CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) Prep Products: Which One to Choose

CompTIA sells its Security+ preparation as a set of products, and each one does a specific job. Buying the right combination matters more than buying the most, or the most expensive. This guide walks through every product we stock for the current SY0-701 exam, what each is for, and how they fit together, so you can put together a study plan that matches how you actually work. Everything here is aligned to SY0-701. For the exam itself, see the full Security+ (SY0-701) guide.

Learn the material: CertMaster Study or CertMaster Learn

Your first choice is how you want to take in the knowledge. Two official products cover it, and you pick by learning style.

CertMaster Study is the official study guide. It is CompTIA's own content, written to cover every exam objective in a clear, readable format, with review questions after each lesson so you confirm what you have learned as you go. It works as the backbone of a study plan: cover the whole blueprint in order, mark what feels shaky, and turn those marks into your real study list. Choose this if you prefer to read and self-pace.

CertMaster Learn is the official self-paced course. It arranges instructional content, videos, quizzes, and performance-based questions around a proven learning progression, with simulation-based activities and readiness checks throughout, and a plan that tracks what you have covered. Choose this if you prefer a guided course to a book.

Whichever you pick, weight your time toward Security Operations and Threats, which together make up half the exam.

Build the hands-on skills: CertMaster Labs

CertMaster Labs is the hands-on half of preparation. It gives you guided and applied lab activities on live virtual machines, in the browser, aligned to the SY0-701 objectives. This is what prepares you for the performance-based questions, which appear near the start of the exam and reward doing over recalling. Concentrate your lab time on the Security Operations domain, where most of the PBQ content lives. Pair it with your knowledge product above.

Everything in one course: CertMaster Perform

If you would rather not assemble Learn and Labs separately, CertMaster Perform is CompTIA's all-in-one product. It brings instructional content, videos, assessments, and lab activities, in both simulated and live virtual-machine environments, into a single course under one access key. It replaces the older Integrated Learn and Labs bundle and usually opens with a diagnostic that points you at your gaps, so your study time goes where it is needed. Choose this if you want one product that takes you from first lesson to exam-ready.

Confirm you are ready: CertMaster Practice

CertMaster Practice is the tool for the final stretch. It is an adaptive knowledge assessment that confirms what you know, identifies what you do not, and focuses you on closing those gaps before you sit the exam. Use it alongside your main study product, not instead of it. The passing score is 750 on a 100 to 900 scale, but aim well above the minimum: if you are consistently strong across every domain on realistic practice, you are ready.

Sit the exam: the vouchers

When your practice scores hold steady, you book the exam with an official voucher, redeemed through Pearson VUE for online proctoring or a test center.

The standard Exam Voucher covers one attempt. You receive the code by email, redeem it through Pearson VUE, and schedule your SY0-701 exam. Vouchers are valid for a set period and cannot be extended, so book with time to spare and on the version you studied.

The Exam Voucher with Retake is the same voucher plus a second attempt: if you do not pass the first time, you can sit the exam once more on the same voucher before it expires. It is a sensible safety net on a first CompTIA exam. The bundle includes one retake; a further attempt would need a new voucher.

The simplest complete option: Complete Prep Bundle

The Complete Prep Bundle puts the whole path in one purchase: CertMaster Study for the knowledge, CertMaster Labs for the hands-on skills, CertMaster Practice to confirm readiness, and the Exam Voucher with Retake for the exam itself. The four map directly onto how people actually pass: learn the material, prove the skills by hand, confirm readiness, then sit the exam with a safety net. It is the simplest way to cover everything without deciding piece by piece.

Which should you buy?

• Prefer to read and self-pace: CertMaster Study, plus Labs and Practice.
• Prefer a guided course: CertMaster Learn, plus Labs and Practice, or CertMaster Perform to get the course and labs in one.
• Want everything in one decision: the Complete Prep Bundle.
• Just need the exam: the Exam Voucher, and the Retake version if you want a safety net.

A dependable path for most people is a knowledge product, hands-on labs, a readiness check, and a voucher with a retake. If you would rather not choose, the Complete Prep Bundle covers exactly that. To turn this into a week-by-week schedule, see how to study for Security+.