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Barracuda PhishLine vs KnowBe4 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda PhishLine
Ranking in Security Awareness Training
12th
Average Rating
0.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
KnowBe4
Ranking in Security Awareness Training
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Security Awareness Training category, the mindshare of Barracuda PhishLine is 2.0%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KnowBe4 is 27.3%, down from 34.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Awareness Training
 

Featured Reviews

DW
Efficient threat repelling, continual updates, and friendly support
Barracuda PhishLine continues to evolve because as the attacks get more sophisticated, they get integrated into the campaigns. Then the users are exposed to the latest attacks in the form of a training session rather than in real life. They're much better prepared for these real-life ransomware attacks that come through via email.
Amran Hossain - PeerSpot reviewer
Training program enables comprehensive security awareness and cautious email practices
One feature that would be highly beneficial in a future release is the ability to automatically send training articles or security tips to users on a regular, scheduled basis—for example, weekly or monthly. While the current training modules and phishing simulations are highly effective, ongoing awareness is equally important to keep security top of mind in day-to-day operations. These short, digestible articles or micro-learning content could cover recent phishing trends, real-world examples of security breaches, or quick tips on secure online behavior. Periodic delivery would serve as a continuous learning touchpoint, reinforcing key concepts from the main training and adapting to evolving threats. Ideally, this feature would also include personalization, allowing content to be tailored based on a user’s role, previous training performance, or common mistakes observed in phishing simulations. This kind of proactive, lightweight training approach could significantly enhance employee engagement with security practices and help maintain a strong security posture over time.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Barracuda PhishLine continues to evolve because as the attacks get more sophisticated, they get integrated into the campaigns. Then the users are exposed to the latest attacks in the form of a training session rather than in real life. They're much better prepared for these real-life ransomware attacks that come through via email."
"The main advantages are the user-friendly UI and its overall ease of use."
"KnowBe4's formulas for risk reduction simply work. Being a technical company, our initial phish-prone percentage wasn't super high, but it was still around 18%. Since we have been requiring ongoing training and simulated phish testing, our average phish-prone percentage hovers in the 0 to 3% range now."
"Their customizable nature allows us to create scenarios that closely resemble real-world phishing attempts, making them highly relatable to our end users."
"The impact of KnowBe4's automated training campaigns on the overall cybersecurity posture is quite comprehensive because it covers everything from the very basics of cybersecurity to evolving and emerging threats."
"KnowBe4 has a training program that lasts approximately 15 or 30 minutes, and we provide this security training for our employees so they learn which emails they should open, which links they should click, which links they should not click, and which software they should install."
"The solution is very well priced and very affordable."
"The impact of KnowBe4's automated training campaigns on the overall cybersecurity posture is quite comprehensive because it covers everything from the very basics of cybersecurity to evolving and emerging threats."
"It has helped us tremendously in cybersecurity awareness."
 

Cons

"The initial setup of Barracuda PhishLine is very easy. All of it can be set up in approximately one hour with someone that has some IT training and previous exposure to Barracuda."
"Enhancing the product's emotional intelligence, particularly by providing training content tailored to specific audiences, is an area for improvement."
"During the last downtime, it caused significant disruption as users couldn't access the system."
"The training program is very interactive, but sometimes it is hard to follow the process, particularly the steps."
"I would like to see Novo4 expand to other channels outside of emails to things such as text messages."
"In terms of improvement, we would appreciate having the attachments or more details on the raw messages used in the PhishER site, as sometimes it can be a bit buggy."
"This product has a questions and answers section which is in text form. It could be updated to include a video game format where an employee uses the game to answer these scenarios."
"I feel that the marketing of KnowBe4 needs improvement because many people need to know more about the types of cyber securities that exist."
"If a new feature is introduced and a user without an IT background faces difficulty in operating the new feature, chat bots would be very helpful to ask questions and get responses."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are different package plans available, such as email protection advanced, premium, and premium plus."
"I rate the product pricing as four out of ten."
"I don't know the cost, but I believe we are paying yearly. We did like a three-year or five-year contract. I am not aware of any extra costs in addition to a standard licensing fee."
"Licensing is paid on a yearly basis. You can go to the official site to check their approximate pricing. It's based on the number of users or staff. It can vary from country to country, but for Ukraine, it works as it's stated on the site."
"It's about five dollars a seat per month."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about KnowBe4?
Their customizable nature allows us to create scenarios that closely resemble real-world phishing attempts, making them highly relatable to our end users.
What needs improvement with KnowBe4?
I think KnowBe4 focuses primarily on emails, phishing emails, and business. We need more experience about dealing with hackers and scams on social media, especially when we receive links from unkno...
 

Also Known As

PhishLine
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Humanitas, Mount Sinai
West Aurora Public School District 129
Find out what your peers are saying about KnowBe4, Proofpoint, Sophos and others in Security Awareness Training. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.