Is KnowBe4 or Trivy better?

Neither clearly leads. KnowBe4 starts at $1/month and Trivy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, KnowBe4 or Trivy?

Trivy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1/month for KnowBe4 and Free for Trivy.

Does KnowBe4 or Trivy run on more platforms?

KnowBe4 runs on Web, Mobile, Email. Trivy runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.

Can I use Trivy for free?

Yes. Trivy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. KnowBe4 starts at $1/month.

What is KnowBe4 best used for?

KnowBe4 is most often used for security awareness training and simulated phishing for staff, tracking employee susceptibility to phishing over time. Of those, security awareness training and simulated phishing for staff and tracking employee susceptibility to phishing over time are not what Trivy is typically brought in for.

What can KnowBe4 do that Trivy cannot?

KnowBe4 covers Security awareness training, Phishing simulation, Risk assessments, Compliance training. Trivy covers Multi-target scanning, Vulnerability detection, Misconfiguration checks, Secret detection.

Cybersecurity · head to head

KnowBe4 vs Trivy

KnowBe4

Cybersecurity

World's largest security awareness training platform

From: $1/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Trivy

Cybersecurity

Open-source vulnerability and misconfiguration scanner

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Trivy has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: KnowBe4 published prices assume a three year term, so the quoted per seat rate depends on a long commitment; Trivy reports what public advisory databases know, so coverage varies by ecosystem and unfixed CVEs create noise
They diverge on capability: KnowBe4 covers Security awareness training, Trivy covers Multi-target scanning.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which KnowBe4 and Trivy actually diverge.

Attributes where KnowBe4 and Trivy differ
Attribute	KnowBe4	Trivy
Starting price	$1/month	Free
Pricing model	subscription	Open source, no licence fee
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web, Mobile, Email	Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes
Founded	2010	Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in KnowBe4

Security awareness training
Phishing simulation
Risk assessments
Compliance training
Incident reporting
API access
Custom policies
Behavior analytics

Only in Trivy

Multi-target scanning
Vulnerability detection
Misconfiguration checks
Secret detection

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

KnowBe4

Security awareness training and simulated phishing for staffnot Trivy
Tracking employee susceptibility to phishing over timenot Trivy

Trivy

Failing a pull request when a container image introduces a known CVEnot KnowBe4
Scanning Terraform and Kubernetes manifests for misconfiguration before applynot KnowBe4
Catching committed secrets as part of an existing CI stepnot KnowBe4

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

KnowBe4

Published prices assume a three year term, so the quoted per seat rate depends on a long commitment
Pricing is banded by seat count, and the lowest band of 25 to 50 seats pays the highest rate
Accounts above 1,000 seats have no published price and require a custom quote
Third party integrations, Compliance Plus and PhishER Plus are all separately priced per seat add ons
The Foundation tier carries 200 training modules against more than 1,000 on Advanced, so content volume is the main gate

Trivy

Reports what public advisory databases know, so coverage varies by ecosystem and unfixed CVEs create noise
No built-in triage or exception workflow, so suppressing accepted risk is managed in config files
Findings are point-in-time from CI, with no continuous runtime monitoring unless you add the commercial platform

Pricing, plan by plan

KnowBe4

$1/month

Basic$1/month
- Per user
- Training modules
- Phishing templates
Advanced$2/month
- All Basic features
- Advanced phishing
- Risk assessments
Pro$3/month
- All Advanced features
- API access
- Custom content

Trivy

Free

TrivyFree
- Full scanner
- Unlimited scans
- Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose KnowBe4 if

You need security awareness training.
You work on Web, Mobile, Email.
You also want phishing simulation.

KnowBe4 review

Choose Trivy if

You need multi-target scanning.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
You also want vulnerability detection.

Trivy review

Questions people ask

Is KnowBe4 or Trivy better?: Neither clearly leads. KnowBe4 starts at $1/month and Trivy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, KnowBe4 or Trivy?: Trivy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1/month for KnowBe4 and Free for Trivy.
Does KnowBe4 or Trivy run on more platforms?: KnowBe4 runs on Web, Mobile, Email. Trivy runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
Can I use Trivy for free?: Yes. Trivy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. KnowBe4 starts at $1/month.
What is KnowBe4 best used for?: KnowBe4 is most often used for security awareness training and simulated phishing for staff, tracking employee susceptibility to phishing over time. Of those, security awareness training and simulated phishing for staff and tracking employee susceptibility to phishing over time are not what Trivy is typically brought in for.
What can KnowBe4 do that Trivy cannot?: KnowBe4 covers Security awareness training, Phishing simulation, Risk assessments, Compliance training. Trivy covers Multi-target scanning, Vulnerability detection, Misconfiguration checks, Secret detection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

KnowBe4: What does KnowBe4 cost per employee?

KnowBe4 charges per seat per month on a subscription basis. For 51-100 employees, SAT Foundation costs $2.13/month per seat and SAT Advanced costs $3.40/month per seat. Prices decrease with larger employee counts.

Source

Trivy: Is Trivy free?

Yes, open source from Aqua Security with no licence fee. Aqua sells a commercial platform around it.

KnowBe4: Does KnowBe4 offer a free trial?

KnowBe4 does not offer a full free version, but free tools are available separately including assessments and simulators.

Source

Trivy: What can Trivy scan?

Container images, filesystems, Git repositories, Kubernetes clusters and infrastructure-as-code, for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, secrets and licences.

KnowBe4: Are there add-on costs beyond the base plan?

Yes, optional add-ons include Third-Party Integrations ($1.10-$1.20/seat/month), Compliance Plus ($0.82-$0.93/seat/month), PhishER Plus ($1.15-$1.50/seat/month), and Student Edition ($0.17/seat/month).

Source

Trivy: Does Trivy need a server?

No. It is a single binary, which is a large part of why it became a default in CI.

KnowBe4: What currencies does KnowBe4 accept?

KnowBe4 accepts pricing in USD, AUD, BRL, CAD, EUR, GBP, SGD, and ZAR.

Source

KnowBe4 vs Trivy

KnowBe4

Trivy

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in KnowBe4

Only in Trivy

What people use each for

KnowBe4

Trivy

Where each one falls short

KnowBe4

Trivy

Pricing, plan by plan

KnowBe4

Trivy

Which should you pick?

Choose KnowBe4 if

Choose Trivy if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on KnowBe4

More on Trivy

Keep looking

Other head to heads