CEH vs Comptia Pentest Plus

At a glance

Factor	CEH	CompTIA PenTest+
Exam fee	$1,199	$439
Tier	mid	mid
Provider	EC-Council	CompTIA
Questions	125	90
Duration	4 hours	165 minutes
Renewal	Every 3 years	Every 3 years
Holders	Not disclosed	Not disclosed
DoD 8140 approved	Yes	Yes

What each cert actually signals

CEH. CEH is the cybersecurity industry's most polarizing certification. EC-Council's Certified Ethical Hacker covers the attacker mindset, reconnaissance, scanning, enumeration, and common exploitation tooling. The current version, CEH v13 (released September 2024), bills itself as the first AI-powered ethical hacking certification, weaving AI-driven reconnaissance, exploitation, and defense techniques into the same 312-50 exam code used by prior versions; EC-Council retired v12 voucher sales in 2025, so anyone testing fresh in 2026 sits v13 regardless of preference. It is DoD 8140 approved for offensive work roles and carries name recognition with federal and enterprise HR filters. Practitioners often criticize it for being theoretical next to OSCP, but for a government or compliance-driven buyer, the accreditation matters more than the technical depth. I recommend it when the employer explicitly requests it or when you need a mid-tier offensive cert that ships with classroom training.

CompTIA PenTest+. PenTest+ is the offensive counterpart to CySA+. The current version, PT0-003 (V3, launched December 2024), covers the full engagement lifecycle: engagement management, reconnaissance and enumeration, vulnerability discovery and analysis, attacks and exploits, and post-exploitation and lateral movement. Unlike OSCP, which is a 24-hour practical exam, PenTest+ is a mix of multiple choice and performance-based questions, which makes it more accessible as a first offensive cert. DoD 8140 approves it for Vulnerability Assessment Analyst work roles. Hiring managers for junior pentest roles often ask for PenTest+ as a baseline and OSCP as a proof of real exploitation skill; carrying both reads as serious commitment to the craft.

Cost and time investment

CEH runs $1,199 for the exam fee alone. Budget another $200-$800 for study materials and practice exams, and 6-16 weeks of prep time depending on your starting point. CompTIA PenTest+ runs $439 with a similar prep-time range. All-in (fee + materials + opportunity cost of study time at a modest $25/hour), expect $3.7K-$6.0K total for CEH and $2.9K-$5.2K for CompTIA PenTest+.

CompTIA PenTest+ is the lower-risk first purchase when budget is a factor. That said, picking based on price alone is a trap. The right question is which cert the roles you are targeting list on their job postings, which the exam-format and audience sections below help you answer.

Exam format and difficulty

• CEH: 125 questions, 4 hours, passing 60-85% depending on form.
• CompTIA PenTest+: 90 questions, 165 minutes, passing 750/900.

Both certifications sit in the mid tier. Difficulty is roughly comparable, though domain coverage and exam style differ (see next section).

Domain coverage

CEH covers: Information Security and Ethical Hacking Overview; Reconnaissance Techniques; System Hacking Phases and Attack Techniques; Network and Perimeter Hacking; Web Application Hacking; Wireless and Mobile Platform Hacking; Cloud Computing and IoT Hacking; Cryptography.

CompTIA PenTest+ covers: Engagement Management (13%); Reconnaissance and Enumeration (21%); Vulnerability Discovery and Analysis (17%); Attacks and Exploits (35%); Post-Exploitation and Lateral Movement (14%).

Career impact

CEH: CEH carries a 5-10% salary premium in federal and commercial-enterprise settings that require it by contract. In startup or product-security contexts it carries less weight than PenTest+ or OSCP.

CompTIA PenTest+: PenTest+ typically adds $10,000-$20,000 for entry-level offensive roles and is commonly listed for junior pentester postings in the $95,000-$120,000 range. It is considered the credential that makes your resume readable to non-technical recruiters.

CEH shows up most on job postings for: penetration tester, soc analyst, incident responder.

CompTIA PenTest+ shows up most on job postings for: penetration tester.

Pick this one if

CEH. Candidates targeting federal, defense, or large-enterprise offensive roles where CEH is explicitly required. Also useful for SOC analysts wanting offensive fundamentals without the OSCP time investment.

CompTIA PenTest+. SOC Analysts pivoting to offensive work, IT practitioners learning ethical hacking, and junior pentesters building up their credential stack toward OSCP.

Verdict

For most candidates, the answer is not "which one is better" but "which one does the job posting demand." Pull 5-10 postings for the role you want, tally which cert appears most often, and pick that one first. If both appear roughly equally, pick the lower-cost one and treat the other as a follow-up in year 2-3.

Run both numbers through the Certification ROI Calculator to see the expected payback under your specific salary and cost assumptions. Or take the Career DNA assessment (2 min, free) to get a cert path tailored to your profile.