comparison

EC-Council CEH vs CompTIA PenTest+

The DoD 8140 matrix lists both as foundational qualification options: CEH against seven DCWF work roles, PenTest+ against ten, and PenTest+ at Intermediate or Advanced proficiency on all ten where CEH ranges from Basic to Advanced. They also differ in shape. CEH's published outline is twenty modules of attack technique; PenTest+ (PT0-003, 165 minutes) publishes five weighted domains, one of which - engagement management, 13% - is not technique at all. Both expect security and networking ground first.

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Certification details change. Always confirm final pricing, availability, and credential terms on the official provider page linked in the sources below before you pay for anything.

Decision comparison

Side-by-side comparison

Side-by-side certification tradeoff grid with fit-dependent caveats.

Cited detail

EvidenceCertified Ethical Hacker (CEH)CompTIA PenTest+
Exam codeCEHPT0-003
Credential levelIntermediateIntermediate
Exam lengthWe have not recorded this165 minutes
Published exam priceWe have not recorded this$439 (exam fee as of 2026-06-19)
Official certification sourceBLS occupation contextO*NET role evidenceRoleMath scoring evidence

Choose by fit

Choose Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) when
  • Your target training market or employer specifically values CEH.
  • You want EC-Council's ethical-hacking pathway.
  • You already have foundations and want the wider attack-technique syllabus: CEH publishes twenty modules against PenTest+'s five domains.
Choose CompTIA PenTest+ when
  • You want a vendor-neutral penetration-testing certification.
  • You are already in the CompTIA security pathway.
  • You want the engagement side tested, not only the techniques: PenTest+ gives 13% of its exam to engagement management.
Not claimed here
  • Exam pass rates
  • Job placement rates
  • Any job guarantee
  • A salary figure attributed to this certification
  • A salary prediction for you personally
  • Return on investment or a payback period

Related Roles

These are role mappings for career-planning context. Salary and outlook data must stay tied to BLS occupations, not to certification outcomes.

The Relationship column compares a credential's published exam objectives with the work the occupation involves, and names which credential it is describing. A role RoleMath maps to only one of the two credentials shows that one; where both map to it, both are named, and Both means they read the same way for that role. Covers the core means the objectives reach that occupation's main work, Covers groundwork that they reach what it builds on rather than the work itself, and Partial overlap that they meet it only in places; a qualifier such as after a foundation records where RoleMath reads the objectives as assuming earlier study or experience, and Overlap not classified marks a pairing we hold but have not placed on this scale. This is RoleMath's reading of published objectives, not a measurement of hiring: we have not surveyed employers, and nothing here measures how much a credential is asked for or what it does for an application.

Every wage below is the occupation's national annual median wage - the midpoint of that occupation's wage distribution - as published by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025. It is not the OEWS mean, not an average, and not a starting wage. The outlook column is the BLS Employment Projections change for the same occupation over 2024-2034. Both describe the occupation, not an outcome of holding the credential.

RoleRelationshipSOCAnnual median wage (BLS OEWS, May 2025)BLS outlook (2024-2034)
Cybersecurity AnalystCertified Ethical Hacker (CEH) - Covers the core; CompTIA PenTest+ - Partial overlap, after a foundation15-1212$129,180 annual median28.5%
Penetration TesterCompTIA PenTest+ - Covers the core15-1299$116,580 annual median8.2%

Core source records

This table lists the page’s core content records and when they were checked. Claim-specific citations appear beside the relevant text and may not be repeated here.

Show all 18 sources
IDSupportsSourceChecked
CIT-01Public official credential page for Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) | #1 Ethical Hacking Certification | EC-Council2026-06-12T17:53:02+00:00
CIT-02Supports official facts for Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).Cyber Career Track Guide2026-06-08T23:30:50+00:00
CIT-03Supports official facts for Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).Download the report2026-06-08T23:30:50+00:00
CIT-04Supports official facts for Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) | #1 Ethical Hacking Certification | EC-Council2026-06-08T23:30:50+00:00
CIT-05Supports occupation-level labor context for Cybersecurity Analyst.Cybersecurity Analyst BLS OEWS wage source2026-06-25T08:28:38+00:00
CIT-06Supports occupation-level labor context for Cybersecurity Analyst.Cybersecurity Analyst BLS Employment Projections source2026-06-25T08:27:06+00:00
CIT-07Supports occupation-level labor context for Cybersecurity Analyst.Cybersecurity Analyst O*NET source2026-07-14T04:32:12+00:00
CIT-08Supports occupation-level labor context for SOC Analyst.SOC Analyst BLS OEWS wage source2026-06-25T08:28:38+00:00
CIT-09Supports occupation-level labor context for SOC Analyst.SOC Analyst BLS Employment Projections source2026-06-25T08:27:06+00:00
CIT-10Supports occupation-level labor context for SOC Analyst.SOC Analyst O*NET source2026-07-14T04:32:12+00:00
CIT-11Supports occupation-level labor context for IT Security Operations Specialist.IT Security Operations Specialist BLS OEWS wage source2026-06-25T08:28:38+00:00
CIT-12Supports occupation-level labor context for IT Security Operations Specialist.IT Security Operations Specialist BLS Employment Projections source2026-06-25T08:27:06+00:00
CIT-13Supports occupation-level labor context for IT Security Operations Specialist.IT Security Operations Specialist O*NET source2026-07-14T04:32:12+00:00
CIT-14Public official credential page for CompTIA PenTest+.PenTest+ Certification V3 (New Version) | CompTIA2026-06-19T04:57:48+00:00
CIT-15Supports occupation-level labor context for Penetration Tester.Penetration Tester BLS OEWS wage source2026-06-25T08:28:38+00:00
CIT-16Supports occupation-level labor context for Penetration Tester.Penetration Tester BLS Employment Projections source2026-06-25T08:27:06+00:00
CIT-17Supports occupation-level labor context for Penetration Tester.Penetration Tester O*NET source2026-07-14T04:32:12+00:00
CIT-18The exam fee shown for CompTIA PenTest+, and the date beside it, were both read from this published price source on 2026-06-19.CompTIA PenTest+ exam fee - published price source, read 2026-06-192026-06-19

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