# Security awareness training for enterprise buyers: what AI models recommend, September 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "security awareness training platform" and as "phishing simulation and training tool", six framings each, to twelve models with search on, on behalf of an enterprise B2B company. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/security/security-awareness-training/enterprise/

**Standing:** KnowBe4 leads with 65% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 40 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KnowBe4 | 65% | 18% | 60 |
| 2 | Hoxhunt | 28% | 4% | 45 |
| 3 | Infosec IQ | 2% | 17% | 12 |
| 4 | Proofpoint ZenGuide | 0% | 13% | 55 |
| 5 | SoSafe | 0% | 8% | 25 |
| 6 | MetaCompliance | 0% | 27% | 15 |
| 7 | Mimecast Engage | 0% | 20% | 10 |
| 8 | Arctic Wolf Managed Security Awareness | 0% | 36% | 11 |

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Hoxhunt; alternatives KnowBe4, Proofpoint ZenGuide
- GPT-5.4 mini: KnowBe4; alternatives Hoxhunt, Mimecast Engage, Proofpoint ZenGuide
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Hoxhunt; alternatives KnowBe4, NINJIO, Proofpoint ZenGuide
- Perplexity Sonar: Hoxhunt, KnowBe4; alternatives Proofpoint ZenGuide, SoSafe
- Grok 4.1 Fast: KnowBe4; alternatives Hoxhunt, Proofpoint ZenGuide
- Mistral Small: KnowBe4; alternatives Cofense PhishMe, Hoxhunt, Proofpoint ZenGuide
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: KnowBe4; alternatives Hoxhunt, Proofpoint ZenGuide, SANS Security Awareness
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: KnowBe4; alternatives Proofpoint ZenGuide, SANS Security Awareness
- Kimi K2: KnowBe4; alternatives Hoxhunt, Proofpoint ZenGuide
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Hoxhunt; alternatives KnowBe4, MetaCompliance, Proofpoint ZenGuide, SoSafe
- MiniMax M2.5: no first choice

## Sources the answers cite

64 of 72 answers came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- hoxhunt.com: 44 answers, 98 citations
- expertinsights.com: 41 answers, 67 citations
- adaptivesecurity.com: 32 answers, 99 citations
- brside.com: 32 answers, 57 citations
- knowbe4.com: 23 answers, 45 citations
- ransomleak.com: 23 answers, 27 citations
- learn.g2.com: 23 answers, 23 citations
- gartner.com: 20 answers, 33 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://hoxhunt.com/blog/best-security-awareness-training (34 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/security-awareness-training/top-security-awareness-content-and-development-solutions (24 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/security-awareness-training/the-top-security-awareness-training-platforms-for-businesses (23 answers)
- https://learn.g2.com/best-security-awareness-training-software (23 answers)
- https://brside.com/blog/best-cybersecurity-awareness-training-platforms (20 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/security-awareness-computer-based-training (17 answers)
- https://ransomleak.com/blog/best-security-awareness-training-2026 (17 answers)
- https://hoxhunt.com/blog/knowbe4-competitors (15 answers)
- https://hoxhunt.com/blog/knowbe4-vs-proofpoint (14 answers)
- https://knowbe4.com/compare/leading-security-awareness-training (14 answers)

## Warned against

- KnowBe4: 11 of 60 labels negative. "The platforms to be most cautious about are the ones that: Have a huge gap between admin satisfaction and user satisfaction (like KnowBe4)." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)
- Proofpoint ZenGuide: 7 of 55 labels negative. "If you evaluate legacy enterprise leaders (like KnowBe4 or Proofpoint)... use these negotiating levers" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt)
- Arctic Wolf Managed Security Awareness: 4 of 11 labels negative. "Why avoid: Limited visibility into metrics, heavy reliance on manual setup or engineering support for changes" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt)
- MetaCompliance: 4 of 15 labels negative. "should avoid or proceed with extreme caution when considering KnowBe4 and MetaCompliance due to widespread user dissatisfaction" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.