The AAIA exam cost is USD 459 if you hold ISACA membership and USD 599 if you do not, charged per attempt. That figure is correct, and it is roughly half of what certification takes out of your account.
The difference is a prerequisite. You cannot sit the AAIA without already holding a qualifying credential, so for anyone starting from nothing the real budget begins one certification earlier, and that credential keeps costing while you hold this one. Around that sit the ordinary lines: a one-time application processing fee after you pass, an annual maintenance fee, continuing education hours, study material, and for some candidates a second registration. The sections below take the bill apart, then turn to what 90 questions in 150 minutes asks of you. Fees move, so check the current figures on ISACA's own pages before you pay.
How much is the AAIA exam fee?
USD 459 as an ISACA member at the time you register, USD 599 as a nonmember, and one fee buys one attempt. The exam is identical either way: 90 multiple-choice questions inside a 150-minute clock, delivered through PSI at a test center or online with a remote proctor, in English, Simplified Chinese, or Spanish.
The gap between those two numbers is USD 140, and it is more useful than either total, because it turns the membership question into a sum. If you are still deciding whether this credential belongs on your list, read what the AAIA certification is before spending anything on it.
Does ISACA membership pay for itself?
Frequently, and you can settle it in your head.
Compare two first years. As a member you pay dues plus USD 459. As a nonmember, USD 599 and no dues. Dues below USD 140 make membership cheaper on the exam fee alone. Above USD 140, membership needs the rest of the ledger to win, and the annual maintenance fee carries most of that weight because it recurs.
We are not printing a dues figure to plug into that, because ISACA sets dues centrally, local chapters can add their own component, and our sources do not confirm a current total. Get the real one from ISACA's membership page with the chapter component included.
Sequencing matters: ISACA sets the exam fee by your membership status at the time you register, so join first and register second. Joining the day after you pay does not get you the difference back.
What does the AAIA exam cost, all in?
Here is the full set of lines and what each one buys.
| Cost component | What it covers | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Prerequisite credential | The qualifying certification you must already hold | Its own exam and maintenance costs |
| Exam fee, per attempt | One registration, PSI center or online proctored | USD 459 member, USD 599 nonmember |
| ISACA membership | Member exam pricing and member rates elsewhere | Check current dues on ISACA's membership page |
| Certification application | Processing your application after you pass | USD 50, one-time |
| Annual maintenance fee | Keeping the credential active, due 1 January | USD 20 member, USD 35 nonmember |
| CPE hours | 10 hours a year, 30 per three-year cycle | Varies with how you earn them |
| Eligibility extension | One extra six-month window | USD 75 |
| Rescore | A recheck of your result, available only if you did not pass | USD 75 |
| Study material | Books, question banks, courses | Varies widely |
| Retake | A second full registration | USD 459 or USD 599 again |
The top line is the one people leave off their own version of this table, and it is a whole certification.
Why does AAIA cost more than the exam fee suggests?
Because eligibility is gated. ISACA requires one active qualifying credential before you can sit the AAIA, and experience alone does not qualify however much of it you have. CISA holders qualify, as do CIA holders and a named list of accountancy designations, including Australian CPA and Australian FCPA, where the work is IT audit or IT advisory.
For most readers that is a sunk cost. For anyone else, the real AAIA budget starts one certification earlier, with that exam's fee, its study material, and its own annual maintenance running alongside the AAIA's afterward. The prerequisite must stay active for as long as you hold the AAIA, so it is a recurring line rather than a gate you pass once. AAIA requirements and eligibility has the full qualifying list.
Why is there a separate application fee?
A pass is a score, not a credential. ISACA charges a one-time USD 50 fee to process the application that turns one into the other, and it reviews that application against the eligibility rules rather than rubber-stamping it.
You have five years from passing to submit it. That is a generous window with a quiet trap in it, because the qualifying credential underneath you has to be active on the day you apply. Letting it lapse while you sit on a passing score is the cheapest way there is to waste USD 459.
What does it cost to keep the AAIA each year?
The fee is small: USD 20 for ISACA members and USD 35 for nonmembers, due by 1 January. Confirm it on ISACA's AAIA maintenance page and set a December reminder, because a lapse costs far more in administration than the fee that caused it.
The continuing education is the part worth planning, and not because of the volume. It is 10 CPE hours a year and 30 across each three-year reporting period, which is light. The catch is that they have to be earned in the AI specialty rather than in general audit topics, so your usual chapter session on audit methodology may not count. Line up AI-specific webinars, courses, and qualifying work, some of which costs nothing.
Does a second ISACA advanced certification double the fee?
No, and this is the most useful line on the page for anyone eyeing more than one AI credential. The annual maintenance fee is capped across all of your ISACA advanced certifications, so holding a second or a third does not multiply it.
That changes the calculus if ISACA's AI family interests you beyond audit. The marginal annual cost of another advanced credential becomes the exam fee, the application fee, and the CPE hours to keep it current, with no second maintenance fee behind them. Whether that is a bargain still depends on whether you would ever use the second one.
What does a failed AAIA attempt cost?
The full fee again. No partial credit and no carryover: a second sitting is USD 459 or USD 599, exactly like the first. Two attempts as a nonmember is USD 1,198 in exam fees for one credential.
The calendar cost is the one people miss. ISACA allows four attempts in a rolling twelve-month period, but not back to back: you wait 30 days after the first failure, then 90 after the second, then 90 after the third. A bad first sitting costs a month at minimum and a bad second one costs a quarter, which matters if the credential is attached to a role you already accepted.
Do not look for a pass rate to estimate that risk with. ISACA publishes none for the AAIA, and the figures that circulate were produced by people with no access to the data. The difficulty can be described honestly even if the odds cannot, and how hard the AAIA exam is does that.
Where does an AAIA budget go furthest?
Study material, easily. It is the one line you fully control and the one that decides whether the largest line gets paid twice. Another hundred dollars on material that actually teaches the AI content is cheap next to paying USD 459 or USD 599 again and waiting a month to do it.
It matters more here than on the older ISACA exams for a second reason. AAIA launched in 2025, so third-party question stock is thin, and much of what circulates was written from the same short public outline you can already read. Grinding volume does not work yet on this exam. Explained practice does. Our AAIA study guide is built that way: plain-English teaching across all three domains at their 33/46/21 weights, with two full-length practice exams where every option is explained, wrong ones included.
Whatever you settle on, own it early enough to work through twice. A guide bought two weeks out is a receipt.
What does the six-month eligibility window mean?
Paying starts a clock. Registration gives you six months to sit the exam, counted from registration rather than from the day you start studying, which is why so much of the window gets burned before anyone opens a book.
If it runs out, one six-month extension is available for USD 75. Cheap next to forfeiting a registration, and a purchase you should never need. Plan your study runway first, then register, then book. Our AAIA study plan sets out an eight-week schedule that fits inside the window with room to lose a week to work.
Where can you actually sit the AAIA?
Start with the constraint, because for some readers it removes the choice. Residents of India, Mainland China, and Hong Kong cannot take the AAIA online, since ISACA does not offer remote proctoring for this exam in those locations, so a PSI test center is the only route. That changes your logistics rather than your price, and it eats into the six-month window, because center availability and travel time now sit inside it. Book early.
Everywhere else you pick, and both routes cost the same for the same 90 questions. We would take the test center whenever one is within a sensible drive, on the grounds that it moves the room, the machine, and the connection onto somebody else's risk register. Online proctoring keeps all three on yours, along with a compatibility check beforehand and a check-in that has to satisfy the proctor: a 360 degree scan of the room, a scan of your desk, and a mirror check showing the screen, the keyboard, and all four edges of your monitor. Your work area has to be clear of papers, notes, and phones, and once the exam starts you cannot eat, drink, take notes, or step away. Run the technical check on the machine and connection you will actually use, and clear the room the day before rather than at check-in.
What happens on the day?
150 minutes for 90 questions is 100 seconds each. A definition item will not use half of that and a scenario with two defensible audit responses in it will use all of it, so the pacing job is to build a surplus in the first thirty items and spend it in the last thirty. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so an empty box is pure waste.
The official result is a scaled score from 200 to 800, with 450 to pass. If you do not pass, you can request a rescore for USD 75, submitted in writing within 30 days of your results being released, and PSI carries it out. Domain results come back with the score and are worth reading either way, because they show where the gap was. The three AAIA domains explained sets out where the questions sit.
None of which makes you certified. The application, a still-active qualifying credential, and the USD 50 fee are what stand between a passing score and the letters after your name.
FAQ
How much does the AAIA exam cost?
USD 459 for ISACA members and USD 599 for nonmembers, per attempt. That covers one registration, delivered through PSI at a test center or online with remote proctoring, and the exam is the same either way. ISACA sets and revises these fees, so confirm the current figure on ISACA's AAIA registration page before you pay.
Is ISACA membership worth joining just for the AAIA exam discount?
The saving on the exam alone is USD 140. If your total dues, including any local chapter component, come in below that, membership is cheaper before anything else is counted. Above it, the decision depends on the rest of the ledger, particularly the annual maintenance fee you pay every year after certifying. Look up current dues on ISACA's membership page and run the comparison yourself.
Do I pay the full fee again if I fail the AAIA?
Yes. A retake is a fresh registration at the same USD 459 or USD 599, with no credit for the failed attempt. ISACA permits four attempts in a rolling twelve-month period, with a 30-day wait after the first failure and 90 days after each of the next two. Check the current retake rules on ISACA's registration page before planning a second sitting.
What are the ongoing costs after I get certified?
An annual maintenance fee of USD 20 for members or USD 35 for nonmembers, due by 1 January, plus 10 CPE hours a year and 30 per three-year reporting period in the AI specialty. The fee is capped across all of your ISACA advanced certifications, so a second one does not double it. Your prerequisite credential also has to stay active, with its own maintenance alongside.
Can I sit the AAIA online from anywhere?
Almost anywhere. Residents of India, Mainland China, and Hong Kong must take the AAIA at a PSI test center, because remote proctoring is not offered for the exam in those locations. Everywhere else you choose between a test center and online proctoring at the same price. Confirm current delivery options for your country on ISACA's exam registration page.
Looking for a plain-English AAIA guide? ISACA AAIA: Simply Certified Study Guide covers all three domains at their 33/46/21 weights, with two full-length practice exams, every answer explained.
Simply Certified is an independent publisher. AAIA and ISACA are trademarks of ISACA. Our books are independent study material and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ISACA.