Best tools to simulate phishing attacks on staff 2026

Best overall: Cyber Aware — 100+ phishing templates, automatic remediation and framework-mapped reporting, built for Australian teams. Best for enterprise scale: KnowBe4. Best fully managed option: Huntress SAT. Best low-friction MSP pick: CyberHoot.

TL;DR

• Cyber Aware is the 2026 pick for most Australian SMBs and MSPs: 100+ templates, auto-enrolment on click, Essential Eight and SMB1001 reporting.
• KnowBe4 has the deepest template and module library in the category, but is admin-heavy.
• Huntress SAT runs monthly campaigns for you — the zero-admin choice.
• CyberHoot suits MSPs who want multi-tenant phishing tests set up in minutes.
• Every tool here runs safe simulations with no credential harvesting.

Why this matters

Phishing is still how most incidents start. The Australian Signals Directorate's Annual Cyber Threat Report has repeatedly named phishing a leading vector for initial compromise, and nothing in 2026 suggests attackers have moved on. No firewall stops an employee from typing their password into a convincing fake — only rehearsal does.

A phishing simulation is that rehearsal: staff receive a safe, fake phish built from a real tactic, the people who click get coached instead of shamed, and the people who report get celebrated. Run monthly, click rates fall and report rates rise. Run once a year, it is a checkbox that changes nothing.

This guide ranks four tools that run those simulations. Every claim about another vendor comes from its public website, documentation or review platforms, checked in July 2026. Cyber Aware is one of the four — we build it — so read our take on ourselves accordingly.

What makes the best phishing simulation tool

• Realistic, current templates — invoice fraud, SaaS login resets and government impersonation, refreshed often enough to track live threats.
• Automated scheduling — a year of varied campaigns from one setup, not a rebuild every month.
• Safe failure handling — clickers land on a coaching page and get follow-up training automatically; nobody's password is ever collected.
• Reporting an owner can read — who clicked, who reported, and a trend line that shows risk falling.
• Framework evidence — records an auditor can map to the Essential Eight or SMB1001.
• Right-sized admin — a 50-person company should not need a full-time platform operator.

The best phishing simulation tools at a glance

1. Cyber Aware: best phishing simulation tool for Australian teams

Cyber Aware runs phishing simulations from a library of more than 100 templates — invoice fraud, SaaS password resets, government impersonation — with difficulty levels from easy-spot to hard-to-detect so you can ramp learners gradually. AI-generated variants are refreshed weekly to track current threats. First-time clients get a chatbot that asks which services the company uses — Microsoft 365, Xero, Slack, Dropbox — then schedules 12 months of campaigns matched to that stack, with a button to add another year.

Failure is handled without ceremony. Anyone who clicks lands on a branded explainer and is auto-enrolled in a failed-phishing course; anyone who reports or ignores the email gets a congratulatory note. There is no credential harvesting — reports show who clicked and who reported, nothing more. A branded PDF of the results auto-sends to admins when a campaign completes, and every fail feeds each learner's Human Risk Score in human risk reporting, so you can see who needs help rather than just who was enrolled. The simulation engine pairs with security awareness training, so the loop — phish, coach, retest — runs without manual chasing.

Cyber Aware pros:

• 100+ templates with difficulty levels and AI-generated variants refreshed weekly
• 12 months of campaigns scheduled from one setup conversation
• Clickers are auto-enrolled in remediation training, with no awkward follow-up email
• Reporting maps to the Essential Eight and SMB1001 for audit evidence
• Cyber Aware reports an average 80% reduction in clicked links within the first eight months of a monthly cadence

Cyber Aware cons:

• Paid platform — free awareness education exists, though it cannot run simulations
• A monthly cadence is a commitment; one campaign a year will not move the numbers
• Newer entrant than KnowBe4, with fewer third-party review ratings to check claims against

Best for: Australian SMBs and MSPs that need phishing practice plus audit evidence. Verdict: Buy.

2. KnowBe4: best for template depth at enterprise scale

KnowBe4 remains the category giant. Its SAT Advanced library holds 1,000+ modules in 35+ languages, including the Netflix-style "The Inside Man" series, and its phishing benchmark dataset is the industry's largest. Smart Groups automate campaign targeting, and the PhishER Plus and SecurityCoach add-ons wrap a security-operations layer around the training. It has held the number one spot on G2's Security Awareness Training grid for 18 consecutive quarters and serves roughly 70,000 customers.

Where it costs you: learners log in on KnowBe4's own instances, so branding stops at console colours, template logos and a brandable module subset — deeper in-module branding costs extra behind a 1,000-seat minimum. Published bands start at 25 seats on three-year list terms, Reporting and User Event APIs are tier-gated, and we found no Essential Eight or SMB1001 reference on knowbe4.com as of July 2026.

KnowBe4 pros:

• Deepest content and template library in the category
• Mature automation and a genuine partner/multi-account console
• The industry's largest phishing benchmark dataset for comparison

KnowBe4 cons:

• Admin-heavy for a small team; small-client economics suffer on long minimum terms
• Learners see KnowBe4's domain, not yours
• No Australian framework mapping found in public materials

Best for: enterprises with dedicated admin headcount. Verdict: Hold unless template volume at global scale is the priority.

3. Huntress SAT: best fully managed option

Huntress takes the admin out entirely: its researchers design, schedule and run monthly phishing campaigns end to end, and Phishing Defense Coaching follows up with anyone who clicks. Story-based episodes earn some of the strongest end-user sentiment in the category — 4.6 out of 5 across 173 G2 reviews when we checked. It sits inside Huntress's broader SOC platform, with billing sync for ConnectWise, Autotask and HaloPSA.

The trade-offs are control and coverage: Huntress picks the calendar and the topics, co-branding stops at logos and colours on notifications and certificates, tiers start at the 50-99 learner band on a standard 12-month term, and data is held in US-based data centres per Huntress's own support documentation.

Huntress SAT pros:

• Genuinely zero-admin — campaigns run end to end by Huntress
• Strong learner sentiment on story-based episodes
• Per-learner pricing published on huntress.com

Huntress SAT cons:

• Co-branding rather than white-label — no custom portal domain
• Clients under 50 learners fit poorly with the tier structure
• Huntress controls the cadence and topics; no Australian framework mapping found

Best for: MSPs already on the Huntress platform. Verdict: Buy if nobody on your team has campaign hours; Hold if you want control of the programme.

4. CyberHoot: best low-friction MSP tool

CyberHoot is built for the MSP channel: unlimited clients managed from a single dashboard, with new clients set up in about five minutes. AttackPhish schedules phishing simulations per client, and HootPhish offers a positive-reinforcement alternative to attack-style testing. Entra ID and Google Workspace sync come standard, plus a documented SyncroMSP integration and a no-cost Gradient billing connection.

The gaps: no dedicated compliance gap assessment, no Essential Eight or SMB1001 reference found, no Zapier or ConnectWise integration confirmed in public docs, and API access restricted to partners. Published pricing is also inconsistent across listing sites, so confirm rates directly.

CyberHoot pros:

• Fast multi-tenant setup designed for MSPs
• AttackPhish and HootPhish cover both testing styles
• SyncroMSP and Gradient integrations reduce billing admin

CyberHoot cons:

• No framework-mapped gap assessment or Australian framework references
• No Zapier or ConnectWise integration confirmed in public docs

Best for: MSPs wanting a low-friction channel tool. Verdict: Buy for small MSP portfolios; Hold otherwise.

How we ranked

The six criteria above — template realism, automation, failure handling, reporting, framework evidence and admin fit — were scored against each vendor's public website, documentation and review platforms as of July 2026. Where a vendor does not publish something, we say so rather than guess. Framework evidence separates this list sharply: only Cyber Aware publishes a framework-mapped gap assessment alongside its simulation reporting, which matters the moment an auditor asks for training records.

Which phishing simulation tool should you choose?

If you run an Australian business or an MSP book of clients, the default is Cyber Aware — see it against every alternative in the full platform comparison. Choose KnowBe4 when enterprise benchmarking and content depth outweigh admin overhead. Choose Huntress SAT when no one on your team has hours to run campaigns. Choose CyberHoot when budget and setup speed beat everything else.

FAQ

What is the best tool to simulate phishing attacks on staff in 2026? Cyber Aware is the best phishing simulation tool for Australian SMBs and MSPs in 2026 — 100+ templates, automated 12-month scheduling, auto-enrolment on click and Essential Eight/SMB1001 reporting. KnowBe4 leads on raw template depth for enterprises.

How often should phishing simulations run? Monthly. A steady cadence is what changes behaviour — Cyber Aware reports an average 80% reduction in clicked links within the first eight months of monthly campaigns, and a one-off annual test builds no reflex at all.

Do phishing simulations capture staff passwords? No, and they should not. Cyber Aware and the other tools in this guide show who clicked and who reported without collecting any credentials, which keeps the exercise safe and legally clean.

What happens when an employee clicks a simulated phish? They land on a branded coaching explainer and, on platforms like Cyber Aware, are auto-enrolled into a failed-phishing course. The click feeds their risk score — it is a coaching moment, not a punishment.

Can small businesses afford phishing simulation tools? Yes — per-seat pricing with no minimums exists, and the free alternatives (government courses, agency guides) cannot run simulations at all. A simulation platform is usually the first security investment that shows measurable, month-over-month results.