.01 Ratings
Phishing Simulations	9.5291 Ratings	9.01 Ratings
Security Reporting	8.9285 Ratings	9.01 Ratings
Integration with Security Tech Stack	8.0159 Ratings	6.01 Ratings

Best Alternatives
	KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training	SANS Security Awareness Training
Small Businesses	Barracuda Security Awareness Training Score 6.9 out of 10	Barracuda Security Awareness Training Score 6.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies	Proofpoint Security Awareness Training Score 9.0 out of 10	KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises	Hoxhunt Score 9.3 out of 10	Hoxhunt Score 9.3 out of 10
All Alternatives	View all alternatives	View all alternatives

User Ratings
	KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training	SANS Security Awareness Training
Likelihood to Recommend	9.0 (642 ratings)	7.0 (1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew	9.5 (53 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Usability	8.6 (161 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Availability	9.1 (18 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Performance	8.8 (19 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Support Rating	9.4 (258 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
In-Person Training	8.8 (5 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Online Training	8.5 (14 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Implementation Rating	8.4 (21 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Configurability	8.1 (13 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model	8.1 (39 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Ease of integration	8.8 (7 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Product Scalability	8.4 (19 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Professional Services	8.9 (12 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale	8.6 (15 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale	8.2 (14 ratings)	- (0 ratings)

User Testimonials
	KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training	SANS Security Awareness Training
Likelihood to Recommend	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. Incentivized RJ Robert Junna Director of Technology Read full review	SANS Institute SANS Security Awareness Training program would be well suited for a large organization that needs to develop multiple training programs with different courses based on the roles of the end users. It seemed a bit difficult at times to achieve simple setup processes because of the configurations tailored to larger, more complex organizations. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Pros	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. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute Variety of cyber threat videos and presentations Web based and mobile access to the platform Easy to manage administrator access to configure the training sessions Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Cons	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 Incentivized Mark Bradford Vice President Read full review	SANS Institute Mass import of users was a bit confusing User interface was sometimes not intuitive Ability to upload custom content was difficult to use Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Likelihood to Renew	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. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Usability	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. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability	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 Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Performance	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. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Support Rating	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. Incentivized PM Peigi Maides Security Awareness & Communication Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
In-Person Training	KnowBe4 Helpful and knowledgeable account managers have helped us navigate and use the system to our full potential Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Online Training	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 RC Rusty Carter Information security & Privacy Manager Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating	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. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered	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.). Incentivized PR Pau Redo CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) Read full review	SANS Institute We actually are currently migrating to Proofpoint Security Awareness Training because of its integration with the Proofpoint email filter. This will allow us to target specific users who are clicking on bad emails with specific training material. We have used KnowBe4 in the past as well, but it was rather costly compared to SANS Security Awareness Training and Proofpoint. SANS Security Awareness Training seems to be the least easy-to-use interface from an administrative perspective compared to the other two. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model	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. Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Scalability	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 Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Professional Services	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. Incentivized Tyson Wilcox IT Operations Manager Read full review	SANS Institute No answers on this topic
Return on Investment	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. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	SANS Institute Positive impact knowing we are educating our staff from phishing and potential cyber criminals Considering the potential for bad actors infiltrating our network, this is a small expense Pricing based on actual end users, worth the investment Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
ScreenShots	KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training Screenshots