How much does the Part 107 test cost?

The Part 107 test cost is 175 dollars per attempt, paid to PSI, the FAA's testing partner, when you schedule the exam. The FAA describes the knowledge testing fee as approximately 175 dollars and lets the live scheduling checkout control the exact figure, and the money goes to the testing vendor rather than to the government. Nearly everything around the exam is free: the study materials, the application through IACRA, the TSA vetting, and the certificate itself cost nothing, and the recurrent training that keeps the certificate usable is a free online course.

This article breaks down what the fee covers and the rules attached to it, the retake economics that make preparation the real cost lever, the full path from zero to certificate with every price tagged, and how organizations paying for testing at team scale keep the spending connected to the credentials it buys.

What the 175 dollars covers and the rules attached

The fee buys one seat at one session of the Unmanned Aircraft General exam, the initial knowledge test with the code UAG, delivered at an approved testing center. It covers the proctored session, scoring, and transmission of the result into the FAA's systems, where it attaches to your FAA Tracking Number. It does not include study materials or courses, and it is per attempt with no partial credit for near misses. Payment happens at scheduling, by card, through the testing portal.

Two administrative rules protect the fee. Cancellation and rescheduling windows apply, generally requiring notice a couple of days ahead of the appointment, and inside the window the fee is forfeit, so a calendar conflict discovered early is money saved. Identity requirements do the same work at the door: the name on the booking must match the government identification presented, and a mismatch can end the appointment with the fee spent. Both rules reward treating the booking like the small contract it is.

The retake rule makes preparation the real cost

A failing score, anything under 70 percent, costs the full fee again, and the regulations impose a waiting period of 14 calendar days before a retake. The direct math is plain: one failure doubles the testing cost to 350 dollars, and the two week delay often costs more than the fee for anyone with work waiting on the certificate. The pass mark is 42 of 60 scored questions, and the difference between a marginal candidate and a comfortable one is usually a few weekends of structured study.

The FAA prices the study side at zero. The testing supplement, the airman certification standards, and sample questions are all published free through the FAA's airman testing page, and free practice exams are widely available. Paid prep courses compete on efficiency rather than access, and their sales pitch writes itself against the retake fee: a course costing less than 175 dollars that converts a possible failure into a first attempt pass is cheaper than the second attempt it prevents. For self directed candidates, the honest signal is practice test performance, and scheduling before consistently clearing the pass mark is the most common way people pay twice.

The full path, priced end to end

The certificate journey has more steps than costs. Creating the IACRA account and receiving the FAA Tracking Number is free and comes first, because the FTN is required to schedule. Studying from the FAA's published materials is free. The exam is the 175 dollar step. After a pass, the application through IACRA is free, the TSA security vetting behind it is free, the temporary certificate arrives at no charge, and the permanent card follows in the mail without a fee. A realistic budget for a first time candidate is the exam fee plus whatever preparation they choose.

The recurring picture is where Part 107 differs from most credentials: keeping the certificate usable costs nothing. Recurrent training, required within every 24 calendar months, moved to a free online course, so the days of paying for a recurrent exam are over. The adjacent costs that do recur belong to the operation rather than the pilot, aircraft registration at five dollars per airframe every three years chief among them. Test cost, in other words, is a one time gate per pilot, unless failure or a lapsed training window forces a return trip.

The test fee is the smallest cost of certification

For a program building a roster, the 175 dollar fees are the visible line item and rarely the significant one. The real spending is time: study hours, the scheduling gap between hire and test date, the two week penalty box after any failure, and the coordination cost of knowing, at any moment, which crew members are certificated, which are booked to test, and which are stalled. A candidate who fails quietly and reschedules without telling anyone costs more in planning error than in fees.

That is why testing spend belongs in the same records as the credentials it produces. Each pilot's file should carry the test date, the result, the certificate that followed, and the recurrent training dates that keep it live, so the program can see cost against outcome and currency against roster. Organizations that buy testing in bulk through voucher programs get cleaner invoices, but the accounting that matters is operational: money went in, certificates came out, and the dates that keep those certificates usable are being watched.

Common mistakes in budgeting the Part 107 test

Scheduling before practice scores clear the bar. The pass mark is public and practice tests are free, so testing on hope is a 175 dollar coin flip. Book the exam after consistently scoring above 70 percent, not before.

Ignoring the cancellation window. Fees are forfeit inside the notice period, and calendar conflicts are cheaper discovered early. Treat the appointment like a small contract with a deadline attached.

Booking under a mismatched name. The identification presented must match the booking, and a mismatch can spend the fee without delivering a test. Register exactly as the government ID reads.

Paying for recurrent testing that no longer exists. Recency now comes from a free online course, so any budget line for recurrent exam fees is paying for the old system. The recurring cost of currency is time, not money.

Losing track of who tested. Fees without records buy receipts, not a roster. Log test dates, results, and the certificates that follow in each pilot's file so spending connects to capability.

FAQ

How much does the Part 107 test cost in total?

The exam fee is 175 dollars per attempt, paid to the testing vendor at scheduling. The surrounding steps, IACRA registration, TSA vetting, and certificate issuance, are free, so a prepared first time candidate pays the fee plus any study materials they choose.

Who receives the 175 dollar exam fee?

PSI, the FAA's contracted knowledge testing provider, which operates the approved testing centers. The FAA itself charges nothing for the test, and the agency describes the fee as approximately 175 dollars with the live checkout controlling the exact price.

What does failing the test cost me?

Another 175 dollars and at least 14 calendar days, since the rules impose that wait before a retake. One failure doubles the testing budget, which is why preparation until practice scores comfortably exceed 70 percent is the cheapest strategy available.

Does renewing Part 107 cost money every two years?

No. Currency comes from a free online recurrent training course required within every 24 calendar months, so keeping the certificate usable costs time rather than fees. The paid, in person recurrent exam belongs to the program's past.

Closing thought

The Part 107 test costs 175 dollars when everything goes right, 350 and two lost weeks when it does not, and the difference is almost entirely preparation. Around that single fee the FAA has made the path unusually cheap: free materials, free application, free vetting, free currency. Budget the fee, respect the retake math, and record what the spending produced, and certification becomes one of the smallest lines in a drone program's ledger.

If you are budgeting Part 107 certification for yourself or a team, FlybyOps was built for the operational record problem at the center of regulated drone work. A pilot registry holding test dates, certificates, and currency, a document vault for completion records, a project and job hierarchy that shows which credentials each job depends on, and an append-only audit log are all part of how the platform keeps the certificates that testing pays for current across a roster.