CompTIA certifications

Tech+ is the doorstep: sixty minutes, up to seventy multiple-choice questions, no experience assumed, and in its standard form the only credential in this group that never expires. A+ is the first rung and the only one that takes two sittings, 220-1201 and 220-1202, both from the same version. It is the qualification support-desk advertisements name, and the one to skip for anyone who already administers systems or is heading for networking or security: CompTIA recommends A+ before Network+ but does not require it. Network+, Security+, Cloud+ and Linux+ make up the associate rung, ninety minutes each, where most working candidates enter. CySA+ and PenTest+ are the professional rung: 165 minutes each, and the recommended experience (about four years of analyst work for CySA+, three to four years of testing for PenTest+) describes the difficulty. Against the cloud providers' own tracks, CompTIA is strongest on the transferable layer: troubleshooting method, subnetting, reading logs, incident procedure, the skills that survive a change of employer. Its exam versions also hold for about three years instead of following product releases. It is weaker wherever depth on one live platform is the point: Cloud+ describes a managed database service in the abstract, while AZ-104 or the AWS associate exam requires the candidate to run one.

Renewal along one chain

Every certificate above except the standard Tech+ expires three years after issue. It is kept by logging continuing-education units and paying CompTIA's renewal fee, or by sitting the exam's current version again. The unit requirement rises with the tier: twenty for A+, thirty for Network+, fifty each for Security+, Cloud+ and Linux+, sixty for CySA+ and PenTest+. Four certificates do not mean four maintenance projects, because a higher CompTIA certificate renews the ones below it on the same chain: Security+ renews Network+ and A+; CySA+ or PenTest+ renews Security+, and PenTest+ renews Network+ as well. One exam per cycle can keep a support-to-security column current, which is why climbing costs less than it looks and why stopping at Security+ is the expensive choice. Linux+ and Cloud+ stand outside the chain: nothing above them renews them, so each needs its own fifty units or a retake every cycle. Credentials collected along one chain cost one exam per cycle; credentials collected sideways across specialisms each bill their own units, fees and attention.

Languages, exam versions and vouchers

A+ and Network+ are offered in German; Network+ also in Portuguese and Spanish. Security+ runs in English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai, PenTest+ in English, French, Japanese and Portuguese, Cloud+ and Tech+ in English and Japanese, Linux+ in English only. CySA+ CS0-004 launched in English, with French, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese editions announced; CS0-003, the previous version, remains bookable in English until 22 December 2026, and in Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish until 23 March 2027. CompTIA retires exam versions about three years after launch, and a certificate earned on an outgoing version keeps its full three years: the English Security+ SY0-701 runs until 11 June 2027. Udemy has sold vouchers for the eight exams since September 2026, below CompTIA's list price, usable for nine months at least, in the country of purchase only; the conditions and the voucher link, an affiliate link, stand on each exam page, and Udemy shows the voucher price in the buyer's currency.