[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":433},["ShallowReactive",2],{"money-live:best":3,"money:compare:sentaro-vs-knowbe4":4,"money-links:\u002Fen\u002Fcompare\u002Fsentaro-vs-knowbe4":397},true,{"page":5},{"family":6,"slug":7,"navLabel":8,"hubBlurb":9,"icon":10,"eyebrow":11,"h1":12,"lede":13,"seoTitle":14,"seoDescription":15,"reviewed":16,"heroChips":17,"sections":22,"faqs":318,"sources":340,"disclaimer":371,"related":372,"cta":394},"compare","sentaro-vs-knowbe4","Sentaro vs KnowBe4","Training people to spot phishing, or a technical control that stops it before they have to. Where each fits, and where they overlap.","scale","Compare","Sentaro vs KnowBe4: email security vs awareness training","KnowBe4 sells security awareness training and phishing simulation, and since completing its acquisition of Egress in July 2024 also Cloud Email Security (knowbe4.com, October 2026), while Sentaro is an API-based technical control that blocks phishing, BEC and risky OAuth apps before an employee has to make a judgment call, so for EU teams on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace that need phishing stopped, Sentaro is the better choice. Sentaro costs a published $6 per protected account per month (prices in USD). Training is an optional add-on to a strong control, not a substitute for one.","Sentaro vs KnowBe4: training or a technical control?","Sentaro vs KnowBe4: security awareness training vs API email security, what NIS2 and DORA require, pricing, and when to run both. Our pick: Sentaro.","2026-10-18",[18,19,20,21],"Training vs technical control","Complementary, mostly","KnowBe4: SAT + Egress","Sentaro from $6\u002Faccount",[23,40,45,65,96,225,235,250,256,284,298,308,312,315],{"t":24,"title":25,"summary":26,"points":27},"verdict","Our recommendation","Sentaro is the better choice than KnowBe4 for EU teams on Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace that want phishing stopped rather than spotted, and each reason can be checked: it connects over API in four minutes with no MX change; it scores every message before interaction and its BEC and vendor-fraud verdicts show their reasoning in the console, so you can audit them on your own mail; its App vector, live since Q3 2026, inventories every app, AI tool and OAuth grant; its price, $6 per protected account per month with every feature included, is published on sentaro.com\u002Fen\u002Fpricing; and it is hosted in Sweden on Microsoft Azure, with subprocessors listed in its public DPA. Training is optional on top: add it where you need to evidence staff training for NIS2 or DORA.",[28,31,34,37],{"label":29,"text":30},"Choose Sentaro if…","you want BEC, vendor compromise, QR lures and consent phishing stopped before interaction, plus an inventory of every app, AI tool and OAuth grant, without asking employees to be the last line of defense.",{"label":32,"text":33},"Why Sentaro wins","a technical control does not depend on a click rate; it checks signals a person cannot see, such as changed sending infrastructure or an injected reply, shows its reasoning on every verdict, and has a published price you can see on sentaro.com\u002Fen\u002Fpricing, while knowbe4.com lists no price for its email products (October 2026).",{"label":35,"text":36},"Training is optional on top","NIS2 and DORA expect staff cybersecurity training, so regulated firms keep a training program they can evidence. It can be KnowBe4 or any other training tool.",{"label":38,"text":39},"Consider KnowBe4 only if…","your main need is awareness and compliance training, phishing simulation and coaching, or outbound misdirected-email prevention and encryption from the Egress products.",{"t":41,"tone":42,"title":43,"text":44},"callout","info","Disclosure","Sentaro publishes this comparison and recommends itself; KnowBe4 facts are public and sourced from knowbe4.com as of 18 October 2026.",{"t":46,"title":47,"columns":48,"items":49},"cards","Key differences: why Sentaro",2,[50,54,58,61],{"title":51,"text":52,"icon":53},"Stops attacks, not just teaches","Sentaro stops attacks so people do not have to recognize them; KnowBe4’s core product trains people to recognize attacks.","graduation-cap",{"title":55,"text":56,"icon":57},"Email and OAuth in one seat","Sentaro covers inbound and internal mail plus an inventory of every app, AI tool and OAuth grant. We found no OAuth-grant discovery documented on knowbe4.com (October 2026).","mail",{"title":59,"text":60,"icon":10},"Four-minute setup, both platforms","Sentaro connects over API in four minutes, with no MX changes and no agents, on Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. knowbe4.com does not state Google Workspace support for Defend (October 2026).",{"title":62,"text":63,"icon":64},"A price you can see","Sentaro publishes $6 per protected account per month, or $68 per account per year, first account free (prices in USD); KnowBe4 does not list prices on its cloud email security page (checked 18 October 2026).","coins",{"t":66,"title":67,"items":68},"facts","At a glance",[69,72,75,78,81,84,87,90,93],{"label":70,"value":71},"KnowBe4 core products","Security Awareness Training, Real-Time Coaching, Compliance Training, AIDA (AI Defense Agents)",{"label":73,"value":74},"KnowBe4 email products","Cloud Email Security from Egress: Defend (inbound), Prevent (outbound, misdirected email), Protect (encryption)",{"label":76,"value":77},"KnowBe4 platform","Native Microsoft 365 integration for Defend; Google Workspace support not stated on its cloud email security page",{"label":79,"value":80},"KnowBe4 pricing","Not listed on the cloud email security page (checked 18 October 2026)",{"label":82,"value":83},"KnowBe4 ownership","Vista Equity Partners since 1 February 2023; Egress acquisition completed 9 July 2024",{"label":85,"value":86},"Sentaro what it is","AI email and SaaS security: Message vector (live since Q2 2026) and App vector (live since Q3 2026); roadmap in the note below",{"label":88,"value":89},"Sentaro deployment","API: connects in four minutes, no MX changes, no agents",{"label":91,"value":92},"Sentaro pricing","$6 per protected account per month, or $68 per account per year; the first account is free. Prices in USD.",{"label":94,"value":95},"Sentaro hosting","Hosted in Sweden on Microsoft Azure; subprocessors listed in the DPA",{"t":6,"title":97,"intro":98,"columns":99,"own":102,"groups":103},"What each product does","KnowBe4 entries come from knowbe4.com and Microsoft Learn, accessed 18 October 2026.",[100,101],"KnowBe4 (incl. Egress)","Sentaro",1,[104,134,176,191,206],{"label":105,"rows":106},"People",[107,116,121,126],{"label":108,"cells":109},"Security awareness training library",[110,113],{"mark":111,"text":112},"yes","Core product",{"mark":114,"text":115},"no","Not in Sentaro’s published scope",{"label":117,"cells":118},"Phishing simulation",[119,120],{"mark":111},{"mark":114,"text":115},{"label":122,"cells":123},"Compliance training",[124,125],{"mark":111},{"mark":114,"text":115},{"label":127,"cells":128},"Verdict shown to the user in the mailbox",[129,132],{"mark":130,"text":131},"unknown","Not publicly documented",{"mark":111,"text":133},"Labeled where the recipient sees the mail",{"label":135,"rows":136},"Inbound email",[137,144,151,157,163,169],{"label":138,"cells":139},"Inbound threat detection",[140,142],{"mark":111,"text":141},"Defend (Egress): behavioral AI",{"mark":111,"text":143},"Message vector: Vord engine",{"label":145,"cells":146},"BEC",[147,149],{"mark":111,"text":148},"Defend",{"mark":111,"text":150},"Payload-free BEC is a core design target",{"label":152,"note":153,"cells":154},"Vendor compromise and thread hijack","A supplier’s real mailbox is taken over and used to redirect payments inside an existing thread.",[155,156],{"mark":130,"text":131},{"mark":111},{"label":158,"note":159,"cells":160},"QR-code phishing","A malicious link hidden in a QR-code image, so text-based link scanning never sees it.",[161,162],{"mark":130,"text":131},{"mark":111},{"label":164,"cells":165},"Google Workspace",[166,168],{"mark":130,"text":167},"Not stated for Defend",{"mark":111},{"label":170,"cells":171},"Microsoft ICES Vendor Ecosystem partner",[172,174],{"mark":111,"text":173},"KnowBe4 Defend Platform listed by Microsoft",{"mark":114,"text":175},"Not listed",{"label":177,"rows":178},"Outbound and data",[179,185],{"label":180,"cells":181},"Misdirected-email prevention \u002F outbound DLP",[182,184],{"mark":111,"text":183},"Prevent",{"mark":114,"text":115},{"label":186,"cells":187},"Policy-based encryption",[188,190],{"mark":111,"text":189},"Protect",{"mark":114,"text":115},{"label":192,"rows":193},"SaaS and identity",[194,200],{"label":195,"note":196,"cells":197},"App, AI-tool and OAuth-grant inventory","A list of third-party apps and AI tools and the OAuth permissions users have granted them.",[198,199],{"mark":130,"text":131},{"mark":111},{"label":201,"note":202,"cells":203},"Consent-phishing blocking and grant revocation","Consent phishing tricks a user into granting a malicious app OAuth access to mail or files.",[204,205],{"mark":130,"text":131},{"mark":111},{"label":207,"rows":208},"Commercial",[209,217],{"label":210,"note":211,"cells":212},"Public price","Whether a list price is published on the vendor’s own website.",[213,215],{"mark":114,"text":214},"Not listed on its cloud email security page",{"mark":111,"text":216},"$6\u002Faccount\u002Fmonth, USD",{"label":218,"cells":219},"Hosting",[220,223],{"mark":221,"text":222},"partial","Customer may choose main storage in the US, Ireland, Germany, the UK or Canada; some data processed by subprocessors elsewhere (DTIA)",{"mark":111,"text":224},"Hosted in Sweden on Microsoft Azure",{"t":226,"id":227,"title":228,"blocks":229},"prose","design-flaw","Why train people to catch what a control could stop?",[230,233],{"t":231,"text":232},"p","Sentaro’s founding view is that security tooling had quietly made employees the last line of defense, and that this is a design flaw, not a training problem. Consider a typical case: a genuine supplier thread, sent from the supplier’s real mailbox, suddenly asks a finance clerk for new bank details. The message has no bad link, no attachment and no spelling mistakes, so a trained eye has little to go on.",{"t":231,"text":234},"A technical control can check signals a person does not see: that the sending infrastructure changed, that the reply was injected into an existing thread, that the banking-detail change has never happened in this relationship before. Sentaro reads every inbound and internal message for these signals and acts before interaction. Training remains useful for everything that is not email: phone calls, deepfakes and in-person pretexting, which Sentaro cannot inspect and does not claim to.",{"t":236,"title":237,"items":238},"stats","What the data says",[239,243,246],{"n":240,"l":241,"source":242},"1.4%","median click rate in phishing simulations","Verizon DBIR, 2026",{"n":244,"l":245,"source":242},"62%","of breaches involve a human element",{"n":247,"l":248,"source":249},"$3.05bn","reported lost to business email compromise in 2025","FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report, 2025",{"t":226,"id":251,"title":252,"blocks":253},"case","A Nordic payments firm that replaced phishing simulations",[254],{"t":231,"text":255},"Sentaro’s published case study describes a 400-seat Nordic payments firm under DORA that replaced its secure-email gateway and phishing-simulation program with Sentaro. It reports 14 BEC attempts blocked in the first month, 4 minutes from contract to full deployment, and $0 spent on phishing simulations since. Dropping simulations does not remove a training obligation: DORA requires ICT security awareness programmes and digital operational resilience training for staff, and NIS2 lists cybersecurity training among its risk-management measures.",{"t":226,"id":257,"title":258,"blocks":259},"regulation","Do NIS2 and DORA require security awareness training?",[260,262,264],{"t":231,"text":261},"Yes. NIS2 (Directive (EU) 2022\u002F2555) Article 21(2)(g) lists \"basic cyber hygiene practices and cybersecurity training\" among the required cybersecurity risk-management measures, and Article 20(2) requires members of management bodies to follow training. DORA (Regulation (EU) 2022\u002F2554) Article 13(6) requires financial entities to develop ICT security awareness programmes and digital operational resilience training as compulsory modules in staff training.",{"t":231,"text":263},"Neither law says what training must look like, and neither treats training as a substitute for technical measures. A regulated firm therefore typically needs both: a training program it can evidence, and email-layer controls with incident evidence. No product makes you compliant with NIS2 or DORA. Sentaro provides the email-layer controls, continuous evidence and incident detection those frameworks require; it does not provide training content.",{"t":265,"rows":266},"table",[267,271,275,277,280],[268,269,270],"Obligation","Training platform (e.g. KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training)","Technical email control (e.g. Sentaro)",[272,273,274],"Staff cybersecurity training (NIS2 Art. 21(2)(g), DORA Art. 13(6))","Primary tool","Not covered",[276,273,274],"Management-body training (NIS2 Art. 20(2))",[278,279,273],"Detecting and handling email incidents","User reporting",[281,282,283],"Incident timeline for 24h \u002F 72h reporting","Varies by product","Supplies who, what, when and scope",{"t":226,"id":285,"title":286,"blocks":287},"where-sentaro-wins","Where Sentaro wins",[288,296],{"t":289,"items":290},"ul",[291,292,293,294,295],"Targeted, AI-written or payload-free attacks still reach inboxes behind native filtering, and you do not want to rely on employees to catch them.","You want BEC and vendor-compromise detection that uses relationship and thread context, not user judgment.","You have a small IT team that cannot triage user-reported phishing all day.","You want shadow IT, shadow AI and OAuth grants inventoried and risky grants revoked in one click.","You want a technical control live in four minutes at a published price: Sentaro is an API-based email security platform for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, hosted in Sweden on Microsoft Azure, priced at $6 per protected account per month (USD).",{"t":231,"text":297},"We make Sentaro, so weigh this section accordingly: every point above comes from Sentaro’s published product information, and its limits are listed on this page too.",{"t":226,"id":299,"title":300,"blocks":301},"where-knowbe4-may-still-fit","Where KnowBe4 may still fit",[302],{"t":289,"items":303},[304,305,306,307],"You have no training program and need one you can evidence for an audit: security awareness training, compliance training and coaching. Sentaro offers none of these.","You want phishing simulation to measure behavior over time.","You need outbound misdirected-email prevention or policy-based encryption (Prevent and Protect).","You want inbound verdicts surfaced inside the Defender portal: KnowBe4 Defend is one of three vendors in Microsoft’s ICES Vendor Ecosystem (Microsoft Learn, updated July 2026).",{"t":41,"tone":309,"title":310,"text":311},"roadmap","Roadmap: Identity and Behavioral, Q4 2026","Everything compared on this page is live today: Sentaro’s Message vector (since Q2 2026) and App vector (since Q3 2026). Identity (leaked credentials, lookalike-domain registration alerts) and Behavioral (account-takeover and session anomalies, forwarding-rule abuse, forced re-authentication and session revocation) reach general availability in Q4 2026, included at no added cost. Until then Sentaro does not offer account-takeover session-anomaly detection.",{"t":41,"tone":42,"title":313,"text":314},"Certification status","SOC 2 and ISO 27001: certification in progress, with no target date published; Sentaro says it will announce them the day they are signed, and not before. Google CASA: verified API integration. The DPA and subprocessor list are public at sentaro.com\u002Fen\u002Flegal\u002Fdpa; an evidence pack for NIS2, DORA and SOC 2 diligence is available on request from hello@sentaro.com.",{"t":316,"title":317,"quote":3,"caseStudy":3},"proof","The case in full",[319,322,325,328,331,334,337],{"q":320,"a":321},"Is Sentaro better than KnowBe4?","Yes, for EU teams on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace that want phishing stopped by a technical control instead of relying on trained employees. Sentaro scores every message before interaction, detects BEC and vendor fraud, inventories OAuth apps and AI tools, and costs $6 per protected account per month. Prices in USD. Training is optional on top; regulated firms keep a training program for NIS2 or DORA.",{"q":323,"a":324},"Is Sentaro a KnowBe4 alternative?","Yes, as the control. Sentaro can replace or complement KnowBe4’s inbound email product (Defend), and one published Sentaro customer moved budget away from phishing simulation. Sentaro does not offer security awareness training, compliance training, coaching, outbound misdirected-email prevention or encryption.",{"q":326,"a":327},"Who are KnowBe4’s competitors?","In awareness training, competitors include other training and human-risk platforms, and email vendors that bundle training, such as IRONSCALES, Hornetsecurity, Barracuda and Abnormal’s AI Phishing Coach. In inbound email security, KnowBe4 Defend competes with API-based vendors such as Abnormal, Check Point Harmony Email, Sublime and Sentaro.",{"q":329,"a":330},"Can I drop phishing simulations if I deploy Sentaro?","You can, but keep training. Neither NIS2 nor DORA names phishing simulation specifically: one Sentaro customer, a 400-seat Nordic payments firm under DORA, replaced its phishing-simulation program and reports $0 spent on simulations since. NIS2 and DORA still expect staff cybersecurity training, so keep a training program you can evidence.",{"q":332,"a":333},"Does KnowBe4 work with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?","Yes. As of July 2026, Microsoft lists the KnowBe4 Defend Platform as one of three approved vendors in its ICES Vendor Ecosystem, which surfaces partner verdicts in the Defender portal for Plan 2 and E5 customers. Sentaro is not part of that program; it runs alongside Defender over its own API connection.",{"q":335,"a":336},"How much does KnowBe4 cost compared with Sentaro?","KnowBe4 does not publish prices on its cloud email security page (checked 18 October 2026). Sentaro costs $6 per protected account per month, or $68 per account per year; the first account is free. Prices in USD. If you buy one thing to stop phishing, our recommendation is the control: Sentaro.",{"q":338,"a":339},"Does Sentaro report phishing to users like a training tool?","No. Sentaro labels verdicts in the mailbox so the recipient sees the verdict where they see the mail, but it is not a teaching tool and does not run campaigns, scores or courses.",[341,344,347,350,353,356,359,362,365,368],{"label":342,"url":343},"KnowBe4: Cloud Email Security (Defend, Prevent, Protect)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.knowbe4.com\u002Fproducts\u002Fcloud-email-security",{"label":345,"url":346},"KnowBe4: to acquire Egress (24 Apr 2024)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.knowbe4.com\u002Fpress\u002Fknowbe4-to-acquire-egress",{"label":348,"url":349},"KnowBe4: completes acquisition of Egress (9 Jul 2024)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.knowbe4.com\u002Fpress\u002Fknowbe4-completes-acquisition-of-egress",{"label":351,"url":352},"KnowBe4: Vista Equity Partners completes acquisition (1 Feb 2023)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.knowbe4.com\u002Fpress\u002Fvista-equity-partners-completes-acquisition-of-knowbe4",{"label":354,"url":355},"Microsoft Learn: Defender for Office 365 ICES Vendor Ecosystem (ms.date 17 Jul 2026)","https:\u002F\u002Flearn.microsoft.com\u002Fen-us\u002Fdefender-office-365\u002Fmdo-ices-vendor-ecosystem",{"label":357,"url":358},"EUR-Lex: Directive (EU) 2022\u002F2555 (NIS2)","https:\u002F\u002Feur-lex.europa.eu\u002Feli\u002Fdir\u002F2022\u002F2555\u002Foj",{"label":360,"url":361},"EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2022\u002F2554 (DORA)","https:\u002F\u002Feur-lex.europa.eu\u002Feli\u002Freg\u002F2022\u002F2554\u002Foj",{"label":363,"url":364},"Verizon: Data Breach Investigations Report 2026","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.verizon.com\u002Fbusiness\u002Fresources\u002Freports\u002Fdbir\u002F",{"label":366,"url":367},"FBI IC3: Internet Crime Report 2025","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ic3.gov\u002FAnnualReport\u002FReports\u002F2025_IC3Report.pdf",{"label":369,"url":370},"KnowBe4: Data Transfer Impact Assessment (updated 13 October 2026)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.knowbe4.com\u002Fhubfs\u002FData-Transfer-Impact-Assessment.pdf","Comparison based on publicly available information as of 18 October 2026. Product capabilities change; check each vendor’s current documentation. Trademarks belong to their owners. Corrections: contact Sentaro.",[373,376,379,382,385,388,391],{"label":374,"to":375},"KnowBe4 alternatives","\u002Fen\u002Falternatives\u002Fknowbe4-alternatives",{"label":377,"to":378},"Security awareness training vs email security","\u002Fen\u002Fcompare\u002Fsecurity-awareness-training-vs-email-security",{"label":380,"to":381},"DORA and email security","\u002Fen\u002Fcompliance\u002Fdora",{"label":383,"to":384},"Fintech and payments","\u002Fen\u002Findustries\u002Ffintech-and-payments",{"label":386,"to":387},"BEC protection","\u002Fen\u002Fsolutions\u002Fbec",{"label":389,"to":390},"Pricing","\u002Fen\u002Fpricing",{"label":392,"to":393},"How Sentaro scores mail before a click","\u002Fen\u002Fplatform",{"title":395,"note":396},"Stop asking employees to be the last line of defense.","Connect Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace over API in four minutes. The first account is free.",{"links":398,"only":428,"labels":432},[399,402,404,407,409,412,413,416,419,422,425],{"label":400,"to":401},"API-based email security","\u002Fen\u002Fbest\u002Fcloud-email-security",{"label":403,"to":381},"DORA",{"label":405,"to":406},"NIS2","\u002Fen\u002Fcompliance\u002Fnis2",{"label":164,"to":408},"\u002Fen\u002Fplatforms\u002Fgoogle-workspace-email-security",{"label":410,"to":411},"Microsoft 365","\u002Fen\u002Fplatforms\u002Fmicrosoft-365-email-security",{"label":145,"to":387},{"label":414,"to":415},"Phishing","\u002Fen\u002Fsolutions\u002Fphishing",{"label":417,"to":418},"Shadow AI","\u002Fen\u002Fsolutions\u002Fshadow-ai",{"label":420,"to":421},"Shadow IT","\u002Fen\u002Fsolutions\u002Fshadow-it",{"label":423,"to":424},"ICES","\u002Fen\u002Fglossary\u002Fintegrated-cloud-email-security",{"label":426,"to":427},"Pretexting","\u002Fen\u002Fglossary\u002Fpretexting",{"5":429,"7":430,"9":431},[427],[381,387,415,406],[421,418,401],{},1792761724292]