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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.

OffSec · professional
OSCP
Offensive Security Certified Professional

Hands-on penetration testing — exploitation, privilege escalation, AD attacks.

Official page

Cost

Exam fee
OSCP$1,649
Annual maintenance fee
OSCP
3-year cost of ownership
OSCP$1,649

Exam mechanics

Pass mark
OSCP70 / 100 points across the 24-hour exam
Retake policy
OSCP$249 fee · 0d wait
Study time
OSCP300–600 hrs
Validity
OSCP3 yrs
CPE / yr
OSCP30 CPEs
Delivery
OSCPpractical lab

Salary signal (US base)

Range
OSCP$110K – $170K
Median
OSCP$135,000
Premium %
OSCP
Role context
OSCPPenetration tester / red team operator, US, 3–5 years.

Quality (4-axis rubric · 0–10)

Schema quality
OSCP8.5
Practice evidence
OSCP9.5
Maintenance
OSCP7.0
Market recognition
OSCP9.5
Average
OSCP8.6

Recognition & lifecycle

Recognition
OSCPGlobal · US · EU · UK
ISO 17024 accredited
OSCP
DoD 8140 baseline
OSCP
Holders worldwide
OSCP30,000
Current version
OSCPPEN-200 (2024) (2024-03)

Domain coverage

A1Governance, Risk & Compliance
OSCP⚠ gap
A12Data Security, Privacy & Protection
OSCP⚠ gap
A2Network Security
OSCP● core
A21Malware Analysis & Reverse Engineering
OSCP○ touched
A24Exposure Management & Attack Surface
OSCP○ touched
A4Application Security
OSCP● core
A6Identity & Access Management
OSCP● core
A9Penetration Testing & Red Teaming
OSCP● core
C1Adversarial Machine Learning
OSCP⚠ gap
C2LLM-Specific Attacks
OSCP⚠ gap

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