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If you’ve shopped for security awareness training in the last twelve months, you’ve heard of KnowBe4. It’s the largest player in the category, with the deepest content library, the most polished phishing-simulation engine, and the loudest marketing budget. For an enterprise with two thousand employees, KnowBe4 is usually the right answer.
For a Thunder Bay accounting firm with eighteen staff, it isn’t — and the reason has nothing to do with the product itself. It’s structural: KnowBe4’s MSP partner programme carries a reported 101-user minimum per managed client (as of May 2026; KnowBe4 does not publish the figure on its public partner pages, so confirm it with your channel manager), with no ability to aggregate user counts across multiple small clients. For an MSP serving a portfolio of sub-50-seat businesses, that math doesn’t work. Most of our clients would be paying twice — once for KnowBe4’s partner-programme threshold, and again for the per-user cost of a platform built for organizations five to ten times their size.
After comparing the realistic options for SMBs across our service area, we settled on BiggerBrains for the majority of our managed engagements. Here’s the comparison, the trade-offs, and the cases where KnowBe4 still wins.
Why the 101-User Minimum Matters for Small-Client MSPs
KnowBe4 sells direct — its published price bands start at 25 seats — and through MSP partners, where the reported minimum is 101 users per client. The MSP minimum was likely set to ensure partner programmes are commercially worth KnowBe4’s overhead — fair enough, from their side. From the MSP’s side, it has three downstream consequences:
- Each client organization is a separate KnowBe4 account, provisioned and billed on its own.
- User counts cannot be aggregated across clients to reach the 101-user threshold. An MSP with 30 clients averaging 12 users each — 360 users in total — still cannot run KnowBe4 through the partner programme because no single client meets the threshold.
- Volume discounts apply per-client, not per-portfolio. The same 360-user MSP cannot negotiate enterprise pricing the way a single 360-user organization could.
For an MSP serving clinics, law firms, contractors, and nonprofits across Thunder Bay, Marathon, Geraldton, Timmins, and surrounding communities, the typical client has 8–60 staff. Less than 5% of our portfolio would clear the 101-user bar individually. That’s the structural reason a different platform makes more sense for the SMB book.
What BiggerBrains Brings to SMBs
BiggerBrains (also known as Bigger Brains; Florida-based, founded in 2012 by Chip Reaves, according to the vendor) is a video-based learning platform sold predominantly through the IT channel under a sub-brand called BiggerMSP. The vendor claims 225+ courses with 4,400+ video modules across Microsoft 365 / Office, business skills, HIPAA, workplace harassment, and cybersecurity awareness.
The pieces that matter for an MSP comparison:
- Productivity + security in one subscription. This is the single biggest differentiator from KnowBe4, Hook Security, Phin Security, and Coalition Security Awareness Training — all of which focus on cybersecurity awareness. BiggerBrains’ Microsoft 365 / Excel / Outlook / Teams / Copilot tracks address the helpdesk ticket-volume side of the equation, not just the breach-risk side.
- No user minimum, no commitment, month-to-month. A 12-seat clinic and a 70-seat construction firm both get the same per-user wholesale price, and either can cancel without breaking a contract.
- Microsoft Teams + Webex Apps integration. BrainBot, BiggerBrains’ AI reinforcement chatbot, runs inside Teams or Webex, which lowers friction for staff who are already living in those tools every day.
- SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, AICC, and xAPI support. If a client needs to host content inside their own LMS for compliance reasons, BiggerBrains content travels.
- Branded training portal. MSPs get a co-branded training URL and course catalogue — the platform appears to staff as an extension of the MSP’s service rather than a third-party product.
- Datto Autotask + CloudRadial integrations. PSA-side user provisioning is automated for MSPs running Autotask. CloudRadial integration surfaces 40 free + 193 premium courses inside the existing client portal.
The honest weak points compared to KnowBe4:
- Phishing simulation is awareness-grade, not enterprise-grade. BiggerBrains’ security content includes anti-phishing training and BrainBot reinforcement, but it does not run real-mail phishing simulations with click-tracking, landing-page templates, and remedial campaign automation the way KnowBe4 PhishER + SecurityCoach do. For clients who specifically need that depth, we pair BiggerBrains with Microsoft Attack Simulation Training (included with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5) or a separate phish-sim tool.
- Reporting depth is lighter. BiggerBrains gives completion percentages, assessment scores, and per-user progress. It does not produce the human-risk-score / persona-based dashboards that KnowBe4 SecurityCoach, Hoxhunt, and Coalition publish for enterprise customers.
- Less community discourse. Reddit’s r/msp and Spiceworks discussions about BiggerBrains are noticeably thinner than KnowBe4 / Phin / Hook. That’s not a product flaw, but it’s worth knowing if you like to crowdsource opinion before committing.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Factor | KnowBe4 | BiggerBrains |
|---|---|---|
| MSP minimum | 101 users per client (reported) | None |
| Multi-tenant aggregation | Not available — each client billed separately | Per-MSP wholesale pricing |
| List price | USD $2.40–$3.75/seat/mo at 25–50 seats, falling to $1.63–$2.79 at 501–1,000 (3-year term, MSRP, May 2026) | USD $0.10–$4.00/user/mo (wholesale band per BiggerMSP, May 2026) |
| Cybersecurity content | Largest library in the market; deepest phishing-simulation engine | Standard awareness curriculum + BrainBot reinforcement |
| Productivity content | None | 225+ courses across Microsoft 365, Excel, Teams, Outlook, Copilot, business skills |
| Phishing simulation | Native PhishER + AIDA; advanced templates and reporting | Awareness training only; pair with Microsoft Attack Simulation Training or third-party for real simulation |
| Reporting depth | SecurityCoach risk scoring, persona dashboards | Completion + assessment scores |
| Compliance modules | HIPAA, PCI, GDPR, SOC 2, broad coverage | HIPAA, workplace harassment, cybersecurity, broad SMB coverage |
| PSA / RMM integrations | Partner console for managing client accounts | Datto Autotask, CloudRadial, Invarosoft, DeskDirector, HaloPSA |
| Microsoft Teams app | Yes | Yes (BrainBot) |
| SSO / Microsoft Entra ID | Yes | Yes |
| SCORM / xAPI | Yes | Yes |
| Co-branded portal | Available at higher tiers | Standard with BiggerMSP |
| Commitment / contract | Multi-year terms common (list pricing is quoted on a 3-year term) | Month-to-month, no commitment |
Pricing figures are list / wholesale at the time of writing. KnowBe4’s published pricing is USD MSRP on a three-year term and is stated to vary by region; Vendr’s KnowBe4 pricing guide reports that volume and term-based discounts off list are common. BiggerBrains pricing is per the BiggerMSP partner page. KnowBe4’s earlier Silver / Gold / Platinum / Diamond tier names, still referenced by third-party guides, have been replaced on its own price list by SAT Foundation and SAT Advanced.
When KnowBe4 Still Wins
We don’t pretend BiggerBrains is the answer for every business. For some clients, KnowBe4 is genuinely the right fit:
- Organizations past 100 staff where the partner-programme minimum stops being a barrier.
- Highly regulated industries (financial services, healthcare with enterprise compliance reporting, multi-site organizations) where SecurityCoach risk scoring and PhishER’s automated abuse-mailbox triage produce material reductions in incident response time.
- Audit-heavy clients that need the granular, persona-segmented reporting that auditors and cyber insurers ask for at the enterprise tier.
- Phish-sim-first programmes where the entire approach is built around continuous adversary-grade simulated phishing, not just awareness training and content library.
For most clinics, contractors, law firms, accounting practices, and nonprofits, none of those criteria apply — and the productivity-training side of the BiggerBrains subscription quietly pays for itself in reduced helpdesk tickets on Outlook, Teams, and Copilot questions. For the 5–10% of our portfolio where they do, we deploy KnowBe4 instead and price it accordingly.
What Else We Considered
- Hook Security — strong engagement design with story-driven phishing scenarios; awareness-only, no productivity tracks. Good fit when the client priority is lifting click-through engagement on phishing training specifically.
- Phin Security — built MSP-first with multi-tenant management from day one; smaller content library than KnowBe4 or BiggerBrains. Strong choice for MSPs who specifically don’t want a productivity component.
- Coalition Security Awareness Training — bundled inside Coalition Control and tied to Coalition cyber insurance policies. Closes the insurer feedback loop nicely if the client already carries Coalition coverage; less relevant for clients on Beazley, Chubb, or other carriers.
- Microsoft Attack Simulation Training — included with Microsoft 365 E5 or Defender for Office 365 Plan 2. Phishing simulation only, no curriculum behind it. We use it as a complementary tool when a client already holds the licensing, not as a primary training platform.
The shortlist is healthy. The right answer for a specific client depends on size, industry, existing licensing, and whether they need productivity training, phish-sim depth, or both.
Why This Question Matters Now
Cyber insurance carriers — Beazley, Chubb Canada, Coalition — have moved the staff-training question into application questionnaires and bundled services. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner lists staff training among the organizational safeguards it expects under PIPEDA. Ontario’s IPC can issue PHIPA penalties of up to $500,000 for organizations, weighing whether a custodian could have prevented the breach. We covered the underwriting and regulatory case in detail in Your Cyber Insurance Application Asks About Staff Training.
The question is no longer “should we run security awareness training?” It’s “do we have a documented platform that produces completion records when our broker, the OPC, the IPC, or our auditor asks?” The platform choice is downstream — but it’s the platform choice that determines whether the documented-training answer is sustainable on your specific budget.
For SMBs, the right platform is rarely the loudest brand. It’s the one that fits the size of your business, the data you handle, the licensing you already own, and the helpdesk burden your team is generating today.
When to Get In Touch
If you’re renewing cyber coverage, going through a privacy audit, or just trying to figure out whether your current Microsoft 365 / Teams environment is set up to support a real training programme, we can help. DVG Systems deploys BiggerBrains as part of full managed IT engagements for SMBs across Thunder Bay, Marathon, Geraldton, Timmins, and surrounding communities — and we deploy KnowBe4 for the smaller number of clients where it genuinely fits.
Get in touch with DVG Systems or run our free pricing assessment for a transparent estimate that includes the training stack, not just the technical controls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does KnowBe4 require 101 users for its MSP program?
KnowBe4’s published direct pricing starts at 25 seats, and its MSP partner programme carries a reported 101-user minimum per client (about four times the direct floor). User counts cannot be aggregated across clients, and each managed client is a separate KnowBe4 account. For MSPs serving small businesses, this prices most clients out of the partner programme. KnowBe4 does not publish the MSP minimum on its public pages; confirm current terms with its channel team.
Is BiggerBrains as good as KnowBe4 on cybersecurity content?
For SMB awareness training, yes — BiggerBrains covers anti-phishing, password and MFA hygiene, social engineering, secure remote work, and HIPAA / workplace harassment compliance modules. KnowBe4’s library is larger and its phishing-simulation engine (PhishER, AIDA, SecurityCoach) is deeper. For clients past 100 staff or in highly regulated industries, that depth matters. For clinics, contractors, and small professional firms, BiggerBrains is sufficient and bundles productivity training KnowBe4 doesn’t offer.
Does BiggerBrains run real phishing simulations?
Not at the level KnowBe4 does. BiggerBrains’ security content includes anti-phishing training and BrainBot reinforcement, but it doesn’t run click-tracked simulated phishing campaigns the way KnowBe4 PhishER does. For clients who specifically need that, we pair BiggerBrains with Microsoft Attack Simulation Training (included with Defender for Office 365 Plan 2) or a separate phish-sim tool.
Does the productivity training in BiggerBrains actually reduce helpdesk tickets?
In our experience yes — staff who complete the Microsoft 365 / Teams / Outlook / Copilot tracks generate fewer “how do I…” tickets, save fewer files in the wrong place, and create fewer of the conditions phishing attacks exploit. The exact reduction varies by client and starting point, but the productivity tracks pay for a meaningful share of the subscription independently of the cybersecurity case.
Can DVG Systems handle the deployment for our team?
Yes. We deploy BiggerBrains (or KnowBe4 where appropriate) as part of full managed IT engagements — initial rollout, learning-path configuration, integration with Microsoft Entra ID single sign-on, completion-record reporting, and quarterly reviews. Get in touch or run our free pricing assessment for a transparent estimate.
Sources and last verified
Last verified 11 September 2026. Vendor price lists, tier names and channel-programme minimums change without notice; KnowBe4’s price list is explicitly dated and states it may be modified at any time.
- KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training pricing, KnowBe4: the SAT Foundation / SAT Advanced MSRP bands starting at 25–50 seats, dated May 2026.
- Managed Service Provider Standards of Engagement, KnowBe4: the partner programme’s per-client campaign and true-up obligations.
- KnowBe4 pricing guide, Vendr: the note that volume and term-based discounts off list are common.
- Get started using Attack simulation training, Microsoft Learn: the Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 / Microsoft 365 E5 licensing requirement.
- Introducing Coalition Security Awareness Training, Coalition: the platform and its insurance tie-in.
- BiggerMSP and Bigger Brains, Bigger Brains: the vendor’s programme, pricing band and course-count claims (vendor sites; not independently verified).