Best Certifications to Get in 2026–2027: Costs, Time and Who They're For

The best certifications to get in 2026 are the ones named in the job postings you plan to answer. For most careers that points to one of these 15: CompTIA A+, CompTIA Security+ and ISC2's CISSP in IT and security, AWS Solutions Architect – Associate for cloud, Microsoft PL-300 for data, AWS Certified AI Practitioner for AI, PMP, CAPM or PSM I for project work, SHRM-CP for HR, the CPA and FINRA's SIE for accounting and finance, the AAPC's CPC for medical coding, EPA Section 608 for HVAC, and Salesforce Platform Administrator for CRM and marketing operations. Each one is below with its issuer, who it is for, the prerequisites, exam fee, prep time and renewal rule.

Every fee, prerequisite and renewal rule was checked on the issuer's own site in September 2026 and is linked, because several changed this year and more change in 2027. Where we could not confirm a fixed price on the issuer's site, the table says "see issuer" instead of guessing.

A certification rarely gets anyone hired on its own. What it does is clear a filter. A posting says "Security+ required", the recruiter searches the applicant tracking system for "Security+", and a resume without those characters never reaches a person. Read everything below with that in mind: the question is whether the jobs you want ask for it.

The 15 best certifications for 2026 and 2027 at a glance

Fees are US prices for one exam attempt, before tax. Prep times are our estimates for someone studying five to ten hours a week who already works in or near the field. They are not issuer figures, and a complete beginner should roughly double them.

Certification	Field	Issuer	Prerequisites	Exam fee (USD)	Typical prep	Renewal
CompTIA A+	IT support	CompTIA	None required; 12 months of hands-on IT support recommended	See issuer (two exams, one voucher each)	2–3 months	Every 3 years: 20 CEUs and a $75 CE fee
CompTIA Security+	Cybersecurity, entry level	CompTIA	None required; Network+ and 2 years in a security or sysadmin role recommended	See issuer	6–10 weeks	Every 3 years: 50 CEUs and a $150 CE fee
CISSP	Cybersecurity, senior	ISC2	5 years of full-time work in two or more of the 8 domains; a degree or approved credential can cover 1 year	$749	3–6 months	$135 a year plus 120 CPE credits every 3 years
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate	Cloud	Amazon Web Services	None required; 1 year of hands-on AWS design recommended	$150	6–10 weeks	Valid 3 years; pass the current exam again or the Professional level
AWS Certified AI Practitioner	AI, foundational	Amazon Web Services	None	$100	2–4 weeks	Valid 3 years
Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Associate (PL-300)	Data analysis	Microsoft	None	$165 (varies by country)	4–8 weeks	Every 12 months, free online assessment
Project Management Professional (PMP)	Project management	PMI	3 years managing projects with a bachelor's degree (4 with an associate degree, 5 with a high school diploma), plus 35 hours of training	$425 PMI member / $675 non-member	2–3 months	60 PDUs every 3 years
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)	Project management, entry level	PMI	High school diploma or equivalent, age 18+, 23 hours of project management education	$225 PMI member / $300 non-member	4–8 weeks	15 PDUs every 3 years
Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I)	Agile and Scrum	Scrum.org	None; no course required	$200 per attempt	1–3 weeks	None; lifetime certification
SHRM-CP	Human resources	SHRM	None; no degree or HR experience required	$350–$499, by membership and deadline	2–4 months	60 PDCs every 3 years plus a processing fee
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)	Accounting	Exam by AICPA with NASBA; license by your state board	Accounting degree with 150 credit hours and 1 year of experience, or 120 hours and 2 years in states that adopt the new pathway	See issuer (set by each state board)	12–18 months for all four sections	CPE hours set by your state board
Securities Industry Essentials (SIE)	Finance, entry level	FINRA	Age 18+; no firm sponsor needed	$100	3–6 weeks	Result valid 4 years
Certified Professional Coder (CPC)	Healthcare, medical coding	AAPC	None formal; medical terminology, anatomy and pathophysiology expected	From $425	4–6 months	AAPC membership plus 36 CEUs every 2 years
EPA Section 608 Technician Certification	HVAC and refrigeration	US EPA; tests run by EPA-approved organizations	None	See issuer (set by the testing organization)	1–2 weeks	Does not expire
Salesforce Certified Platform Administrator	CRM, sales and marketing operations	Salesforce	None	$200 (retake $100)	6–10 weeks	Maintenance module on Trailhead once a year

IT, cloud and cybersecurity certifications

CompTIA A+

For: help desk and desktop support jobs, and anyone who wants a first IT role without a degree.

A+ is two exams, Core 1 (220-1201) and Core 2 (220-1202), and CompTIA requires both to come from the same version. The current one, V15, launched in March 2025 and CompTIA expects to retire it around 2028. CompTIA recommends 12 months of hands-on support work but does not require it. It sets voucher prices by country inside its store, so check the current price there before you budget, and remember that you need two vouchers, plus a new one for any retake. Renewal every three years takes 20 CEUs and a $75 CE fee.

If you already have a year of support work, look at whether your target postings name A+ at all. If they don't, the money is better spent on Security+ or a cloud certification.

CompTIA Security+

For: first security jobs such as SOC analyst or security administrator, and system administrators moving toward security.

Security+ is listed against US Department of Defense 8140 work roles such as cyber defense analyst, incident responder and system administrator, which is why defense contractors and government IT postings ask for it by name. CompTIA recommends Network+ and two years in a security or sysadmin role first.

Watch the timing. The current exam is SY0-701 (V7). CompTIA expects V8 to launch on or around November 17, 2026, and the English V7 exam retires on June 11, 2027. If you are halfway through V7 study material, book the V7 exam before that date instead of switching books. Renewal is every three years with 50 CEUs and a $150 CE fee, or by completing CompTIA's CertMaster CE course, whose price includes the fee.

CISSP

For: security engineers, architects, consultants and managers with at least five years in the field.

ISC2 requires five years of cumulative, full-time experience in two or more of the eight CISSP domains. A relevant bachelor's or master's degree, or a credential from ISC2's approved list, can count for one of those years. If you pass the exam without the experience you become an Associate of ISC2 and get six years to earn it.

The exam costs $749 in the Americas, and the annual maintenance fee is $135. Add three years of fees to the exam and you are at about $1,150 before any training, which is the real price of the credential. You also need 120 CPE credits per three-year cycle. It is a strong senior credential and a poor first one: with two years of experience you can only hold the Associate of ISC2 title, and you pay a $50 annual fee while you wait for the other three years.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate

For: developers and system administrators who design or run workloads on AWS.

The exam costs $150 and runs 130 minutes. AWS recommends at least a year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions, though it notes people with one to three years of general IT experience have prepared for it successfully. It is valid for three years, and you renew by passing the current version or by earning the Professional level, which renews the Associate automatically.

Pair it with one bullet that proves you used the services: "Moved the nightly reporting job from a dedicated server to Lambda and S3, cutting its monthly cost by 60%." The certification says you know the service catalog. The bullet says someone paid you to use it.

Data and AI certifications

Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Associate (PL-300)

For: analysts who build reports in Power BI, and finance or operations staff who live in Excel and want a BI title.

The exam is $165 in the US; Microsoft prices it by the country where it is proctored. Role-based Microsoft certifications expire after 12 months unless renewed, but renewal is a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn. That makes PL-300 one of the cheapest credentials here to keep current: $165 once, then a short online assessment each year.

AWS Certified AI Practitioner

For: people in product, sales, marketing, operations or IT who work alongside AI projects and need to show they understand the concepts. It is not a machine learning engineering credential.

It costs $100 for 65 questions in 90 minutes and stays valid for three years. Plenty of "AI certificates" sold online are course-completion badges. This one is a proctored exam from the company that runs the platform, with a published renewal rule, and that difference is what a recruiter checks for. If you later earn AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate, AWS renews the AI Practitioner automatically.

Project management certifications

PMP

For: people who already lead projects and want the credential project manager postings ask for by name.

PMI's eligibility depends on your education. With a bachelor's degree you need three years of experience managing projects; with an associate degree or vocational diploma, four; with a high school diploma, five; with a degree from a PMI-accredited program, two. The experience must fall within the last ten years, and overlapping projects don't count twice. You also need 35 hours of project management training, or an active CAPM, which covers that requirement.

Two changes matter if you are planning for 2027:

• The exam changed in July 2026. The Business Environment domain went from 8% to 26% of the exam, People dropped from 42% to 33% and Process from 50% to 41%, and questions now include AI, sustainability and stakeholder scenarios. Older study guides still cover the core principles, but they underweight business value.
• From 1 December 2026, live training hours count only if the class is run by a PMI Authorized Training Partner, a China Registered Education Provider, or an accredited higher-education program. Self-paced on-demand courses from any provider still qualify.

PMI's page listed the exam at $425 for members and $675 for non-members in September 2026. PMI applies regional pricing, so the price you see at checkout may differ. Check the $250 gap against the cost of a PMI membership before you pay the full price. Renewal is 60 PDUs every three years.

PMI also publishes a salary figure for its own credential: it says PMP holders in the US earn a median salary of $135,000 and that certified respondents report median salaries 17% higher than those without. That is PMI's own survey, so treat it as the issuer's number.

CAPM

For: project coordinators, new graduates and career changers who don't yet have the experience for the PMP.

No experience is required: a high school diploma or equivalent, age 18 or older, and 23 hours of project management education. The fee is $225 for PMI members and $300 for non-members, and you keep it with 15 PDUs every three years. The strategic reason to take it is that an active CAPM also satisfies the PMP's 35-hour training requirement later.

Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I)

For: Scrum Masters, team leads and developers on Scrum teams.

The test costs $200 per attempt, you can take it without a course, the password never expires until used, and the certification is for life with no renewal fee. Scrum.org makes the point that some other Scrum certifications are awarded for attending a class, while PSM I requires passing a test. For a resume, the attraction is the arithmetic: $200 once, never renewed.

HR, accounting and finance certifications

SHRM-CP

For: HR generalists, coordinators, recruiters and people moving into HR from another function.

SHRM does not require a degree, an HR title or prior HR experience, though it recommends a working knowledge of HR practice. The exam runs in two windows a year. For the window from December 1, 2026 to February 15, 2027, the standard application period closes on December 24, 2026. Early bird rates are $350 for SHRM members and $450 for non-members; standard rates are $399 and $499. Both include a $50 nonrefundable application fee, and the standard rate adds a $49 deadline fee, so applying early is the easiest saving in this article.

SHRM publishes its pass rates: 68% for the SHRM-CP in the May–July 2025 window. Renewal takes 60 professional development credits within each three-year cycle and a recertification processing fee.

CPA

For: accountants on the audit, tax or controller track. It is the one license in this list that decides what work you are legally allowed to sign.

The CPA exam is developed by the AICPA and administered with NASBA, but exam fees and licensing rules vary by state board, which is why the table says "see issuer." In 2025 the AICPA and NASBA added a third route to their model law: a bachelor's in accounting (120 credit hours) with two years of experience, next to the traditional 150 hours with one year and the graduate degree with one year. Each state has to enact the new route itself, and NASBA keeps a list of the ones that have. If you are mid-degree, check your state before paying for a fifth year of credits. Continuing education after licensing is also set by your state board.

Securities Industry Essentials (SIE)

For: students and career changers who want a first job at a brokerage, bank or wealth manager.

FINRA's SIE costs $100, is open to anyone 18 or older, and does not require a sponsoring firm. The result stays valid for four years. Passing it alone does not let you register or sell securities; for that you also need a qualification exam, which requires association with a member firm. That is exactly why it works on a student resume: it tells the firm you have done the part you could do on your own.

Healthcare and trades certifications

Certified Professional Coder (CPC)

For: medical coders, billing staff moving into coding, and clinical support staff who want an office-based role.

AAPC lists the exam voucher from $425, and its training starts at $2,799, so the course usually costs far more than the exam. There is no formal prerequisite, but AAPC says training requires a high-level knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and pathophysiology and sells prerequisite courses for people without it. You maintain the credential with an annual AAPC membership and 36 CEUs every two years.

EPA Section 608 Technician Certification

For: HVAC and refrigeration technicians and apprentices.

This one is required by federal regulation for technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release refrigerants into the air. There are four types: Type I for small appliances, Type II for high-pressure equipment, Type III for low-pressure equipment, and Universal for all of them. The tests are run by EPA-approved certifying organizations, which set their own fees, and the EPA itself does not issue the cards. The certification does not expire. One detail that trips people up: a Core test taken open book cannot be used toward Universal certification.

Sales and marketing certifications

Salesforce Certified Platform Administrator

For: sales operations, marketing operations and CRM administrators, and office administrators who have ended up owning the company's Salesforce.

The exam costs $200, a retake $100, and there are no prerequisites. You get 105 minutes for 60 scored questions. To keep it, you complete the Platform Administrator maintenance module on Trailhead once a year. If a posting asks for "Salesforce Administrator" or the old exam code ADM-201, it means this certification. Write the current name on your resume and add the older one in brackets so either search finds it.

For marketing roles that don't touch a CRM, the free Google and HubSpot certifications below usually carry more weight than a paid general "digital marketing" certificate.

Free certifications worth adding

Free certifications don't clear a "required" filter unless the posting names them. They do prove you know a specific tool, which matters in marketing and entry-level tech. These were still free when we checked in September 2026:

• Google Ads and Google Analytics (Skillshop). Google says access to Skillshop and most certifications are at no cost. Foundational certifications remain free, while the newer professional-level exams will require a fee in the future. Google Ads certifications last one year: you need 80% to pass, you get 75 minutes, and you renew by passing the assessment again.
• HubSpot Academy. HubSpot describes its certifications as completely free and online. Inbound Marketing and Content Marketing are the two worth listing for most marketing jobs.
• Microsoft Learn. The learning paths are free, and so is renewing a role-based certification such as PL-300. Microsoft Applied Skills credentials are earned through a lab assessment you launch from Microsoft Learn, not a paid proctored exam, and each one validates one specific skill set, such as getting started with identity and access in Microsoft Entra.
• freeCodeCamp. The donor-funded charity offers certifications in Responsive Web Design, JavaScript, Python, Relational Databases and more, plus a full-stack developer curriculum and a Foundational C# certification with Microsoft. On a developer resume, link the projects you built for them, because the projects are the evidence.

One that is no longer free: ISC2's Certified in Cybersecurity (CC). Its free One Million Certified in Cybersecurity program closed to new enrollments on May 20, 2026, and codes already issued must be used by December 31, 2026. The standard exam price is now $199 in the Americas, so a list that still calls it free is out of date.

How to choose the right certification

1. Start from postings, not from lists like this one. Open 15 to 20 postings for the job you want next and note every certification they mention, split into "required" and "preferred." A certification that shows up as required in a third of them is worth the money. One that never appears is a hobby.
2. Check whether the law or a contract requires it. EPA Section 608 is a legal requirement for refrigerant work, the CPA license controls who can sign an audit opinion, and Security+ maps to DoD 8140 roles. Required credentials beat nice-to-have ones every time.
3. Price three years, not the exam. PSM I is $200 once. PL-300 is $165 and then free renewals. CISSP is about $1,150 over three years before any course. Security+ needs a voucher now and a $150 CE fee later, plus whatever the CE activities cost.
4. Match the prerequisites to where you are. If you are two years in, the PMP and CISSP are closed to you. The CAPM and an Associate of ISC2 route exist for exactly that gap, and both lead to the full credential later.
5. Ask your employer before you pay. The worst answer is no. Ask in writing, with the certification, the price and one sentence on how it helps in your current role.

What changes between now and 2027

• Security+ V8 is expected around November 17, 2026. The English V7 exam retires June 11, 2027.
• PMP has used a new exam since July 2026, and from December 1, 2026, live prep classes must come from PMI-authorized or accredited providers to count toward the 35 hours.
• ISC2 CC free exam codes expire December 31, 2026.
• CPA states keep adopting the 120-hour pathway one by one through 2027.
• SHRM-CP applications for the December 2026 to February 2027 window close December 24, 2026.

How to list certifications on your resume

Give each certification one line with the full name and the acronym, the issuer, and the month and year you earned it. Add the expiry date if the credential expires. Postings use "PMP" in one ad and "Project Management Professional" in the next, and writing both means your resume matches either search.

• CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701), CompTIA, February 2026 · Valid through February 2029
• Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute, March 2025
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, Amazon Web Services · Exam scheduled January 2027

Put them in a Certifications section below Experience, and move the one the job depends on into your summary as well. The full rules for placement, in-progress certifications and expired ones are in our guide on how to list certifications on a resume, and the rest of the document is covered step by step in how to write a resume.

FAQ

Which certifications are most in demand in 2026?

The most in-demand certifications are the ones a job cannot legally or contractually be done without: the CPA for signing audits, EPA Section 608 for refrigerant work, and Security+ for many US defense IT roles. After those come the credentials postings name most often in each field, such as the PMP for project managers and AWS certifications for cloud roles. Count them in your own target postings to be sure.

What is the quickest certification that is still worth having?

PSM I and the AWS Certified AI Practitioner can both be done in a few weeks of part-time study, cost $200 and $100, and come from issuers recruiters recognize. EPA Section 608 is quicker still for HVAC work. Quick only helps if the certification matches the job you are applying for.

Are free certifications worth putting on a resume?

Yes, when they match the role. A Google Ads certification on a PPC specialist's resume is relevant evidence; a list of ten unrelated course badges looks like padding. Keep two or three that fit the posting and drop the rest.

Do professional certifications expire?

Most do. AWS certifications last three years, CompTIA's renew every three years with CEUs, Microsoft role-based certifications renew every 12 months, and PMI and SHRM credentials run on three-year cycles. EPA Section 608 and PSM I do not expire.

Will a certification get me a job without experience?

On its own, rarely. It gets your resume past the filter; the interview is decided by what you can show you have done. Pair every certification with at least one project, volunteer task or work bullet where you used the skill.

Once the certification is done, or the exam is booked, put it on the page where recruiters will look for it. Build your resume with the free CV builder: paste your experience in any form, the AI turns it into clear wording on an ATS-friendly template, and you can download a PDF without creating an account.