Best Security+ practice tests in 2026 (an honest comparison)

The short version: Professor Messer is the best free foundation, Jason Dion's Udemy exams are the best-value paid practice set, and CrushCert adds adaptive practice plus hands-on labs at a low monthly price. Almost everyone who passes Security+ first-try uses more than one source.

We build Security+ prep ourselves, so weigh our own entry with appropriate salt — the rest of this is an honest rundown of what the security-cert community actually relies on, and who each option genuinely fits. Security+ (SY0-701) is a single exam of up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, scored 100–900 with a 750 pass mark, and it opens with performance-based questions (PBQs) — so how you practice matters as much as how many questions you grind. The exam voucher runs $404, which makes a failed first attempt an expensive way to discover your practice tests were too easy.

Quick comparison

1. Professor Messer

FREE START Professor Messer's free SY0-701 video series covers every exam objective and is the default starting point in the Security+ community. The videos are free; optional practice exams and course notes are paid add-ons. The teaching is clear, current, and maps directly to the official objectives.

Best for: learning the material from scratch on a budget. Trade-off: it's video-first — most people add a separate question bank for volume testing and PBQ-style practice.

2. Jason Dion (Dion Training)

BEST PAID PRACTICE Jason Dion's Udemy Security+ practice exams — multiple full-length tests, frequently on sale in the $13–20 range — are the paid set most candidates point to. The draw is the detailed explanations and PBQ-style items; PBQs are what trip up borderline candidates, and realistic PBQ reps are worth a lot.

Best for: realistic paid stress-testing before exam day. Trade-off: it's a static question set, not a course, and it isn't adaptive — you'll re-see questions you already know.

3. CrushCert

LABS + ADAPTIVE That's us. CrushCert pairs an adaptive Security+ bank of 340+ questions across all five SY0-701 domains (it tracks what you miss and serves more of it) with hands-on security labs — drag-and-drop exercises for matching attacks to mitigations, cryptography, and incident response — plus full timed mock exams and a readiness score, for $10–19/month. The lab format mirrors how PBQs actually test you.

Best for: people who want adaptive practice and PBQ-style hands-on reps in one place, and cert-stackers (the Associate plan also covers A+, Network+, CySA+, CCNA, and several AWS exams). Trade-off: we're newer, and a subscription fits ongoing study better than a one-time cram. Here's CrushCert's Security+ prep.

4. CompTIA CertMaster

CompTIA's own CertMaster Learn course plus the CertMaster Practice question tool. It's perfectly aligned to the objectives — CompTIA writes the exam — but it's by far the priciest route here, and the practice questions are widely considered easier than the real exam. Usually only worth it when an employer is paying.

5. ExamCompass & free question sites

ExamCompass and similar sites offer free Security+ questions that are fine for casual extra reps. Quality and explanations vary, and almost none offer PBQ-style practice — treat them as a supplement, never your readiness signal.

Our honest recommendation

Start with Professor Messer for the free foundation. Add an adaptive bank with PBQ-style labs (that's where CrushCert fits) to drill weak domains hands-on. Then stress-test with Jason Dion's exams under timed conditions until you're passing comfortably. Learn, practice hands-on, stress-test — at a $404 voucher price, the $30–40 of combined practice materials is cheap insurance.

Still planning your timeline? See how long to study for Security+, check whether Security+ is worth it, or if you're choosing your first cert, read Security+ vs Network+.

Frequently asked questions