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Pick up to 3 certifications and compare them side-by-side on cost, exam format, recertification, salary signal, quality, and domain coverage.
GIAC / SANS · professional
GCSAGIAC Cloud Security Automation
Security-as-code: IaC hardening, CI/CD guardrails, automated cloud response.
Official pageComparing
GIAC / SANSGCSA
GIACGPCS
› Cost
Exam fee
GCSA$979
GPCS$979
Exam fee
$979
$979
Annual maintenance fee
GCSA—
GPCS—
Annual maintenance fee
—
—
3-year cost of ownership
GCSA$979
GPCS$979
3-year cost of ownership
$979
$979
› Exam mechanics
Pass mark
GCSA70% (scaled per attempt)
GPCS71% (scaled per attempt)
Pass mark
70% (scaled per attempt)
71% (scaled per attempt)
Retake policy
GCSA$999 fee · 30d wait
GPCS$999 fee · 30d wait
Retake policy
$999 fee · 30d wait
$999 fee · 30d wait
Study time
GCSA100–180 hrs
GPCS150–280 hrs
Study time
100–180 hrs
150–280 hrs
Validity
GCSA4 yrs
GPCS4 yrs
Validity
4 yrs
4 yrs
CPE / yr
GCSA9 CPEs
GPCS9 CPEs
CPE / yr
9 CPEs
9 CPEs
Delivery
GCSAonline proctored
GPCSmixed
Delivery
online proctored
mixed
› Salary signal (US base)
Range
GCSA$130K – $195K
GPCS$130K – $195K
Range
$130K – $195K
$130K – $195K
Median
GCSA$155,000
GPCS$155,000
Median
$155,000
$155,000
Premium %
GCSA—
GPCS—
Premium %
—
—
Role context
GCSACloud DevSecOps engineer, US, 4-6 years.
GPCSMulti-cloud security engineer, US, 4-6 years.
Role context
Cloud DevSecOps engineer, US, 4-6 years.
Multi-cloud security engineer, US, 4-6 years.
› Quality (4-axis rubric · 0–10)
Schema quality
GCSA8.0
GPCS7.5
Schema quality
8.0
7.5
Practice evidence
GCSA6.5
GPCS6.5
Practice evidence
6.5
6.5
Maintenance
GCSA8.5
GPCS8.0
Maintenance
8.5
8.0
Market recognition
GCSA5.5
GPCS6.0
Market recognition
5.5
6.0
Average
GCSA7.1
GPCS7.0
Average
7.1
7.0
› Recognition & lifecycle
Recognition
GCSAGlobal · US · EU · UK
GPCSGlobal
Recognition
Global · US · EU · UK
Global
ISO 17024 accredited
GCSA✓
GPCS—
ISO 17024 accredited
✓
—
DoD 8140 baseline
GCSA—
GPCS—
DoD 8140 baseline
—
—
Holders worldwide
GCSA—
GPCS—
Holders worldwide
—
—
Current version
GCSA2024 SEC540 refresh (2024-04)
GPCS2024 SEC510 refresh (2024-04)
Current version
2024 SEC540 refresh (2024-04)
2024 SEC510 refresh (2024-04)
› Domain coverage
A11Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
GCSA○ touched
GPCS·
A11Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
○ touched
·
A13Supply Chain Security
GCSA● core
GPCS·
A13Supply Chain Security
● core
·
A4Application Security
GCSA● core
GPCS·
A4Application Security
● core
·
A5Cloud Security
GCSA● core
GPCS● core
A5Cloud Security
● core
● core
C6AI Infrastructure Security
GCSA○ touched
GPCS·
C6AI Infrastructure Security
○ touched
·
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