OSCP vs CEH

At a glance

Factor	OSCP+ (formerly OSCP)	CEH
Exam fee	$1,699	$1,199
Tier	advanced	mid
Provider	OffSec	EC-Council
Questions	Practical only	125
Duration	24h hands-on + 24h report	4 hours
Renewal	Every 3 years	Every 3 years
Holders	Not disclosed	Not disclosed
DoD 8140 approved	No	Yes

What each cert actually signals

OSCP+ (formerly OSCP). OffSec rebranded OSCP to OSCP+ in November 2024. It is still the offensive cert that hiring managers actually respect: a 24-hour proctored practical exam where you must compromise target machines in a live lab environment and write a professional report documenting every step, no multiple-choice questions. But the credential itself changed: OSCP+ carries 3-year active status requiring recertification (via a recert exam, another qualifying OffSec cert, or CPEs), unlike the original OSCP, which was a lifetime credential with no renewal requirement. Anyone who earned OSCP before the rebrand keeps their lifetime status; anyone earning the credential now gets OSCP+ on the 3-year clock. The updated exam also removed bonus points and expanded the Active Directory portion into an 'assumed compromise' scenario starting from a standard domain user account. The prep course (PEN-200) is demanding and the community reputation is hard-earned; many pentesters say it is the single credential that changed their career trajectory.

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.

Cost and time investment

OSCP+ (formerly OSCP) runs $1,699 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. CEH runs $1,199 with a similar prep-time range. All-in (fee + materials + opportunity cost of study time at a modest $25/hour), expect $4.2K-$6.5K total for OSCP+ (formerly OSCP) and $3.7K-$6.0K for CEH.

CEH 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

• OSCP+ (formerly OSCP): Practical only questions, 24h hands-on + 24h report, passing 60% from 3 standalone machines + 40% from an Active Directory set.
• CEH: 125 questions, 4 hours, passing 60-85% depending on form.

OSCP+ (formerly OSCP) targets the advanced tier while CEH targets mid. Attempting an advanced-tier cert before the foundations are solid is a common way to burn money and confidence; match the cert to your current experience level.

Domain coverage

OSCP+ (formerly OSCP) covers: Enumeration and Information Gathering; Active Directory Attacks (assumed-compromise domain scenario); Web Application Exploitation; Privilege Escalation on Linux and Windows; Client-side Attacks; Cloud (AWS) Infrastructure Exploitation; Report Writing.

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.

Career impact

OSCP+ (formerly OSCP): OSCP+ is one of the most salary-moving certs in offensive security. Practitioners report $15,000-$30,000 bumps after passing, and senior pentest roles at $130,000-$180,000 frequently list it as required rather than preferred.

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.

OSCP+ (formerly OSCP) shows up most on job postings for: penetration tester.

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

Pick this one if

OSCP+ (formerly OSCP). Pentesters moving from junior to senior level, offensive security researchers, and anyone whose job requires demonstrated hands-on exploitation skill. Do not attempt without real lab time first.

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.

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.