Living Security: Top Competitors, Alternatives and Reviews
A side-by-side comparison of Living Security with its main competitors. Easily compare performance across multiple categories and understand what the market is saying with independent reviews.
A side-by-side comparison of Living Security with its main competitors. Easily compare performance across multiple categories and understand what the market is saying with independent reviews.
UpGuard is an end-to-end third-party risk management platform with best-in-class time-to-value and scalability from initial implementations to beyond. UpGuard delivers powerful, integrated tools for automated third-party monitoring, in-depth risk assessment and remediation, and one-click reporting. By combining actionable insights with built-in risk management workflows, UpGuard helps organizations maintain comprehensive oversight of their supply chain security posture and equips them with the necessary tools to shut down emerging risks rapidly.
Living Security is an AI-native human risk management (HRM) platform that continuously measures, prioritizes, and reduces cybersecurity risk across an organization's workforce, including employees, contractors, and AI agents. Its Intelligence Engine correlates 300+ behavioral, identity, and threat signals from an organization's existing security stack, and its Human Risk Index (HRI) sorts individuals and groups into five distinct risk levels. Teams use these insights to focus on the small share of users driving most of the exposure and to trigger targeted action plans such as training, nudges, and automated controls. Because the platform is an analytics-and-orchestration layer that depends on integrations to generate signals, visibility is only as complete as the connected stack, and it does not provide external attack surface, vendor risk, or security ratings capabilities of its own.
Nudge Security is an agentless SaaS and AI security platform designed to discover and govern employee-adopted applications and identities across the enterprise. It consolidates shadow IT/AI discovery, SSPM, identity governance, third-party and supply-chain risk, and SaaS spend management into a centralized framework that drives compliance directly through automated employee outreach. Because its architecture focuses strictly on the SaaS, identity, and AI layers, the platform does not provide external attack surface management (EASM) or overall organizational security rating scores.
Key strengths
UpGuard excels by completing full vendor scans every 24 hours, which provides near real-time visibility into vendor security postures while seamlessly integrating native end-to-end AI-powered vendor assessment workflows. UpGuard's licensing model and efficient learning curve offer best-in-class time to value and program efficiency.
Living Security's core strength is data correlation. Its Intelligence Engine aggregates siloed signals from across an organization's existing security, identity, and training tools and connects them into a single, individual-level risk picture. The Human Risk Index translates that data into prioritized risk tiers, allowing teams to focus effort on the small percentage of users who drive the majority of exposure. The company also pairs this analytics layer with gamified and AI-personalized training content, which it positions as a driver of stronger completion and behavior-change rates. Backing all of this is a large, multi-year behavioral dataset drawn from 100+ enterprises and independently analyzed by the Cyentia Institute.
Nudge's strength is its patented email and OAuth "genealogy" approach, which surfaces a complete historical inventory of all SaaS, AI, accounts, and integrations within minutes of connecting to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. It excels at shadow AI governance (discovering AI agents and monitoring sensitive data shared with chatbots) while its automated "security nudges" (via email, Slack, or Teams) drive behavioral change where traditional security tickets fail. Nudge also accelerates identity governance tasks such as user access reviews and offboarding, while streamlining third-party risk management through real-time supply chain breach alerts and a built-in library of over 200,000 vendor security profiles.
Key weaknesses
UpGuard's focus on core frameworks like ISO 27001 and NIST offers robust coverage for most security and compliance needs, though organizations requiring highly specialized or region-specific regulations may choose to augment it with dedicated GRC modules. Its strengths in cybersecurity and continuous monitoring ensure strong TPCRM capabilities, but those seeking an all-encompassing governance solution (e.g., covering environmental or privacy regulations) might benefit from additional integrations.
The most significant consideration is that Living Security depends on integrations with an organization's existing security tools to generate its risk signals, so its insights are only as complete as the connected stack. Organizations with a thin or poorly integrated toolset will see reduced value. Some users have also noted reporting limitations, such as the lack of an out-of-the-box view for tracking metrics against an exact training start date.
Reviewers note that reporting could be more customizable, that coverage of some niche SaaS apps remains limited, and that custom or in-house apps don't always classify correctly, requiring manual reconfiguration and labeling. On the nudge side, some users report that the frequency of automated nudges can cause alert fatigue and would like more flexibility in customizing nudge message templates. A few also found technical-contact assignments unclear, needing periodic adjustment for accuracy.
Usability and learning curve
UpGuard offers best-in-class time to value for initial implementations. UpGuard's platform architecture is designed from the ground up to deliver a quick and shallow adoption curve. UpGuard's clean and intuitive interface ensures ease of ongoing operation and rapid pick-up from new staff members as needed.
Living Security emphasizes a low-friction onboarding experience, with a quick-start path to get a tenant up and running in minutes, along with a step-by-step guide for setting up an organization. The interface centers on visual, real-time dashboards that present risk at the organization, segment, department, and individual levels, and an embedded AI assistant (Livvy) is available throughout the platform to answer questions and surface insights, which lowers the learning curve for new users. The onboarding effort is the upfront integration work of connecting identity, training, phishing, and email security tools so the platform has the data to begin correlation.
Usability is a core strength for Nudge Security. Deployment is effectively instant: an admin connects to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 via OAuth, and Nudge returns a complete historical inventory within minutes, with no agents, proxies, or network changes required. Users can start a free two-week trial with no credit card required, and the learning curve is low for IT, security, and compliance teams. The friction points are minor and administrative: custom or in-house apps sometimes need manual relabeling to classify correctly, and technical-contact assignments occasionally require adjustment.
Cyber risk data accuracy
UpGuard's real-time data refresh rate ensures up-to-date and accurate vendor security posture calculations while also allowing users to initiate scans on demand. Threat Monitoring automatically scans the open, deep, and dark web for data leaks and exposed credentials, using AI-powered analysis to reduce false positives and prioritize findings for targeted, timely remediation.
Living Security's data accuracy is anchored in its Human Risk Index, a dynamic score (1–1000, each identity starting at 500) built from both risky and vigilant user behaviors plus external threat signals. Rather than an additive tally, the HRI is a probabilistic model that weighs risks and correlations across 250+ measured behaviors drawn from three pillars: employee actions (phishing and training results), identity and access signals, and real-time threat intelligence. Because these signals are pulled directly from an organization's own systems of record through integrations, the data tends to be high-fidelity for behavioral and user-risk context, though it is behavior- and identity-based rather than independent external scanning, and the exact HRI weighting is proprietary.
Nudge delivers comprehensive shadow IT, SaaS, and identity context through email- and OAuth-based discovery to reconstruct a full historical record of SaaS and AI adoption, capturing the long tail that network or CASB tools miss. Enriched by a browser extension and direct integrations, it layers identity telemetry (SSO/MFA status, OAuth scopes, non-human identities) with real-time supply chain breach alerts and 200,000+ vendor security profiles, using AI-powered intelligence to prioritize findings. As a caveat, because its primary discovery method is partly inferential, custom or in-house apps may occasionally misclassify and require relabeling; also, the deepest configuration data is limited to directly integrated apps, and data remains strictly scoped to the SaaS/identity/AI domains rather than external scanning.
Vendor risk management features
UpGuard offers a natively integrated end-to-end workflow addressing the complete Third-party Risk Management lifecycle—from onboarding to risk management and ongoing monitoring.
Dedicated vendor (third-party) risk management is outside Living Security's scope. While the platform extends its human-risk monitoring to contractors and other extended-workforce identities, this coverage applies to individuals, not to company-level third-party risk management. It does not provide the core TPRM workflows (vendor security questionnaires, compliance assessments, remediation tracking, or continuous vendor monitoring) that define a dedicated VRM platform, so organizations needing third-party risk management would require a separate tool.
While not a full TPRM platform, Nudge offers more third-party risk capability than most SaaS-security tools, providing a live view of all active SaaS and AI apps, app-to-app OAuth integrations, and non-human identities touching company data. It accelerates vendor due diligence through its built-in library of SaaS vendor security profiles and delivers real-time supply chain breach alerts. However, it lacks comprehensive TPRM lifecycle workflows—such as custom security questionnaires, formal risk assessments and scoring, and structured remediation tracking—meaning organizations requiring full vendor lifecycle management will still need a dedicated VRM tool.
Attack surface management features
UpGuard provides continuous attack surface monitoring, identifying exposed assets, misconfigurations, and vulnerabilities. It maps internet-facing infrastructure, detects risks like expired certificates and open ports, and prioritizes threats for remediation. Clear, actionable insights help organizations reduce exposure and strengthen their external security posture.
Attack surface management is not a function of Living Security. The platform does not discover, inventory, or monitor an organization's external-facing digital assets (domains, IPs, exposed services, or certificates) the way a dedicated ASM or security-ratings tool does. Its Intelligence Engine ingests public OSINT and external threat-intelligence signals, but these serve as contextual inputs for individual human risk scoring rather than for mapping or continuously monitoring an external attack surface. Organizations requiring ASM capabilities would need a separate solution.
Nudge does not perform traditional external attack surface management; it does not scan or monitor internet-facing infrastructure such as domains, IPs, exposed services, or certificates. It does, however, explicitly address the "SaaS attack surface": by discovering every SaaS and AI app, account, OAuth integration, and non-human identity employees create, it maps and helps reduce the identity and SaaS-driven exposure that sits outside the network perimeter, what Nudge calls the "Workforce Edge." Organizations needing conventional, internet-facing ASM would still require a dedicated tool.
Customer support
Known for world-class support across all tiers and customer-friendly guidance, UpGuard delivers proactive and prompt engagement to resolve customer issues quickly. Dedicated teams assist with both technical and strategic TPRM challenges.
Self-service options include the "Support Garden" knowledge base, a ticket-based support request system, and a customer community for submitting ideas and feedback. Support is structured around an always-on AI chat assistant that serves as the first line of help and escalates unresolved issues to the support team, backed by a standard ticket queue that aims to respond within 48 business hours. For time-sensitive issues, a separate critical-support path handles urgent needs outside standard business hours (Monday–Friday, 8 am–5 pm CT). In-product guidance is delivered through an embedded Resource Center offering walkthroughs and quick access to the knowledge base and community.
Nudge employs a low-touch, self-service support model in which a unified "Product Success" team handles everything from pre-sales to ongoing adoption, rather than relying on traditional Customer Success managers. Support relies on extensive self-service resources (a knowledge base, FAQs, API documentation, a public status page, and demo content) supplemented by email support. Organizations requiring a dedicated, named account manager or high-touch enterprise support may find this approach lighter than typical industry norms.
Workflow automation
UpGuard's AI-powered Security Profile automatically identifies risks and control gaps, then generates contextualized, point-in-time assessment reports in minutes. It also provides a pre-configured (and adjustable) set of controls for two leading security frameworks: ISO 27001:2022 and NIST CSF 2.0. Custom notifications simplify tracking of critical events and prompting of important follow-up actions. The platform also facilitates automatic vendor tiering, labeling, and custom attributes based on questionnaire responses for faster vendor onboarding and improved TPRM scalability.
Living Security's Actions framework lets teams build playbooks that trigger automatically when an individual's risk rises, deploying targeted training, nudges, manager alerts, access-control changes, and ITSM tickets without manual intervention. The company positions this as automating 60–80% of remediation while keeping a human in the loop for oversight, with just-in-time coaching delivered directly in Slack and Teams. Tailored, risk-based action plans are generated and executed from within the platform itself. As with its risk signals, the reach of automated controls depends on the upstream and downstream tools an organization has integrated.
Nudge's workflow playbooks and policy-driven guardrails codify governance tasks to automate the safe adoption of SaaS and AI without manual gatekeeping. Its security nudges automatically message employees via email, Slack, or Teams to prompt self-remediation the moment issues arise, such as new shadow apps, missing MFA, or risky OAuth grants, scaling enforcement without generating IT tickets. Common automated workflows include employee offboarding, SSO onboarding, app approval and justification, and user access reviews, though this enforcement is scoped to the specific applications and identity systems Nudge connects to.
Artificial intelligence features
UpGuard’s AI-powered platform streamlines the entire vendor assessment process. AI evidence analysis combined with automated scanning immediately uncovers control gaps and risks. Each finding is accompanied by transparent, traceable citations so security teams can quickly verify sources and take action. AI-generated risk assessment reports, which are typically produced in under a minute, help organizations rapidly communicate risks with stakeholders. This results in faster decision-making, more accurate and consistent reporting, and significantly reduced manual workloads.
Artificial intelligence is central to Living Security's current positioning as an "AI-native" platform. Its AI engine, branded Livvy, is trained on what is described as the industry's largest HRM dataset and unifies 300+ behavioral, identity, and threat signals into a Human Risk Index for every identity. Livvy spans prediction (flagging risk before it becomes an incident), guidance (surfacing prioritized recommendations with stated reasoning, confidence scores, and predicted impact), and action (driving automated remediation playbooks). AI is also applied to content creation, generating risk-aligned, hyper-personalized training.
Nudge's AI capabilities split focus between governing external AI usage and applying AI within the platform. For governance, it discovers shadow AI apps and browser-based agents, monitors chatbot conversations to detect sensitive data shared through file uploads or copy-pasting, and enforces policy-driven guardrails to ensure safe adoption. The product leverages AI-powered risk intelligence to continuously identify, score, and prioritize threats across the entire SaaS and AI attack surface. The platform does not feature a branded generative AI assistant or copilot, concentrating its AI value entirely on discovery, governance, and automated risk prioritization.
API and integrations
UpGuard provides a well-documented API enabling custom integrations, webhooks, and automation across common security and GRC tools. Its extensibility is straightforward, designed for rapid deployment and minimal setup friction. UpGuard also connects with over 4,000+ apps through a dedicated Zapier integration. Streamlines remediation and monitoring by natively integrating with Jira, Service Now, and Slack.
Through its Technology Alliance Program, Living Security maintains pre-built connectors to dozens of widely used security, identity, and HR systems, including Microsoft (Azure, Defender, Intune), Okta, SailPoint, CrowdStrike, Proofpoint, Mimecast, Abnormal, Cofense, KnowBe4, Netskope, Zscaler, Rapid7, and Workday. Its Entity Graph unifies identity data across HRIS, SSO, endpoint, and email sources into a single user profile, and integrations also support outbound actions such as ITSM ticketing and access-control changes. Living Security publishes technical documentation that includes APIs for programmatic access, though detailed API references are gated.
Nudge discovers the entire SaaS and AI estate via OAuth and email genealogy without requiring individual connectors, ensuring long-tail visibility is completely independent of prebuilt integrations. For deep posture management and action, it provides direct integrations with business-critical platforms (Okta, Salesforce, Snowflake, Zoom), a browser extension, and communication channels (email, Slack, Teams) for driving nudges. Programmatic access is available via a documented public REST API. While universal discovery applies broadly, deep configuration data and remediation capabilities remain concentrated on major platforms, limiting integration depth for niche SaaS apps.
Purchasing & licensing transparency
UpGuard offers a freemium package for monitoring up to 5 vendors. Also provides free access to an AI-powered vendor questionnaire management tool, Trust Exchange. Pricing starts at USD 1,750 / month. A 14-day free trial for paid plans is also available.
Living Security publishes its packaging structure but not its prices. The platform is sold as a required base (the "Living Security Platform") plus one of three Action Packages: Train, Engage, or Adapt. Buyers are directed to "contact us for enterprise pricing." Several capabilities (phishing simulations, Cybersecurity Awareness Month, CyberEscape Online, AI content generation, and professional services) are priced separately as add-ons. There is no free plan or free trial; evaluation runs through a sales-led demo environment.
Nudge Security provides a highly transparent pricing model based on active workspace users (licensed Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 mailboxes, excluding archived or suspended accounts), with no seat limits or extra charges for Nudge platform users and SSO included. Organizations under 150 accounts pay a flat $750/month, teams with 150–2,500 accounts pay $5 per active user/month, and deployments over 2,500 accounts receive custom ELA pricing. A 14-day free trial is available without a credit card, with payment options that let customers pay upfront or as they go. While all plans include the core platform, advanced configuration and integration-posture features for critical apps are paid add-ons, and the software is also available via the AWS Marketplace.
Customers
Major customers include The New York Stock Exchange (ICE), Morningstar, TDK, PagerDuty, Hopin, and IAG. To learn more, read UpGuard's customer stories.
Living Security publicly references a roster of large, recognizable enterprise customers across multiple regulated industries. Examples include Verizon, JPMorgan, CVS Health, Lockheed Martin, and Ford. The customer base skews toward Fortune 500 and large enterprises in finance, healthcare, technology, and manufacturing.
Nudge publicly references customers and endorsers, including Netflix, Snowflake, Watershed, KarmaCheck, and Unify Consulting, with security and IT leaders at Netflix and Snowflake citing its use across their organizations. The customer base skews toward technology, SaaS, and modern mid-market and enterprise teams. While it includes a couple of marquee names (Netflix and Snowflake), the publicly disclosed roster is relatively modest in breadth compared with that of larger, established vendors.
G2 rating Accurate as of March 2025
4.5, based on 383 reviews. Named a G2 Market Leader for Third Party & Supplier Risk Management Software.
Living Security does not publish pricing. The platform is sold as a required base subscription, to which buyers add one of three Action Packages along with optional add-ons. All packages require the base platform, and the site directs prospective buyers to contact sales for enterprise pricing, quoted per organization based on workforce size and the packages and add-ons selected. There is no public per-user rate, free tier, or self-service checkout; evaluation runs through a sales-led demo environment.
Here’s an overview of Living Security’s plans and services:
Free plan
No free plan offered. Living Security does not offer a free or freemium tier; access requires a paid subscription to the base platform.
Free trial
No free trial offered. Rather than a time-limited trial, Living Security offers a sales-led demo environment arranged through its team.
Train (entry Action Package)
“Train” focuses on foundational visibility and baseline behavior. It includes AI-powered, risk-based security awareness training, a multilingual content library, dynamic and adaptive campaigns, and compliance reporting, with phishing simulations available as an add-on.
Engage (Most Popular)
“Engage” builds on Train and targets behavior change and security culture. It adds leaderboards and gamification, employee and manager scorecards, just-in-time nudges in Slack and Microsoft Teams, nudge automation, and executive and board reporting.
Adapt (most advanced)
“Adapt” focuses on real-time, automated risk response: automated orchestration, adaptive user permissions, risk-based access controls, and outbound integrations such as ITSM and LMS.
Add-ons and additional costs
Phishing Simulations: Behavior-driven phishing training, including multi-channel simulations (email, SMS, voice, QR); available on any package.
CyberEscape Online / Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Immersive team-based training experiences and a turnkey October awareness program.
Professional Services & AI Content Generation: Strategy, onboarding, and program management engagements, plus AI-generated training content.
How does Living Security’s pricing compare to its competitors?
UpGuard
UpGuard’s pricing starts at USD 1,750 per month. The platform maximizes value by offering out-of-the-box workflows supporting the entire TPRM lifecycle—saving users from having to purchase additional tools to fill TPRM workflow gaps.
It offers a free plan that lets you monitor up to five vendors, with access to assessment and remediation workflows. UpGuard’s Trust Exchange tool, which streamlines vendor questionnaires and trust management, is also free.
KnowBe4 sells security awareness training across four tiers (Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond), priced per user on an annual subscription basis, with a minimum of 25 users. It does not publish firm list prices itself (a quote is required), but third-party marketplaces list prices at roughly USD 15–30 per user per year, depending on tier, with volume and multi-year discounts common.
Mimecast does not publish list pricing for its Engage security awareness training; pricing is quoted through sales based on user count, selected modules, and contract term. Third-party estimates put the awareness-training component in the low single digits per user per month, often bundled with Mimecast’s broader email-security suite.
Nudge Security is the most transparent about pricing of the three: it publishes plans starting at USD 5 per active user per month, billed annually, and offers a self-service 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
