Is the CCNA worth it?
16% of network engineer job ads in the United States name the CCNA (1,557 of 9,475, Adzuna, October 2026)
Whether the CCNA is worth it comes down to the job you want. For someone heading into networking, yes: it is one $300 exam, and US employers write it into network-engineer ads by name. Of the 9,475 US network-engineer ads we counted in October 2026 (Adzuna), 1,557 named the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA). The CCNA certification is valid for three years. It is a weaker buy in two cases. One is a security job, where analyst ads name other credentials. The other is starting with no IT experience at all, because the exam does not stand in for work experience. Even a network engineer who had just passed it wrote that the job asks for more than the exam covers. How we count ads.
Verdict by situation:
- You work in IT support or a help desk and want to move into networking: take it. Network-engineer ads name it, and your current job supplies the experience the exam cannot.
- You have no IT background: you can still take it, since Cisco sets no prerequisites. People who posted about it report about three and a half months of study, and you should plan for an entry-level IT job before a networking one. Cisco's cheaper CCST Networking exam ($125) is an optional warm-up.
- You want to work in a security operations center (SOC): look at CCNA Cybersecurity, a separate Cisco exam, and at what security-analyst ads name.
- You already hold the CCNA and work on networks: the next step is the CCNP.
Jump to: the exam · cost · renewal · CCNA vs Network+
Show the numbers
| Item | Ads | Share of ads |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco | 3,178 | 34% |
| Firewall | 2,977 | 31% |
| CCNP | 1,892 | 20% |
| CCNA | 1,557 | 16% |
| CompTIA | 463 | 4.9% |
| CompTIA Network+ | 139 | 1.5% |
Is CCNA worth it for you?
Instant answer from October 2026 job ads. No email needed.
Employers ask for it
16% of network engineer job ads in the United States name CCNA (1,557 of 9,475 ads).
- Most-named alternative
- CCNP 20%
- Skill asked for most
- Cisco 34%
- Official exam fee
- $300 source
Source: Adzuna job ads, October 2026.
On this page
- Is CCNA worth it in 2026? What network-engineer ads show
- Does the CCNA help you get a job?
- CCNA salary: what our data can and cannot say
- Is the CCNA a hard exam? Format, topics and study time
- CCNA cost: exam fee by country and retakes
- Does the CCNA expire? Three ways to renew
- Which CCNA certification is best? Three CCNAs since 2026
- CCNA vs Network+: which should you take first?
- Is CCNA worth it? What people ask on Reddit
- How to get the CCNA, step by step
- Sources
Is CCNA worth it in 2026? What network-engineer ads show
For the CCNA, the job we track is network engineer, searched under the title each country's job boards use. In the US, the CCNA appeared in 16% of the ads for network engineers in October 2026. Two skills tell you what else those employers want: Cisco was named in 34% of the ads and firewalls in 31%. Some ads mention Cisco only inside a certificate name, so the two counts overlap. Our reading: Cisco comes up in a large part of these ads, which is the main argument for a Cisco certificate in this job.
In the same US ads, 1,892 named the CCNP and 139 named CompTIA Network+. We search Network+ by the phrase comptia network, so ads that write only "Network+" are missed and that count is a minimum.
Two limits of the count matter for a buyer. First, we search for the phrase ccna, which also matches CCNA Cybersecurity and CCNA Automation, Cisco's two other associate certifications. In a network-engineer ad, the main CCNA is the likely meaning, but the count cannot prove it. Second, the count does not separate required from nice to have, because many ads list both kinds of items in one block.
Outside the US: UK, India, Brazil and Europe
In the UK, the CCNA appeared in 11% of the ads for network engineers. For Indian network engineers, the figure was 16% of the ads. The Pearson VUE price list shows the exam at the same $300 in India, in US dollars. In Brazil, where the matching title is analista de redes, the CCNA was named in 12% of the ads. Samples of a few hundred ads can move by several percentage points from one month to the next, so read them as a sign that employers in these countries name the CCNA regularly, not as exact rates.
Continental Europe looks different. In Germany we count ads for Netzwerkadministrator (network administrator), the title we search there, and the CCNA appeared in 5% of the ads. In France, it appeared in 2% of the ads for ingénieur réseau. Our reading: in these two markets, the CCNA helps on a resume, but far fewer ads ask for it by name than in the US.
The other samples are too small for a share. The CCNA appeared in 19 of the 103 Italian network-engineer ads, 8 of the 22 Polish ads for administrator sieci, 2 of the 38 Mexican ads for ingeniero de redes and none of the 14 Spanish ones. Counts this small say little either way.
Does the CCNA help you get a job?
It helps you match what network-engineer ads ask for, which is the part we can measure. Whether it gets you hired is something an ad count cannot show: we see what employers write, not whom they hire. Our count covers the network-engineer title only. Ads for network administrators, network operations center (NOC) technicians or help-desk staff may name the CCNA too, and you can apply for them as well, but we do not count them.
The posts we collected point the same way. A help-desk worker who passed it, a graduate who just got it and a career changer studying for it next to Security+ each asked what else they need. One commenter, who said they install networks without any certificate, answered the question "Can you get a job with just a CCNA?" plainly: "The experience is likely to do more for you" (r/ccna). A career changer with Security+ wrote that after months of applications, only a couple of recruiters had replied (r/ccna).
The gap also shows after you pass. A network engineer who had just passed the exam wrote about carrier tickets and site-to-site tunnels: "The exam covers the config. It doesn't cover a tunnel that's up but quietly dropping traffic" (r/ccna). Our reading: the CCNA proves the knowledge an ad lists; lab practice and any job that puts you near real equipment, even a help-desk one, carry the rest.
CCNA salary: what our data can and cannot say
We give no CCNA salary figure on this page, for the USA, the UK, India or anywhere else, per year or per month. Salary sites report pay for job titles or ask holders to report their own pay. Neither measures what the certificate itself adds, and none of the sources we accept for this page measures it either.
What we can say is where the CCNA is named. In October 2026, it appeared in 1,557 of 9,475 US network-engineer ads, 74 of 658 UK ones and 121 of 775 Indian ones. If you are comparing CCNA salary figures you found elsewhere, check two things. Is the number for a job title (network engineer, network administrator, help-desk technician) or for people who hold the certificate? And which country and year does it describe? A figure for experienced US network engineers says little about a first job in India or the UK. Our network-engineer page covers the role itself.
Is the CCNA a hard exam? Format, topics and study time
The CCNA is one exam, 200-301, officially titled Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions and now in version 1.1. It lasts 120 minutes and is offered in English and Japanese. Cisco lists no prerequisites, does not publish the number of questions or a passing score, and grades the exam pass/fail, with results online within 48 hours.
What makes it hard is breadth. Cisco's blueprint has six areas:
| Exam area (200-301 v1.1) | Share of the blueprint | Examples from Cisco's topic list |
|---|---|---|
| Network fundamentals | 20% | IPv4 subnetting, IPv6 addressing, cabling, switching concepts, wireless principles |
| Network access | 20% | VLANs and trunks, Rapid PVST+ spanning tree, EtherChannel, wireless LAN controllers |
| IP connectivity | 25% | Routing tables, static routes, single-area OSPFv2 |
| IP services | 10% | NAT, NTP, DHCP, DNS, SNMP, syslog, QoS |
| Security fundamentals | 15% | Access control lists, port security, VPNs, WPA2 and WPA3 |
| Automation and programmability | 10% | Controller-based networks, REST APIs, JSON, Ansible and Terraform, AI and machine learning in network operations |
Source: Cisco, CCNA exam v1.1 (200-301) exam topics, read October 4, 2026. Cisco presents the list as general guidelines, so related topics can appear too.
People who post about the exam name the same few topics again and again as the slowest to learn: subnetting, OSPF, VLANs, spanning tree and access control lists (r/ccna). Four of the five sit in network fundamentals, network access and IP connectivity, the three areas that make up 65% of the blueprint; access control lists belong to security fundamentals.
Study time is the other half of the difficulty. People who posted about their own preparation report a median of 3.5 months; the middle half of them took 2.8 to 4 months, and the range ran from 2 to 10 months. That figure comes from 15 first-person statements in the Reddit posts we collected, so it is a small, self-selected sample that leans toward people who passed. No poster in our sample gave a usable hours-per-week figure, so we give none.
There is no official way to tell whether you are ready, because Cisco does not publish a passing score. A score on another provider's practice exam therefore cannot be read as a pass or a fail. If you fail, you can retake the exam at the same price after waiting five calendar days.
Show the numbers
| Item | CCNA |
|---|---|
| Exam time | 120 minutes (2 h) |
| Passing score | not published by Cisco |
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Where you take it | test center · online, proctored |
Study resources and labs
Cisco's exam page lists four official options: a Cisco U. learning path, instructor-led training, practice exams and Cisco Modeling Labs. Posters name free and paid third-party material, among them Jeremy's IT Lab, David Bombal's Udemy course, Boson practice exams and a LinkedIn Learning practice exam. We have no sourced comparison of these, so we do not rank them.
One study habit comes up in several posts: build small networks in Packet Tracer or another simulator, predict what a command will do before running it, and rebuild a lab from memory a few days later (r/ccna; r/ccna). That habit answers part of the complaint about the exam leaving out real-world faults: breaking your own lab on purpose is a cheap way to practice troubleshooting.
CCNA cost: exam fee by country and retakes
The exam fee is the main cost. Cisco lists it at $300 on its US site and accepts Cisco Learning Credits instead of cash. Local prices come from the Pearson VUE voucher store, which sells Cisco's associate-level exams:
| Where you take it | Exam voucher, before VAT or tax |
|---|---|
| United States | $300 |
| UK | £240 |
| Spain, France, Germany, Italy | €285 |
| India, Brazil, Mexico, Poland | $300 (listed in US dollars) |
Source: Pearson VUE voucher store, Cisco price list by country, read October 3, 2026; Cisco CCNA exam page, read October 4, 2026.
A retake costs the full fee again. Training is optional, and its price depends on the provider, so we give no figure. Over three years, the bill is $300 to get certified plus the cost of renewing. Renewing by retaking 200-301 costs another $300, so $600 in total. Renewing with continuing education credits costs whatever the courses cost, which is nothing to you if your employer pays for them.
Show the numbers
| Country | CCNA | Ads | Share of ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 19 | 103 | 18% |
| United States | 1,557 | 9,475 | 16% |
| India | 121 | 775 | 16% |
| Brazil | 32 | 260 | 12% |
| United Kingdom | 74 | 658 | 11% |
| Germany | 29 | 535 | 5% |
| France | 14 | 788 | 2% |
Show the numbers
| Country | CCNA | CCNP |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | 18% | 33% |
| United States | 16% | 20% |
| India | 16% | 16% |
| United Kingdom | 11% | 14% |
| Brazil | 12% | 7% |
| Germany | 5% | 4% |
| France | 2% | 3% |
Does the CCNA expire? Three ways to renew
Yes. The CCNA is valid for three years from the day you pass, and Cisco gives no extensions. Cisco offers three ways to keep it:
- Earn 30 Continuing Education (CE) credits before the expiration date. Approved training earns 4 to 64 credits, depending on the course. Passing any associate-level exam earns 30 credits, so taking CCNA Cybersecurity or CCNA Automation renews your CCNA and adds a second certification.
- Pass 200-301 again.
- Move up a level. A professional-level core exam, such as ENCOR for the CCNP Enterprise, earns 80 credits. When you renew your highest certification, Cisco also renews every certification below it.
If the CCNA expires, you take the full exam again. Cisco sends reminder emails two years, one year, 90, 60 and 30 days before the date, to the address in your certification profile, so keep that address current.
Show the numbers
| Item | |
|---|---|
| 1. Exam | 120 minutes |
| 2. Certified | valid for 3 years |
| 3. Renewal | every 3 years |
Which CCNA certification is best? Three CCNAs since 2026
There is no longer only one CCNA. By February 2026, Cisco had renamed two associate certifications: the one formerly known as CyberOps became CCNA Cybersecurity, and the DevNet associate certification became CCNA Automation. Advice written in 2025 often uses the old names. Each one is a separate exam:
| Certification | Exam | Price (US) | Length | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCNA | 200-301 CCNA v1.1 | $300 | 120 minutes | Networking: switching, routing, wireless, security and automation basics |
| CCNA Cybersecurity | 200-201 CCNACBR v1.2 | $300 | 120 minutes | Security operations: monitoring, host-based analysis, network intrusion analysis, security policies |
| CCNA Automation | 200-901 CCNAAUTO v1.0 | $300 | 120 minutes | Software development, APIs and automation on Cisco platforms |
Source: Cisco exam pages and associate certifications page, read October 4, 2026; Cisco Learning blog, February 10, 2026.
Which one is best depends on the job. For network engineering or network administration, the plain CCNA is the one built for the work. CCNA Cybersecurity is aimed at SOC analysts, and Cisco offers its exam in English only. CCNA Automation fits people who write code against network equipment. Choosing between the CCNA and CCNA Cybersecurity is mostly choosing between a network job and a security-monitoring job.
Is CCNA worth it for cybersecurity?
As a foundation, it helps: 15% of the CCNA blueprint is security fundamentals, and security work assumes you know how traffic moves. As the credential for a security job, it is not the obvious choice. Our count of security-analyst ads does not track the CCNA. It does track CompTIA Security+, which appeared in 1.4% of the ads for US security analysts in October 2026 (counted by the phrase comptia security, so a minimum). Our security-analyst page lists what those ads name by country, and the CCNA vs Security+ page compares the two. Network-security work sits between networking and security: one poster moving into firewall work asked whether to finish the CCNA or go straight to a firewall vendor's certificates (r/networking). For senior security roles, see the CCNA vs CISSP page.
CCNA vs CCST: which comes first?
The Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) is Cisco's entry-level certification. CCST Networking (exam 100-150) costs $125, lasts 50 minutes and is offered in seven languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese and Arabic. Cisco describes the exam as a first step toward the CCNA. It is not a requirement: you can take the CCNA without it. Our ad count does not track the CCST, so we cannot say how often employers name it. If you are unsure whether networking suits you, the CCST is a cheaper test of interest; if you already know, the $125 is better spent on CCNA lab time.
CCNA vs Network+: which should you take first?
For a network-engineer job, the ads point to the CCNA: in October 2026, 1,557 US network-engineer ads named it and 139 named CompTIA Network+ (a minimum, as explained in the ads section). In the UK, the figures were 74 and 23; in India, 121 and 6.
The two exams also feel different to the people studying them. One commenter taking both described the Network+ class as a summary of each exam objective, and the CCNA course as hands-on configuration in Packet Tracer (r/ccna). Another poster, who had just passed the CCNA, asked whether to take Network+ as well (r/CompTIA). For a network-engineer job, our answer from the counts above is no: Network+ adds little to a resume that already shows the CCNA.
Whether Network+ pays off for IT-support jobs, often next to CompTIA A+, is a separate question. See the Network+ page, the CCNA vs Network+ comparison, CCNA vs CompTIA and CCNA vs A+. The CompTIA page covers the vendor's full range. For the process side of network operations (incidents and changes), see our ITIL certification page.
After the CCNA: the CCNP
The usual next step for a working network engineer is the Cisco Certified Network Professional. Of the 9,475 US network-engineer ads in October 2026, 1,892 named the CCNP. Passing a CCNP core exam renews your CCNA as well. Its tracks, exams and costs are on the CCNP page, and the CCNA vs CCNP comparison sets the two side by side. If you are moving toward IT service management instead, see CCNA vs ITIL and the ITIL page.
Is CCNA worth it? What people ask on Reddit
We grouped the CCNA questions from the Reddit posts we collected (r/ccna, r/CompTIA, r/networking, r/Cisco, r/ITCareerQuestions, r/SecurityCareerAdvice). Reddit is a self-selected sample: these themes show what people ask, not what most holders think.
- Value for a career change. A former medical assistant asked whether becoming a CCNA pays (r/ccna), and a part-time student asked whether it could get a foot in the door (r/ccna). Our answer is in the job section.
- Security+, the CCNA or both. A student and a veteran asked which to take first (r/ccna; r/SecurityCareerAdvice). The cybersecurity section gives the ad counts.
- Job outcomes. Posters still looking after a year asked holders for their stories (r/ccna). We cannot measure hiring outcomes, only what ads name.
- The next step after passing. A graduate in the Philippines and a help-desk worker with Security+ both asked (r/ccna; r/ccna). Our answer: apply for networking roles while you lab, then the CCNP once you work on networks.
- Study time, resources and readiness. How many months, which practice exams, how to know you are ready (r/ccna; r/ccna). See the exam section.
The r/ccna community also runs a recurring thread where people post whether they passed or failed; it has no single question to answer, so we only point to it here.
How to get the CCNA, step by step
- Check the current exam version and topic list on Cisco's CCNA exam page; the blueprint is your study plan.
- Study the six areas with a course or book, and build labs in a simulator as you go.
- Create a Cisco certification profile and book 200-301 with Pearson VUE, online or at a test center: $300 in the US, £240 in the UK, €285 in Spain, France, Germany and Italy, before tax.
- Take the 120-minute exam. Results are online within 48 hours. If you fail, wait five calendar days and book again at the same price.
- Keep the CCNA active within three years: 30 CE credits, another associate exam, a retake of 200-301 or a CCNP core exam.
The IT support and networking field page groups every certificate we track for this area.
Show the numbers
| Level | Certification | Experience | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | CCNP | no work experience required | – |
| Entry | CCNA | no work experience required | – |
| Entry | Google IT Support | no work experience required | – |
| Associate | CompTIA Network+ | recommended: 9 months of work experience | – |
| Associate | CompTIA A+ | recommended: 1 year of work experience | – |
| Associate | CompTIA Linux+ | recommended: 1 year of work experience | CompTIA A+ |
| Associate | Google IT Automation with Python | named after Google IT Support by the vendor | Google IT Support |
Sources
- Adzuna job-ad counts: network-engineer ads in the US, UK, India, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Mexico and Spain, and security-analyst ads in the US, October 2026; analysis: CertWorthIt. How we count.
- Cisco, CCNA certification page and 200-301 exam page (format, price, languages, delivery, official preparation), read October 3 and 4, 2026.
- Cisco, CCNA exam v1.1 (200-301) exam topics, read October 4, 2026.
- Cisco, recertification policy and Continuing Education qualifying options, read October 4, 2026.
- Cisco, associate certifications, 200-201 CCNACBR, 200-901 CCNAAUTO and 100-150 CCST Networking pages, read October 4, 2026; Cisco Learning blog, new certifications for secure networking, February 10, 2026.
- Pearson VUE, voucher store price list, Cisco associate-level exams by country, read October 3, 2026.
- Reddit questions and posts about the CCNA from the posts we collected, linked in the text, read October 4, 2026.
Edited by Elena Marsh · Data checked October 4, 2026
Questions people ask
Is the CCNA enough to get a job?
On its own, often not. The CCNA shows that you know the material on Cisco's exam blueprint: addressing, switching, routing, wireless basics, security basics and automation. Employers name it in network-engineer ads (1,557 of the 9,475 US ads we counted in October 2026), but an ad count cannot show whom they hire. In the posts we collected, the usual reply to this question is that work experience counts for more than the certificate: help-desk work, an internship or a lab you can talk about in an interview. If you have none of those, plan for an IT-support job first and the CCNA as the way out of it.
How much does a CCNA make?
A CCNA is a certificate, not a job, so it has no salary of its own. Pay depends on the role, the country and the employer: a network engineer, a network administrator and a help-desk technician who all hold the CCNA earn different amounts. We give no salary figure on this page, because the sources we accept do not measure what CCNA holders earn. What we do measure is demand: US employers named the CCNA in 16% of the ads for network engineers in October 2026. For a pay figure, look up the job title you are applying for in your country's official wage statistics.
What is the CCNA salary in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, South Africa or the Philippines?
We cannot give one. We count job ads in ten countries: the US, UK, India, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Poland. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, South Africa and the Philippines are outside that list, so we have neither a salary figure nor a share of ads for them. Two things still apply everywhere: the exam is the same 200-301 test, and Cisco lists it at $300. We checked local prices only for our ten countries; for any other country, look up the Pearson VUE voucher store before you book. Prices there are before VAT or local tax.
Is Cisco CCNA still worth it now that networks are automated?
For networking jobs, yes, and the exam has followed the change. Version 1.1 of 200-301 gives 10% of its blueprint to automation and programmability, including REST APIs, JSON, Ansible and Terraform, and AI and machine learning in network operations. If you read advice from 2025 that called the CCNA a routing-and-switching exam only, that description is out of date. Employers still name it: 1,557 of the 9,475 US network-engineer ads we counted in October 2026. We have one month of counts, so we say nothing about whether demand is rising or falling.
How many questions are on the CCNA exam?
Cisco does not state a number of questions for 200-301. Its pages give the time, 120 minutes, and say that grading is pass/fail with results online within 48 hours. Cisco does not publish a passing score either. Counts you see on other sites are not from Cisco, so do not plan your pacing around them. Plan around the topic weights instead: IP connectivity is 25% of the blueprint, the largest single area.
Can you take the CCNA exam online?
Cisco says the exam is delivered by Pearson VUE in a proctored setting, and you can schedule it online through the Cisco Certification Tracker portal, by phone with Pearson VUE or at a Pearson VUE test center. Cisco's CCNA page lists these as ways to schedule; it does not spell out the online-proctored rules for 200-301 there. Check the conditions for a home exam when you book: room, webcam and ID rules are set by the proctoring service.
Do you need Network+ before the CCNA?
No. Cisco lists no prerequisites for the CCNA, and nothing on its pages asks for a CompTIA certification first. Some people take Network+ first, others go straight to the CCNA. If your goal is a network-engineer job, the ad counts favor going straight to the CCNA: in October 2026, 1,557 US network-engineer ads named it, against 139 that named CompTIA Network+. Our CCNA vs Network+ comparison covers both exams in full.