Honest Comparison
KnowBe4 vs Cimento.
KnowBe4 built the security awareness training category. Cimento is built for what comes after it: continuously measuring and reducing human and agent risk. Here’s how to decide which job you need done.
Side by Side
Where the platforms differ.
We aim to be fair: KnowBe4 capabilities vary by product tier and evolve. Verify details against KnowBe4’s current documentation before making a decision.
The Honest Part
When each one is the right call.
When KnowBe4 may be enough
Your program exists primarily to satisfy an annual training mandate, and that’s genuinely all you need.
Email phishing is the only social engineering channel you’re expected to measure.
You have admin capacity to build and manage campaigns, and the workflow works for you.
Completion and click metrics are what your auditors and leadership ask for — and nobody is asking whether risk went down.
When Cimento is a better fit
Your board, insurer, or CISO wants evidence that risk is trending down.
You’re worried about vishing, smishing, executive impersonation, and AI-generated attacks — not just email.
A CFO and an intern being scored the same feels obviously wrong for your threat model.
Your security team is lean and can’t afford hours of campaign administration.
Employees have tuned out the current program and engagement keeps dropping.
Under the Hood
Four capabilities, examined.
01 / Simulations
Multi-channel, multi-turn
Real attacks are conversations: a text, then a call, then an email that references both. Cimento simulates multi-turn, cross-channel sequences with AI-generated pretexts adapted to each role — inside scope you approve. Email-template libraries can’t represent this attack class.
02 / Risk Scoring
Risk = likelihood × impact
Click-heavy scores measure likelihood at best. Cimento also models impact: what the person can access, approve, or move. Remediation lands on the handful of people whose failure would cost the most.
03 / Remediation
Micro-training that follows behavior
Failure triggers a 60–90 second private coaching moment about the exact technique that worked. Repeat patterns escalate automatically — different scenario, different channel — until behavior changes. No campaign calendar.
04 / Reporting
One number leadership can track
A risk index per role, per channel, per quarter. When the board asks “are we getting safer?”, the answer is a trend line you can defend.
If You Do Switch
The migration is designed to be uneventful.
Parallel run, validation, rollout, retirement — over 90 days, with compliance coverage continuous throughout. Most teams time cutover to their renewal date.
Typical Timeline
90 Days
Days 0–30 · Baseline + parallel run
Days 30–60 · Validate + integrate
Days 60–90 · Full rollout + retire legacy
Compliance evidence exports before anything is turned off. Nothing lapses.
Settle it with data.
Run the 14-day Human Risk Baseline alongside KnowBe4. Renew, switch, or negotiate — with evidence either way.