CompTIA A+ Renewal: CEUs, Costs & Deadlines (2026)

Quick Answer

CompTIA A+ is valid for three years from your pass date. You renew it by earning continuing education units through the CompTIA Continuing Education program and paying the annual CE fee, or by passing a higher-level CompTIA certification such as Network+ or Security+, which renews A+ automatically. A+ has the lowest CEU requirement of the CompTIA certifications, so renewal is usually straightforward for anyone working in IT.

Validity Period

3 Years

Easiest Route

Pass Network+ or Security+

CEU Requirement

Lowest of CompTIA tiers

After Expiry

Retake both Core exams

The Three-Year Clock and Your Two Options

Your A+ becomes valid the day you pass the second Core exam, and it expires three years later. Note that carefully: the clock runs from completing the certification, not from your first Core exam, so passing Core 1 and then waiting eight months to pass Core 2 does not shorten your validity.

To extend it, you either accumulate continuing education units and pay the CE fee, or you earn a qualifying higher-level certification. For A+ holders the second route is unusually attractive, because Network+ and Security+ are the natural next steps for almost everyone in a helpdesk or support role. Passing either renews A+ automatically, and depending on which you hold, your CE fee may consolidate rather than stack.

The third option — re-taking both Core exams — exists but is a genuinely poor use of money and time given how modest the A+ renewal requirement is. Treat it as the consequence of missing the deadline rather than a plan.

Renewal is your responsibility to track. CompTIA emails reminders, but the deadline does not move and nothing renews automatically.

Activities That Count Toward A+ Renewal

The CE program accepts a broad range of qualifying activities, each with a unit value and usually a limit on how much of your total it can cover:

Earning other certifications — including other CompTIA certifications, vendor certifications, and relevant industry credentials.

Completing training and courses — instructor-led or self-paced, provided you have a documented completion record. Employer-provided training counts, which is the cheapest route for most people.

Attending industry events — conferences, seminars, and webinars with attendance records.

Creating content — writing articles or study material, or contributing to technical publications, with evidence of publication.

Teaching or presenting — delivering training or speaking at events, typically worth more units per hour than attending.

Documented work experience — time spent working in roles covered by the A+ subject matter, capped at a portion of the requirement.

College coursework — completed courses in a related field.

Because A+ has the lowest unit requirement of the CompTIA tiers, most people in an active IT role can cover it with a combination of documented work experience and one or two training courses across three years. The binding constraint is almost never the activity — it is the paperwork. Save every completion certificate and attendance confirmation as it happens.

Costs: The CE Fee and Everything Else

Renewal has two cost components. The first is the annual CE program fee, which CompTIA charges to keep a certification active. It is tiered by certification level, and A+ sits at the lowest tier.

The important detail is consolidation. If you also hold a higher-level CompTIA certification, that certification generally covers the fee for the ones beneath it — so an A+ holder who earns Network+ or Security+ does not typically pay two or three separate fees. People who do not know this pay more than they need to for years.

The second component is the cost of activities. This is where the range is wide. Employer training, free vendor learning paths with completion certificates, documented work experience, and writing all cost nothing out of pocket. Paid conferences and commercial courses obviously do.

Set against the alternative — re-sitting both A+ Core exams at full voucher price plus weeks of study — renewal through CEUs or a higher certification is dramatically cheaper in every realistic scenario. The exam route only makes sense if you have already lapsed.

Remember that the fee and the units are independent requirements. Paying the fee without logging units does not renew you, and neither does the reverse.

Why Most A+ Holders Should Just Earn the Next Certification

A+ is designed as an entry point. The typical holder is in or moving toward a support role, and the standard next steps are Network+ for infrastructure-leaning careers or Security+ for security-leaning ones. Both renew A+ automatically on pass.

That makes the decision simple for most people. Instead of tracking units across three years and assembling documentation, you study for a certification you probably wanted anyway, pass it, and your A+ renews as a side effect — with the added benefit of a stronger resume and, usually, a consolidated CE fee.

The timing that works well: start studying for the next certification around the eighteen-month mark. That gives ample time to pass comfortably, renews A+ well before the deadline, and spreads the cost.

The CEU route is the better choice if you are deliberately staying in your current role, are not interested in another exam, or have limited study time. It is entirely legitimate and A+ has the smallest unit requirement of any CompTIA tier — it is just more administrative overhead than passing one exam for someone who was going to sit that exam regardless.

If Your A+ Has Already Expired

An expired A+ cannot be revived with retroactive units. There is no grace period and no catch-up mechanism. The certification moves to inactive status and the only route back is passing the current version of both Core exams.

That is a real cost. CompTIA revises A+ periodically, so returning after a lapse means facing updated hardware, current operating system content, and a restructured objectives list — plus two exam fees rather than one.

Before assuming the worst, check your actual status in your CompTIA account. People sometimes believe they have lapsed when a higher certification earned in the interim already renewed them, or when the expiry date is further out than they remembered.

If you genuinely have lapsed and need the certification for a role, treat it as a fresh study cycle rather than a refresher. Start from the current objectives, work through domain-restricted practice questions to find what has changed since your original pass, and book both exams once your mixed practice scores stabilize. Prior experience makes this faster than the first time, but assuming your old knowledge maps onto the current exam is how lapsed candidates fail their retake.

Expert Insight

For the overwhelming majority of A+ holders, renewal should never be a separate project. The natural career trajectory — adding Network+ or Security+ within the first two years — handles it automatically and improves your position at the same time. The people who end up scrambling are almost always those who stopped certifying entirely and did not realize that inaction has an expiry date attached.

Study Tips

• Passing Network+ or Security+ renews A+ automatically and is usually less effort than tracking three years of units.

• A higher-level CompTIA certification generally consolidates your CE fee — do not pay separate fees for each certification without checking.

• A+ has the lowest CEU requirement of the CompTIA tiers, so an active IT role plus one training course usually covers it.

• Renewing early does not cost validity time; the new term extends from your existing expiry date.

• Check your real expiry date in your CompTIA account rather than counting three years from a remembered exam day.

Common Mistakes

• Thinking the three-year clock starts at Core 1. It starts when the certification is complete, after both exams.

• Paying the CE fee and assuming that alone renews the certification — units are a separate requirement.

• Completing qualifying activities without saving documentation, leaving nothing to submit.

• Paying multiple CE fees when a higher-level CompTIA certification already covers the lower tiers.

• Letting A+ lapse while planning to "get around to Network+", then facing two Core exams instead of one.

Frequently Asked Questions

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