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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.
ISC2 · professional
CCSPCertified Cloud Security Professional
Cloud security architecture: shared responsibility, identity, data protection, crypto, and cloud-native detection.
Official pageComparing
GIACGPCS
ISC2CCSP
› Cost
Exam fee
GPCS$979
CCSP$599
Exam fee
$979
$599
Annual maintenance fee
GPCS—
CCSP$135/yr
Annual maintenance fee
—
$135/yr
3-year cost of ownership
GPCS$979
CCSP$1,004
3-year cost of ownership
$979
$1,004
› Exam mechanics
Pass mark
GPCS71% (scaled per attempt)
CCSP700/1000 (scaled)
Pass mark
71% (scaled per attempt)
700/1000 (scaled)
Retake policy
GPCS$999 fee · 30d wait
CCSP$599 fee · 30d wait · 4/yr cap
Retake policy
$999 fee · 30d wait
$599 fee · 30d wait · 4/yr cap
Study time
GPCS150–280 hrs
CCSP100–180 hrs
Study time
150–280 hrs
100–180 hrs
Validity
GPCS4 yrs
CCSP3 yrs
Validity
4 yrs
3 yrs
CPE / yr
GPCS9 CPEs
CCSP30 CPEs
CPE / yr
9 CPEs
30 CPEs
Delivery
GPCSmixed
CCSPtest center
Delivery
mixed
test center
› Salary signal (US base)
Range
GPCS$130K – $195K
CCSP$130K – $190K
Range
$130K – $195K
$130K – $190K
Median
GPCS$155,000
CCSP$155,000
Median
$155,000
$155,000
Premium %
GPCS—
CCSP—
Premium %
—
—
Role context
GPCSMulti-cloud security engineer, US, 4-6 years.
CCSPCloud security engineer / architect, US, 4+ years.
Role context
Multi-cloud security engineer, US, 4-6 years.
Cloud security engineer / architect, US, 4+ years.
› Quality (4-axis rubric · 0–10)
Schema quality
GPCS7.5
CCSP8.5
Schema quality
7.5
8.5
Practice evidence
GPCS6.5
CCSP2.5
Practice evidence
6.5
2.5
Maintenance
GPCS8.0
CCSP8.5
Maintenance
8.0
8.5
Market recognition
GPCS6.0
CCSP8.5
Market recognition
6.0
8.5
Average
GPCS7.0
CCSP7.0
Average
7.0
7.0
› Recognition & lifecycle
Recognition
GPCSGlobal
CCSPGlobal · US · EU · UK · DACH
Recognition
Global
Global · US · EU · UK · DACH
ISO 17024 accredited
GPCS—
CCSP✓
ISO 17024 accredited
—
✓
DoD 8140 baseline
GPCS—
CCSP—
DoD 8140 baseline
—
—
Holders worldwide
GPCS—
CCSP30,000
Holders worldwide
—
30,000
Current version
GPCS2024 SEC510 refresh (2024-04)
CCSP2022 CBK refresh (2022-08)
Current version
2024 SEC510 refresh (2024-04)
2022 CBK refresh (2022-08)
› Domain coverage
A10Security Operations
GPCS·
CCSP○ touched
A10Security Operations
·
○ touched
A11Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
GPCS·
CCSP○ touched
A11Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
·
○ touched
A12Data Security, Privacy & Protection
GPCS·
CCSP● core
A12Data Security, Privacy & Protection
·
● core
A13Supply Chain Security
GPCS·
CCSP○ touched
A13Supply Chain Security
·
○ touched
A14OT/ICS Security
GPCS·
CCSP⚠ gap
A14OT/ICS Security
·
⚠ gap
A15Cryptography
GPCS·
CCSP● core
A15Cryptography
·
● core
A23Recovery, Resilience & Cyber Recovery
GPCS·
CCSP● core
A23Recovery, Resilience & Cyber Recovery
·
● core
A25Security Architecture & Engineering
GPCS·
CCSP● core
A25Security Architecture & Engineering
·
● core
A3Zero Trust Architecture
GPCS·
CCSP○ touched
A3Zero Trust Architecture
·
○ touched
A5Cloud Security
GPCS● core
CCSP● core
A5Cloud Security
● core
● core
A6Identity & Access Management
GPCS·
CCSP● core
A6Identity & Access Management
·
● core
A9Penetration Testing & Red Teaming
GPCS·
CCSP⚠ gap
A9Penetration Testing & Red Teaming
·
⚠ gap
C1Adversarial Machine Learning
GPCS·
CCSP⚠ gap
C1Adversarial Machine Learning
·
⚠ gap
C6AI Infrastructure Security
GPCS·
CCSP⚠ gap
C6AI Infrastructure Security
·
⚠ gap
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