If you want a career in ethical hacking or penetration testing, three certifications come up again and again: EC-Council CEH, OffSec OSCP and CompTIA PenTest+. They are not interchangeable – each proves something different to employers. This guide compares them honestly and suggests an order that makes sense for most learners in India.
Quick Comparison
| CEH v13 | OSCP+ | PenTest+ (PT0-003) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Issued by | EC-Council | OffSec | CompTIA |
| Exam style | 125 MCQs (plus optional 6-hour Practical) | 24-hour hands-on hacking exam + written report | Up to 85 questions, multiple-choice and performance-based |
| Duration | 4 hours | About 24 hours, then 24 hours for the report | 165 minutes |
| Level | Beginner to intermediate | Intermediate to advanced | Intermediate |
| Proves | Broad knowledge of attack techniques and tools | You can actually break into machines under pressure | Planning, testing and reporting a pentest |
| Validity | 3 years (renew with credits) | OSCP+ 3 years; the OSCP title itself does not expire | 3 years (renew with credits) |
| Best known in | Indian job listings, HR filters, government & consulting | Pentesting and red team roles worldwide | US and DoD-aligned roles; growing elsewhere |
CEH: The Most Recognised Name in India
CEH covers the widest range of topics – from reconnaissance and malware to cloud, IoT and, in v13, AI. Its biggest advantage is recognition: many Indian employers, recruiters and government tenders list CEH by name, so it helps your resume clear automated filters. Its weakness is that the main exam is multiple-choice, so on its own it says less about hands-on skill. The optional CEH Practical fixes that. See our CEH v13 exam guide for full exam details.
- Good for: freshers, career switchers, SOC and security analyst roles, VAPT roles at consulting firms.
- Watch out: pair it with real lab practice and CTFs so you can prove skills in interviews.
OSCP: The Hands-On Benchmark
OSCP is famous for its exam: roughly 24 hours to compromise a set of machines, including an Active Directory environment, followed by a professional report. There are no multiple-choice questions – you either get in or you don't. Since late 2024, passing gives you the OSCP+ credential (valid for three years) along with the lifetime OSCP title.
- Good for: people targeting penetration tester or red team roles who already know networking, Linux and basic exploitation.
- Watch out: it is hard for complete beginners and costs more. Build fundamentals first.
CompTIA PenTest+: The Structured Middle Ground
PenTest+ (current version PT0-003) mixes multiple-choice questions with performance-based tasks and puts more weight on the full engagement: scoping, rules of engagement, testing and reporting. It is well regarded, especially by US and defence-sector employers, but appears less often by name in Indian job listings than CEH.
- Good for: people who want a vendor-neutral, process-focused pentest certification.
- Watch out: check whether employers you are targeting actually ask for it.
Which Should You Get First?
| Your situation | Suggested path |
|---|---|
| Fresher or switching from IT support / development | CEH v13 → hands-on labs and CTFs → OSCP later |
| Want a SOC or security analyst job | CEH v13 → SOC/blue-team training |
| Already comfortable with Linux, networking and basic exploits | Go for OSCP directly |
| Targeting US-based or defence-sector employers | PenTest+ → OSCP |
| Want a cheap, practical first step | An entry-level practical cert such as eJPT, then CEH or OSCP |
Our Recommendation
For most learners in India, the practical order is CEH first, then OSCP. CEH gets you through HR filters and into your first role; OSCP proves advanced hands-on skill once you have the basics. Our Ethical Hacker AI (CEH v13) course builds the foundation, and our Penetration Testing Professional & AI course covers the Active Directory and red-team skills that OSCP-style exams demand. New to all of this? Start with our 6-month ethical hacking roadmap.