SY0-801 renewal and retake rules
Security+ does not last forever. CompTIA’s continuing education (CE) program asks for 50 continuing education units (CEUs) and a $150 fee over each three-year renewal cycle, and CompTIA’s retake policy lets you retry once without waiting but requires 14 calendar days before a third attempt. The new version SY0-801 is expected on or around November 17, 2026, while SY0-701 retires on June 11, 2027 (English). CompTIA’s pages do not publish a separate CE scheme for V8, so this page describes the program as it is written for Security+ now. The career side is in what SY0-801 leads to.
The three dates that matter in 2026 and 2027
| Date | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| About Nov 17, 2026 | SY0-801 (V8) expected to launch | CompTIA V8 page |
| Jun 11, 2027 | SY0-701 retires, English | CompTIA V7 page |
| Aug 13, 2027 | SY0-701 retires in Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai | CompTIA V7 page |
CompTIA’s V8 page also states an estimated retirement about three years after launch. The V7 page does not say whether a certification earned on SY0-701 stays valid after the exam retires, so this page does not claim it. What it follows from is the CE rules below: your expiry date is on your certificate and in your CompTIA Central account, and that date, not the exam version, drives your deadline.
Renewing: 50 CEUs, $150, one cycle
CompTIA’s CEU page states that Security+ needs 50 CEUs earned within your three-year renewal cycle. The listed activity types are:
- Non-CompTIA IT industry certifications
- Training and higher education
- IT industry participation
- Publishing a relevant article, white paper, blog post or book
- Work experience
At least half of a training course’s content must relate to the objectives of the certification you are renewing, and CompTIA reserves the right to make the final call. The page gives no CEU value per hour of training and no caps per activity, so check the activity pages before you plan.
The fee is $150 for the three-year period. According to CompTIA’s fee page, it is not charged annually, you pay when you renew by uploading CEUs, and it must be paid by the expiration date. You can pay with CE tokens, which cost $25 or $50, do not expire, and are non-refundable once uploaded. One help-centre article still mentions annual CE fees, which conflicts with the fees page. This guide treats the fees page as current.
Renewals that skip the CEU upload
CompTIA lists other ways to renew:
- Pass the newest version of the exam. CompTIA’s CE page says passing automatically renews your certification. After the V8 launch, that means SY0-801.
- Earn a higher-level CompTIA certification. It can renew the lower one, but CompTIA’s renewal page warns that CE fees are not waived if the higher certification does not fully renew the lower one.
- CertMaster CE. CompTIA promotes it as a single-activity renewal for Security+, with eligibility limits: you cannot renew by repeating a version of the course you have already completed.
CompTIA does not state what happens after expiry on the pages checked for this guide. A third-party search summary mentioned a 30-day grace period for outstanding fees or CEUs, but it does not appear on CompTIA’s own pages, so confirm it in the CE FAQ before relying on it.
Retakes: what the policy says
| Situation | Rule |
|---|---|
| Fail attempt 1, retry | No waiting period |
| Fail attempt 2, take attempt 3 | Wait at least 14 calendar days from your last attempt |
| Every attempt | Full exam price each time, no free retests or discounts |
| Pass, then retake the same code | Not allowed without CompTIA’s prior consent |
That last rule matters if you pass SY0-701 and wonder about SY0-801: CompTIA’s policy says recertifying means waiting for a new exam series, a different exam code. Since SY0-801 is a new series, it is a different code, and passing it is also one of the renewal routes above. One help-centre article for client-proctored exams describes the 14-day gap as starting after the second failure, which matches the table.
The exam price is shown at booking, and CompTIA had not published an SY0-801 price in the pages checked. See certification costs for how that compares across vendors, and the exam format for the structure you will face on a retake. Unlike Microsoft associate exams, there is no free yearly assessment: Security+ renewal always costs either a fee, an exam or a higher certification.