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

Gane 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 a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/security-awareness-training/2026-09/smb

This is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition, published September 17, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/security-awareness-training/smb/index.md

**Standing:** Hook Security leads with 34% of first choices; verdict contested. 50 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Hook Security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/hook-security/index.md) | 34% | 0% | 38 |
| 2 | [KnowBe4](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/knowbe4/index.md) | 28% | 51% | 57 |
| 3 | [Wizer](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/wizer/index.md) | 20% | 0% | 39 |
| 4 | [CanIPhish](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/caniphish/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 25 |
| 6 | [Huntress Managed Security Awareness Training](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/huntress-managed-security-awareness-training/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 39 |
| 7 | [Hoxhunt](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/hoxhunt/index.md) | 2% | 14% | 21 |
| 8 | [EasyLlama](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/easyllama/index.md) | 2% | 8% | 12 |
| 11 | [SoSafe](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sosafe/index.md) | 0% | 10% | 10 |
| 47 | [Proofpoint ZenGuide](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/proofpoint-zenguide/index.md) | 0% | 53% | 15 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 48 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

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

- Claude Haiku 4.5: EasyLlama; alternatives Hoxhunt, Huntress Managed Security Awareness Training
- GPT-5.4 mini: KnowBe4; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Attack Simulation Training
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Hook Security; alternatives Huntress Managed Security Awareness Training, NINJIO, Wizer
- Perplexity Sonar: KnowBe4; alternatives Hook Security, Huntress Managed Security Awareness Training, SoSafe, Wizer
- Grok 4.20: Hook Security; alternatives Huntress Managed Security Awareness Training, KnowBe4
- Mistral Small: Hook Security; alternatives CanIPhish, EasyLlama, Wizer
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: KnowBe4; alternatives Hook Security, Huntress Managed Security Awareness Training, Wizer
- Llama 4 Maverick: Hook Security; alternatives CanIPhish, Wizer
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Hook Security; alternatives Huntress Managed Security Awareness Training, Wizer
- Kimi K2: Hook Security; alternatives EasyLlama, Huntress Managed Security Awareness Training, KnowBe4, Wizer
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Hook Security; alternatives Guardey, Hoxhunt, KnowBe4, Wizer
- MiniMax M2.5: Hook Security, Wizer; alternatives CanIPhish, EasyLlama, Infosec IQ

## Sources the answers cite

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

- hooksecurity.co: 42 answers, 60 citations
- adaptivesecurity.com: 40 answers, 93 citations
- expertinsights.com: 36 answers, 51 citations
- hoxhunt.com: 34 answers, 41 citations
- smallbizsecurityguide.com: 30 answers, 31 citations
- learn.g2.com: 29 answers, 30 citations
- knowbe4.com: 27 answers, 36 citations
- easyllama.com: 27 answers, 29 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://hooksecurity.co/blog/best-security-awareness-training-small-business (40 answers)
- https://hoxhunt.com/blog/best-security-awareness-training (30 answers)
- https://smallbizsecurityguide.com/best-security-awareness-training-platforms-2026 (30 answers)
- https://learn.g2.com/best-security-awareness-training-software (29 answers)
- https://easyllama.com/blog/best-security-awareness-training-providers (27 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/security-awareness-training/the-top-security-awareness-training-platforms-for-businesses (25 answers)
- https://adaptivesecurity.com/blog/best-security-awareness-training-small-businesses (21 answers)
- https://guardey.com/security-awareness-small-business (15 answers)
- https://knowbe4.com/compare/best-security-awareness-training-for-smbs-in-2026 (14 answers)
- https://adaptivesecurity.com/blog/security-awareness-training-small-business (13 answers)

## Warned against

- KnowBe4: 29 of 57 labels negative. "Why avoid/caution for SMBs: Overkill for small teams—starts at $25-35/user/year but scales poorly with admin time." (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- Proofpoint ZenGuide: 8 of 15 labels negative. "Enterprise-focused with high costs (custom, often $50+/user/year); reviewers say it's expensive and heavy for small teams." (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- GoPhish: 5 of 6 labels negative. "completely free but requires technical self-management (hosting, server setup). Only worth it if you have technical staff" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, paraphrase prompt)
- Hoxhunt: 3 of 21 labels negative. "negotiates down to $2.90–$3.60—only if you commit to 500+ seats. That's out of reach for most small businesses." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, September 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.