Linux+ Requirements 2026: Who Can Sit the Exam and What It Costs

What the Linux+ credential is

CompTIA Linux+ (XK0-005) is awarded by CompTIA. It is not a course certificate you can buy your way into — CompTIA decides whether you are allowed to sit the exam at all, and that decision is made before you ever see a question. Candidates who treat the application as a formality are the ones who lose a testing window to a paperwork problem.

The eligibility gates, in order

CompTIA checks these in sequence, and failing any one of them stops the application. Work through them top to bottom before you pay a fee.

What it costs

CompTIA sets fees per application cycle and changes them often enough that a figure quoted here would age badly. Check the official page linked in the sidebar before you budget — and budget for a retake as well, which is charged separately.

What the exam itself looks like

How long the process takes

Three clocks run at once and candidates usually notice only two. The first is the experience clock: the hours or years in the gates above have to be accrued, and in most programmes accrued recently, so time spent in the wrong role does not count no matter how long you spent there. The second is the approval clock: transcripts, licence verification and reference checks are done by people rather than scripts, and they run in weeks rather than days. The third is the eligibility window: once approved you have a fixed period to sit the exam, and letting it lapse means reapplying and paying again.

Plan backwards from the date you want the credential in hand, not forwards from the day you decide to start. The paperwork is the part that is outside your control, so it should go first.

Why applications get sent back

The failure modes are boring and they repeat. Hours logged in a role that does not match the definition in the handbook. A transcript sent by the candidate instead of by the school. A licence that is current but carries a restriction. Experience that is genuine but falls outside the lookback window. None of these are judgement calls you can argue your way past — they are checkboxes. Read the eligibility page as though it were a contract, because for the purposes of your application it is one.

FAQ

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from the certifying body, not from a third-party summary:

• https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/linux/
• https://www.comptia.org/en-au/blog/the-new-comptia-linux-your-questions-answered/

Checked September 2, 2026. Fees and eligibility rules change; confirm against CompTIA before you pay anything.