CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Adaptive Security vs KnowBe4

Adaptive Security sells a platform that consolidates security awareness training, phishing simulations, email security, AI governance and human risk monitoring. KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform. CISO Tribune files both under Security awareness training and Email security. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Adaptive Security
  • KnowBe4
Adaptive Security vs KnowBe4: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security sells a platform that consolidates security awareness training, phishing simulations, email security, AI governance and human risk monitoring.adaptivesecurity.comKnowBe4KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform.knowbe4.com
What it sells
  • Security Awareness Training[2][3][14][23]Interactive training modules covering AI threats, phishing, voice cloning, and compliance.
  • Phish Triage[2][3][17]Classifies employee-reported emails and takes action on them.
  • Compliance[2][3][21]Compliance and policy training for frameworks such as HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS and CCPA.
  • Security Awareness Training[4][5][7]Education on recognizing threats, reinforced with phishing and vishing simulations.
  • Cloud Email Security[10]A suite of AI-driven products for inbound and outbound email.
  • Defend[1][4][5][6][10][11]Inbound email protection against phishing, ransomware and business email compromise.
  • Prevent[5][10][12]Outbound email protection and data loss prevention.
  • Compliance Plus[13]Compliance training platform.
  • Student Edition[5]Security awareness training for academic institutions.
  • BreachSim[14]A free tool to identify network vulnerabilities.
  • Weak Password Test[15]A free tool that finds users with weak passwords.
Categories
Headquarters
New York, United States[1]Clearwater, United States
Founded
2024[1][17]2010[1]
Ownership and funding
Privately held[1][12][13]Owned by Vista Equity Partners since 2023[2][4][8][9]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • October 6, 2026Adaptive Security was named to Fast Company's 2026 Next Big Things in Tech list.[11]
  • June 9, 2026Adaptive Security announced a 15-video security awareness training series starring Conan O'Brien, available to its current enterprise customers.[23]
  • April 23, 2026Adaptive Security published a product update announcing a beta release of its AI Governance capability.[10]
  • December 16, 2025Adaptive Security announced an $81 million Series B with new investors NVIDIA, Bain Capital Ventures, Capital One Ventures and Citi Ventures, plus existing investors.[9]
  • May 5, 2026KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation.[7]
  • April 6, 2026Dashlane announced an integration with KnowBe4 that links credential risk detection to security training for at-risk users.[18]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 4, 2026[8]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 4, 2026[9]
Who it fits
From its own pages, Adaptive Security sells mainly to organizations that want training, simulations, email security and AI governance in one platform. Its enterprise material addresses security teams that use separate tools for each of those functions. Its healthcare material addresses training staff at healthcare organizations, and it describes a hospital and a bank among its customers. Its pages address lean IT and security teams as well as established SOCs.Not written yet
Last verified
September 27, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Security awareness training is the primary category of both Adaptive Security and KnowBe4; both are also filed under Email security.
  • Both are headquartered in the United States.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Adaptive Security is also filed under AI governance. KnowBe4 is also filed under Human risk management and AI model and agent security.
  • Adaptive Security lists Security Awareness Training, Phish Triage and Compliance. KnowBe4 lists Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more.
  • Adaptive Security is headquartered in New York, United States. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States.
  • Adaptive Security was founded in 2024. KnowBe4 was founded in 2010.
  • Adaptive Security is privately held. KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files both Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 under security awareness training as the primary category, and both also sell email security. Adaptive Security sells a platform that combines security awareness training, phishing simulations, email security, AI governance and human risk monitoring. KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform. On email, Adaptive Security re-analyzes inbound messages after native filtering, while KnowBe4 splits its Cloud Email Security suite into Defend for inbound mail and Prevent for outbound mail and data loss prevention. KnowBe4 also lists Student Edition for academic institutions, Compliance Plus, and two free tools, BreachSim and Weak Password Test. Adaptive Security lists compliance training for HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS and CCPA, and an AI Governance capability that it released in beta in a product update on April 23, 2026.

Adaptive Security is headquartered in New York, was founded in 2024, and is privately held. On December 16, 2025, it announced an $81 million Series B with new investors NVIDIA, Bain Capital Ventures, Capital One Ventures and Citi Ventures, plus existing investors. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, was founded in 2010, and has been owned by Vista Equity Partners since 2023.

Adaptive Security describes Lake City Bank and Bay Federal among its customers. KnowBe4 names Bridgewater State University and says Hood College used Student Edition, and it says it serves more than 70,000 organizations worldwide. On October 6, 2026, Adaptive Security was named to Fast Company's 2026 Next Big Things in Tech list. On May 5, 2026, KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation.

What it sells: Adaptive Security

What Security Awareness Training does[2][3][14][23]
Training modules are drawn from a library of over 1,000 resources. Triggered and one-time campaigns run automatically, with completion tracked across the organization. Customers can build custom modules from their own policies using Adaptive's AI content creator.
What Phish Triage does[2][3][17]
The Phish Alert Button and AI-powered Phish Triage classify employee-reported emails and automatically take action. Phish Triage remediates confirmed threats and notifies affected employees.
What Compliance does[2][3][21]
Pre-built tracks cover HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, CCPA, and more. Customers can upload a policy document or describe a requirement to generate training with AI. Audit-ready reports show completions and scores by framework, employee, and date.

What it sells: KnowBe4

What Security Awareness Training does[4][5][7]
KnowBe4 says it delivers timely, personalized education that helps people recognize threats. Lessons are reinforced with realistic phishing and vishing simulations.
What Cloud Email Security does[10]
KnowBe4 Cloud Email Security is a suite of AI-driven products designed to detect and prevent advanced email threats across inbound and outbound communication. Contextual banners and prompts are delivered at the point of risk.
What Defend does[1][4][5][6][10][11]
Defend detects and blocks phishing, ransomware and business email compromise with behavioral AI and self-learning threat models. Defend inserts color-coded banners on flagged email and rewrites links, checking them at time of click. Defend integrates with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 through API-based connectivity.
What Prevent does[5][10][12]
Prevent monitors outbound email in real time and alerts users to risky behavior, such as accidental sends or misdirected emails. Prevent is integrated with Microsoft Outlook and Office 365. Prevent Enterprise adds misdirected content detection and custom DLP policies.
What Compliance Plus does[13]
Compliance Plus has a training library of 1000+ items of compliance training content. Compliance Plus offers targeted training for requirements such as HIPAA, PCI and GDPR. Organizations can upload SCORM-compliant content to the KnowBe4 LMS.
What Student Edition does[5]
The KnowBe4 Student Edition enables academic institutions to prepare students to identify and prevent modern cyberattacks. Its training content covers phishing, BYOD risks, password hygiene, social media risks and campus scams.
What BreachSim does[14]
BreachSim is a free tool from KnowBe4 to identify network vulnerabilities. BreachSim tests over 12 realistic data exfiltration scenarios following the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
What Weak Password Test does[15]
The Weak Password Test is a free tool to help IT Administrators know which users have passwords that are easily guessed. It checks the Active Directory and generates a report of users with weak passwords.

Questions about Adaptive Security and KnowBe4

What do Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 sell?
Adaptive Security sells Security Awareness Training, Phish Triage and Compliance. KnowBe4 sells Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more.
Are Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 in the same category?
Yes. Security awareness training is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
Where are Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 headquartered?
Adaptive Security is headquartered in New York, United States. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States.
When were Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 founded?
Adaptive Security was founded in 2024. KnowBe4 was founded in 2010.
Who owns Adaptive Security and KnowBe4?
Adaptive Security is privately held. KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023.
Who are Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 sold to?
From its own pages, Adaptive Security sells mainly to organizations that want training, simulations, email security and AI governance in one platform.
What have Adaptive Security and KnowBe4 announced recently?
October 6, 2026: Adaptive Security was named to Fast Company's 2026 Next Big Things in Tech list. May 5, 2026: KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation.

About Adaptive Security

Adaptive Security sells a platform that consolidates security awareness training, phishing simulations, email security, AI governance and human risk monitoring. Adaptive Security says its products work together or stand alone.[2][3][14]

Adaptive Security says adversaries use AI and LLMs to rapidly generate sophisticated social engineering attacks that exploit organizational complexity at every level. For enterprises, Adaptive Security describes threats that include executive impersonation targeting finance and leadership teams, AI-generated spear phishing built from OSINT data, deepfake voice and video attacks, and inbound email threats that existing gateways miss. Adaptive Security describes attacks that arrive via email, SMS, voice, and video.[2][3][14]

Security Awareness Training consists of interactive training modules covering AI threats, phishing, voice cloning, and compliance, drawn from a library of over 1,000 resources. Triggered and one-time campaigns in Security Awareness Training run automatically, with completion tracked across the organization. Adaptive Security supports custom modules built from a customer's own policies using Adaptive's AI content creator. Adaptive Security says its healthcare training modules are designed to be completed in under 10 minutes. Adaptive Security integrates with Workday, ADP, and other common LMS platforms used in healthcare environments, and supports SCORM exports for organizations that need to push content into an existing learning management system.[2][3][5]

Phishing Simulations recreate the people, channels, and business situations employees trust. Adaptive Security simulates every major attack vector, including email phishing, SMS, voice calls, and deepfake video attacks. When someone fails a simulation, Adaptive Security delivers a short micro-lesson explaining exactly what to look for next time. Podium uses Adaptive Security's realistic voice and SMS phishing simulations alongside automated training campaigns, custom content, and integrations with Okta and Slack.[4][5][15][16]

Adaptive Security's Email Security re-analyzes every inbound message after native filtering to catch the attacks that reach the inbox anyway, then remediates them automatically. Threats are broken out by type: credential phishing, callback phishing, business email compromise, extortion, and malicious payloads. Adaptive Email Security detects and removes phishing attacks, including threats employees never report, and can investigate and remove detected threats across affected inboxes, including messages that have already been delivered. Adaptive Email Security examines who is making a request, how they communicate, and the business context behind the message to identify fraud that may contain no malicious link or attachment.[2][15][18]

The Phish Alert Button and AI-powered Phish Triage classify employee-reported emails and automatically take action. Adaptive Phish Triage automatically classifies and resolves high-confidence reports, allowing the security team to focus on messages that require attention. Adaptive Security can send verdicts and relevant context to supported downstream security workflows through integrations.[2]

Adaptive AI Governance builds a clear view of AI activity across a customer's organization. Adaptive Security says customers can see how employees use AI, prevent sensitive data exposure, and apply context-aware policies across browsers, desktop apps, and developer workflows. Adaptive Security defines shadow AI as the use of AI tools, accounts, or workflows that an organization has not approved or cannot properly see and govern. Adaptive Security distinguishes personal and company AI accounts used in browser-based workflows.[19][20]

For compliance training, Adaptive Security offers pre-built tracks for HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, CCPA, and more, with state and country-specific content in 40+ localized languages. Customers can upload a policy document or describe a requirement to generate training with AI. Adaptive Security exports audit-ready reports with completions and scores by framework, employee, and date.[3][21]

Adaptive Security says it is SOC 2 Type II certified, HIPAA compliant, and GDPR compliant. Adaptive Security connects to a customer's HRIS and identity provider so employee groups stay in sync automatically as people join, leave, or change roles. Adaptive Security describes Lake City Bank and Bay Federal among its customers, and says First Liberty achieved 98% security training completion, with staff finishing in about a day.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][14][18][21][22]

Adaptive Security on the record

Sources

Adaptive Security full record

  1. [1]Openai backed adaptive security named to fortunes cyber 60 list 302600736Adaptive Security via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published October 31, 2025 · Tier A
  2. [2]Protect Against Deepfakes and AI-Powered Attacks | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Finance | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Education | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Healthcare | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Government | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Hospitality | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Sports | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Our Series B, and the Future of Security Awareness in the Age of AIAdaptive Security · published December 16, 2025 · Tier A
  10. [10]AI Governance (Beta)Adaptive Security · published April 23, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Adaptive Security Named to Fast Company's 2026 Next Big Things in Tech ListAdaptive Security · published October 6, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Adaptive Security Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  13. [13]Adaptive Security Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  14. [14]Enterprise | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Payment & Vendor Fraud Prevention | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Deepfake & AI Impersonation Protection | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Automated Phishing Response | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Credential Phishing Protection | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]AI Governance & Data Protection | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Browser Security | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]Compliance & Policy Training | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  22. [22]Executive Risk Reduction | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  23. [23]Conan O'Brien Teams Up With Adaptive Security To Fight AI Threats with LaughsPR Newswire · published June 9, 2026 · Tier A

KnowBe4 full record

  1. [1]About usKnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Vista equity partners completes acquisition of knowbe4KnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · published February 1, 2023 · Tier A
  3. [3]Contact usKnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]KnowBe4 | Secure Your Digital Workforce: Human + AIKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]KnowBe4 Student Edition | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Warning: Attackers Are Using Calendar Invite Files to Evade Security FiltersKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]KnowBe4 Launches AI-Native Attack Simulation & Training Product and Twelfth AI AgentBusiness Wire · published May 5, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training Reviews 2026 - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
  9. [9]KnowBe4 Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
  10. [10]Cloud Email Security for Microsoft 365 | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Pricing | DefendKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Pricing | Prevent | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Compliance Plus: Compliance Training Platform | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]BreachSim | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Weak Password Test | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Security Culture Report Analysis Center | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]KnowBe4 Customer Success | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Dashlane Launches First-of-its-Kind Integration with KnowBe4 to Transform Security Awareness into Proactive DefensePR Newswire · published April 6, 2026 · Tier A

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