Let's first look at some of the factors affecting the average cost of security awareness training, and what you can expect to pay.

Pricing models: Per-user, flat rate, or bundled services

The actual cost of security awareness training varies depending on how you pay for it. Some pricing models favor smaller organizations, while others offer a better deal for larger companies. For example:

Per-user licensing

Per-user licensing is a SaaS-type pricing model where each individual user gets a separate license for training. You purchase monthly or yearly "seats" for each of your designated users.

• Pros: You only pay for the licenses you need, and you can scale up or down easily and on the fly. Plus, you can enjoy predictable costs.

• Cons: Costs still rise as your workforce grows, even though volume discounts are usually offered. For very large organizations, managing and tracking individual licenses can create extra administrative work.

All in all, per-user licensing is a flexible, commonly used model that works for organizations of all sizes looking for scalable, predictable training costs.

Flat rate licensing

Flat rate licensing charges a fixed monthly or annual fee for accessing the training platform, typically without limits on the number of users.

• Pros: Makes admin and budgeting easier, which can be simpler since you don't have to track individual seats.

• Cons: Smaller groups may pay the same as larger ones, and larger organizations may find that a flat fee still doesn't give them the level of customization, reporting, or hands-on support they need. It's a less common model, usually offered only in certain scenarios by a few vendors.

Overall, flat rate licensing can work for certain use cases, but many organizations prefer more flexible models that scale with their workforce and offer stronger administrative and reporting capabilities.

Bundled services licensing

Bundled services licensing packages include multiple IT or cybersecurity services together. While this can simplify purchasing for some organizations, it can also mean paying for services you don't actually need.

• Pros: Can reduce administrative overhead for organizations that want multiple services in one purchase.

• Cons: You may pay for services that you don't use unless the bundle is customizable.

What affects cost: Features like phishing simulations, reporting, and integrations

If you want or need non-standard training or support, your security awareness training costs can rise. Some suppliers may charge a great deal extra to add on necessary services, like phishing simulations, advanced reporting, and third-party integrations. In such circumstances, you may be better off going with a provider who offers these extended services as standard, as Huntress does.

Keep in mind that the sticker price isn't the whole story. A lower per-user price can still be expensive if your team is spending hours every month building campaigns, assigning training, updating content, and chasing completion data. That time is a real budget line, even when it never shows up on the invoice.

Developing your in-house SAT program is rarely the most effective option. Creating a robust program requires senior security experts, whose time is usually better spent on other critical security priorities. Most businesses find that outsourcing their SAT to a managed platform delivers greater efficiency, higher quality content, and faster results than trying to build (and maintain) a program internally.

The numbers back this up: Huntress research found that 61% of security professionals spend 10+ hours per month managing SAT, which is exactly why managed delivery matters for lean teams. Huntress Managed SAT is built to reduce that burden by having Huntress experts create, curate, and schedule training and phishing campaigns for you.

Part of the analysis behind the average cost of security awareness training is determining the frequency at which your people will need to be trained. Research shows that the cybersecurity landscape changes fast, and after just a few weeks or months, employees' awareness of current threats can begin to fade. For this reason, Huntress recommends a continuous training model with monthly sessions, so your team stays up to date, engaged, and effective at recognizing evolving threats.

As Truman Kain, Principal Product Researcher at Huntress, puts it: "Confidence after training does not always translate into real-world readiness." That's why continuous, bite-sized monthly training is more effective than infrequent awareness pushes—it keeps readiness current instead of letting it decay between annual sessions.

How do you judge the ROI of SAT? On the cybersecurity problems you are likely to avoid by acquiring the training, that's how. Think about fewer data breaches, lower compliance penalties, and less downtime from incidents, for starters.

The link to real incidents is direct: more than half of security professionals (53%) say at least one-third of security incidents could have been prevented with better employee security awareness. In other words, awareness isn't a soft metric—it maps straight to incidents that never happen.

But the ROI goes beyond what you don't face. Well-trained employees actually recognize and report suspicious emails more often, which means more phishing attempts are stopped before they spread. Every reported phish is an incident contained, and every prevented breach is money saved. That proactiveness is one of the clearest returns you'll see from a strong SAT program like the one Huntress offers.

Management overhead matters, too. Programs run internally often consume a lot of time from security teams and can suffer from inconsistent quality, which limits ROI. By outsourcing SAT to a managed platform like Huntress, organizations not only get high-quality training content but also save valuable time and resources, making the program far more effective and measurable.

The issue is not just budget. Huntress research shows many teams are spending more on SAT without getting the reduction in human risk they expected, which makes quality and manageability just as important as price. While the average cost of security awareness training must be balanced against the laundry list of expensive problems, data breaches, and lawsuits you may have to weather if your employees make avoidable mistakes, a strong SAT program can deliver both better outcomes and less administrative burden.

Huntress Managed SAT delivers expert-backed security awareness training without the admin burden of running a program yourself. Huntress experts create, curate, and schedule training and phishing simulations for you, while automated reminders and monthly reporting help keep learners on track. With 1M+ learners and 264k+ customers across Huntress, the platform gives businesses a more scalable way to improve security awareness without turning SAT into another time sink for already-stretched teams.

We deliver enterprise-grade security awareness training at a cost accessible for all businesses, with a focus on high-quality content, managed delivery, and minimizing administrative overhead.

Learn more about Huntress Managed Security Awareness Training and start a free trial today.