Security+ SY0-701 or SY0-801: which exam to take
Take SY0-701 if you can sit it before the SY0-801 launch date of November 17, 2026. If your date is later, CompTIA lists both versions until the SY0-701 retirement date of June 11, 2027 in English, so choose by readiness: finish on SY0-701 if you have already studied for it, and study the SY0-801 outline if you are starting fresh. Dates read from CompTIA on October 18, 2026.
What changed this week
- SY0-801 launches in 29 days,
- SY0-701 retires (English) in 235 days,
Counted from the owner's own dates on , last read .
Should I take SY0-701 or wait for SY0-801?
Your exam date decides it, then your readiness. CompTIA's pages do not say that either version is easier or harder, and neither do we. Both versions list the same format: a maximum of 90 questions, 90 minutes and a passing score of 750 on a scale of 100 to 900.
- Your date is before November 17, 2026. SY0-701 is the only version you can take, because SY0-801 does not exist before its launch date. Do not wait for it.
- Your date is between November 17, 2026 and June 11, 2027. CompTIA lists both versions across those dates. Pick the version you have prepared for. If you have spent weeks on SY0-701 material and can finish before June 11, 2027, switching restarts the outline. If you have not started, read both objective lists below and prepare for the version you will book. Confirm at booking that your version is offered on your date.
- Your date is after June 11, 2027. SY0-801 is the English exam. The Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai versions of SY0-701 retire on August 13, 2027.
- You might need a retake. CompTIA requires no wait before a second attempt and at least 14 calendar days before a third, and charges the full exam price on every attempt. A retired exam cannot be booked, so if you sit SY0-701 late, leave room for a retake before June 11, 2027.
SY0-701 vs SY0-801: what CompTIA lists as different
CompTIA does not publish a side-by-side comparison of the two versions. The differences below come from reading the two objective summaries on CompTIA's own pages. They are summaries, so the full objectives document from CompTIA is the authority.
| Domain | SY0-701 | SY0-801 |
|---|---|---|
| General Security Concepts | 12% | 16% |
| Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigations (SY0-701) or Attacks (SY0-801) | 22% | 24% |
| Security Architecture | 18% | 19% |
| Security Operations | 28% | 27% |
| Security Program Management and Oversight | 20% | 14% |
- One domain is renamed. The third domain is called Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigations in SY0-701 and Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Attacks in SY0-801.
- The SY0-801 summary lists an objective on the security risks of artificial intelligence: risks to AI systems, models, prompts, privacy and data exposure. The SY0-701 summary does not list one.
- Security Program Management and Oversight has the largest change: 20% in SY0-701 and 14% in SY0-801. General Security Concepts moves the other way, from 12% to 16%.
When does SY0-701 retire?
CompTIA lists June 11, 2027 as the retirement date of SY0-701 in English, and August 13, 2027 for the Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai versions. SY0-701 launched on November 7, 2023.
For SY0-801, CompTIA lists a launch date of November 17, 2026 and, for retirement, "estimated 3 years after launch". That is an estimate, not a date, so do not plan around an SY0-801 retirement date until CompTIA publishes one.
SY0-801 objectives: the five domains
CompTIA's objective summary for SY0-801 groups its objectives under the same five domain areas as SY0-701. Our short version of CompTIA's summary of each domain:
- General Security Concepts (16%): security control types, change management and cryptographic solutions.
- Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Attacks (24%): threat actors, threat vectors and attack surfaces, indicators of malicious activity, vulnerabilities, and AI risks.
- Security Architecture (19%): architecture models across cloud, hybrid, on-premises and operational technology, enterprise infrastructure, data protection, and resilience and recovery.
- Security Operations (27%): securing computing resources, asset management, vulnerability mitigation, monitoring and alerting, identity and access, automation and orchestration, incident response and data sources for investigations.
- Security Program Management and Oversight (14%): governance, risk management, third-party risk, compliance and privacy, audits and assessments, and security awareness.
What this means for study
Spend study time in proportion to the weights of the version you will sit. Security Operations is the largest domain in both. If you are moving from SY0-701 material to SY0-801, the areas that need new attention are the AI risk objective and a larger share of general concepts. The area that shrinks is governance, risk and compliance.
What our practice questions cover
Our free Security+ questions follow the SY0-701 outline, and the domain weights on our practice page are the SY0-701 weights. A review of the bank against the SY0-801 outline is on our plan and is not done as of October 18, 2026. Until it is, use our questions for SY0-701 and for the shared fundamentals, not as coverage of the SY0-801 AI objective. We will say here when the review is finished. The questions are AI-drafted and checked against primary sources by our process; no licensed professional has reviewed them.
A study plan fitted to your exam date
The dates above change how many weeks you have. The full analysis ($39 once, with a full refund for 30 days) builds its weekly study plan from the exam date you save, so a launch or retirement date in the plan is accounted for. Free practice stays free either way. None of this is advice, and none of it predicts a result. Verify every date on the owner's page before you book.
Start the free Security+ practice questions, or read the CompTIA Security+ guide.
Sources
Each owner page below was opened and read by a person on . Owners change dates and rules without notice, so check the page itself before you rely on a date.
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Verify fees, deadlines and requirements with the issuing authority before you rely on them. Rules change, and this page may be out of date.
Educational information only. It is not professional, legal, financial, medical or licensing advice.