Most pages about SY0-701 costs open with a dollar figure. We are not going to, because CompTIA does not publish the voucher price on its certification page, and a number quoted confidently by a third party is not a fact about the exam. What CompTIA does publish is the retake policy, and it contains a trap that costs candidates far more than any price difference between stores: there is no waiting period before your second attempt, and you pay in full for it.
Everything below comes from CompTIA’s own certification, retake and renewal policy pages, and is explicit where CompTIA publishes nothing. Every detail was verified on 12 September 2026.
The logistics at a glance
| Exam price | Not published on the certification page — it varies by region and store |
| Retake discount or free retest | None — the exam price is payable on every attempt |
| Wait before attempt 2 | None |
| Wait before attempt 3 and beyond | At least 14 calendar days |
| Retaking after you pass | Not permitted on the same exam code until a new version is released |
| Validity | Three years from the certification date |
| Renewal | Continuing education units, without retaking the exam. 30-day grace period for submitting CEUs from the cycle |
| CEUs required for Security+ | Not published as a per-certification figure on the renewal policy page |
| Languages | English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai |
| Retirement | English 11 June 2027; Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai 13 August 2027 |
The open door to attempt two is the expensive part
CompTIA imposes no waiting period between the first and second attempt. It reads like generosity, and it is presented that way on plenty of study sites: fail on Tuesday, sit again on Thursday. The policy that goes with it is the part that matters. The exam price is payable on every attempt. CompTIA offers no free retests and no retake discounts.
So the door that is open immediately after a failure is the most expensive one in the policy, and it opens at exactly the moment you are least equipped to judge whether you are ready. From the third attempt onward CompTIA requires at least fourteen calendar days between sittings — a cooling-off period that, ironically, is the behaviour that would have saved money at attempt two.
The practical conclusion is unglamorous: the cheapest way to sit SY0-701 is to be genuinely ready for attempt one. Two weeks of additional preparation costs you nothing but time. A second voucher does not.
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Why we will not quote you a price
CompTIA does not put the voucher price on the Security+ certification page, and pricing differs by region and by where you buy. A figure copied from a US-focused page in 2024 and republished since is not a price you can budget against, and several of the pages ranking for this query are doing exactly that.
Get the number from CompTIA’s own store for your country at the moment you are ready to buy. And when you do, budget for the certification rather than the sitting — because the three-year renewal cycle below is part of the cost of holding it.
The cost that starts the day you pass
Security+ is valid for three years from your certification date. Renewal is through continuing education units rather than by sitting the exam again, and there is a 30-day grace period for submitting CEUs from the cycle. CompTIA’s renewal policy page does not state a per-certification CEU figure, so we do not quote one.
One detail catches people who assume they have a simple fallback: renewal by re-passing the same exam is not permitted, and once you have passed SY0-701 you cannot retake it until a new version exists. Continuing education is the route, not a repeat sitting.
Scheduling, languages and the retirement window
SY0-701 is offered in English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai. The retirement dates differ by language: 11 June 2027 for English, and 13 August 2027 for the Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai versions. If you are planning a sitting in a language other than English, that two-month difference is worth noting when you book.
Those are the only dates CompTIA has published about the version cycle. It has published nothing about when a successor exam launches, so plan against the retirement date rather than against a launch date you have seen quoted elsewhere.
Where practice questions fit
Given that every attempt is charged at full price, practice questions earn their place as the cheapest insurance available. Their job is to find the domain you are weak in and to train you to decide inside a minute. Used that way — timed, reviewed, weighted to the published blueprint — they are the most efficient preparation available in the last few weeks before the exam.
A caution that matters more than it appears to. Sites offering “real exam questions”, brain dumps or leaked SY0-701 content are selling you a violation of the CompTIA Candidate Agreement, and CompTIA can revoke certifications over it. They are also usually stale. Original questions written from the published blueprint teach you to reason; memorised answers teach you to recognise a question you will not be asked.
Find your weak domain before the exam does.
A booking checklist
- Check the current price in CompTIA’s store for your region, not a figure from a blog.
- Confirm the language you intend to sit in and its retirement date.
- Be ready before you book, because attempt two costs the same as attempt one.
- Diarise your certification date plus three years, and start collecting CEUs well before it.
For the exam parameters themselves — question count, time limit, scoring and domain weights — see our CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) exam guide.
Frequently asked questions
How much does SY0-701 cost?
CompTIA does not publish the voucher price on its Security+ certification page, and prices vary by region and store. Any specific figure you see quoted elsewhere is not from that page — check CompTIA’s own store for your country.
How soon can I retake Security+ if I fail?
Immediately, for the second attempt — CompTIA requires no waiting period between the first and second. From the third attempt onward you must wait at least 14 calendar days between sittings.
Is there a discount on Security+ retakes?
No. CompTIA offers no free retests and no retake discounts; the exam price is payable on every attempt. That is the strongest argument for being fully prepared before the first sitting.
Can I retake the exam after passing, to get a better score?
No. Once you have passed, CompTIA does not permit you to retake the same exam code until a new version has been released.
When does SY0-701 retire?
CompTIA publishes 11 June 2027 for the English exam and 13 August 2027 for the Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai versions. Your certification remains valid three years from your test date regardless of which version you sat.
Sources. All policy details above come from CompTIA’s own Security+ certification page, its certification retake policy and its certification renewal policy, accessed 12 September 2026. No price or CEU figure is quoted because CompTIA publishes neither on those pages. Policies change; if you spot a discrepancy, check CompTIA’s page and tell us so we can correct it.
Disclosure and disclaimer. FoxMedium publishes independent study material. Our practice tests are not official CompTIA content and are not endorsed by, affiliated with, or representative of CompTIA or the official certification examination. All questions are original and written from publicly published exam blueprints. We do not host or distribute real exam content. Links to our courses earn us revenue if you enrol. CompTIA, Security+ and all related trademarks belong to their respective owners.
