Security+ renewal: CEUs, fees, and the three year cycle

Every figure below was read off CompTIA’s own continuing education pages on September 15, 2026, and each is linked to the page it came from. CEU totals and caps differ by certification, so everything here is the Security+ column, not the general case.

The three year clock

Your renewal cycle is three years from the date you certified, not from January. Pass on March 2 and you renew by March 2 three years later. CompTIA’s Security+ renewal page sets the requirement at 50 CEUs for the cycle.

Two rules catch people out. Activities only count if they happen during the cycle, so the course you took the month before you certified is worth nothing toward it. And at least 50 percent of the content has to relate to the exam objectives, which is why a general project management course usually does not qualify.

What earns CEUs, and the caps

The caps are the part worth reading twice. Conferences and webinars are capped low enough that they cannot carry a renewal on their own, and work experience contributes 9 CEUs at most across three years.

Work experience needs documentation: CompTIA asks for a letter from your employer on company letterhead with your job title, the tasks performed, and a supervisor signature. Submitted CEUs are accepted automatically and audited at random, so keep the certificates and letters rather than discarding them once the total ticks over.

The fee, and the three ways to avoid it

Security+ sits in CompTIA’s advanced tier, so the fee is $150 for the three year cycle, not per year. It is paid with CE tokens, sold at $25 and $50, which do not expire. The fee must be paid by your expiration date. If you hold several CompTIA certifications you pay only for the highest level one.

No fee is due at all if you renew by passing the latest version of the exam, by earning a higher level CompTIA certification, or by completing CertMaster CE.

Renewing with one activity instead of fifty CEUs

The one most people miss: a certification you were going to earn anyway may renew Security+ outright. CompTIA lists CISSP, CCSP, GIAC certifications, and AWS Certified Security Specialty among those worth the full 50 CEUs. If the CISSP is on your list, read our CISSP study guide for technical people first, because the exam rewards a way of thinking that catches engineers out.

Watch the CertMaster CE eligibility. CompTIA lists that course for Security+ SY0-601 (V6) or earlier, so if you passed SY0-701 it is not currently an option for you.

What happens if you let it lapse

CompTIA’s certification renewal policy gives a 30 day grace period after the expiration date, and it is narrower than it sounds: it exists to pay outstanding fees or submit CEUs you already earned inside the original cycle. It is not 30 extra days to go and earn them.

After that, the certification is expired and the only way to hold it again is to pass the current version of the exam at full price. That is worth real money and real weeks, which is the argument for starting the CEU pile in year one rather than month 34. If you are heading that way anyway, check which version is current on our Security+ certification page, and read the SY0-801 release and SY0-701 retirement timeline before you book.

A renewal plan that takes one evening a quarter

Work backward from the cap table. Training is uncapped up to the full 50, so one substantial course can carry most of a cycle on its own, and an hour of study is an hour of credit. Teaching or mentoring, which many senior people already do informally, is worth 20. Add work experience at 3 a year for another 9, and a single published article for up to 16, and you are done without a conference booking.

Put the expiration date in your calendar twice: once 12 months out, which is when there is still time for a course, and once 90 days out, which is the last comfortable point to buy tokens and submit everything.

FAQ

Renewing with training hours? Every hour of our Security+ course counts as one CEU, and the first module, General Security Concepts, is free. Or warm up with 10 free practice questions.