8 Best Smishing Simulation Tools for Enterprise Security Teams (2026)

The best smishing simulation tools for enterprise security teams in 2026 are Cimento, Hoxhunt, Adaptive Security, Proofpoint ZenGuide, Keepnet Labs, SoSafe, Living Security, and Arsen. Cimento fits teams that want SMS, voice, and email simulations scored in one risk model, with security testing for AI agents on the same platform. Hoxhunt and Adaptive Security are strong for engagement and deepfake realism, Proofpoint suits teams already on its email stack, and Keepnet Labs, SoSafe, Living Security, and Arsen cover SMS well for global and EU workforces.

Most teams evaluating smishing tools have run email phishing tests for years. The gap is everything off the corporate inbox: a "your MFA code expired" text, a fake toll notice, a message from the "CFO's assistant." Those arrive on a phone your email gateway never sees.

Below are the eight platforms enterprise teams most often shortlist for SMS phishing simulation, plus a plan for running the program.

Why Email Phishing Simulation Isn't Enough Anymore

Most awareness programs were designed around the inbox. Email is still the largest social engineering channel, but attackers have moved a growing share of first touches to SMS because it skips every control a security team has spent a decade tuning.

The FTC reported that people lost $470 million to scams that started with a text message in 2024, more than five times the 2020 figure (FTC Data Spotlight, April 2025). The top categories were fake package delivery problems, phony job offers, fake fraud alerts, unpaid toll notices, and "wrong number" texts. Each pretext translates directly into a workplace attack: swap the bank for your IdP and the toll notice for a payroll update.

Behavior on mobile is also measurably worse. Hoxhunt's 2026 Phishing Trends Report found that simulated phishing failure rose from 6% on desktop to 19% on mobile, and that users were 13 percentage points less likely to report a phish on mobile. A program that only tests the inbox is measuring the channel where employees are most careful.

Real attacks also chain channels: a text sets up urgency, a "help desk" call follows, and an email closes the loop. Stronger programs score SMS, voice, and email behavior together so each employee's risk reflects every channel an attacker would use.

What to Look For in a Smishing Simulation Tool

We evaluated each platform on seven criteria:

1. Native SMS delivery with real sender infrastructure. Local numbers, registered sending, and delivery that works in every country where you have employees.

2. Realistic pretexts. MFA resets, delivery notices, payroll and HR updates, executive impersonation, and text-back conversations, plus the ability to write your own.

3. Mobile reporting workflow. A way for employees to report a suspicious text, and for that report to reach the SOC.

4. Cross-channel sequences. SMS followed by a voice call or email, the way multi-step attacks actually unfold.

5. Risk scoring that includes SMS. Smishing results should feed a per-employee and per-role risk score alongside email and voice.

6. Consent and privacy controls. Enrollment, scope controls for personal devices, opt-out handling, and data residency options for regulated and EU workforces.

7. Coverage for AI agents. As teams hand real work to AI agents with real permissions, those agents can be socially engineered too.

Smishing Simulation Tools Compared: Channels and Capabilities

Capabilities reflect each vendor's public product pages and documentation as of October 2026. Vendors ship quickly in this category, so verify against current docs before a purchasing decision.

The 8 Best Smishing Simulation Tools for 2026

1. Cimento

Cimento is an AI-native human risk management platform that runs adaptive phishing simulations across email, SMS, and voice (including AI voice and deepfake-style calls), scores every employee's risk in real time, and extends the same testing to AI agents.

Best for: security teams that want smishing results in the same risk model as email and voice, cross-channel attack sequences, and visibility into AI agent risk from one platform.

Key smishing capabilities:

• Policy-scoped SMS delivery to enrolled devices, so simulations reach only numbers employees registered under a policy they have seen.

• Realistic, role-adapted pretexts: IT alerts, executive texts, payroll updates, and delivery notifications.

• Cross-channel sequences (text, then a call, then an email) that mirror how multi-step attacks escalate.

• An SMS reporting workflow wired to your SOC: employees forward a suspicious text to the security number and verify on a known channel, and SMS report rate is tracked as a core metric.

• Unified, role-based risk scoring that joins SMS behavior with email and voice results, so one employee's score reflects every channel.

• Short adaptive training (60 to 90 second modules) triggered at the moment of risk, plus automated responses such as restricting access when a risk threshold is crossed, through identity providers including Okta, Azure AD, and Google Workspace.

• Agent security assessments that run adversarial tests (prompt injection, boundary probing, authority impersonation) against deployed AI agents.

Cimento lists SOC 2 and ISO 27001 on its product page; publicly named customers include Together AI and Exa. See the smishing simulation and vishing simulation overviews.

Limitations: Cimento is a newer entrant than several vendors on this list. Confirm integration coverage for your HRIS and SIEM, and confirm SMS delivery coverage for every country where you have employees.

Channels covered: email, SMS, voice, AI voice and deepfake content, and AI agents.

2. Hoxhunt

Hoxhunt is a human risk management platform known for gamified, adaptive phishing training that has expanded from email into SMS, voice, Teams, and deepfake simulations.

Best for: organizations whose biggest obstacle is participation, and who want a mature, high-engagement program that now includes SMS.

Key smishing capabilities:

• SMS simulations that mimic bank, delivery, IT, and HR scams, tailored to local regions.

• Reporting through the Hoxhunt iOS app: employees tap "Report Message" and the text goes straight to Hoxhunt, with instant feedback and micro-training.

• Gamified rewards that reinforce reporting behavior.

Limitations: Hoxhunt states that smishing campaigns currently run in the US, Canada, and most EU countries, so check coverage for APAC or LATAM workforces. Public material describes iOS reporting; check current docs for Android support.

Channels covered: email, SMS, voice and callback, Microsoft Teams, and deepfake simulations.

3. Adaptive Security

Adaptive Security is an AI-native security awareness and simulation platform focused on deepfake and multi-channel social engineering, including SMS, voice cloning, and video.

Best for: teams whose biggest exposure is executive impersonation, cloned voice, and coordinated multi-channel attacks.

Key smishing capabilities:

• SMS phishing simulations run as part of coordinated multi-channel campaigns spanning email, voice, SMS, and chat.

• Simulations built from OSINT data and tailored to each employee's role.

• Per-employee and per-department risk scores that update from simulation outcomes, training completion, and reported phish, with automated follow-up training.

Limitations: Public SMS material is light on channel-specific detail, so ask about text-back scenarios, mobile reporting, and country coverage.

Channels covered: email, SMS, voice, deepfake video and audio, and chat.

4. Proofpoint ZenGuide

Proofpoint ZenGuide is Proofpoint's security awareness platform, combining training modules, simulated phishing (including SMS), and email reporting, informed by Proofpoint threat intelligence.

Best for: enterprises standardized on Proofpoint's email security stack that want awareness and simulation in the same ecosystem.

Key smishing capabilities:

• SMS and smishing campaigns configured alongside email and USB simulations from one console.

• Templates based on lures Proofpoint observes in its threat telemetry.

• Role-based and risk-based training assignments that draw on Proofpoint signals.

Limitations: Proofpoint's public simulation page does not describe voice or deepfake simulation; check current docs if those channels matter to you.

Channels covered: email, SMS, and USB.

5. Keepnet Labs

Keepnet Labs is a human risk management platform with a dedicated smishing simulator, alongside vishing, callback, QR code, MFA, Teams, and WhatsApp phishing simulations.

Best for: global enterprises that need broad template coverage, many languages, and local sender numbers across time zones.

Key smishing capabilities:

• A large library of smishing scenarios with easy, medium, and hard difficulty levels, plus custom templates.

• Messages delivered in each employee's language from local numbers, scheduled for a sensible local hour.

• Tracking of who tapped, who replied, and who reported, with susceptibility rate, reporting rate, time to report, and a human risk score per employee and department.

Limitations: Evaluate how much tuning your team needs to make scenarios role-specific. Check current docs for AI voice and deepfake support.

Channels covered: email, SMS, voice, callback, QR code, MFA prompts, Teams, and WhatsApp.

6. SoSafe

SoSafe is a European security awareness platform built on behavioral science that runs email phishing, smishing, and vishing simulations from a single campaign builder.

Best for: European enterprises balancing NIS2, DORA, or GDPR requirements with a multilingual workforce.

Key smishing capabilities:

• Smishing set up from the same campaign builder as email phishing, so existing admins can launch SMS tests quickly.

• Mobile-first templates that mimic real SMS scams, including delivery updates, MFA codes, and QR links.

• Phishing, smishing, and vishing tracks side by side in one dashboard, with user risk scores and reporting rates by department, location, or custom group.

Limitations: SoSafe described customizable, localized smishing as a beta feature in late 2024; confirm current status and country coverage. Check current docs for AI voice and deepfake depth.

Channels covered: email, SMS, and voice.

7. Living Security

Living Security is a human risk management platform that runs phishing, smishing, and vishing simulations and correlates the results with identity and threat signals in its Unify platform.

Best for: enterprises that want simulation data folded into a broader human risk view across behavior, identity, and threat intelligence.

Key smishing capabilities:

• A smishing campaign manager with target groups, scheduling, and randomized scenario distribution.

• Simulation results that integrate with Living Security Unify for consolidated human risk reporting.

Limitations: Smishing campaigns require phone numbers in user profiles, typically mapped from Azure AD, so plan the directory work up front. Validate how much SMS-specific reporting detail you get compared with email.

Channels covered: email, SMS, voice (AI text-to-speech and voice upload), QR, and Teams meeting deepfakes.

8. Arsen

Arsen is a social engineering simulation platform focused on realistic attack channels, including smishing, AI-driven vishing with voice cloning, and email.

Best for: teams that need SMS reach across many countries and realistic voice attacks.

Key smishing capabilities:

• Smishing campaigns in 180+ countries with local phone numbers and languages.

• Scenarios that recreate fake MFA, delivery scams, and account warnings.

• Tracking of clicks, reports, and coaching outcomes, with targeting by user group and risk profile.

Limitations: Arsen launched its smishing module in October 2025, so it is a newer product. Check how deep its per-employee risk scoring goes compared with dedicated human risk platforms.

Channels covered: email, SMS, voice (including real-time voice AI and cloning), and deepfake simulations.

What about KnowBe4?

KnowBe4 launched simulated vishing in July 2026, but we could not confirm a native SMS simulation feature in its current public product materials, so it is not ranked here. KnowBe4 customers should check current docs. For a broader comparison, see our KnowBe4 alternatives guide.

Best Fit by Company Size and Industry

Smishing Simulation for Financial Services and Regulated Industries

Banks, insurers, and healthcare organizations face a sharper version of this problem: fake fraud alerts were one of the FTC's top five text scams of 2024, and their employees hold access that makes the same pretexts dangerous internally.

Three things matter more in regulated environments:

• Role-based scoring. A wire-room operator, a help desk agent, and a relationship manager face different smishing pretexts. Scoring by role lets you show a regulator that the highest-access roles are tested most and improving.

• Evidence for examiners. NYDFS Part 500 requires at least annual cybersecurity awareness training that includes social engineering, and DORA requires ICT security awareness programs for EU financial entities. Simulation results with timestamps, report rates, and remediation records are easier to defend than completion certificates.

• Privacy and consent documentation. Regulated firms usually need HR, legal, and privacy sign-off before texting employee phones. Choose a tool with enrollment and scoped delivery.

Confirm the requirements that apply to you with counsel and compliance.

How to Run a Smishing Simulation Program

1. Get legal, HR, and privacy approval first. Write a short policy that says simulations may arrive by text, which numbers are in scope, what data is collected, and how results are used. In the EU, involve works councils and your DPO early.

2. Enroll numbers deliberately. Use company-issued numbers where you have them. For personal phones, use opt-in enrollment and scope controls so you only text numbers employees have registered for this purpose.

3. Handle carrier registration. In the US, application-to-person texting from standard 10-digit numbers requires 10DLC brand and campaign registration with The Campaign Registry, and carriers follow CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices. Unregistered or mismatched traffic gets filtered. Most vendors handle registration for you; confirm how, and confirm opt-out keywords such as STOP are honored.

4. Respect sender ID and spoofing limits. You generally cannot spoof a real bank's short code or a specific person's number, and carriers block attempts. Alphanumeric sender IDs are allowed in some countries and not in the US, so ask your vendor how each region is handled.

5. Protect privacy on BYOD devices. A simulation should never install anything, request device permissions, or collect data beyond the interaction with the test link or reply. Tell employees exactly what is and is not recorded.

6. Start with a baseline, then rotate pretexts. Run a company-wide baseline campaign, then rotate pretexts by role: MFA resets for engineers, payroll and benefits for everyone, wire and vendor changes for finance, executive texts for assistants and chiefs of staff. A human risk baseline sets the starting point across channels.

7. Make report rate the headline metric. Track who tapped, who replied, who reported, and how fast. Report rate and time to report tell you whether employees will warn the SOC during a real campaign. Click rate alone rewards people who simply ignore their texts.

8. Chain channels once SMS is stable. Follow a text with a voice call or an email to test the full attack sequence. Feed every result into one risk score so remediation targets the people and roles with the most exposure.

9. Train in the moment. When someone taps a simulated link, deliver a short explanation of the cues they missed immediately.

How to Choose the Right Smishing Simulation Tool

Start with the channels your attackers actually use against you, then narrow by environment. If you want SMS, voice, and email in one risk model with AI agent testing, start with Cimento. If engagement is the obstacle, look at Hoxhunt; for deepfake exposure, Adaptive Security; for Proofpoint shops, ZenGuide; for global reach, Keepnet Labs or Arsen; for EU regulatory fit, SoSafe; for identity-correlated risk data, Living Security. For a wider view of the category, see our guide to the best human risk management platforms.

The Bottom Line

The right smishing tool sends realistic texts through registered infrastructure, respects privacy on personal devices, makes reporting easy, and scores SMS behavior alongside email and voice. Evaluate every vendor here, Cimento included, against those criteria and the countries and devices your workforce actually uses. To see cross-channel smishing and vishing simulations feed a live risk score on your own team, book a demo with Cimento.

FAQs: Smishing Simulation Tools

What is the best smishing simulation tool for enterprise security teams?

The strongest options in 2026 are Cimento, Hoxhunt, Adaptive Security, Proofpoint ZenGuide, Keepnet Labs, SoSafe, Living Security, and Arsen. Cimento is the best fit for teams that want SMS, voice, and email results in one risk score plus AI agent testing. Hoxhunt leads on engagement, Adaptive Security on deepfakes, and Proofpoint ZenGuide suits existing Proofpoint customers.

How do you test employees against SMS phishing?

Get legal and HR approval, enroll company or opted-in personal numbers, and use a platform with registered sending infrastructure such as 10DLC in the US. Send realistic, role-based pretexts like MFA resets, delivery notices, and payroll updates, then measure who tapped, who replied, and who reported. Deliver short training immediately after a failed test and track report rate over time.

Is it legal to send smishing simulations to employees' personal phones?

It can be, with clear consent and a documented policy, but rules vary by country and employment context. Most organizations use opt-in enrollment for personal numbers, limit data collection to the simulation interaction, and involve privacy counsel and, in the EU, works councils. Ask your vendor how it scopes delivery and handles opt-outs.

What is 10DLC and why does it matter for smishing simulation?

10DLC is the US system for business texting from standard 10-digit phone numbers, and it requires brand and campaign registration with The Campaign Registry. Carriers filter unregistered or mismatched traffic, so simulations sent without registration may never arrive. Most smishing simulation vendors manage registration on your behalf; confirm how before you launch.

Which smishing simulation tools also cover vishing and deepfakes?

Cimento, Hoxhunt, Adaptive Security, Living Security, and Arsen all advertise AI voice or deepfake simulations alongside SMS. Keepnet Labs and SoSafe offer vishing; check current docs for deepfake depth. Running SMS and voice from one platform lets you test the text-then-call sequences that many real attacks use.

How should financial services firms approach smishing simulation?

Focus on role-based testing for high-access roles such as payments, help desk, and executive assistants, and keep timestamped results and remediation records as evidence for examiners. Regulations such as NYDFS Part 500 and DORA require security awareness programs, and simulation data is stronger evidence than course completion alone. Cimento, Proofpoint ZenGuide, and SoSafe are common fits for regulated teams.

What metrics should a smishing simulation program track?

Track report rate, time to report, tap or click rate, reply rate, and repeat failures by role. Report rate is the most useful because it shows whether employees will alert the SOC during a real campaign. The best platforms roll these into a per-employee risk score alongside email and voice results.

Does KnowBe4 offer smishing simulation?

KnowBe4 launched simulated vishing in July 2026, but we could not confirm a native SMS simulation feature in its current public product materials. Check current KnowBe4 documentation or ask your account team. Teams that need SMS testing today often add or switch to one of the platforms on this list.