CompTIA A+ vs Security+: which should you take first?

Do job ads name A+ or Security+?

We count each certification in the ads for its own role: A+ only in IT-support ads and Security+ only in security-analyst ads, so each has its own table below, with its own total.

We count ads by job title and search the full ad text for one phrase per certification: comptia a for A+ and comptia security for Security+. An ad that writes only A+, or only Security+ (also written Sec+), is not caught, so a count can run low. The phrases can also over-match: comptia a picks up other CompTIA names beginning with A, and comptia security picks up SecurityX. Whether an ad requires the certification, prefers it or lists it as one option, the count cannot tell. The details are on our methodology page.

A+ in IT-support ads

Source: Adzuna API, job ads titled it support (or the local equivalent), October 2026. Analysis: CertWorthIt.

Security+ in security-analyst ads

Source: Adzuna API, job ads titled security analyst (or the local equivalent), October 2026. Analysis: CertWorthIt.

Why the two tables do not compare

The A+ counts come from IT-support ads and the Security+ counts from security-analyst ads. The job titles differ and so do the totals, so putting one count next to the other says nothing about which certification employers value. Read each table for its own job: if you want support work, look at how often IT-support ads name A+; if you want security-analyst work, look at how often those ads name Security+. Where a UK or India total is small, one posting can move a count.

We also searched Brazilian and Mexican ads for the same English phrases. Those counts are too thin to read, so this page leaves them out; our methodology page explains the search.

What do the A+ and Security+ exams cover?

A+ covers the range of help-desk work: hardware, mobile devices, networking, operating systems, security and the procedures around them. Security+ spends a whole exam on security, from threats and architecture to security operations and program management.

Source: CompTIA's A+ V15 exam page (Core 1 and Core 2 objectives), checked October 6, 2026.

Core 1 is the hardware and networking exam; Core 2 is the software, security and procedures exam.

Source: CompTIA's Security+ V7 exam page (SY0-701 objectives), checked October 6, 2026.

The overlap sits in Core 2. Security is 28% of the Core 2 exam, tied with operating systems as its largest domain. Security+ covers security in far more depth across a whole exam, including architecture, security operations and program management; A+ Core 2 covers it at lower depth. Core 1 overlaps less: hardware, mobile devices and troubleshooting are A+ topics only.

Show the numbers

CompTIA A+ vs CompTIA Security+ exams side by side: questions, time, format. Source: comptia.org, checked October 3, 2026.

Item	CompTIA A+	CompTIA Security+
Questions	CompTIA A+90 questions	CompTIA Security+90 questions
Exam time	CompTIA A+90 minutes (1 h 30 min)	CompTIA Security+90 minutes (1 h 30 min)
Passing score	CompTIA A+Core 1: 675; Core 2: 700 (scale of 100-900)	CompTIA Security+750 (scale 100–900)
Format	CompTIA A+Multiple choice, drag-and-drop, performance-based tasks	CompTIA Security+Multiple choice, performance-based tasks
Languages	CompTIA A+English	CompTIA Security+5 languages

How much do A+ and Security+ cost?

Two A+ exams at $274 each put A+ at $548 in CompTIA's US store; the single Security+ exam voucher (the code you buy to take the exam) is $439. Buying all three vouchers costs $987, with training, tax and any retakes on top.

Source: voucher and Retake Assurance prices from the CompTIA US store, checked October 3, 2026; renewal fees from CompTIA's continuing-education fee page, checked October 6, 2026. Totals leave out Retake Assurance. Prices outside the US were not checked for this page.

These are stand-alone totals; the combined route is below. Retake Assurance is a separate, higher-priced voucher in the same store; we did not check its terms for this page.

Renewal fees apply only if you renew with CEUs. On the A+-then-Security+ route, the exam and renewal fees run like this:

• A+: two vouchers at $274, so $548.
• Security+: one voucher, $439.
• A+ renewal: no fee, because passing Security+ inside A+'s three-year cycle renews A+ and CompTIA waives the $75.
• Next fee: the $150 Security+ renewal, three years after you pass Security+.

By CompTIA US store prices (October 3, 2026) and its fee page (October 6, 2026), that is $987 in vouchers up front and $1,137 in vouchers and renewal fees through that first Security+ renewal, before training, tax and retakes.

Show the numbers

CompTIA A+ vs CompTIA Security+: what each certification costs. Source: comptia.org, checked October 3, 2026.

Item	Fee
CompTIA A+: Fees to get certified: Exam	$274
CompTIA A+: Fees to get certified: Renewal, every 3 years	$75
CompTIA Security+: Fees to get certified: Exam	$439
CompTIA Security+: Fees to get certified: Renewal, every 3 years	$150

Which is harder, A+ or Security+?

No pass rate for A+ or Security+ appears on CompTIA's pages, so there is no official answer to which is harder. The recommended experience hints at the level instead: 12 months of IT support for A+, and CompTIA's longer suggested experience for Security+. Security+ is the later-career exam on CompTIA's ladder; A+ takes more exams but asks for less background.

Counted in questions, A+ is the bigger task: two exams of up to 90 questions each, up to 180 in all, with 90 minutes per exam. Core 1 needs 675 and Core 2 needs 700 to pass. Security+ is a single exam, up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, and needs 750. CompTIA scores Security+ from 100 to 900 and A+ on a scale up to 900, but each passing score is set for its own exam, so the cut scores cannot be ranked against each other.

The Reddit posts we collected include 13 people who gave their Security+ study time in months; their median was two months. Another 10 gave it in weeks, with a median of two and a half weeks. These are self-reports from people who chose to post, so they lean toward those who passed. The months and weeks groups are separate statements, so the two medians do not combine into one figure. We have no study-time figure for A+: the posts held too few first-person statements.

How do A+ and Security+ renew?

Both last three years. A+ renews with 20 CEUs and a $75 fee, Security+ with 50 CEUs and a $150 fee.

The renewal works in one direction. CompTIA lists Security+ as fully renewing A+ and Network+, and if you earn Security+ within the cycle of an A+ you already hold, you do not pay the A+ fee. A+ is listed as not renewing any other CompTIA certification, so passing A+ later does nothing for a Security+ you already hold. Security+ renews A+ only if you hold A+; it does not give you A+.

Should you wait for Security+ V8?

You do not have to wait: SY0-701 stays available until the retirement dates below, so book it if you are ready before then. CompTIA expects to launch Security+ V8 (SY0-801) on or around November 17, 2026. The current exam, SY0-701, retires in English on June 11, 2027, and in Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai on August 13, 2027. CompTIA's V8 page lists up to 90 questions in 90 minutes with 750 to pass, in English, and its recommended experience is two years of hands-on work as a security administrator.

Everything on this page about SY0-701, including its domain weights and the $439 voucher, applies to the V7 exam. Booking before November 17, 2026 means SY0-701 material fits. Testing after that date means checking CompTIA's V8 objectives first, and not buying V7-only study material. We have not compared the V8 objectives or price with V7, and both can change. On the A+ side, the current exams launched on March 25, 2025, and CompTIA estimates their retirement in 2028.

Where does Network+ fit between A+ and Security+?

In CompTIA's sequence, A+ comes first, Network+ second and Security+ third. CompTIA recommends A+ before Network+, and its cybersecurity career pathway calls Network+ "an important and strongly recommended prerequisite to CompTIA Security+." None of the three requires another.

The first step has its own page, A+ vs Network+, and so does the second, Network+ vs Security+. Higher up, CompTIA's renewal hierarchy puts its intermediate security certifications, CySA+ and PenTest+, above Security+, with SecurityX, its advanced one, at the top; our CySA+ page covers the next security step. If you come from support and are weighing Cisco instead, read CCNA vs A+.

What do people ask on Reddit about A+ vs Security+?

Three of the 2026 posts we collected from r/CompTIA and r/SecurityCareerAdvice touch on the same question: whether A+ has to come before Security+. People who post choose to, so treat these as questions people raise, not as a survey.

• "A+ first, or straight to Sec+?" One poster asked exactly that (r/SecurityCareerAdvice).
• "A+ is the helpdesk filter." Another poster wrote: "Everything I read says A+ is the helpdesk filter, but Security+ is where I'm actually heading" (r/SecurityCareerAdvice). Our IT-support table shows how often US IT-support ads name A+.
• "Skip A+ or get it?" A third poster wrote: "I've seen mixed reviews about whether you should skip the A+ or get it" (r/CompTIA), and took it because they had the time and money.

For the full list of support and networking credentials we count, see our hub for IT support and networking.

Sources

• CompTIA exam pages: A+ V15, Security+ V7, Security+ V8, Network+. Prices, including the Retake Assurance vouchers at $359 per A+ exam and $579 for Security+: CompTIA US store, checked October 3, 2026.
• CompTIA continuing education and career pages: CEU requirements, renewal fees, renewing multiple certifications, program FAQ, cybersecurity career pathway. Read October 3 to 6, 2026.
• Job ads: Adzuna API, October 2026, IT-support ads (phrase comptia a) and security-analyst ads (phrase comptia security). Analysis: CertWorthIt. Method.
• Reddit: three posts from r/CompTIA and r/SecurityCareerAdvice, linked where quoted; no usernames.