CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

KnowBe4 vs Mimecast

KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform. Mimecast describes the problem it addresses as human risk. CISO Tribune files both under 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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  • KnowBe4
  • Mimecast
KnowBe4 vs Mimecast: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
KnowBe4KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform.knowbe4.comMimecastMimecast describes the problem it addresses as human risk.mimecast.com
What it sells
  • 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.
  • Managed Threat Response[8]24x7 analyst response to every user-reported email.
Categories
Headquarters
Clearwater, United StatesLondon, United Kingdom[1]
Founded
2010[1]2003[1][6]
Ownership and funding
Owned by Vista Equity Partners since 2023[2][4][8][9]Owned by Permira since 2022[3][4][8][13][14][19]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • 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]
  • June 25, 2026Mimecast appointed Ranjan Singh as its Chief Executive Officer.[12]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 4, 2026[8]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 4, 2026[9]
Who it fits
Not written yetFrom its own pages, Mimecast sells mainly to organizations that want to reduce risk caused by human actions across email, chat and file-sharing. Its pages say its plans are designed for businesses of all sizes, and its customer stories cover both small and medium businesses and enterprises. Mimecast says Incydr offers FedRAMP-authorized solutions suited to government agencies and contractors. It describes Cloud Archive as helping IT, Legal, Compliance and HR teams respond to legal inquiries or compliance audits. Its pages also point to security teams that handle user-reported email and insider risk.
Last verified
September 27, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • KnowBe4 and Mimecast are both filed under Email security.

Where they differ, field by field

  • KnowBe4's primary category is Security awareness training; Mimecast's is Email security.
  • KnowBe4 is also filed under Human risk management and AI model and agent security. Mimecast is also filed under Email authentication and DMARC, Collaboration app security and Insider risk management.
  • KnowBe4 lists Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more. Mimecast lists Managed Threat Response.
  • KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States. Mimecast is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
  • KnowBe4 was founded in 2010. Mimecast was founded in 2003.
  • KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023. Mimecast is owned by Permira, since 2022.

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.

What it sells: Mimecast

What Managed Threat Response does[8]
Mimecast Managed Threat Response has analysts investigate, classify and remediate each email users report. It works with the existing report button.

Questions about KnowBe4 and Mimecast

What do KnowBe4 and Mimecast sell?
KnowBe4 sells Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more. Mimecast sells Managed Threat Response.
Are KnowBe4 and Mimecast in the same category?
They share Email security. KnowBe4's primary category is Security awareness training and Mimecast's is Email security.
Where are KnowBe4 and Mimecast headquartered?
KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States. Mimecast is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
When were KnowBe4 and Mimecast founded?
KnowBe4 was founded in 2010. Mimecast was founded in 2003.
Who owns KnowBe4 and Mimecast?
KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023. Mimecast is owned by Permira, since 2022.
Who are KnowBe4 and Mimecast sold to?
From its own pages, Mimecast sells mainly to organizations that want to reduce risk caused by human actions across email, chat and file-sharing.
What have KnowBe4 and Mimecast announced recently?
May 5, 2026: KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation. June 25, 2026: Mimecast appointed Ranjan Singh as its Chief Executive Officer.

About KnowBe4

KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform. KnowBe4 says it protects humans, and now their AI agents too. KnowBe4 says its platform uses 15 years of behavioral data against threats including social engineering, prompt injection and shadow AI. KnowBe4 says it serves more than 70,000 organizations worldwide.[6]

KnowBe4 describes its personalized education as helping people recognize threats, followed by realistic phishing and vishing simulations. KnowBe4's AI-Native Security Awareness Training gives academic institutions a path to reducing student-driven human risk. Real-Time Coaching sends a contextual SecurityTip to reinforce secure behavior when a student clicks a suspicious link or tries to access restricted content. AIDA automates training assignments, phishing simulations, policy quizzes and knowledge refreshers based on each student's individual risk profile. KnowBe4 says its agent security is powered by AIDA, short for Artificial Intelligence Defense Agents, and a proprietary Risk Score. KnowBe4 says it offers real-time visibility, automated threat detection and active AI agent control to eliminate AI security blind spots.[5][6]

KnowBe4 Cloud Email Security is a suite of AI-driven products designed to detect and prevent advanced email threats across inbound and outbound communication. Defend detects and blocks phishing, ransomware and business email compromise with behavioral AI and self-learning threat models, and enhances Microsoft 365's built-in security. Prevent monitors outbound email in real time and alerts users to risky behavior, such as accidental sends or misdirected emails. Protect offers policy-based email encryption and automatically enforces an organization's security policies. KnowBe4 says its layered cloud defenses spot and stop phishing, malware and social engineering attacks. KnowBe4 Cloud Email Security delivers contextual banners and prompts at the point of risk, which KnowBe4 says augment security awareness and training through real-time teachable moments.[5][10]

Defend combines AI-powered detection, real-time user education and actionable insights to protect against phishing threats. Defend inserts color-coded banners when an inbound email is flagged, providing risk explanations and teachable feedback. Defend rewrites links and checks them at time of click. Defend detects QR codes within email to warn users of quishing attempts. Defend includes sender policy verification lookup and validation for SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Defend filters graymail to a separate folder. Defend integrates into MS Outlook apps on Windows Desktop, Mac, iOS and Android, and with MS Safelinks. The KnowBe4 Defend and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 integration delivers threat management through API-based connectivity. Defend has an API that supports integration into a SIEM/SOAR. A Microsoft Sentinel connector is available on Azure marketplace for Native Microsoft customers.[5][11]

Prevent uses machine learning to analyze emails in real time, focusing on sender behavior, content and recipients. Prevent is integrated with Microsoft Outlook and Office 365. Prevent alerts users when they receive or attempt to interact with domains less than 50 days old. Prevent Enterprise adds misdirected content detection, custom DLP policies and integration with Microsoft Azure Information Protection (Purview). Prevent Enterprise features are customized to an organization's DLP requirements and require Professional Services to implement.[10][12]

Compliance Plus has a training library of 1000+ items of compliance training content. Compliance Plus offers targeted training for legislative and data privacy requirements, such as HIPAA, PCI and GDPR. With Compliance Plus, organizations can incorporate their own policies and procedures into brandable modules and upload SCORM-compliant training and video content to the KnowBe4 LMS. The KnowBe4 Student Edition enables academic institutions to prepare students to identify and prevent modern cyberattacks. Student Edition training content covers phishing, BYOD risks, password hygiene, social media risks, campus scams and off-campus data security.[5][13]

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. The Weak Password Test is a free tool to help IT Administrators know which users have passwords that are easily guessed. The Weak Password Test checks the Active Directory for several types of weak password-related threats and generates a report of users with weak passwords. KnowBe4's Security Culture Benchmarking Analysis Center provides analysis of security culture benchmarking data by industry, organizational size and geographical region.[14][15][16]

Hood College used Student Edition to see an increase in reported phishing emails and to reduce clicking on phishing campaigns. Bridgewater State University is a KnowBe4 customer. The Mido Foundation equipped young learners to recognize and respond to real-world cyber threats with KnowBe4. One customer says it selected KnowBe4 Defend and Prevent as added security layers in its Microsoft 365 environment. The KnowBe4 CSM team assists in guiding customers through onboarding tasks at no additional cost. KnowBe4 Customer Success Managers work with customers to tailor program requirements based on organizational goals, objectives and desired outcomes. KnowBe4's Customer Success Team spans the globe.[3][5][6][10][11][13][17]

KnowBe4 on the record

Sources

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

Mimecast full record

  1. [1]CompanyMimecast · mimecast.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]ProductsMimecast · mimecast.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Permira completes acquisition of mimecastPermira · permira.com · published May 17, 2022 · Tier A
  4. [4]Human Risk Management & Advanced Email Security | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Advanced Email Security | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Mimecast Incydr | See & Stop Data Loss From Insiders | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Security Awareness Training | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Email Incident Response Service | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Email Archive | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Aware | Keep Collaboration Secure & Compliant | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Cybersecurity Products and Services | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Mimecast Appoints Ranjan Singh as Chief Executive OfficerGlobeNewswire · published June 25, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Mimecast Advanced Email Security Reviews & Product Details - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
  14. [14]Mimecast Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
  15. [15]Cyber Security Solutions | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Email & Collaboration Threat Protection | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Collaboration Threat Protection | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Mimecast Plans | MimecastMimecast · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Mimecast Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier C

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