Phishing is still the entry point for most breaches, and training employees to recognize it has turned into its own software category: security awareness training and phishing simulation platforms. We looked directly at the pricing and product pages for the three names that come up most often in 2026 — KnowBe4, Proofpoint, and Hoxhunt — to see what’s actually published, what requires a sales call, and how the feature sets differ.
The headline finding: this is not a uniformly “contact sales” category the way some security software is. KnowBe4 and Proofpoint both publish real per-seat MSRP pricing on their own sites, with tiers you can actually read before talking to anyone. Hoxhunt is the outlier — its pricing is entirely quote-based, scoped through a call, with no published rate card at all.
At a Glance
| Vendor | Published Price | Free Trial | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| KnowBe4 | Published MSRP, per seat/month, billed on a 3-year term, tiered by seat count (25–50 up to 1001+). Example: $2.40–$3.75/seat/month for 25–50 seats (Foundation/Advanced), down to $1.63–$2.79 for 501–1000 seats. | No free trial of paid product; free “Attack Simulation Test” sandbox tool offered | Buyers who want to compare real tiered pricing before a sales call |
| Proofpoint | Security Awareness Training is sold as an add-on module (PESA) to Proofpoint Essentials at a published MSRP of $1.00 per active user/month; Essentials email security tiers run $2.75–$5.33/user/month | Not stated on the pages reviewed; demo request offered | Businesses already buying or considering Proofpoint Essentials email security |
| Hoxhunt | Not published; priced per employee via custom quote after a scoping call | No free trial; demo only | Buyers prioritizing a specific AI-personalized training approach over price transparency |
Short Verdict
KnowBe4 is the only one of the three that lets you build a real budget estimate from its own website, with a published per-seat rate card across six seat-count tiers and two training depths (Foundation and Advanced). Proofpoint’s security awareness features are bundled as a specific, separately priced add-on (PESA, $1/user/month) on top of its Essentials email security suite, which makes the most sense if you’re already in the Proofpoint ecosystem or considering it for email security too. Hoxhunt publishes no pricing at all — every quote runs through a 30-minute scoping call — so it’s the hardest of the three to evaluate on cost alone, even though its product pitch (AI-personalized “adaptive” phishing training) is distinctive.
What Each One Is
KnowBe4 is the largest and most established name in this category, built specifically around phishing simulation and security awareness content. Its site lists two training levels — SAT Foundation and SAT Advanced — each with published MSRP pricing in standard volume tiers (25–50, 51–100, 101–250, 251–500, 501–1000, and 1001+ seats, where the top tier requires a custom quote). Per its own site, KnowBe4 offers “year-round unlimited simulated phishing attacks” with templates, a Phish Alert Button, Social Engineering Indicators, Callback Phishing and Simulated Vishing tests, and even USB/QR code simulations. Its training library runs from 200+ modules (Foundation) to 1,000+ (Advanced), and reporting includes 60+ built-in reports, executive reporting, and a proprietary Risk Score from what it calls its SmartRisk Engine. Add-ons like Compliance Plus, Student Edition, and PhishER Plus (for email-based incident response) are priced separately, per seat.
Proofpoint approaches this differently: security awareness training isn’t a standalone flagship product on its small-business pricing sheet, it’s a specific line item. Proofpoint’s published Essentials price list names “Proofpoint Essentials Security Awareness” (SKU PP-ESS-PSAT-A) at $1.00 per active user per month, including simulated phishing and attachment emails plus more than 40 training modules, sold alongside (not folded into) Proofpoint Essentials email security, which itself runs $2.75 to $5.33 per user/month across its Business, Advanced, and Professional tiers. Proofpoint also has a separate, larger enterprise Security Awareness Training product (branded with features like a Satori Phishing Simulation Agent, AI “ThreatFlip” that turns real detected phishing into training material, and a Human Risk Explorer dashboard), but that page does not publish pricing — it’s demo-and-quote.
Hoxhunt positions itself around AI-driven, individually adaptive phishing training rather than one-size-fits-all campaigns — its own description is “personalized phishing training.” Its pricing page states plainly that pricing is per employee and depends on headcount and the capabilities selected, determined on a 30-minute scoping call; no rate card, tiers, or starting price appear anywhere on the page. Hoxhunt’s site highlights an administrator dashboard and reporting tour, plus “Email Incident Response Automation” for managing reported phishing, but doesn’t name specific third-party email security integrations on its pricing page.
Pricing Breakdown
| Vendor / Tier | Published Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| KnowBe4 SAT Foundation, 25–50 seats | $2.40/seat/month | MSRP, billed monthly on a 3-year term, excludes tax; prices as of May 2026 |
| KnowBe4 SAT Advanced, 25–50 seats | $3.75/seat/month | Same billing terms |
| KnowBe4 SAT Foundation, 501–1000 seats | $1.63/seat/month | Per-seat price drops at higher volume tiers |
| KnowBe4 SAT Advanced, 501–1000 seats | $2.79/seat/month | Six volume tiers total; 1001+ requires a custom quote |
| KnowBe4 add-ons (Compliance Plus, PhishER Plus, Student Edition, integrations) | Separate per-seat pricing | Not bundled into base SAT pricing |
| Proofpoint Essentials Security Awareness (PESA) | $1.00/active user/month | MSRP; sold alongside Essentials email security, not included in it |
| Proofpoint Essentials Business/Advanced/Professional (email security) | $2.75 / $3.75 / $5.33 per user/month | MSRP; security awareness is a separate add-on cost |
| Proofpoint Security Awareness Training (enterprise product) | Not published | Demo/quote only on the main product page |
| Hoxhunt | Not published | Fully custom quote, per employee, after a scoping call |
Pros
- KnowBe4: Genuinely transparent, tiered MSRP pricing you can review without talking to sales; very large training content library (1,000+ modules at the Advanced tier); broad simulated-attack formats including vishing, USB, and QR code tests; mature reporting with a named risk-scoring engine.
- Proofpoint: Security awareness pricing is clearly itemized ($1/user/month for Essentials-tier PESA) rather than hidden in a bundle; natural fit if you’re also buying Proofpoint’s email security, since reported-phishing workflows and Proofpoint’s wider security stack are built to work together; the enterprise-tier product adds AI-driven features like ThreatFlip (converting real detected attacks into training simulations).
- Hoxhunt: Product positioning around individualized, adaptive training rather than blanket campaigns is a genuinely different approach from blast-style phishing simulations; includes incident-response automation for reported phishing emails.
Cons
- KnowBe4: Pricing is billed on a 3-year term, which is a longer commitment than some small businesses want; no free trial of the actual training product, only a limited free phishing-test sandbox; the highest seat tier (1001+) isn’t published either.
- Proofpoint: The published MSRP pricing we found applies to the SMB-oriented Essentials bundle; the larger enterprise Security Awareness Training product (with the more advanced AI and risk-scoring features) does not publish pricing at all, so a bigger organization will likely still need a quote; security awareness is an added cost on top of email security, not included.
- Hoxhunt: Zero published pricing anywhere, which makes it impossible to compare against KnowBe4’s and Proofpoint’s rate cards without engaging sales; no free trial; feature claims around reporting and integrations are described in general terms on the pricing page rather than itemized.
Who It’s a Good Fit For
Choose KnowBe4 if you want to build a defensible budget estimate before ever talking to a salesperson, and you want the broadest content library and simulated-attack variety (including vishing and physical USB/QR tests) alongside mainstream phishing campaigns.
Choose Proofpoint if you’re already using or evaluating Proofpoint Essentials for email security — the $1/user/month security awareness add-on is a clean, itemized way to bolt training onto an email security purchase you’re likely already making, and the combined reported-phishing workflow benefits from being in one vendor’s stack.
Consider Hoxhunt if the adaptive, individualized training model is specifically what you’re after and you’re comfortable going through a scoping call before knowing the cost — just don’t expect to compare it apples-to-apples with KnowBe4 or Proofpoint on price without that call happening first.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
A business that needs to lock in pricing within a tight budgeting cycle and cannot wait on a sales process should be cautious with Hoxhunt. A business that wants security awareness training folded into one line item rather than itemized separately may find Proofpoint’s structure (email security and PESA sold separately) less convenient than it first appears. And a business unwilling to commit to a 3-year billing term should scrutinize KnowBe4’s standard terms before signing.
Bottom Line
This category is less opaque than reputation suggests — two of the three vendors we checked, KnowBe4 and Proofpoint, publish real per-seat MSRP pricing you can read without a phone call, and only Hoxhunt is fully quote-based. KnowBe4 wins on price transparency and content depth. Proofpoint makes the most sense bundled with its own email security line. Hoxhunt’s distinct adaptive-training pitch may justify the extra step of a scoping call, but you should go in knowing you won’t find a number on the website first.
Security awareness training is only one layer of defense against account compromise — pairing it with strong authentication matters just as much. If you haven’t already, it’s worth reading our breakdowns of the best 2FA apps in 2026 and passkeys vs. two-factor authentication, since even well-trained employees benefit from phishing-resistant login methods as a backstop.
FAQ
Is security awareness training pricing always quote-based?
Not always. KnowBe4 and Proofpoint both publish specific MSRP numbers on their own sites — KnowBe4 as tiered per-seat pricing for its SAT Foundation and Advanced products, and Proofpoint as a $1/user/month add-on (PESA) to its Essentials email security line. Hoxhunt is the one of these three that publishes no pricing at all.
Does Proofpoint’s security awareness training come with its email security, or is it extra?
It’s extra. Proofpoint’s own Essentials price list lists “Proofpoint Essentials Security Awareness” as a separate SKU (PP-ESS-PSAT-A) at $1.00 per active user per month, sold in addition to the Essentials email security tiers ($2.75–$5.33/user/month).
What’s different about Hoxhunt’s approach to phishing training?
Hoxhunt markets itself around personalized, adaptive phishing simulations tailored to the individual rather than identical campaigns sent to everyone, plus automation for handling reported phishing emails. It doesn’t publish how this is priced; you get a quote after a scoping call based on headcount and desired capabilities.
Can I try any of these before buying?
None of the three offer a full free trial of their paid training product based on their current sites. KnowBe4 offers a free standalone phishing-test tool (the Attack Simulation Test) rather than a trial of the full platform; Proofpoint and Hoxhunt both offer demos instead of trials.
Does KnowBe4’s pricing require a long-term contract?
KnowBe4’s published MSRP pricing is billed monthly on a 3-year term, per its own pricing page (as of May 2026). That’s a longer standard commitment than many SaaS products, so it’s worth confirming current terms directly with KnowBe4 before budgeting.