CISA Exam Cost: What Getting Certified Really Costs

The CISA exam fee is USD 575 for ISACA members and USD 760 for nonmembers, per attempt. That is the number most people mean when they ask about CISA exam cost, and it is the easiest one to find. It is also the least useful one, because it is a single line on a longer bill.

The full cost of getting certified also includes ISACA membership, which is optional but often cheaper than skipping it. Then a certification application fee once you pass, an annual maintenance fee for every year you hold the credential, study material, and, for a meaningful share of candidates, a second exam registration. Below is each component, with the figures we can confirm and pointers to ISACA's own pages for the ones that move. Treat this as the shape of the budget, not a live price list. Check the current numbers before you pay anything.

How much is the CISA exam fee?

USD 575 if you are an ISACA member at the time you register, USD 760 if you are not. The fee covers one attempt. Delivery is through PSI, either at a test center or online with remote proctoring, and what you get for the money is the same 150 multiple-choice questions in a 4-hour window either way.

Note the shape of that pricing: the member and nonmember rates differ by USD 185 for a single sitting. That gap is the hinge for the whole budget, because it is what makes the membership question an arithmetic problem rather than a loyalty question. If you have not decided what the CISA actually is or whether you want it, start with what the CISA exam is before you spend anything.

Does ISACA membership pay for itself?

Usually, and the calculation is simple enough to do on the back of an envelope.

Membership costs money. ISACA sets dues centrally and local chapters may add their own component, so the total depends on where you are. We are not going to quote a dues figure here, because it is not confirmed in our source material and a stale number would be worse than no number. Look up the current total on ISACA's membership page, including any chapter dues that apply to you.

Then run the comparison. Your first year as a member costs dues plus USD 575 for the exam. Your first year as a nonmember costs USD 760 for the exam and nothing else. If your total dues come in under USD 185, joining is cheaper on the exam fee alone, before you count anything else. If dues come in above USD 185, membership only wins once you add the other things ISACA prices differently for members.

Those other things are worth adding, because most candidates buy at least one of them. ISACA lists member and nonmember pricing across its fee pages: the annual maintenance fee you will pay every year after certification, official review material and question banks, training, and conference registration. If you expect to hold the CISA for years, the maintenance fee difference alone compounds in a way a one-time exam saving does not.

One practical point: join before you register for the exam, not after. The rate applies to the registration you make, and there is no retroactive refund of the difference. Confirm the sequencing on ISACA's registration page before you click anything.

What does the CISA exam cost once you add everything up?

Here is the full set of components, with what each one covers and what we can and cannot confirm.

Six of those seven lines are recurring or repeatable. Only the exam fee feels like a one-time purchase, and even that one repeats if the first sitting does not go your way.

Why is there a separate application fee?

Because passing the exam and holding the certification are two different events. Passing gets you a score. Certification comes after ISACA reviews an application in which you evidence the experience requirement: five years of professional experience in IS/IT audit, control, assurance, or security, with waivers and substitutions available up to a maximum of three years.

That application carries its own fee: a one-time USD 50 application processing fee, paid once your official score is released and before you submit the application. The larger cost of the application is not the fee anyway. It is the work of documenting the experience and getting it verified, and the delay if you discover halfway through that your five years do not stack up the way you assumed. The CISA experience requirement is worth reading before you register for the exam, not after.

What does it cost to keep the CISA every year?

Two things, one financial and one in hours.

The financial one is the annual maintenance fee, charged for each year you hold the credential: USD 45 for ISACA members and USD 85 for non-members, due by 1 January. If you already hold more than two ISACA certifications, the third and each one after it renews at USD 25 for members and USD 50 for non-members. ISACA revises these periodically, so confirm them on the Maintain CISA page rather than trusting a number from a forum post. Miss the payment and the credential lapses, which turns a small annual cost into a much larger reinstatement problem.

The one in hours is continuing professional education: 20 CPE hours every year, and 120 hours across each three-year reporting cycle. The dollar cost of CPE varies enormously depending on how you earn it. Vendor webinars, chapter meetings, and on-the-job qualifying activities can cost little; a conference or a formal training course can cost more than the exam itself. The time cost is fixed regardless: 20 hours a year is roughly half a working week, every year, for as long as you hold the credential. We cover the reporting mechanics in the CISA CPE requirements post.

If you are certifying because a job requires it, this is the part of the bill worth checking with your employer. Many organizations that pay the exam fee will also cover maintenance and training, but only if you ask before you pay it yourself.

What does a failed attempt actually cost?

This is the expensive part, and it is the reason the sticker price is misleading.

A failed sitting means paying the full fee again. There is no partial credit and no discounted retake: a second attempt is USD 575 as a member or USD 760 as a nonmember, the same as the first. Two attempts as a nonmember is USD 1,520 in exam fees for one credential. Two attempts as a member is USD 1,150. ISACA's retake policy allows four attempts in a rolling twelve-month period, and the waiting periods are the part that hurts a schedule: 30 days after the first attempt, then 90 days before each of the next two. So a failed sitting is not something you rebook next month twice over. Budget the calendar as carefully as the money, and confirm the current policy in ISACA's Exam Candidate Guide before you plan around it.

Then add the costs that never appear on an invoice. Six to twelve more weeks of study, which is time you are not spending on anything else. A delayed certification application, which pushes back whatever the credential was supposed to do for your role or your pay. A delayed start on the CPE cycle. If the CISA is tied to a promotion or a client requirement, the schedule slip can dwarf the USD 575.

You will not find a pass rate on this page. ISACA does not publish one for the CISA, so nobody can honestly tell you the odds of a second bill. What is knowable is why people pay it: a question style built on MOST, BEST, and FIRST qualifiers, where several options look defensible and experienced practitioners talk themselves into the wrong one. That is the risk your budget is really managing, and we take it apart in how hard the CISA exam is.

How much should you budget for study material?

Less than you might think, and this is where the arithmetic gets interesting.

Study material is the smallest controllable line on the bill and the one with the most leverage over the largest line. Spending an extra hundred dollars on material that actually prepares you is cheap insurance against a USD 575 or USD 760 second attempt. Spending nothing and sitting cold is the most expensive choice on this page, dressed up as the cheapest.

The trap on the other side is buying everything. Candidates who own the official review manual, a third-party guide, two question banks, and a video course tend to finish none of them. One clear book that teaches the auditor's decision lens, plus enough explained practice questions to retrain your instincts, is a better spend than four overlapping resources. Our CISA study guide covers all five domains in plain English and includes four full-length practice exams with every answer explained, including why the wrong options lose, which is the part that matters on qualifier questions.

Whatever you buy, buy it early. Material purchased three weeks before the exam is an expense; material purchased three months before is preparation.

So what does the CISA really cost?

Add it up for a first-time candidate who joins ISACA, passes on the first attempt, and buys sensibly: membership dues, USD 575 for the exam, the certification application fee, the first year of maintenance, and a modest study budget. Only one of those five numbers is fixed and public, which is why this page will not hand you a grand total. Pull the current dues, application, and maintenance figures from ISACA's own pages, add your study budget, and you will have a real number rather than a guess. What you can rely on is the shape of it: the exam fee is the largest single line, and maintenance and CPE continue for as long as you hold the credential.

Now add one failed attempt. The bill moves by hundreds of dollars and the calendar moves by a quarter. So here is the opinion this page exists to deliver: the registration fee is the small number, the retake is the big one, and preparation is the only line item that reliably lowers your total. Trimming a hundred dollars off your study budget to risk paying USD 575 twice is a bad trade.

Still working out whether the whole bill is worth paying? The return side is a different question, and we take it on in is the CISA worth it.

FAQ

How much does the CISA exam cost in 2026?

The exam fee is USD 575 for ISACA members and USD 760 for nonmembers, per attempt. That covers one registration, delivered through PSI at a test center or online with remote proctoring. Fees are set by ISACA and can change, so confirm the current amount on ISACA's exam registration page before you pay.

Is ISACA membership worth it just for the exam discount?

The exam saving alone is USD 185. If your total dues, including any local chapter component, come to less than that, membership is cheaper before you count anything else. Above that, it depends on what else you buy at member pricing, particularly the annual maintenance fee you will pay every year afterward. Check current dues on ISACA's membership page and run the comparison for your own situation.

Do I have to pay the full fee again if I fail?

Yes. A retake is a fresh registration at the same USD 575 member or USD 760 nonmember price, with no partial credit for the failed attempt. Retake waiting periods and annual attempt limits are set by ISACA policy, so check the current 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 45 for ISACA members or USD 85 for non-members, due by 1 January, plus continuing professional education of 20 hours per year and 120 hours per three-year cycle. CPE can be earned cheaply through qualifying work activities and chapter events, or expensively through conferences and formal training, but the 20 hours a year is fixed either way.

Does the exam fee include the certification application?

No. Passing the exam and being certified are separate steps, and the application to certify carries a one-time USD 50 application processing fee on top of the exam registration. Make sure your five years of qualifying experience, less any waivers up to the three-year maximum, are documented before you apply.

Looking for a plain-English CISA guide? ISACA CISA: Certified Information Systems Auditor Study Guide covers all five domains with four full-length practice exams, every answer explained.

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