CEH vs OSCP
| CEH EC-Council | OSCP OffSec | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Offensive · Intermediate | Offensive · Intermediate |
| Price | $1,199 Exam voucher. Without official training you need 2 years of experience and an application fee. | $1,749 PEN-200 course with 90 days of lab access and one exam attempt. |
| Study hours | 80–150 h | 300–600 h |
| Real difficulty | ●●○○○ | ●●●●○ |
| Exam | Multiple choice Length: 4 h | Hands-on Length: 24 h |
| Validity | 3 years (credits + annual fee) | OSCP does not expire; OSCP+ lasts 3 years |
| Job ads in United States | – | – |
| Avg. salary | – | – |
| Index | – | – |
| Summary | Very common in job ads and with HR, but the main exam is multiple choice and the technical community rates it poorly. Expensive for what it proves. | The pentesting certification most requested in job ads. A 24-hour exam plus a report. Expensive, but it still opens more doors than any other hands-on cert. |
Highlighted: the best in that row.