Price Index · July 2026 edition
IT Certification Price Index: July 2026
What an IT certification exam actually costs right now: one dated, citable picture computed from the 47 certifications in the registry, every underlying figure verified at its vendor.
Data verified through · list prices, USD, per exam attempt
- Median exam fee
- $300
- Entry-level median
- $199
- Advanced median
- $564
- Vendors tracked
- 19
Exam fees by vendor
List price per exam attempt across each vendor's certifications in the registry, highest median first. Ranges reflect the certifications we track, not a vendor's full catalog; each figure traces to a profile page and from there to the vendor's own published pricing.
| Vendor | Certs tracked | Lowest | Median | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OffSec | 1 | $1,749 | $1,749 | $1,749 |
| EC-Council | 1 | $1,199 | $1,199 | $1,199 |
| GIAC (SANS) | 1 | $999 | $999 | $999 |
| ISACA | 2 | $760 | $760 | $760 |
| PeopleCert | 1 | $690 | $690 | $690 |
| ISC2 | 3 | $199 | $599 | $749 |
| Red Hat | 1 | $500 | $500 | $500 |
| CNCF (Linux Foundation) | 2 | $445 | $445 | $445 |
| CompTIA | 9 | $298 | $439 | $548 |
| PMI | 1 | $405 | $405 | $405 |
| Cisco | 2 | $300 | $300 | $300 |
| Databricks | 2 | $200 | $200 | $200 |
| Salesforce | 1 | $200 | $200 | $200 |
| Snowflake | 1 | $175 | $175 | $175 |
| Microsoft | 6 | $99 | $165 | $165 |
| Amazon Web Services (AWS) | 8 | $100 | $150 | $300 |
| Google Cloud | 3 | $99 | $125 | $200 |
| NVIDIA | 1 | $125 | $125 | $125 |
| HashiCorp | 1 | $71 | $71 | $71 |
Reading notes: GIAC's figure is the exam-only price (the optional SANS course costs several thousand dollars more); ITIL 4 Foundation's is PeopleCert's official exam-plus-resit channel; OffSec's is the PEN-200 course bundle, the standard way its exam is sold. The per-cert pages carry each nuance.
Recent verified changes
All 8 price watch entries →The newest entries from the price and version watch, each verified at its source on the date shown.
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· OffSec
OffSec runs a rare $250 discount on Course + Cert bundles
A limited-time promotion, "Save $250 on select Course + Cert Bundles," cuts the PEN-200 Course and Certification bundle from $1,749 to $1,499 (OSAI excluded; no end date published). OffSec rarely discounts, so candidates already planning to buy the bundle should time the purchase to the promotion. List price and the $2,749/yr Learn One tier are unchanged.
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· CompTIA
CompTIA raises list prices across its whole lineup
Security+ moved from $425 to $439 (+3.3%), with similar increases across the CompTIA catalog. Vouchers bought before the effective date kept the old price.
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· ISC2
ISC2 closes the free Certified in Cybersecurity program
One Million Certified in Cybersecurity closed to new enrollment, ending the free training + free exam path. New candidates now pay the standard $199; unexpired vouchers are honored through December 31, 2026. The $50/year maintenance fee was always charged either way.
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· Microsoft
AZ-500 set to retire August 31, 2026
Microsoft announced the Azure Security Engineer Associate certification, its exam, and its renewals all retire on August 31, 2026, after which the credential can no longer be earned or renewed.
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· Microsoft
AI-900 retired; AI-901 replaces it at the same $99
Azure AI Fundamentals moved to the AI-901 exam, a more technical successor to the retired AI-900. The price and the no-expiration Fundamentals policy carried over.
How these figures are computed
Every number on this page is computed from the registry's per-certification records at build time: the list price of one exam attempt, in USD, as published by the vendor and verified by hand on the date each profile carries. Medians are computed across the certifications we track, so they describe this registry, not the entire certification market. Bundled course requirements, retakes, renewal fees, and multi-exam paths are deliberately excluded here; the true-cost calculator and each profile's renewal math cover them. The full per-certification dataset, with its BLS occupation joins, lives on the ROI Index and in the downloadable CSV. Methodology, sourcing rules, and the correction process are documented in the methodology.
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