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KnowBe4 vs OpenText Core Security Awareness Training​ vs Proofpoint Email Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Security Awareness Training category, the mindshare of KnowBe4 is 27.3%, down from 34.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Core Security Awareness Training​ is 1.3%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 9.1%, down from 12.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Awareness Training
 

Featured Reviews

Amran Hossain - PeerSpot reviewer
Training program enables comprehensive security awareness and cautious email practices
One feature that would be highly beneficial in a future release is the ability to automatically send training articles or security tips to users on a regular, scheduled basis—for example, weekly or monthly. While the current training modules and phishing simulations are highly effective, ongoing awareness is equally important to keep security top of mind in day-to-day operations. These short, digestible articles or micro-learning content could cover recent phishing trends, real-world examples of security breaches, or quick tips on secure online behavior. Periodic delivery would serve as a continuous learning touchpoint, reinforcing key concepts from the main training and adapting to evolving threats. Ideally, this feature would also include personalization, allowing content to be tailored based on a user’s role, previous training performance, or common mistakes observed in phishing simulations. This kind of proactive, lightweight training approach could significantly enhance employee engagement with security practices and help maintain a strong security posture over time.
reviewer1584120 - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly, has a good training content library and training videos, but it is not effective and the customization has limitations
We used it with one or two of our clients and were not impressed with it, so we stopped using it. We started using an alternative. We had a client who was looking for Security Awareness Training. We were using Weber but the client was not happy with it. We are using a different solution. The ability for customization has limitations. With the different phishing emails and different templates, you weren't really able to change specific things that we had wanted, or make specific changes that we felt comfortable with. When it came to sending it out to our users, it seemed to make it more confusing than it did to actually solving anything. It wasn't as effective as we had originally hoped just based on the content we were able to send out. They may have made some changes but during the time we used it, it just was not effective, and it didn't work with as many of the users as we would have liked.
AhmedRamadan - PeerSpot reviewer
Optimize email security with effective sandboxing and auto Pull for quarantine
Proofpoint is used as an email security gateway for big enterprises, primarily for their on-premises servers. Many customers also use it alongside Office 365 Proofpoint offers a complete solution for email security with features like DLP, email archiving, and encryption. The most valuable…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The impact of KnowBe4's automated training campaigns on the overall cybersecurity posture is quite comprehensive because it covers everything from the very basics of cybersecurity to evolving and emerging threats."
"I appreciate the training methodology. It is detailed with videos and real examples about handling phishing emails and dealing with social media links received through WhatsApp, email, or other platforms."
"KnowBe4 has a lot of high-quality content, and their interface is very user-friendly."
"The benefits I have seen from using KnowBe4 include that many people are now cautious."
"The main thing is the overall report card. We get to tell the percentages of users who click on links and who don't click on links. We also get an overall score or risk score from them, which also helps us."
"The solution is very well priced and very affordable."
"KnowBe4 has a training program that lasts approximately 15 or 30 minutes, and we provide this security training for our employees so they learn which emails they should open, which links they should click, which links they should not click, and which software they should install."
"Their support is very quick and informative, deserving a rating of 10."
"The GUI works well and it is really well built."
"Proofpoint Email Protection is stable enough and does its job of virus, malware, and email scam detection. Setting it up is not too complicated."
"The most valuable features of Proofpoint Email Protection are ease of use, data loss prevention, antivirus, and spam protection."
"Proofpoint Email Protection is a good product, and its most beneficial feature is the Threat Response Auto-Pull. I also like that it's an integrated email security solution."
"Its anti-phishing functionality is the most valuable. Certainly, the biggest problem I have is phishing."
"The Phish Alarm button allows users to submit questionable emails for review and complete analysis."
"Proofpoint Email Protection offers an additional layer of protection compared to other brands like Microsoft, Mimecast, and Barracuda. While these major companies excel at detecting malicious attachments, the solution goes further by analyzing the context of emails, allowing for more nuanced decision-making."
"Proofpoint provides an expandable project model, including DLP, email archiving, and encryption, which makes it a complete email security solution."
"It's the top choice because no company can operate without security. Ensuring email protection is a major priority for any organization when building its infrastructure."
 

Cons

"KnowBe4 should focus more on these issues and provide guidance on dealing with links received from individuals who attempt to manipulate our emotions, particularly on social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn."
"A lot of their training is designed for people who are almost entirely computer illiterate, which is fine because you want to be comprehensive in your cybersecurity training, but much of the content they have might not be required, and that might cause frustration, especially when you're trying to implement a cybersecurity program where you're training your entire workforce."
"Much of the content they have might not be required, and that might cause frustration, especially when you're trying to implement a cybersecurity program where you're training your entire workforce, as it may frustrate someone if they're forced to do training on how to set a password."
"It can be more interactive with users. We want to put the users in different scenarios and let them make decisions. For example, instead of making users go through a video and then asking questions, it can have a video where they click on the scenarios and have to make decisions. It can maybe have something like a live simulation. It would be nice for users."
"The training program is very interactive, but sometimes it is hard to follow the process, particularly the steps."
"Some courses have the same type of content, the same type of page. But not too much, I think some repeated content exists in multiple courses in KnowBe4."
"Enhancing the product's emotional intelligence, particularly by providing training content tailored to specific audiences, is an area for improvement."
"During the last downtime, it caused significant disruption as users couldn't access the system."
"The ability for customization has limitations."
"The flexibility of the solution can be improved."
"The price could be improved."
"One major threat is QR code phishing, along with TOAD (Telephone-Oriented Attack Delivery). TOAD attacks don't include links, URLs, or attachments in emails. Instead, attackers try to trick you into calling them, often by offering something enticing like a 50% discount on football matches."
"The email DLP portion could be a bit easier."
"Some use cases haven't been dealt with yet."
"Proofpoint has a lot of false alarms."
"Integration for reporting needs to be improved, it's too complex."
"Sometimes it detects false positives."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't know the cost, but I believe we are paying yearly. We did like a three-year or five-year contract. I am not aware of any extra costs in addition to a standard licensing fee."
"It's about five dollars a seat per month."
"Licensing is paid on a yearly basis. You can go to the official site to check their approximate pricing. It's based on the number of users or staff. It can vary from country to country, but for Ukraine, it works as it's stated on the site."
"I rate the product pricing as four out of ten."
"We were able to find an alternative that had more open-source and more customization that was at a cheaper price point."
"Pricing has recently been increased and the cost is a downside"
"Proofpoint Email Protection is a reasonably priced product, which means that it is neither too low nor too high in terms of price."
"They are competitively priced, but I have been forced to get quotes for other solutions now because they haven't been responding to requests to do the work that we would like them to do."
"Proofpoint is fairly expensive."
"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"It is on a yearly basis. Their floor for SMB doesn't matter. The user count is 100 users and below at $2,500 a year. Its cost is higher than other solutions. It is probably about 20% to 30% higher than what you would get with Microsoft. There are no additional costs. All costs are factored in. It can be improved pricing-wise so that it is affordable for the SMB market."
"The licensing is basically $8/user."
"It is multiple times more expensive, which made it very much less attractive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
Construction Company
6%
No data available
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about KnowBe4?
Their customizable nature allows us to create scenarios that closely resemble real-world phishing attempts, making th...
What needs improvement with KnowBe4?
I think KnowBe4 focuses primarily on emails, phishing emails, and business. We need more experience about dealing wit...
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Proofpoint Email Protection?
In terms of pricing, it is okay compared to others. I would say it is normal. Additional costs do come in, but it enh...
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Protection?
It became very expensive due to the nature of local circumstances, and I may advise Proofpoint to adjust marketing so...
 

Also Known As

No data available
No data available
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Cofense PhishMe, Proofpoint Digital Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

West Aurora Public School District 129
Pink Hat Technology Management
Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
Find out what your peers are saying about KnowBe4, Proofpoint, Sophos and others in Security Awareness Training. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.