A ranked guide to the strongest first IT certifications in 2026 — CompTIA A+, Security+, AZ-900, AWS Cloud Practitioner and more — plus a sensible order to take them.
Here is a fact that surprises most newcomers: almost none of the certifications worth taking first have any entry requirements at all. CompTIA A+, Microsoft's AZ-900, AWS Cloud Practitioner, ISC2's Certified in Cybersecurity — every one of them can be booked today by someone who has never held an IT job. The hard part is not qualifying to sit an exam. The hard part is choosing well from a menu of dozens, in a year when several familiar exam codes have quietly changed.
So which should come first? For most people in 2026 the strongest openers are CompTIA A+ (the broad IT support standard, now on its 220-1201/220-1202 version), Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) or AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) if cloud appeals, ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) for security-minded starters, and CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) as the first credential that hiring managers treat as a serious security qualification. This guide ranks each, explains what it genuinely costs and covers, and — just as importantly — lays out a sensible order to take them, because sequence matters more than most rankings admit.
Two scope notes before the list. This article ranks first certifications for complete newcomers; if your priority is specifically which credentials appear most often in junior job postings, that analysis lives in our guide to the best entry-level IT certifications, and if you want the lowest-effort options ranked purely by accessibility, see the easiest IT certifications for beginners.
Three criteria, weighted in this order:
Cost matters too, but less than beginners assume: the difference between a $100 and a $400 exam is trivial next to the difference between three weeks and three months of study.
CompTIA A+ remains the broadest, safest opening move for anyone who wants general IT work — helpdesk, desktop support, field service — rather than a specific cloud or security lane. It is vendor-neutral, employers recognise it worldwide, and it covers the widest base: hardware, operating systems, software troubleshooting, networking basics and security fundamentals.
Know the 2026 details, because they changed recently. The current version, launched 25 March 2025, consists of two exams: Core 1 (220-1201) and Core 2 (220-1202). Each allows up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, mixing multiple-choice, drag-and-drop and performance-based items. Passing scores are 675 out of 900 for Core 1 and 700 out of 900 for Core 2 — scaled scores, not percentages. There are no prerequisites; CompTIA recommends (but does not require) about twelve months of hands-on support experience. If any study material you find references exams 220-1101/220-1102, put it down — that series was superseded in 2025.
The honest downsides: it is two exams, not one, which doubles both fees and study time (check current per-exam pricing on CompTIA's store, as it varies by region), and it renews through CompTIA's Continuing Education programme rather than lasting forever. It is also overkill if you already know you want cloud or security specifically — in which case start further down this list.
AZ-900 is the gentlest serious certification in this list: a 45-minute proctored exam covering cloud concepts, Azure architecture and services, and Azure management and governance, with no prerequisites and a passing score of 700 on Microsoft's 1,000-point scale. Two features make it especially beginner-friendly. Microsoft publishes a free official Practice Assessment plus an exam sandbox on the certification page, so you can rehearse both content and interface at zero cost. And Microsoft's fundamentals certifications never expire — pass once, hold it forever.
Pricing is set per country ("price based on the country or region in which the exam is proctored" is Microsoft's own wording), so check the exam page rather than trusting the US$99 figure commonly repeated online. Fail and you can retake after 24 hours, with longer waits on later attempts.
Where it leads: straight up the Azure ladder, with Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) as the standard next step. Microsoft is retiring a dozen role-based certifications through 2026, but AZ-900 and the fundamentals tier sit safely outside that cull. When you feel ready, timed AZ-900 practice questions will tell you whether the free official assessment flattered you.
AWS's foundational certification is AZ-900's mirror image for the AWS ecosystem, and choosing between them is really choosing which cloud you want to learn first. CLF-C02 runs 65 questions in 90 minutes and costs US$100 (local taxes and currency vary). The exam guide is unusually transparent about mechanics, which makes this a great first experience of how professional exams actually work: only 50 of the 65 questions are scored (15 are unscored pilot items), unanswered questions count as wrong, there is no penalty for guessing, and the passing mark of 700 on a 100–1,000 scale is compensatory — you pass overall, not per domain. AWS pitches it at candidates with up to about six months of AWS exposure, explicitly including non-IT backgrounds.
Differences from AZ-900 worth weighing: the AWS credential is valid for three years rather than forever, though renewal routes are generous (retake it, pass any higher AWS exam, or use the free Cloud Quest recertification path listed on AWS's recertification page). Passing also earns a 50% discount voucher for your next AWS exam — a deliberate nudge up the ladder towards Solutions Architect – Associate. Explore the Amazon exam hub to see what that ladder looks like in question form.
Should a technical beginner skip straight to Solutions Architect – Associate? AWS enforces no prerequisites, so you legally can — but SAA-C03 assumes a year of hands-on design experience and runs 130 minutes. As a genuine first certification, the Practitioner is the better-calibrated test of where you stand.
ISC2 — the body behind the famously experience-gated CISSP — built the CC for the opposite audience: people with no experience at all. No work history, no endorsement, no prerequisites. The exam covers security principles, incident response concepts, access controls, network security and security operations, delivered since October 2025 as an adaptive test of 100–125 items in up to two hours, with the usual ISC2 passing standard of 700/1,000.
One important 2026 correction to older advice you will find online: the CC is no longer free. ISC2's "One Million Certified in Cybersecurity" giveaway closed to new participants on 20 May 2026 after passing a million enrolments; the standard exam price is now US$199. Maintenance is the lightest in the ISC2 stable — 45 continuing-education credits over three years and a US$50 annual fee.
The CC's value is directional: it proves commitment to security specifically and starts a relationship with ISC2 that matures later into SSCP (one year of experience required) and eventually CISSP. What it is not is a substitute for Security+ in job listings — which brings us to the next entry.
Security+ is the bridge between "beginner certification" and "hiring requirement": vendor-neutral, DoD-recognised in US government circles, and the qualification most often named in junior security job adverts. The current version is SY0-701 (launched November 2023): up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, including performance-based items, with a passing score of 750 on a 100–900 scale. No prerequisites are enforced, but CompTIA's own recommendation — Network+ plus two years in a systems or security role — is an honest signal that this is a step up from everything above it in this list.
That is why it sits fifth in a beginner ranking despite arguably being the most valuable single credential here: for a complete newcomer it works far better as a second certification than a first. CompTIA notes exams typically retire about three years after launch, and no successor code had been announced on its Security+ page as of August 2026 — ignore any source claiming to know the next version's number, and check CompTIA's site before you book. Pricing varies by region; take it from CompTIA's store, not third-party blogs.
The Cisco Certified Network Associate is the single-exam (code 200-301), associate-level standard for networking roles, and for anyone targeting network technician or network administrator work it remains the credential that matters. It earns its place in a beginner list because it has no formal prerequisites — but it is substantially deeper than anything above it, covering routing, switching, IP services and network security at a level that assumes real lab practice. Most newcomers do better treating CCNA as a first-year goal rather than a first exam, often with A+ (or at least its networking chapters) underneath. For current pricing, duration and format, go directly to Cisco's CCNA page — Cisco's official details are the only ones worth trusting here.
You will see the Google IT Support Professional Certificate recommended alongside the exams above, and as structured, beginner-friendly training it has real merit. Just understand the category difference: it is a course completion certificate, not a proctored professional certification, and employers weigh those differently — a distinction unpacked in our guide to whether online certifications are worth it.
| Certification | Exam(s) | Length | Cost (list) | Prerequisites | Expires? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CompTIA A+ | 220-1201 + 220-1202 | 90 min each, ≤90 Qs each | Per-exam fee on CompTIA's store; varies by region | None | Renewable via CE programme |
| Azure Fundamentals | AZ-900 | 45 min | Country-based pricing | None | Never |
| AWS Cloud Practitioner | CLF-C02 | 90 min, 65 Qs | US$100 | None | 3 years |
| ISC2 CC | Adaptive CC exam | ≤2 h, 100–125 items | US$199 | None | 3-year cycle (45 CPEs) |
| CompTIA Security+ | SY0-701 | 90 min, ≤90 Qs | On CompTIA's store; varies by region | None enforced | Renewable via CE programme |
Rankings answer "which is best?"; beginners more often need "what order?". Here is the sequence we would give three common profiles.
The generalist (undecided on specialism):
The cloud-committed starter:
The security-committed starter:
Whatever the order, take one exam at a time. Booking two overlapping study projects is the most reliable way to fail both.
The evidence on study technique is unusually clear. Research on the "testing effect" (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006) found that practising retrieval — answering questions — beats re-reading for long-term retention, and the major technique review by Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) rated practice testing and spaced study as the highest-utility methods while rating re-reading and highlighting low. Applied to a first certification:
AZ-900 and CLF-C02 demand the least prior knowledge and the shortest study runway for most people, though "easy" tracks your background — a helpdesk hobbyist may find A+ Core 1 natural and cloud abstractions alien. A fuller accessibility-first ranking lives in our easiest IT certifications guide.
A first certification gets interviews, not offers, and works best combined with demonstrable practice — a home lab, free-tier cloud projects, documented troubleshooting. None of these credentials requires experience to sit, but the job market still rewards evidence you have done the thing, not just studied it.
No certification on this page requires one. Whether certifications can substitute for a degree in hiring is a separate question with a nuanced answer — see best IT certifications without a degree.
Real exams use scaled scoring (700/1,000 on AWS and Microsoft exams is not 70%) and often include unscored pilot questions — AWS confirms 15 of its 65 items are unscored. Expect your felt performance and reported score to diverge a little; that is the system working as designed.
No provider on this list publishes an official study-hours figure, and anyone quoting one as a guarantee is guessing. Preparation time depends on your starting point — our certification timelines guide covers realistic ranges by credential type.
If you remember one thing from this guide, make it this: in 2026 the barrier to a first IT certification is not eligibility, money or even difficulty — it is decision paralysis. The A+ suits generalists, AZ-900 and Cloud Practitioner suit cloud-curious starters, the CC suits committed security aspirants, and Security+ rewards anyone patient enough to take it second rather than first. Pick the one that matches the work you actually want to do, verify the current exam code on the provider's site, put a booking date in your calendar, and let the deadline do what browsing ranking articles never will.
Exam facts in this guide were checked against official certification-provider pages on . Fees, exam codes and policies change — confirm on the provider’s own site before you book.
Put it into practice
Reading about an exam only takes you so far. Work through practice questions for your certification and find the gaps before exam day does.
·10 min read
A five-step decision process for choosing a professional certification: goals, market demand, true cost, prerequisites and renewal — with a comparison worksheet.
Continue reading·12 min read
The strongest professional certifications for 2026, ranked on demand, recognition and cost of ownership — with the year's retirements and AI-driven changes factored in.
Continue reading·8 min read
How certifications actually influence recruiters when you change employers, which types move offers upward, and how to time one around a job search.
Continue reading
