ITIL vs CCNA: which fits your IT job?

Is the CCNA worth it for network-engineer jobs?

Yes, if network-engineer work is your goal: that is the job where we count the CCNA, in US, UK and India ads. In October 2026, 1,557 of 9,475 US network-engineer ads on Adzuna contained the phrase ccna.

Source: Adzuna API, network-engineer ads collected in October 2026, searched for the phrase ccna. Analysis: CertWorthIt. We did not count itil in network-engineer ads.

The ccna count takes any ad that mentions the CCNA, whether the employer lists it as required, preferred or optional; our methodology page explains the method. Our network-engineer role page lists the other certifications and skills those ads name.

Where do job ads name ITIL?

We count itil in three jobs: IT support, system administration and project management. Each row has its own base, and none of these counts can be set next to the CCNA figures, because we did not count ccna in these ads.

Source: Adzuna API, ads collected in October 2026, searched for the phrase itil. Analysis: CertWorthIt.

The itil count takes any ad that names ITIL in any version or level, or asks for ITIL knowledge. Ads that describe the same work as IT service management without the word ITIL are not in it. Our role pages for IT support, system administrators and project managers show what else those ads list.

How hard are the exams, and how long do people study?

People report months of study for the CCNA and weeks for ITIL Foundation in the Reddit posts we collected. In those posts, 15 people who said how long they studied for the CCNA reported a median of 3.5 months (the median is the middle value; the middle half reported 2.8 to 4.0 months). Another 15 reported a median of one week for ITIL Foundation, with the middle half at one to two weeks; not every post says which ITIL version it means.

These are self-reported times from people who chose to post, so read them as a rough guide. The two exams test different things. Cisco's CCNA topic list includes subnetting (splitting an address range into smaller networks) and VLANs (separate virtual networks on one set of switches). It also covers routing with OSPF (a protocol routers use to share paths) and network automation, and Cisco adds that "other related topics may also appear" on the exam. Pearson VUE, the testing company, runs the exam in a proctored setting, meaning a supervisor watches it; you book it online, by phone or at a Pearson VUE test center.

ITIL Foundation (Version 5) is 40 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, and you need 65% to pass. PeopleCert's own eLearning course for it has 9 hours of interactive content. This page prices Version 5 because in its ITIL FAQ archived on May 16, 2026, PeopleCert planned to retire all ITIL 4 modules on December 31, 2027. The same FAQ says ITIL 4 certifications remain valid prerequisites for the higher Version 5 levels, so an ITIL 4 certificate you already hold still counts toward them.

What do the CCNA and ITIL Foundation cost?

In the US, the CCNA exam costs $300 plus tax and ITIL Foundation $690 as an exam bundle that includes tax. Over three years, the CCNA comes to $600 if you renew by retaking the exam, and ITIL Foundation to $1,089 with PeopleCert Plus membership, PeopleCert's paid plan for logging renewal points. In the table, CE (continuing education) credits for the CCNA and CPD (continuing professional development) points for ITIL are the learning-based renewal routes.

Source: Cisco CCNA exam page (US list price) and Pearson VUE voucher price list; PeopleCert US store, archived copies of the ITIL Foundation (Version 5) and PeopleCert Plus pages. Dates in Sources.

Pearson VUE sells the CCNA exam voucher (a prepaid code that books one exam) for $300 in the US before VAT (value-added tax, a sales tax), and adds any tax at checkout. PeopleCert marks its $690 and $133 prices as including VAT. The $690 bundle includes the official eBook, the exam voucher and a learning resource kit. Neither total includes what earning CE credits or CPD points costs. The two totals also use different renewal routes and tax treatment, so do not read them as a like-for-like price gap.

After a failed CCNA attempt, a retake costs the same as the first try, and Cisco makes you wait five calendar days. The price of an ITIL retake is not on the pages we read.

How do you keep the CCNA and ITIL current?

Both certifications last three years and renew through learning credits or another exam.

Source: Cisco CCNA certification and recertification pages; PeopleCert ITIL FAQ and PeopleCert Plus page, archived copies.

PeopleCert's FAQ adds that passing any ITIL (Version 5) exam also renews ITIL 4 certificates. Holding the CCNA and ITIL Foundation means two separate three-year cycles with two vendors.

Should you get both the CCNA and ITIL?

Get both only if your work needs both: a network engineer in a company that runs its IT services on ITIL could use the CCNA for the technical work and ITIL Foundation for the process side. That is our reading; the Cisco and PeopleCert pages we read set no order between them.

Job seekers on Reddit raise the pairing too. One poster on r/ITCareerQuestions with no callbacks considered "pausing my CCNA and quickly doing an ITIL or Microsoft cert" to get past resume filters (r/ITCareerQuestions, August 2026). Another, in second-line support with a recent CCNA, liked the idea of adding ITIL Foundation (r/ITCareerQuestions, September 2026) and an AWS certification. These are two opinions, not data.

If you are weighing the CCNA against a security certification instead, our CCNA vs CISSP comparison and CCNA vs Network+ comparison cover those choices.

What we did not check

• Salaries. We found no dated official source that compares pay for CCNA and ITIL holders.
• Pass rates. Neither Cisco nor PeopleCert publishes one on the pages we read.
• A shared job count. No job in our data has both ccna and itil counted, so we cannot say which one a given employer prefers.
• Prices outside the US, the cost of an ITIL retake and the cost of renewal training.
• Countries beyond the US, UK and India in our job-ad counts on this page.

Sources

• Cisco: CCNA certification page and CCNA exam page, read October 3, 2026; CCNA exam topics v1.1 (PDF), recertification page and associate certifications, read October 4, 2026.
• Pearson VUE: voucher price list, read October 3, 2026.
• PeopleCert: About us, read October 12, 2026. The ITIL pages blocked our reads, so we used archived copies with their capture dates: ITIL Foundation (Version 5) (archive, October 4, 2026), ITIL FAQ (archive, May 16, 2026), PeopleCert Plus membership (archive, September 29, 2026).
• Reddit: r/ITCareerQuestions, August 2026; r/ITCareerQuestions, September 2026. Study times from the Reddit posts we collected, 15 statements per certification.
• Job ads: Adzuna API, October 2026, network-engineer, IT-support, system-administrator and project-manager ads; phrases ccna and itil. Analysis: CertWorthIt. Method.