AAISM Exam Cost: ISACA’s AI Security Certification Fees, Prep Prices and Retakes

The AAISM exam costs $599 for non-members and $459 for ISACA members, and after you pass you pay a one-time $50 application fee, so the minimum is $649 or $509. Every retake costs the full exam fee again, and ISACA’s official prep runs from an $89 review manual to a $2,250 virtual workshop that includes the exam.

You also need an active CISM or CISSP to sit the exam, so this page assumes you already hold one. Below: every fee ISACA publishes for AAISM, when membership pays off, what retakes, extensions and rescores cost, and what you’ll pay each year to keep it. For the domains and a study plan, see our AAISM study guide. No CISM or CISSP yet? Our AI security certifications guide covers options without a prerequisite.

AAISM costs at a glance

Checked against ISACA’s AAISM certification page, AAISM exam candidate guide, AAISM maintenance page, ISACA store product pages, the AAISM virtual workshop page and ISACA’s membership page on October 8, 2026.

Every AAISM exam fee in one table

ISACA charges the member or non-member exam price based on your status on the day you register, so if you plan to join, join first.

Official AAISM prep: what each option costs

The next 2-day virtual workshops listed by ISACA run November 4–5, 2026 (register by October 29) and December 7–8, 2026 (register by December 1). CPE for the workshop only counts if you attend live.

Is the workshop good value? Bought separately, the exam, the eBook and the question database come to $1,053 for a non-member, so the live instruction costs roughly $1,200 on top. That’s worth it if your employer pays or you learn best with an instructor; otherwise, we’d start with the manual and the question database.

Member or non-member: the math

ISACA’s Professional membership is $145 a year plus local chapter dues, which vary by chapter and are shown at checkout (ISACA requires you to join your local chapter if one exists in your area). Membership saves $140 on the exam, $100 on the question database, $100 on the online course, $16 on the manual and $15 a year on maintenance. Here’s the first-year math, assuming you pass on the first try (our calculation from ISACA’s prices; add your chapter dues to the member column):

• Exam only: membership costs $5 more before chapter dues, so don’t join just for the exam discount.
• Exam plus the question database: membership wins as long as your chapter dues are under about $111.
• Already an ISACA member? Then you simply pay member prices. If you qualify through CISSP, an ISC2 credential, you may not be a member yet, and this is the math to run.

What a retake or a missed appointment costs

ISACA’s candidate guide is strict about money once you’ve paid:

• Retakes cost the full fee. You get four attempts in a rolling 12 months. After a fail, wait 30 days for the second attempt, then 90 days before the third and 90 days before the fourth.
• Missed or late means forfeited. If you miss your appointment or arrive more than 15 minutes late, you lose the registration fee, and the same happens if your 6-month eligibility period runs out.
• Changes need 48 hours. Reschedule at least 48 hours before your appointment; inside 48 hours you must sit the exam or forfeit the fee.
• The $75 extension. It appears on your dashboard from 30 days before to 30 days after your eligibility expires, adds 6 months, and can be bought once. If you already have an appointment, cancel it at least 48 hours ahead to extend.
• Rescores cost $75. Request one in writing within 30 days of your results. ISACA doesn’t give question-level results.
• No do-overs after a pass. Once you pass, you can’t retake the exam during the five-year window you have to apply for certification.

Is AAISM worth the money?

For a CISM or CISSP holder whose role now includes AI, AAISM is a focused credential at a price below IAPP’s $799 AIGP. If you don’t hold either prerequisite, CompTIA’s SecAI+ ($298, no prerequisite) is the realistic alternative, and our AI security certifications guide compares the rest. The AI governance certifications guide covers the policy side, and there are study guides for SecAI+ and the AIGP. To total exams, prep and renewals across several credentials, use the AI certification cost calculator or our guide to what AI certifications cost.

What it costs to keep AAISM

• Annual maintenance fee: $20 for members or $35 for non-members, due January 1. ISACA says one fee covers all of your ISACA Advanced certifications, however many you hold.
• CPE: at least 10 hours a year and 30 over each three-year period, in activities relevant to AAISM. The online review course earns 11 CPE and the virtual workshop up to 16.
• Your CISM or CISSP: you must keep it active and submit proof, and it has its own maintenance fees and CPE on top of AAISM’s.
• Audits: if you’re selected, you’ll need documentation for a year of reported CPE, so keep certificates as you go.

Our guide to AI certification renewal rules compares AAISM’s upkeep with other AI credentials, and the renewal tracker keeps your dates in one place.

4 ways to spend less on AAISM

1. Register when you’re ready, not before. The 6-month clock starts at registration, and missing it costs either a $75 extension or the whole fee.
2. Start free. Read the exam content outline and take the 12-question quiz cold. Then buy the one product that fills your gap; for many people that’s the question database.
3. Do the membership math. Join before you register if you’re buying the database or more.
4. Ask your employer. If AI security is part of your job, this is a training expense, and the virtual workshop bundles the exam into one invoice. Our guide to building an AI training budget helps you make the case.

Practice questions for AAISM

HOW TO // AI doesn’t have an AAISM practice bank yet. ISACA’s free 12-question quiz is the only free official practice, and the Questions, Answers and Explanations database is the paid official option. Skip anyone selling leaked AAISM questions: ISACA prohibits sharing exam content, and dumps put your certification at risk.

For the AI exams we do cover, our free practice exams are on AI Exam Prep, and the AI certification index lists every credential we track →

HOW TO // AI is not affiliated with or endorsed by ISACA. AAISM, Advanced in AI Security Management and CISM are marks of ISACA, and CISSP is a mark of ISC2; we reference them descriptively. Prices change, so check the official AAISM page before you register.

Related guides

• AAISM Study Guide: ISACA’s AI Security Management Exam, Domain by Domain
• AI Security Certifications in 2026: SecAI+, AAISM, GIAC and More
• AI Governance Certifications in 2026: Every Real Option Compared
• CompTIA SecAI+ Study Guide (CY0-001): All 4 Domains, Weights and a 4-Week Plan
• AIGP Study Guide: The IAPP AI Governance Exam, Domain by Domain