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Compare certifications Pick up to 3 certifications and compare them side-by-side on cost, exam format, recertification, salary signal, quality, and domain coverage.
ISC2 · professional
CC ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity
The CC is ISC2's entry-level certification without experience requirements and explicitly targets career starters, career changers, and students. Notably, ISC2 periodically offers CC training and the exam for free (as part of the 'One Million Certified' initiative), which has significantly increased market penetration. Content covers five domains: Security Principles, Incident Response, Access Control, Network Security, and Security Operations – at a solid but intentionally broad entry level. As a stepping stone to SSCP or CISSP it is well-suited; as a standalone credential it carries less weight than Security+. From September 2026, a new Exam Outline applies.
Official page CompTIA · entry
Security+ CompTIA Security+
Broad entry-level knowledge across threats, ops, IAM, network, and crypto basics.
Official page Comparing
ISC2 CC
CompTIA Security+
› Cost Annual maintenance fee
$125/yr
$50/yr
3-year cost of ownership
$375
$542
› Exam mechanics Pass mark
CC 700/1000 (scaled)
Security+ 750/900 (~83%)
Pass mark
700/1000 (scaled)
750/900 (~83%)
Retake policy
CC $50 fee · 30d wait
Security+ $404 fee · 0d wait
Retake policy
$50 fee · 30d wait
$404 fee · 0d wait
Study time
CC 30–80 hrs
Security+ 40–100 hrs
Study time
30–80 hrs
40–100 hrs
CPE / yr
CC 40 CPEs
Security+ 17 CPEs
Delivery
CC test center
Security+ test center
Delivery
test center
test center
› Salary signal (US base) Range
CC $55K – $80K
Security+ $65K – $95K
Range
$55K – $80K
$65K – $95K
Median
CC $65,000
Security+ $78,000
Role context
CC Entry security analyst / IT generalist, US, 0–2 years.
Security+ Entry security analyst / junior IT generalist, US, 0–3 years.
Role context
Entry security analyst / IT generalist, US, 0–2 years.
Entry security analyst / junior IT generalist, US, 0–3 years.
› Quality (4-axis rubric · 0–10) › Recognition & lifecycle Recognition
CC Global
Security+ Global · US · EU · UK
Recognition
Global
Global · US · EU · UK
Holders worldwide
80,000
700,000
Current version
CC 2022 launch (2022-09)
Security+ SY0-701 (2023-11)
Current version
2022 launch (2022-09)
SY0-701 (2023-11)
› Domain coverage A1 Governance, Risk & Compliance
CC ● core
Security+ ○ touched
A1 Governance, Risk & Compliance
● core
○ touched
A10 Security Operations
·
● core
A11 Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
A11 Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
·
○ touched
A2 Network Security
● core
● core
A21 Malware Analysis & Reverse Engineering
A21 Malware Analysis & Reverse Engineering
·
⚠ gap
A4 Application Security
·
○ touched
A5 Cloud Security
·
○ touched
A6 Identity & Access Management
A6 Identity & Access Management
·
● core
A9 Penetration Testing & Red Teaming
A9 Penetration Testing & Red Teaming
·
⚠ gap
B1 AI-Powered Threat Detection
B1 AI-Powered Threat Detection
·
⚠ gap
C1 Adversarial Machine Learning
C1 Adversarial Machine Learning
·
⚠ gap
D2 Post-Quantum Cryptography
D2 Post-Quantum Cryptography
·
⚠ gap
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