If you are searching for CompTIA Data+ study material in 2026 and landing on pages that mention DA0-001, close them. That exam retired on 14 April 2026. CompTIA Data+ DA0-002 is the only version you can book now, and a good share of the free prep material still circulating was written for the exam that no longer exists.
The short answer on what changed: the exam format did not move at all, but the objectives did. Same 90 questions, same 90 minutes, same 675 pass mark. Two of the five domains were renamed and rebuilt, and the weighting shifted roughly four percentage points away from the old Data Mining domain and towards foundational concepts and reporting.
The longer answer, including whether Data+ is worth your money at all, is below.
DA0-001 Is Retired: What That Means for You
CompTIA retired the English DA0-001 exam on 14 April 2026, about six months after DA0-002 launched on 14 October 2025. That six-month overlap is CompTIA's standard grace period, and it has now closed.
Three practical consequences:
- You cannot sit DA0-001. Any voucher or bundle still advertising it is either stock that can no longer be redeemed against that exam code or a listing nobody has updated.
- A DA0-001 pass still counts. CompTIA does not revoke a certification when the exam version behind it retires. If you passed DA0-001, you hold CompTIA Data+ for three years from your pass date, and you renew through continuing education units like any other CompTIA credential.
- Your study material may be stale. This is the real trap. Practice questions, video courses and free objective summaries written for DA0-001 still rank well in Google, and roughly a fifth of the content they cover has been reorganised.
Exam Tip: Check the exam code on every piece of prep material before you use it. If it says DA0-001, it was built for the retired version. DA0-002 is the code you want.
What Actually Changed in DA0-002
The headline is that the format is unchanged. Here is the comparison that matters.
| DA0-001 (retired) | DA0-002 (current) | |
|---|---|---|
| Launched | Superseded by DA0-002 | 14 October 2025 |
| Retires | Retired 14 April 2026 | Estimated 2028 |
| Questions | Maximum of 90 | Maximum of 90 |
| Duration | 90 minutes | 90 minutes |
| Passing score | 675 on a 100 to 900 scale | 675 on a 100 to 900 scale |
| Question types | Multiple choice and performance-based | Multiple choice and performance-based |
| Languages | English, Japanese, Thai | English, Japanese |
So nothing about exam day changes. The objectives are where the work is.
The Domain Weightings Side by Side
| DA0-001 domain | Weight | DA0-002 domain | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Concepts and Environments | 15% | Data concepts and environments | 20% |
| Data Mining | 25% | Data acquisition and preparation | 22% |
| Data Analysis | 23% | Data analysis | 24% |
| Visualization | 23% | Visualization and reporting | 20% |
| Data Governance, Quality, and Controls | 14% | Data governance | 14% |
Two changes are worth reading closely.
Data Mining became Data acquisition and preparation, and lost three points. This is more than a rename. "Data mining" framed the domain around extracting patterns from a dataset you already had. "Acquisition and preparation" frames it around getting data out of source systems and into a usable state, which is what junior analysts actually spend their week doing. Expect more on ingestion, joins, cleansing and handling missing or duplicate records.
Data concepts and environments gained five points, the largest single move. The foundational domain is now a fifth of the exam. That covers data types, structures, schemas and where data lives, including cloud warehouses and lakes. If you are coming from a spreadsheet background and planned to skim this section, do not.
Visualization picked up "and reporting" and dropped three points. Chart selection is still there, but the domain now leans harder on communicating a result to a non-technical stakeholder rather than on the mechanics of building the chart.
Governance held at 14%, and Data analysis barely moved at 24%. If you had already started studying under DA0-001, those two domains carry over almost intact.
What CompTIA Data+ DA0-002 Costs
CompTIA does not publish a standalone voucher price on the Data+ exam page. It lists bundles instead, so the number you see depends on where you buy.
As of early 2026 the single-voucher price sits around $255, with a voucher-plus-retake bundle at roughly $304, according to CBT Nuggets' Data+ cost breakdown. CompTIA raised voucher prices across its range in May 2026, so treat any figure older than that as a floor rather than a quote. Always price-check against the CompTIA store before you buy from a reseller.
Budget for more than the voucher. Realistic total cost includes:
- The exam voucher itself
- A retake voucher, if you want the safety net before you sit rather than after you fail
- Training material, whether that is CertMaster, a video course or a question bank
- Continuing education units, or a renewal exam, three years from now
Our guide to CompTIA exam voucher discounts in 2026 covers which of the discount routes actually save money and which are marketing.
Is CompTIA Data+ Worth It in 2026?
Data+ is an entry to mid-level credential, and CompTIA recommends 18 to 24 months in a data analyst or similar role before sitting it, with exposure to databases, analytical tools, basic statistics and data visualisation. That recommendation tells you who it is for.
It is worth it if:
- You are already doing analyst work, formally or informally, and need something on paper. Data+ is vendor-neutral, so it does not tie you to Power BI, Tableau or a specific cloud.
- You work somewhere that requires a certification for a pay band or a role change, and nobody has specified which one.
- You want a structured syllabus to fill the gaps in self-taught analytics knowledge. The objectives are a genuinely reasonable curriculum for a junior analyst.
It is not worth it if:
- You have no data experience at all. Data+ is not a beginner certification despite sitting at the associate level, and the 18 to 24 month recommendation is realistic.
- You already work in a Microsoft or AWS shop and know which tool you will use. A vendor certification on that tool will carry more weight with a hiring manager than a vendor-neutral one.
- You are aiming at data science rather than data analysis. That is a different path, and CompTIA's own expert-level data certification sits above Data+ for exactly that reason.
The honest position is that Data+ has less name recognition than Security+ or Network+ and fewer job adverts name it directly. Its value is as proof of a defined skill set to an employer who already wants to promote you, not as a door-opener that gets you a first interview from cold.
How to Prepare for DA0-002
Work the domains in weight order and give the two rebuilt ones the most attention, because that is where DA0-001 material will mislead you.
- Data analysis (24%). Descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, correlation, regression. The heaviest domain, and the one most likely to appear as a performance-based question.
- Data acquisition and preparation (22%). Queries, joins, cleansing, handling nulls and duplicates, file formats. Rebuilt domain, so treat DA0-001 "data mining" notes as incomplete.
- Data concepts and environments (20%). Data types, structures, schemas, warehouses and lakes. The biggest weighting increase in the new version.
- Visualization and reporting (20%). Chart selection, dashboard design, reporting to a non-technical audience.
- Data governance (14%). Quality, controls, privacy and regulatory handling. Unchanged in weight, so existing notes hold up.
Performance-based questions are part of the exam, and they are where candidates run short of time. Practise reading a scenario and picking the correct approach under a clock, not just recalling definitions.
Our CompTIA Data+ DA0-002 course is built against the current objectives, with practice questions mapped to the five DA0-002 domains and their weightings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How difficult is CompTIA Data+?
It is a mid-difficulty CompTIA exam, harder than a fundamentals-level credential but well below Security+ in breadth. The pass mark is 675 on a 100 to 900 scale. Most candidates find the statistics content in the Data analysis domain the hardest part, particularly if they have not worked with hypothesis testing or regression before.
Can CompTIA Data+ get you a job?
On its own, rarely. It works best as supporting evidence alongside demonstrable work, a portfolio of analysis, or an existing role you are trying to formalise. Employers advertise for Data+ far less often than for Security+ or Network+, so treat it as a credential that strengthens an application rather than one that generates interviews.
How much does CompTIA Data+ cost?
CompTIA does not list a standalone voucher price on the exam page. Third-party pricing in early 2026 put the single voucher at roughly $255 and a voucher-plus-retake bundle at around $304, and CompTIA increased voucher prices across its range in May 2026. Check the CompTIA store for the current figure before buying.
Is my DA0-001 certification still valid?
Yes. Passing DA0-001 before it retired on 14 April 2026 earns you the CompTIA Data+ certification, valid for three years from your pass date. Retiring an exam version does not invalidate credentials already earned on it, and you renew through continuing education units as normal.
Should I study DA0-001 material for the DA0-002 exam?
Only with care. Data analysis and Data governance carry over almost unchanged, so notes on those two domains are still usable. Data Mining and Visualization were rebuilt into Data acquisition and preparation and Visualization and reporting, so DA0-001 material on those will leave gaps, and the foundational concepts domain is now five percentage points heavier than it was.
Ready to Start Practising?
DA0-002 rewards candidates who have worked the objectives in weight order and sat enough performance-based questions to handle them under time pressure. Reading the syllabus is not the same as being ready to answer it.
Create a free CertCrush account and start on DA0-002 practice questions mapped to the current domains, so you are revising the exam that exists rather than the one that retired in April.